Big upsets continue ladder chaos: NRL power rankings, Round 6

Round 6 saw the return to form of two premiership favourites, the end of the Brisbane Broncos' undefeated streak and a team conceding half a century of points.

The upsets continued as the Dolphins overcame their highly fancied Queensland neighbours although the Tigers were unable to record their first win of 2023.

As with previous weeks, the power rankings bookends were obvious but from spots two to 16, it's absolute chaos.

Where did your team land after an entertaining Round 6 of rugby league?:

1. Brisbane Broncos (Last Week: 1)
The Broncos hold onto top spot here despite their first loss of 2023. Brisbane will feel this is one that slipped away given the form lines of both sides.

Payne Haas was again borderline unstoppable with over 200 metres. Reece Walsh was brilliant yet again and Selwyn Cobbo crossed for another try. It's hard to name what went wrong.

Kevin Walters will be annoyed with the loss but has otherwise overseen a near flawless start to the season. They face "local" rivals the Titans this weekend which presents an opportunity to quickly return to winning ways.

2. The Dolphins (6)
The Dolphins caused the weekend's biggest boil-over by defeating the Cowboys in Townsville. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow now has at least a try in each of his club's opening six fixtures. He's arguably the form fullback of the competition.

Jamayne Isaako crossed for a hattrick en-route to recording a game high 161 run metres and 20 points. Tom Gilbert won his direct battle with Jason Taumalolo.

Jeremy Marshall-King added another two try assists to his impressive 2023 resume. The Dolphins now sit in fourth spot with four wins in six games. Incredible!

3. Melbourne Storm (7)
The Melbourne Storm simply refuse to fall away. Cameron Munster put forward arguably the individual performance of the season in tearing the Roosters to shreds.

Xavier Coates crossed for a hattrick in the 28-8 win while Nick Meaney continued his rise under Craig Bellamy.

The Storm had a ridiculous 59% possession in the night and completed at 86%. Few teams, if any, can beat the Storm when they're this efficient. Did I mention Cam Munster? Wow!

4. New Zealand Warriors (2)
The Warriors threatened to repeat their heroic comeback exploits from the week prior but ultimately fell short. Shaun Johnson was again in everything.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad's brilliant start to the season has continued. He ran for 245 metres and threatened every time he touched the ball.

Jackson Ford's 71st minute try set up a grandstand finish but the Knights were able to hold them off. Result aside, the Warriors are a different club in 2023 under Andrew Webster.

5. Penrith Panthers (8)
Penrith ran riot on Saturday afternoon. Only their taking the foot off the pedal kept them from running up a score of 50+ over the Sea Eagles.

Dylan Edwards crossed for four tries including a first half hatty. Add him to the list of mega performances over the weekend. Nathan Cleary was magnificent also. They were far from alone.

One through 17 the Panthers were much better than their opponents. Dylan Edwards won his battle with Tom Trbojevic via early stoppage. This could have been way worse for Manly than the 44-12 score line.

6. Sydney Roosters (3)
The Roosters were brought back to Earth with an absolute thud following a 28-8 hammering at the hands of the Storm on Thursday night.

The Chooks 'enjoyed' only 41% of the ball and completed at a horrid 61%. They were reduced to spectators in what turned into the Munster, Grant, Coates and Meaney show.

It's best to look forward for the tri-colours given the cattle returning this Friday evening. They'll want to forget this awful performance quick smart.

7. South Sydney Rabbitohs (9)
Elsewhere hear I reference brilliant individual performances of the likes of Munster, Edwards and Sami but no one quite reached the heights of Latrell Mitchell.

Three tries, seven goals, a game high 191 run metres, two try assists and four tackle breaks makes for a ridiculous stat line. Few, if any, are better when in this kind of mood.

Campbell Graham and Cody Walker would have won Man of the Match honours on any other day. The 50-16 win was a thing of beauty for everyone other than the Bulldogs.

8. Manly Sea Eagles (4)
The less said about this 'effort' the better. Manly were thumped 32-0 in the opening half. Only the mercy of a Panthers side taking their foot off the pedal stopped this from being 50+.

