Dragons Soldier On
St George-Illawarra may not have been in action over the weekend but with only Parramatta impressing in round
25 they were still able to hang onto both the lead in the Power Rankings and premiership favouritism.
Melbourne and North Queensland were the other sides to do their chances no harm with strong victories,
while on the other side of the coin the Broncos hopes continued to slide and the Tigers great run finally came
to a close.
Manly left the door ajar for both the Roosters and Panthers in the race for eighth spot on the NRL ladder
with yet another loss, but a win this weekend will seal their place in the semi finals, a place they haven’t
been since 1998.
The race at the bottom of the competition table also intensified with the Knights moving to within just one
point of the Rabbitohs heading into the decisive final round.
All in all it sets up a great weekend of Rugby League with everything from the minor premiership to the
wooden spoon to be decided in round 26.
|
Power Rankings through Round 25 |
| Current | Team | Last Week |
| 1 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | 1 |
|
St George-Illawarra may have had the week off courtesy of the bye, but the club still found itself in the news
thanks to captain Trent Barrett and injured halfback Matthew Head who were both fined by the club for a
drunken incident in Wollongong. On the field though things still look very promising for the Dragons who are
still right on track for their first premiership since 1985. |
| 2 | Parramatta Eels | 3 |
|
Parramatta put themselves into prime position for their first minor premiership since 2001 with a sensational
second half performance that saw them hammer the Raiders 48-10. The Eels now hold their destiny in their own
hands knowing that a win over the Broncos on Friday night will put them on top of the table at the end of the
regular season. |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm | 4 |
|
The Storm announced themselves as serious premiership contenders on Saturday night in Melbourne with a
dominant performance over the inform Wests Tigers. Melbourne controlled the game from start to finish winning
34-22 to remind all and sundry that they will be a force to be reckoned with over the coming weeks. |
| 4 | Wests Tigers | 2 |
|
Wests dream run of eight straight wins finally came to an end at the hands of the Storm and another loss this
week could see them slip out of the top four on for and against which would be rough justice for the plucky
Tigers who have brought so much joy to their long suffering fans. |
| 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 6 |
|
After a long run of indifferent form the Cowboys finally awoke from the Origin hangover on Sunday afternoon in
Gosford defeating South Sydney 30-16. The win gives them an outside chance at a top four spot, but to have any
chance they must beat the Storm convincingly in front of their home fans on Saturday night. |
| 6 | Penrith Panthers | 8 |
|
The Panthers looked dead and buried just a month ago, but with results going their way and solid wins like
their effort over the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon they are still in with a sniff at the last playoff spot
heading into the final round of the season. |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 10 |
|
Outside of the top two teams Newcastle are probably the form team of the competition at the moment and this is
mainly due to the outstanding form of Andrew Johns. Once again he was the star in their 44-14 victory over the
Sharks and they will need another stellar performance from Joey if they are any hope to rid themselves of the
wooden spoon. |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 7 |
|
Brisbane continued their late season slide losing their fourth straight game to fall off the top of the NRL
ladder for the first time in a long time, but if they can somehow jag a win over Parramatta this Friday night
the minor premiership could still be theirs. |
| 9 | Sydney Roosters | 13 |
|
The Roosters were another team that looked to gone just over a month ago, but Manly’s poor run has opened the
door for them and with their 17-10 win over Brisbane last Friday night they moved to within two competition
points of eighth spot heading into round 26. |
| 10 | Cronulla Sharks | 5 |
|
Cronulla found out that a week is a long time in Rugby League after experiencing the highs of a 62-point win
before suffering a 92 point turnaround that saw them suffer a massively disappointing 30 point loss at the
hands of the Newcastle Knights. |
| 11 | New Zealand Warriors | 14 |
|
The Warriors finally had something to smile about on Saturday night, as they sent off the long serving Stacey
Jones in grand style with a tight 22-20 victory over Manly. It was fitting that Jones was the man to score the
winning try crashing over with just four minutes left to end his stint in New Zealand in fine fashion. |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 10 |
|
South Sydney will definitely be looking over their shoulders right now after the last placed Newcastle Knights
moved within just one competition point of them after they lost to the Cowboys by 14 points on Sunday
afternoon. A win in the final round will ensure they avoid the wooden spoon, but a loss will have them at the
Novocastrians mercy. |
| 13 | Manly Sea Eagles | 11 |
|
The Sea Eagles continued to frustrate their fans failing to secure the last playoff spot on offer for the
third week in a row. They have one more chance on Saturday night when they take on the Raiders in Canberra and
with plenty of injury concerns heading into the match it will be a big ask for Manly to score the win they so
vitally need. |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | 12 |
|
Canberra’s run at the playoffs was officially ended on Sunday afternoon at the hands of Parramatta and
although they showed great fight in the first half the gulf in class showed in the second stanza with the Eels
rattling up 42 unanswered points. |
| 15 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 15 |
|
Canterbury were the other team eliminated from semi final contention over the weekend ending any designs they
had on back to back premierships. It has been an extremely disappointing season for the Bulldogs and they will
now be looking forward to the off season where they will be hoping all their stars can recover from their
injuries. |
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