1. St George Illawarra: Roared (would Dragons roar, if they existed?) back to life against the Sharks. Their left edge was absolutely lethal in the first half. Beware the Red V. With Dean Young, Beau Scott and skipper Ben Hornby still to come back, the odds of repeat are locking good.
2. Melbourne Storm: Went to Canberra, a team that beat them earlier this year, and held them to nil. Enough said? No? Very well. Cooper Cronk is in career-best form and Cameron Smith and Billy Slater are not far behind. The loss of Adam Blair to the Tigers won’t hurt til next year.
3. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles: The Sea Eagles went to Newcastle, which has always been an unhappy hunting ground, and touched up the Knights. Sunday’s triumph – which came without Jason King, William Hopoate and Tony Williams – was arguably Manly’s best outing of an impressive 2011 season.
4. Brisbane Broncos: Came back from the bye and scored a regulation win over the woeful Gold Coast Titans. Still looming as a premiership threat and the ‘Lockyer factor’ will be a factor as the season progresses.
5. North Queensland Cowboys: Missed Thurston and Matthew Scott in their loss to the Tigers. The Cowboys looked tired after the short turnaround from their victory over Newcastle last Monday week. Perhaps Saturday’s defeat was a reality check for the Townsville club.
6. New Zealand Warriors: Did what they had to do against a miserable Bulldogs line-up on Friday night. The Warriors looked in danger after they fell behind 12-0, but came back in a big way. Looking good for the back end of the season.
7. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: Fools gold? Four wins in a row followed by a shellacking from the Dragons. They were better in the second half after being down 24-0 at oranges, but were hopelessly outclassed when the game was still alive.
8. Penrith Panthers: Got out of jail in a big way against the Eels on Saturday night. Miracle victories like the one the Panthers pulled off against their archrivals can provide teams with all-important self-belief as the finals near.
9. Wests Tigers: This week’s big movers – and fortunately for the Tigers’ faithful, it is in an upwards direction. Benji Marshall was back to his electrifying best against the understrength Cowboys. If the joint venture club can get everyone on the same page, they will be major threats come play-off time.
10. South Sydney Rabbitohs: For once, the Bunnies came up trumps in a tight contest. The Redfern club battled away all night against archrivals Easts, forcing golden point before Chris Sandow’s miraculous field goal snatched victory.
11. Newcastle Knights: In a worrying tailspin. Last week’s defeat against the understrength Cowboys could be put down to complacency, but Sunday’s loss to Manly was simply a case of the Knights being outclassed and out-enthused. Have to right the ship ASAP or the finals could slip out of reach.
12. Parramatta Eels: Desperately unlucky against the Panthers – only the Eels could give up a six-point lead with one SECOND remaining. The loss all but ended their finals hopes.
13. Sydney Roosters: Were unfortunate against the Rabbitohs after being the better team for most of the match. Their halves combination of Mitchell Pearce and Todd Carney are firing again, which means the Roosters could cause a lot of problems as September nears.
14. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: Would be lower on the list except the teams below them are so bad. Started well against the Warriors but fell in a heap, conceding 36 straight points. Kevin Moore’s resignation at least clears up the club’s short-term future.
15. Canberra Raiders: Blanked at home for the first time in the club’s history by Melbourne. The only positive to come out of Sunday’s historical failure was that no one got hurt.
16: Gold Coast Titans: How bad are these guys? Looked an even-money bet at half-time in their clash with the Broncos, but fell away in the second half. When will the rumblings about John Cartwright’s future begin?
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