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Six of the best have come and gone, and we can sit back and call this the best NRL season in yonks.
Another week, another set of crackers: the Raiders bursting the Brisbane balloon, another Dolphins upset plus last minute winner on the Gold Coast.
It takes all strokes, this rugby league lark: sometimes there’s a game between two bad, but evenly-matched sides that goes great – see the Titans v Dragons – and sometimes a mismatch allows one side to put on a clinic, as we saw from the Panthers. There’s a beauty in both.
Here’s where we are through Round 6.
Penrith are beyond ominous at this point. They weren’t bad when they were losing and now they’re winning. If there was any question about the threepeat, there isn’t now. The Panthers could very, very easily do it.
Melbourne were superb this weekend, far too good for the Roosters and the Roosters are a good side.
The last rites have been written on the Storm on plenty of occasions, but theirs is a culture that doesn’ go away quickly.
Cam Munster is elite, Jahrome Hughes is elite and Harry Grant is the best of the three. Nick Meaney is fast becoming one of the best fullbacks around, a Dylan Edwards who is actually underrated. They’re among the very best.
Brisbane had underwhelmed somewhat despite winning, with several good results masking so-so performances.
You can only beat what is in front of you, of course, but there was a bump back to earth when a fired up, committed Canberra came into town on Saturday.
Kevvie Walters will likely look at this as a positive thing. Any ideas that his side were suddenly world beaters will have now been taken from them, which will stand the Bronx in good stead going forward.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 08: Reece Walsh of the Broncos passes during the round six NRL match between Brisbane Broncos and Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium on April 08, 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Not a great week for Trent Robinson and an even worse one for Victor Radley. The fear this year was that carrying him, Brandon Smith and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in the same team at the same time was likely to lead to a few more brain explosions than any side, even a good one, could stand.
It came to fruition at the worst possible moment, with a typical Radley brainsnap costing them any chance of a win in Melbourne. One can only hope that Trent gave him both barrels, because the Chooks cannot afford for that to happen again.
They drop to fourth, but only because they beat Souths so recently and the Sharks didn’t play.
Easter Weekend off in the Shire, how good.
Latrell is back, baby. Seriously – Souths aren’t a one man band, because they can and do win when Mitchell plays badly, but when their fullback shows up, they go from a decent to good NRL outfit to one of the elite teams.
Their good players are consistently good, especially Cam Murray, Tom Burgess and Damien Cook, but those three are platform-layers. Cody Walker and Latrell are appliers of polish, and usually it only takes one of them to turn it on to make the difference.
If Latrell is on now, then everyone else should be worried.
The Warriors bandwagon came to a halt on Sunday arvo in Newcastle, but they’ll not be too worried. Plenty went wrong but the fight was very much still there for Andrew Webster’s men.
They drop this week because they have to, but really, it’s all progress.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
There’s something brewing in the Hunter. This team is fighting for each other, and putting on a bit of footy too.
They’re getting the absolute maximum out of themselves, especially in backline metres, which is allowing them to control games better than they have in years.
The draw has been kind-ish, and gets less kind with three tough weeks – Panthers, Cowboys away, Eels away – before the bye. Newcastle are 3-1-2 at the moment, and if they’re 3-1-5 after that trot, it will probably be harsh on them.
Why would you ever doubt the Dolphins? They’re fast becoming the anti-Warriors: where the Warriors are untippable because whenever you think they’ll win, they’ll lose, and vice versa, Wayne Bennett’s Phintasy are the opposite.
To wit: an away tie, with Kodi Nikorima as a starting half, against a Cowboys team absolutely primed to whack someone, at some point. Yet Wayne goes back to the well and they produce yet another upset. They could lose every game from here out and it’d still be a success.
Parra got the job done against the Tigers, and ultimately, that’s all they’ll care about. After a horror trot to kick off the year, a win is a win however it comes.
Mitch Moses is hitting his straps, the spine is getting to know each other well and Junior Paulo is back next week. In his heart of hearts, Brad Arthur might have known a 2-4 start was possible and, indeed, probable, given the fixtures.
Now, it’s up to them to take it further as the draw evens out. You’d expect them to do it.
The Titans are a mite better than the Dragons, which makes them a fair bit worse than everyone else. They are missing three of their starting spine, however, so it’s pass marks for now. All wins count the same, right?
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Last week this column flagged the glaring defensive frailties of the Sea Eagles. Dutifully, they got flogged by the Panthers and the game was done by half time.
Now, they get the chance to do it front of their own fans with a red hot Melbourne rolling onto the Beaches. Pray for them.
It’s hard to get a read on a team missing quite so many players as the Bulldogs are. Cameron Ciraldo wasn’t using injuries as an excuse on Friday afternoon, but this was a rare occasion where an NRL certainly could have done.
Never has a team needed a bye more – instead, they get another derby, this time with Parramatta. At least it isn’t a four day turnaround this time.
What on Earth can you say about the Raiders? They’re a side built on good individuals rather than a some high-falutin team philosophy, so you get crap one week and fantastic the next.
Last week was their worst performance of the year, so naturally they produce their best a week later. Answers on a postcard, please, if you have any idea which version of Canberra will show up to their match with St George Illawarra on Sunday.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 08: Albert Hopoate of the Raiders scores a try during the round six NRL match between Brisbane Broncos and Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium on April 08, 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
If you read the Power Rankings last year, you might remember that this column was perhaps the latest in rugby league media to believe in North Queensland. Ultimately that doubt was vindicated, because they lost to Parramatta in the Prelim and should have lost to Cronulla the week before.
The 2023 edition of the Cowboys are what the 2022 version looked like: a good defensive team with severe attacking limitations against the best. Now, though, they’ve put the cart before the horse somewhat and softened up in defence too.
Nobody should be putting the red pen through them, because the talent is all there, but they’ve been perhaps the most underwhelming of any team in 2023 given that they’ve had three home games that they absolutely should have won and picked up just one victory.
When they win, they win, and when they don’t, it’s rubbish. The Dragons will probably grind their way to finals contention, knowing that if they make it they’ll lose week one and if they don’t, they’ll fire the coach anyway (if he hasn’t already been de facto fired).
Ben Hunt is literally the only reason to watch this team.
Just when they decide to show up and play something approximating good footy, they lose Adam Doueihi and Brent Naden to long term injury. They doen’t help themselves, but also can’t take a trick.