Manly conceded 2,154 metres, whilst only running for 1,222 themselves. Honestly it felt even more lopsided than that.

The performance can best be summed up by Brad Parker's hilarious attempt to deal with a kick by volleying it into the hemisphere. Awful, awful stuff by a club capable of much better.

9. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (5)
The Dogs season unofficially ended after conceding the dreaded 50 points on 'Good' Friday. They stood and watched the red hot Bunnies run up a cricket score.

Josh Addo Carr's day ended after just ten minutes and will miss over a month of action. Jacob Preston was sin binned for a 'hip drop' tackle which didn't warrant a charge.

The Dogs are missing some serious cattle in the middle and were belted up the middle here at will. They won't play worse than this in 2023.

10. Gold Coast Titans (11)
The Titans overcame the absence of both Kieran Foran and AJ Brimson to beat the Dragons on Sunday afternoon. Toby Sexton was the hero but he was far from the only star on the day.

Phillip Sami was among the best performers of the weekend. He ran for 275 metres, made three line breaks and made a ridiculous 14 tackle breaks. Brilliant stuff.

This was a huge win by the under manned Titans.

11. Newcastle Knights (12)
Newcastle deserve to rise further here but fell victim to other results. They were absolutely magnificent and super entertaining in their win over the high flying Warriors.

Lachlan Miller was involved in almost every try, both scored and conceded. Greg Marzhew continued to star on his return to First Grade.

Jayden Brailey's season is over after suffering an ACL injury, which was a huge downer on an otherwise near perfect evening in the Hunter.

12. Cronulla Sharks (10)
The Sharks fall here despite having the bye due to my having to stew on that horror loss last weekend against the Warriors.

The club lost Dale Finnucane for three weeks and Toby Rudolf for up to three months. Their depth in the engine room is sure to be tested this Friday against the best pack in the game.

Sharks fans will hope that the squad spent their bye week working on their defence.

13. St George Illawarra Dragons (13)
The Dragons all but ended the tenure of their coach Anthony Griffin by surrendering victory in the final moments of their Round Six clash with the Titans.

Ben Hunt was again in everything for the Red V. Unfortunately he missed the crucial tackle but without him the Dragons aren't even in this game.

Mikaele Ravalawa was in beast mode with 171 metres and a try. The Dragons won almost every statistical battle here except the one that counts; the score line.

14. Parramatta Eels (15)
The Eels finally recorded their second win of the season with a hard fought victory over the Tigers. Mitch Moses had four try assists and landed the match winning conversion in a wonderful performance.

Shaun Lane returned from his pre-season facial injury and looked solid, if not spectacular. Ryan Matterson bossed the middle and now looks back to his best.

This was hardly a vintage performance from the Eels but the win was all that mattered here.

15. Canberra Raiders (16)
The Raiders needed a win in the worst way and ended up causing a massive upset in Brisbane. Club legend Jarrod Croker returned to the top grade and helped guide his side to victory.

Jordan Rapana was absolutely magnificent, crossing for a double and pestering everyone close to him. Unfortunately he left the field due to a horror head knock and will miss the Raiders next matchup.

Sebastian Kris continues to wrack up the run metres while Corey Horsburgh's form is putting him in the discussion for an Origin spot. Ricky Stuart can rest easy this week following the much needed win.

16. North Queensland Cowboys (14)
The Cowboys less than stellar start to the season continued with a home loss to the Dolphins. They were forced to play catch-up all night after conceding two early tries and never looked like winning.

Kyle Feldt did his part, crossing for a double while Valentine Holmes did everything within his power to drag his side to victory.

Sitting in 15th spot, I don't think anyone predicted the slow start to 2022's surprise packet. Todd Peyton deserved his Coach of the Year honours last year but has a huge task on his hand already for 2023.

17. Wests Tigers (17)
The Tigers were oh so brave on Monday afternoon but ultimately fell short against their Western Sydney rivals the Eels. Adam Doueihi's season is over due to a horror ACL.

Junior Tupou gave Tigers fans something to get excited about with another massive performance. Charlie Staines made a crucial error but overall played extremely well.

I honestly don't know where the club's first win comes from. Doueihi's injury overshadows anything positive that came for the club on the day.