I really, really enjoyed Round 17.<\/p>\n
It probably had a lot to do with the Sharks not ruining my weekend. That said, Sunday aside, it was a brilliant weekend of footy.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins<\/a> and Warriors played out an absolute classic on Saturday afternoon. The game had a huge say on this week’s rankings.<\/p>\n Elsewhere the Cowboys bounced back via a huge upset win over Penrith, the Storm fell to a huge loss at Manly and the Dogs continued their good form by beating the Titans.<\/p>\n Where did your team land on this week’s NRL<\/a> Power Rankings<\/a> following Round 17?:<\/p>\n 1. Penrith Panthers (Last Week: 1) <\/p>\n Penrith may have dropped a second game in a row but you still wouldn’t find a single rugby league fan who doesn’t see them as the best team in the competition.<\/p>\n The 26-12 loss to the Cowboys wasn’t without its concerns but given the Origin disruptions it is hardly panic stations.<\/p>\n A Friday night game, at home, to Souths looks tricky considering all the players they’ll have out.<\/p>\n 2. The Dolphins (4) <\/p>\n I don’t believe the Dolphins<\/a> are the best team in the competition right now but they are undisputedly the form team of the comp.<\/p>\n The 26-24 win was their eighth in a row. Jamayne Isaako<\/a> and Selwyn Cobbo<\/a> both crossed for doubles yet it was still Herbie Farnworth<\/a> who was best on ground. Bloke is a freak of nature!<\/p>\n A win in NEwcastle on Sunday, sans all the Origin stars, would be absolutely massive for the Dolphins<\/a>. Finals, here they come!<\/p>\n 3. Sydney Roosters (3) <\/p>\n The Roosters just keep on keeping on. Their 24-18 win over the Broncos was patchy yet somehow still comfortable. <\/p>\n A Billy Smith<\/a> double grabbed the headlines but for me the best player on the park was Naufahu Whyte<\/a>. He is very quickly becoming an elite middle.<\/p>\n The Roosters have a bye this weekend. They can enjoy Origin Three then get serious as a very serious title charge is building.<\/p>\n 4. New Zealand Warriors (2) <\/p>\n The Warriors drop from second spot for the first time in a long time via a two point loss to the Dolphins<\/a> on Saturday. I wouldn’t be worried if I were a Warriors fan.<\/p>\n They played their part in one of the games of the season. Sam Healey’s 74th minute solo try looked to have banked the points for the travelling Warriors. I cannot describe how close they were to winning.<\/p>\n A bye this weekend will have them primed for a Top Four campaign. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n 5. Newcastle Knights (5) <\/p>\n Newcastle won their game on Sunday afternoon. As a neutral if was a tough watch but no Knights fan will care.<\/p>\n Dominic Young<\/a> was blistering in setting up the match winner for Bradman Best<\/a>. Greg Marzhew<\/a> was a beast on the other wing. Kalyn Ponga<\/a> was all class, as usual.<\/p>\n A Ponga and Best-less Knights will host the Dolphins<\/a> on Sunday afternoon. Despite the outs they’ll be confident of ending the Phins win streak.<\/p>\n 6. Manly Sea Eagles (6) <\/p>\n Fozball is back. As much as I loathe that term, it was hard to deny in Manly’s 30-4 over old sparring partners the Storm.<\/p>\n Haumole Olakau’atu<\/a> was an absolute monster with two tries, two line-breaks and 158 run metres. Jason Saab<\/a> had a good night on his edge, leaping high for a four pointer.<\/p>\n They should handle the Eels on Sunday afternoon, even though it’s at Commbank.<\/p>\n 7. South Sydney Rabbitohs (8) <\/p>\n The Bunnies won their second game in a row via a crushing 32-12 win over the hapless Eels on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Tallis Duncan<\/a> put in a worldly effort, at centre no less, crossing for a double and running for 174 metres. Keaon Koloamatangi’s monster game should have earned him an Origin recall.<\/p>\n Friday night’s trip to Commbank presents a brilliant chance to beat the Panthers.<\/p>\n 8. Cronulla Sharks (7) <\/p>\n The Sharks had the bye this weekend, which allows them to process their loss to the Roosters for a full week.<\/p>\n They return on Saturday night in a must win contest against a depleted Broncos outfit.