Brisbane Defeated, But Still on Top
The tipster’s nightmare continued in round 20 of the 2005 NRL season as the top two teams were beaten to wreck
anyone’s chance of picking the perfect round yet again.
Brisbane’s loss to the surging Bulldogs may not have come as quite a shock, but the Eels defeat at the
hands of the last placed Knights was especially perplexing after Parramatta had beaten them 50-0 just over a
month ago.
The top eight picture got that little bit murkier after the weekend with six teams now tied on 24
competition points and just one point behind this logjam are the defending premiers, the Canterbury Bulldogs,
who are motoring home over the concluding stages of the season.
At the other end of the table it is a race in three for the spoon with Penrith and South Sydney currently
sitting on a handy buffer, but Newcastle are finally starting to show signs life having won three of their
last five games and may be able to wriggle their way out of last place if they continue this run of hot
form.
|
Power Rankings through Round 20 |
| Current | Team | Last Week |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos | 1 |
|
Brisbane missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the competition table last Friday
night against Canterbury as they went down 29-22 to the Bulldogs in one of the matches of the season. |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | 3 |
|
The Storm continued to sneak up the NRL ladder over the weekend defeating a desperate Roosters outfit 24-10 to
move into third position on for and against. |
| 3 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 4 |
|
Canterbury had one of their best wins of the season scraping by the league leading Broncos by seven points,
but after the win received some terrible news with star goal kicker Hazem El Masri ruled out of action for at
least six weeks with a knee injury. |
| 4 | Wests Tigers | 5 |
|
The Tigers racked up their fourth win in a row on Sunday afternoon at a packed Leichardt Oval defeating the
lowly Rabbitohs 42-20 to consolidate their position in the top eight. |
| 5 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | 6 |
|
For the second round in a row St George-Illawarra brought their A game and this week it was Cronulla’s turn to
suffer as they were beaten 20-10 in their local derby match against the Dragons. |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | 2 |
|
Alarm bells must be going off out west as Parramatta made it two straight mediocre performances, this time
suffering a shock 16-10 defeat to the cellar dwelling Newcastle Knights. The Eels get the bye this round and
they will be glad to have it so that they can get out of the media spotlight for a week. |
| 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | 10 |
|
North Queensland got their season back on track in front of their home fans on Saturday night as they hammered
the struggling Penrith Panthers 38-18. The win sees them reclaim a top four spot, but they may have trouble
hanging onto it with an extremely tough run into the finals. |
| 8 | Cronulla Sharks | 7 |
|
The Sharks may have only gone down to the Dragons by 10 points, but the score line definitely flattered them
as they were out pointed in just about every statistical category by St George-Illawarra over the 80 minutes. |
| 9 | Manly Sea Eagles | 11 |
|
Manly were able to hang onto eighth spot on the competition ladder thanks to the two points they received from
the bye, but with teams like the Bulldogs, Warriors and Roosters breathing down their necks it will be a big
ask for them to still be in that position come playoff time. |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 12 |
|
The Warriors kept their slim semi final hopes alive with a hard fought 24-16 victory over the Raiders on
Saturday night in Auckland. The New Zealanders will more than likely have to win four of their last five games
to qualify for the playoffs, but with their playing roster one wouldn’t right them off just yet. |
| 11 | Canberra Raiders | 8 |
|
Canberra’s great start to the season seems a distant memory after they dropped further down the ladder thanks
to their eight point loss to the Warriors. The Raiders will now need a minor miracle to claim a spot in the
eight with five of their last six games being played against top eight sides. |
| 12 | Sydney Roosters | 9 |
|
Melbourne just about finished off the Roosters season on Sunday afternoon as they beat the ailing Sydneysiders
by 14 points to consign them to their third straight loss leaving them in the 12th place on the ladder four
points out of the top eight. |
| 13 | Penrith Panthers | 13 |
|
The Panthers semi final chase is now over, but they must now be looking over their shoulders at the bottom two
after their 20 point loss to the Cowboys saw them fall within four points of the last placed Newcastle
Knights. |
| 14 | Newcastle Knights | 15 |
|
Newcastle picked up their biggest scalp of the 2005 season as they hung on to beat the second placed Eels by
six points at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night. The win leaves them just three points behind the Rabbitohs
and with star halfback Andrew Johns pulling the strings he may be able to help the Novocastrians escape the
wooden spoon. |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 14 |
|
South Sydney weren’t able to make it three wins in a row as they were crushed by 22 points by the Tigers who
probably could have won by more if they had not of taken their foot off the gas over the concluding stages of
the match. |
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