Rampaging Roosters are No.1; Eels, Raiders rising

The Roosters were brilliant, Ricky's Raiders are on the rise, while teams north of the border keep heading south on the NRL ladder. Check out how your team is travelling in this week's Power Rankings.

1. Sydney Roosters (Last week: 2)

A terrific performance against Brisbane - totally dominant. No Jake Friend and they were able to just plough through the middle whenever they liked. They threw the ball around and kept Brisbane on the back foot and were just too classy. That's the Roosters that won the competition last year and they look like they're going to be there again. Luke Keary's in the form of his life.

2. Melbourne Storm (1)

Weren't at their best by far but managed to get away with a sneaky win and that's what the great teams do - they find a way. The thing for me is maybe the Bulldogs exposed the way to play Melbourne, which is some unstructured second-phase and not playing into that up-and-in style. The Bulldogs really put them under pressure.

3. South Sydney Rabbitohs (3)

Started the year 3-0 and went to Lottoland on a hot day and got beaten in golden point when they just didn't have it. The Rabbitohs haven't played very well in the last two weeks and they know that. I'm not dropping them too far and there's still enough signs that they're going to be in and around it come September.

4. Parramatta Eels (6)

Mitch Moses steered the team around superbly and everyone is doing their job and knows their role. It's allowing them to take their opportunities. Last year the Eels were worried about what everyone was doing and saying and got away from why they play the game, but those days are gone.

5. Canberra Raiders (7)

A great win on the road. They looked professional and confident in what they were doing, they defended great so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep this going. In the tight moments they're coming up trumps and Sam Williams has been great since coming in. A huge game this weekend against Parramatta.

6. Cronulla Sharks (4)

Could be in for a long month with injuries galore at the moment. I'm giving them a bit of leeway because they hung tough against the Eels, but in the next month the Sharks have got Melbourne, the Roosters and Broncos and they're going to find out about themselves.

7. St George Illawarra Dragons (8)

Another tough win even if it wasn't pretty. Corey Norman was great and maybe they are better without Gareth Widdop from the standpoint that it allows Ben Hunt to direct them around and Norman to run the attack side of things. I like the look of this Dragons side compared to the first couple of weeks.

8. Brisbane Broncos (5)

I was close to ranking them lower. There's just no consistency there. They've got a young pack but maybe they're too young. They haven't been able to put back-to-back performances together. They're still learning under Seibold but if they have another month like the first, time will quickly run out.

9. Newcastle Knights (9)

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern with the Knights. They look good for five minutes and then play some silly footy. Kalyn Ponga back to fullback is a good move, but they're 1-3 and had three home games and I wonder if the pressure of expectation is getting to them.

10. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (13)

A fantastic win at home. Manly are a different team to what we saw the first couple of weeks, although losing Tom Trbojevic is obviously huge. That was such a gutsy, committed performance and I wonder how many times they can go back to that, especially with their depth being tested.

11. Penrith Panthers (10)

Needed to win that game on Friday and they somehow did, but it's pretty hard to watch the Panthers at the moment. Their completion rate is poor and the switching of the halves going to different sides has been an issue. They're really struggling with their attack with 11 points in their last two games.

12. Wests Tigers (11)

It was similar to games they had last year with a lot of hype, but they failed to deliver with their attack and couldn't close the game out. It wasn't a great game to watch but they were the better team for the most part and should've won.

13. Canterbury Bulldogs (14)

They were outstanding against Melbourne and I nearly ranked them higher. Loved their effort and attitude. The big question that I can't get past when I watch the Bulldogs is why didn't they start the year with this team?

14. New Zealand Warriors (15)

Beat the Titans after a horrible couple of weeks, but they should win those games and it wasn't all that convincing. There was some promising signs with their attack and Chanel Tevita-Harris looks like a talent, but as usual the challenge for the Warriors is backing it up.

15. North Queensland Cowboys (12)

The Cowboys have got their balance wrong. They've got an amazing pack, a classy playmaker, but they've got no points in them and they leak points. They've been really disappointing and a lot of people were expecting more.

16. Gold Coast Titans (16)

It's hard to watch the Titans. They got their halves back and looked like they tried all their plays in the first three minutes and then had nowhere left to go after that. There's a lot of issues they have to sort out and I'm struggling to watch them.

 

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.