When Will the Craziness End?
The NRL season is now 19 rounds in and we are still no closer to deciding who is going to be in the top eight
come round 26 as only four competition points separate third place from 11th.
There is one certainty though week in and week out and that is Brisbane winning. After a minor setback in
round 16 against the Warriors the Broncos have now pieced together a three game winning streak that has seen
them skip six points clear in the race for the top spot.
Parramatta were unable to keep pace with the surging Broncos and now must be worried about holding onto
second spot after Cronulla moved to within two points of them.
Preseason favourites, Canterbury and St George, sounded ominous warnings over the weekend with solid
victories, but still may struggle to qualify for the playoffs as they are part of the brigade that are in a
dogfight in the middle of the table.
|
Power Rankings through Round 19 |
| Current | Team | Last Week |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos | 1 |
|
Brisbane exacted some sweet revenge on the Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon recovering from a
15-10 half time deficit to run out 28-15 winners showing that their 50-4 loss at the hands of Melbourne
earlier this season was just a slight hiccup on their path to the minor premiership. |
| 2 | Parramatta Eels | 2 |
|
Parramatta hit a banana skin against the Raiders last Sunday going down 26-18 after holding a four point lead
at half time. The Eels still hold down second place on the competition ladder, but they will definitely be
looking over their shoulders now that Cronulla are only two points behind them. |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm | 3 |
|
The Storm missed a golden opportunity to launch themselves clear of the throng of teams on 22 points, but
couldn’t hold on to a half time lead against the table topping Broncos. Even with the loss though they are in
a great position, as their for and against is more than 100 points better than anyone else sitting on the same
number of premiership points. |
| 4 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 6 |
|
The Bulldogs continued their late season charge towards the playoffs defeating the lowly Panthers 18-16 in a
titanic struggle on Friday night football. They now sit just one point outside of the top eight and with a few
very winnable games coming up they could still be a chance of making the top four. |
| 5 | Wests Tigers | 4 |
|
The Tigers may have had the bye last round, but it was still a busy week for them as they made three key
signings in the form of Bulldogs centre Jamaal Lolesi, young Sharks prop Keith Galloway and powerful Manly
back rower Sam Harris. |
| 6 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | 9 |
|
St George-Illawarra showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with on Sunday afternoon as they
humiliated Manly 36-10 at Brookvale Oval. The win saw the Dragons leap up to sixth place on the ladder and
with Trent Barrett back from suspension this weekend they will be tough to hold out over the coming rounds. |
| 7 | Cronulla Sharks | 8 |
|
The Sharks took full advantage of the failures of the teams around them defeating the cellar dwelling Knights
30-26 in golden point extra time to move into outright third on the competition table and give the club a
great chance of claiming a vital top four position at the end of the season. |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 11 |
|
Canberra picked up a very unexpected win against the red hot Parramatta sneaking by the second placed Eels
26-18 to once again lift themselves back into playoff contention coming down the stretch. |
| 9 | Sydney Roosters | 5 |
|
The Roosters woeful season continued on Saturday night against the Warriors at Aussie Stadium as they blew a
22-8 lead with 20 minutes left in the content to end up losing 24-22. The loss sees them slip out of the top
eight and with some extremely tough games on the horizon they could be one of the teams booking tee times come
the first week of the playoffs. |
| 10 | North Queensland Cowboys | 7 |
|
North Queensland suffered their most embarrassing loss of the season thus far on Saturday night as they went
down 16-14 to the lowly Rabbitohs in front of a packed Dairy Farmers Stadium. |
| 11 | Manly Sea Eagles | 10 |
|
The Sea Eagles season continues to spin out of control as they lost their fourth straight game and they are
now precariously placed in eighth position on the NRL ladder. They did receive some much needed good news
during the week though as Storm halfback Matt Orford agreed to a four year contract with the club. |
| 12 | New Zealand Warriors | 13 |
|
New Zealand kept their faint semi final hopes alive with a stunning come from behind victory against the
Roosters. The Warriors are still four points adrift of the top eight, but with captain Steve Price expected
back next week anything is possible for this surprising outfit. |
| 13 | Penrith Panthers | 12 |
|
Penrith had the last nail hammered into their coffin by Canterbury on Friday night losing by two points in a
match they probably should have won. |
| 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 15 |
|
The Rabbitohs renaissance continued in round 19 as South Sydney picked up their second big scalp in two weeks,
this time defeating the Cowboys in a closely contested affair. |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | 14 |
|
Newcastle are all but assured the wooden spoon in season 2005 as they fell a further two points behind the
Rabbitohs after a heartbreaking extra time loss to the Sharks. |
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