Broncos in Cruise Control
Brisbane kept up their torrid pace to maintain their four point gap at the top of the table, but their closest
rivals, Parramatta and Manly, both scored convincing victories to stay within touching distance of the red hot
Broncos.
The top eight picture got even murkier after the completion of round 15 with just four points separating
7th from 13th on the competition ladder.
Plenty of teams will be looking over their shoulders after Canterbury and Penrith both picked up victories
to get their seasons back on track.
The Roosters and Storm will be kicking themselves after missing the perfect opportunity to put some space
between themselves and the rest of the top eight contenders with both sides blowing half time leads.
Newcastle received another nail in their coffin with their 13th straight loss to start the season and look
certain to take out the wooden spoon now that the Rabbitohs are showing some signs of life.
|
Power Rankings through Round 15 |
| Current | Team | Last Week |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos | 1 |
|
Even with a raft of players backing up from State of Origin the Broncos were still classes above the Tigers
putting the young upstarts well and truly in their place with a 40-22 thumping. That made it 10 wins in a row
for Brisbane and it is hard to see where their next loss is going to come from with the way they are playing
at the moment. |
| 2 | Parramatta Eels | 2 |
|
Parramatta continued to firm in premiership betting after another impressive victory (their sixth straight) on
the weekend. After falling behind the Warriors early the Eels stormed home in wet, windy conditions of Waikato
to record a 10 point win. |
| 3 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | 3 |
|
The Dragons looked ripe for the picking on Sunday afternoon against the Bunnies missing injured halves
combination Trent Barrett and Matthew Head, while also having to contend with a host of players backing up
from Wednesday nights Origin game. These setbacks did not faze St George one bit though as they recorded a
solid 28-10 victory to consolidate their top eight position. |
| 4 | Manly Sea Eagles | 7 |
|
It looks like Manly’s loss to the Rabbitohs was just a small bump in the road as they got back to their
winning defeating the Knights by 22 points. The victory was set up by a scintillating 18 minute burst just
after half time that saw the Eagles race in five tries to blow the injury riddled Newcastle side away. |
| 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 4 |
|
The Cowboys had their second bye of the season, but still managed to have some injury concerns with Matt Sing
and Carl Webb picking up knocks when playing for Queensland in game two of the Origin series. |
| 6 | Cronulla Sharks | 10 |
|
With their season hanging in the balance the Sharks produced some of their best football to turn an eight
point half time deficit into a six point victory against the Roosters on Friday night. The most pleasing thing
to come out of the game for Cronulla fans was the return of form for half back Brett Kimmorley. |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 5 |
|
For the second game in a row the Roosters blew an eight point half time lead and are now sitting very
precariously in eighth spot on the NRL ladder. Things get no easier for the Chooks next round as they take on
the red hot Eels and a loss in that game could see them fall out of the top 8. |
| 8 | Melbourne Storm | 6 |
|
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy was an extremely angry man after his team’s 28-14 loss to the Panthers on
Saturday night. He was not happy with the lack of effort from his team, but was equally disappointed with
referee Shayne Hayne and wasn’t afraid to say so after the game which could cost him $10,00 if the NRL judges
that he crossed the line. |
| 9 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 13 |
|
Canterbury sounded an ominous warning on Sunday afternoon defeating the Raiders to move within one point of a
semi final spot. The Bulldogs welcomed back prop Mark O’Meley and over the coming weeks they will get back
such stars as Willie Mason, Reni Matua, Willie Tonga and Sonny Bill Williams. |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 8 |
|
After 15 minutes of their game against Parramatta the Warriors looked like they were in for a big night as
they raced to a 10-0 lead, but some extremely silly play let the Eels back into the contest and they took it
with open arms handing the Kiwis their eighth loss of the season. |
| 11 | Penrith Panthers | 14 |
|
A dubious refereeing decision may have saved the Panthers season with Shayne Hayne calling back a certain
Storm try that would of put the visitors behind by 10 points early in the second half. Penrith were able to
seize on their piece of good fortune totally outplaying Melbourne over the latter stages to pick up a hard
earned 14 point win. |
| 12 | Canberra Raiders | 11 |
|
Canberra’s slide down the competition ladder continued on Sunday afternoon as they lost their fifth straight
game, this time losing to a committed Bulldogs outfit 28-10. Coach Matt Elliott must be wondering what has
gone wrong after their great start to the season and will be hoping veteran five eighth Jason Smith will be
back in the lineup sooner rather than later. |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 9 |
|
The Tigers made the toughest trip in the NRL on Saturday night traveling to Brisbane and came home with their
tail between their legs after getting beaten by 18 points. The score line could have looked if not for the
Broncos taking their foot off the gas with 15 minutes to go. |
| 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 12 |
|
South Sydney gave the Dragons all they could handle for the first 60 minutes trailing by just two points, but
when St George-Illawarra went up a gear late in the game the Bunnies couldn’t go with them. |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | 15 |
|
Newcastle fans would have been celebrating on Wednesday night after Andrew Johns five star performance, but
that would of turned to agony after learning of his neck injury that kept him out of the Knights 48-26 loss
to Manly. |
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