Just when they thought they were out, they get dragged right back in. Or should that be the other way around: just when they thought they were in, they got dragged back out.
Logjam season got even more complicated, with Souths doing their darndest not to make the Finals despite topping the table in May while the Roosters are coming from nowhere to be in with a real shout.
Now, we’re faced with the real prospect of a derby game that is also a knockout game with the winner set for the playoffs and the loser set for Bali on the final Friday of the regular season.
The Chooks have the small matter – no, really – of the Wests Tigers, but seen as they have lost to the Tigs once in the last decade, that should probably be fine.
Elsewhere, we had a Finals showdown in Townsville that saw the Sharkies all but in, and the Raiders continued to be rubbish but cement their place too. Oh, and Parra are doneskis, barring a 200 points turnaround against Penrith. More chance of the Tigers winning, right?
Keeping on keeping on. They were way too good for the Titans, but you already knew that.
A week off for the Broncos, who need to better the Panthers’ results and overturn 100 points worth of differential to have a chance of winning the Minor Premiership.
One suspects that with Adam Reynolds struggling with his calf, they might just choose to extend the bye for a few of their players and take it easy going into the Finals.
Melbourne just about hold onto third despite underwhelming against the Dragons. They did get the job done, so can be happy with their weekend’s work.
Performance-wise, however…it still feels like they’re not quite there.
The feeling that New Zealand are somewhat sleepwalking into the Finals persists despite another victory. They were very fortunate to beat Manly – speaking as a bitter Sea Eagles fan – and the Warriors have been in second gear for a fair while now. It might be a problem if they, say, have to go to Penrith in week one of the Finals.
Greg Marzhew scores. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Newcastle aren’t just good now, they’re an awful lot of fun too. Some of us wrote whole columns explaining why they were rubbish, and they’ve won seven on the spin since, proving once and for all that experts in the media know nothing. We had him sacked in June.
So apologies to Knights fans everywhere, though with the caveat that the entire comments section also thought he was a goner.
Now, Newcastle are packing out stadiums, thrashing previous Premiership contenders and setting sail for a home final. This weekend is the Sharks, and they’ll be favourites.
The Sharks’ tag as flat track bullies was turned on its head on Thursday night as they produced a calm, solid defensive performance that is, really, quite out of keeping with their general levels across the year.
Still, Craig Fitzgibbon knows as well as anyone that making the eight and being good at this time of year are what matters. For what it’s worth, they probably look better now in fifth (on the real ladder) than they did in second last year in terms of batting deep into the post-season.
Cronulla get the Knights and Raiders back to back, too, which has the potential to be a nice run in towards knockout footy, with two hard games that, realistically, they could afford to lose.
The heads have finally gone from the Bunnies who are dropping like a stone down the ladder and the Power Rankings.
Cody Walker was anonymous, Lachlan Ilias has a boot like the back side of a cricket bat and Latrell Mitchell, at the age of 26, appears not to have learned a thing. It’s the worst iteration of Souths at the moment and they need a serious rethink of what they want to be in 2023.
They’re lucky that they get a week off, followed by a fresh crack at the Roosters. It’s all on the line now.
The Chooks have gone from rank outsiders to very much in with a shout, peaking at just about the right time.
They’ll need to take care of the Wests Tigers this weekend – though they did beat them 72-6 this time last year – and then knock off their hated rivals on the last weekend to make it.
It would be some feat if the Roosters managed it, but the way they are going about their business at the moment, it’s certainly possible. The 1-6 have been excellent and it looks like number 7 will be back too. Full strength, they’re a threat to anyone.
North Queensland really, really struggle in attack and are thus very easily marked out of the game. If Scott Drinkwater or Tom Dearden don’t do it, nobody does at the moment. They prioritised ball control over actually doing something with the footy on Thursday night and paid the price – now, the Cowboys will have to beat Penrith to stand a chance. Wish them luck.
(Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
Canberra are almost certainly going to make the Finals, but they’ll lose in the first game and it won’t be close given how poorly they both attack and defend. It’s boring, boring football and Ricky Stuart, deep down, probably knows it.
Parramatta’s season ended on Friday night with a whimper as, once again, they proved that they don’t learn from their mistakes.
Late in the first half they were overrun by the Roosters, who scored from simple scrumbase plays and cruised right down the middle of the park against some knackered big men. Brad Arthur’s use of his subs remains baffling and the Eels paid the cost, not for the first time.
Manly were fun again, but lost again. That’s them done officially, and while they were unlucky on the night not to beat the Warriors, it’s another week where they didn’t win.
Anthony Seibold gets a qualified pass because you can see what he is trying to do. Next year he’ll actually have to do it.
The Dolphins lost when they should have won, and not for the first time. There’s not a great deal to say that hasn’t been said, really. Their depth is poor but we knew that. They’ve overacheived but we also knew that. See you in 2024.
Tesi Niu is tackled. (Photo by Izhar Khan/Getty Images)
The Titans remain allergic to defence, but given that they played a rampant Panthers side, we’ll let that slide for a week.
Canterbury had a red hot crack and gave the Raiders a fright, but you cannot tackle like they do and expect anything other than defeat. Slightly better though this week.
It’s another defeat for the Dragons, but again, they weren’t awful this time around. Just like last week against Souths, however, they conspire to lose from a position of strength. Ah well, doesn’t really matter anyway.
A win! The Tigers won!
Dramatic stuff, too, and deserved for Api Koroisau, who had tried his heart out in a beaten team most weeks. A few of their kids got a run, too, which is nice.
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