<\/p>\n Time for the Sharks to decide if they’re pretenders or contenders. <\/p>\n 9. North Queensland Cowboys (10) <\/p>\n The Cowboys roared back into form via a 26-12 upset over the Panthers on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n Jeremiah Nanai<\/a> earned an Origin recall via his two try effort. Jaxon Purdue<\/a> threatened at five-eight. Jason Taumalolo<\/a>, on his 300th game, was best on ground with a monster 197 metre effort.<\/p>\n A bye this weekend allows a quick refresh before what looks to be a very serious Finals tilt ahead.<\/p>\n 10. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (11) <\/p>\n The Dogs recorded their third straight win, and fourth in five games, in beating the Titans 30 points to 12.<\/p>\n Stephen Crichton’s move into the halves has proved a masterstroke. He had three try assists here and was man of the match by some margin.<\/p>\n A bye this weekend means the Dogs are well rested for a Finals charge that looked gone just a month ago.<\/p>\n 11. Melbourne Storm (9) <\/p>\n The Storm’s three game win streak was snapped in brutal fashion by Manly on Saturday due to a 30-4 score-line.<\/p>\n Will Warbrick<\/a> crossed for his team’s only try while Sualauvi Faalogo ran himself to a standstill. Otherwise, not good.<\/p>\n A bye this weekend sets up a huge run in. They are now in very serious danger of missing the Finals for the first time in almost literally forever.<\/p>\n 12. Wests Tigers (12) <\/p>\n The Tigers were very much in their game with the Knights for 70 + minutes on Sunday. That said, they were unable to capture the win.<\/p>\n Tony Sukkar’s first NRL<\/a> try, in the 10th minute, was all she wrote in terms of scoring the the travelling Tigers.<\/p>\n A trip to Kogarah on Saturday afternoon to play the Dragons shouldn’t strike any fear into them.<\/p>\n 13. Canberra Raiders (15) <\/p>\n The Raiders returned to the winner’s circle via a scratchy 24-16 win over the Dragons.<\/p>\n Xavier Savage<\/a> crossed for a controversial double. Let’s leave it at that. The rest of the squad should shout Simi Sasagi<\/a> a drink after he carried them all afternoon.<\/p>\n They have the bye this weekend. Finals look long gone but a strong finish to the season can set up next year.<\/p>\n 14. Parramatta Eels (13) <\/p>\n The Eels nightmare season continued on Friday night as they were belted by the Bunnies to the tune of 32 points to 12.<\/p>\n Brian Kelly<\/a> had 195 run metres and a try on the night. Mitch Moses<\/a> had a try assist but was otherwise awful and can consider himself very lucky to retain his Origin jersey.<\/p>\n The Eels host Manly on Sunday afternoon. Finals are gone but they can restore some pride in the jersey with a win over their old rivals.<\/p>\n 15. Gold Coast Titans (14) <\/p>\n The Titans failed to back up from their win over Penrith last weekend and were instead thumped 30 points to 12 by the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n Phillip Sami<\/a> crossed for a hat-trick and topped the team run metres, again! I struggle to see how Josh Hannay<\/a> allowed him to leave for the Dragons.<\/p>\n A bye this weekend for the Titans should allow a final chance to build some momentum for 2027. Any other hopes were dashed two months ago.<\/p>\n 16. Brisbane Broncos (16) <\/p>\n The Broncos horror run continued on Friday night via a 24-18 loss to the Roosters. The loss was their seventh in a row.<\/p>\n Payne Haas<\/a> had a lazy 205 run metres, including a ridiculous 90 post contact metres. Brandon Piakura was pretty good on the night also.<\/p>\n They host the Sharks on Saturday night. To say they need a win here is the understatement of the season.<\/p>\n 17. St George Illawarra Dragons (17) <\/p>\n The Dragons were brave, and hard done by, in their 24-16 loss to the Raiders on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n Tyrell Sloan<\/a> crossed for a highlight reel double while Toby Couchman<\/a> continues to justify the hype behind his obvious talents.<\/p>\n A home game against the Tigers on Saturday is must win if they want to avoid a dreaded wooden spoon in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I really, really enjoyed Round 17. It probably had a lot to do with the Sharks not ruining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-770726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}