Round 5 of the 2015 NRL season is completed and the updated Power Rankings are in! Who has been the most surprising and who has been the most disappointing so far?
For those who didn’t see Friday Night, the Bunnies were comprehensively outplayed, yet still managed to win a heated Grand Final rematch. Lucky, or a sign of a great side? I lean toward the latter, as the premiers found a way to win. They’ll be without superstar halfback Adam Reynolds for anywhere from weeks to months, so their biggest test will come. John Sutton returns, allowing young Keary to move to halfback, while Issac Luke’s importance will rise in terms of playmaking. I don’t buy into the ‘two team race’ concept, but the Bunnies look the goods.
Has the bubble burst in the Hunter following their shock loss to the Dragons? No, but it is a worrying sign that they had a mountain of chances, but couldn’t trouble the scorers. Jarrod Mullen’s influence is well down, although there are reports he is carrying a slight injury. Beau Scott will miss the next two weeks, allowing Chris Houston, Tariq Sims and Jeremy Smith to step up in his absence. I wouldn’t look too much into the loss over the weekend, it’s all about the Knights reply this Friday Night against the Sharks.
Their victory over the Titans wrapped up a four straight win for the Broncos and has them sitting pretty. Most sides who have a positive win/loss record at this stage have done so on the back of a player or two who are in red hot form, however the Broncos are doing it as a team. Their big men are making metres, their outside backs are scoring tries, and their halfbacks are creating. It’s extremely simple, but even more effective. That being said, Milford’s signature looks like it’ll live up to the hype, and it looks as though Darius Boyd may not be too far off. Good signs in Brisbane.
Although most of the post-match centred on the way the game ended, the Dogs will be disappointed that they could not put this result to bed. They had the better of the game for the majority and had more opportunities than a side this good should need to ice the points. Instead of celebrating a well-earned victory over the Premiers, they’re looking at a month without their influential captain, their best young forward, and at least a few months without their star fullback. It’s hardly doom and gloom at Belmore, however they definitely need more from their NSW representative halves.
Pat Richards turned in one of the best fifteen minute spells you’ll ever see in the Tigers win over the Eels on Easter Monday. The win came on the back of a huge effort from the Tigers big men in Woods and Galloway, who are arguably in the top three of four prop partnerships so far in 2015. Robbie Farah continues to rack up amazing stats, despite his sickening head knock, while Brooks continues to improve. As with every young side there will be ups and downs in the Tigers season, but right now they three wins and two losses with a winnable game against the Warriors coming up.
Simply put, aside from a thirty second period, the Roosters were never in the game against the struggling Sharks on Sunday afternoon. Their big men, and it must be said they were sans JWH for the clash, were thoroughly dominated, and both halves were well below par. RTS tho had an absolute blinder and almost single handidly lead his side to a victory they did not deserve. One loss is not going to end the Roosters season, however mentally they didn’t turn up to a game that only the margin of victory needed to be decided. Nene McDonald looks like yet another find from the seemingly endless supply of youngsters at Bondi.
The Storm sent a message in their big victory over the Warriors on Monday. They were below their best, yet still more than good enough to put a fancied side away. Blake Green may be the buy of the year such has been the form he has shown in the early rounds. Cooper Cronk looks a step off the pace but showed signs in this clash. Koroibete is on an absolute tear right now and may be the form winger of the competition. They travel to the nation’s capital this weekend to play the Raiders in what should be an exciting game, very confident of victory.
The Dragons now have three straight victories, but this weekend’s victory over the ladder leading Knights was by far their best. To hold a side to nil in 2015 is incredibly difficult, let alone a side who dominated the game in terms of both possession and field position. Josh Dugan is putting his name into Origin contention with strong performances, despite carrying a knock. Their outside backs in Nabuli and Aitken are excitement machines, and are turning it on. Marshall and Widdop are guiding their side around the park on the back of huge metres from Trent Merrin and Mike Cooper.
They may be missing their attacking lynchpin in Jamie Soward, but a third straight loss will be of huge concern to both fans and officials. They were a step behind the visiting Cowboys on Monday Night, when you would have expected the Panthers to come out firing after back-to-back losses. Josh Mansour and Peter Wallace have had slow starts to the season, while Matt Moylan turned in a game containing both highlights and lowlights. The Panthers big men are posting big stats but they’re not creating enough space for their backs. A huge game at home to the struggling Sea Eagles awaits. Elijah Taylor deserves a pat on the back for his 77 tackles.
The Raiders recorded a brilliant victory over the Sea Eagles in Albury on the back of a monster effort from Shaun Fensom and Jarrad Kennedy. Sisa Waqa and Josh Hodgson are right up there in terms of bargain buys for 2015, after both putting in yet another solid performance. Jarrod Crocker has spent the off season working on his tackling technique and has looked great in defence after spending most of 2014 turning and chasing miss tackles. Blake Austin is every bit the player the Raiders hope they had signed in the off-season. They host the Storm and on the back of their last performance would hold no fear.
The Eels offered very little in attack on Easter Monday. Their only try came from a dummy half play from a metre out. For a side containing the likes of Sandow and Hopoate that is worrying. They host the Titans this Saturday and should be confident of getting their season back on track. They welcome back Reece Robinson this weekend which will free up Mau to return to the back row. Unfortunately they have not found the consistency many had hoped this season, although their forwards are making plenty of metres, which should create a mile of space for Sandow to take on the Titans. Probably sit about where most fans had them, although fans would have expected better against the Tigers.
The Cowboys look like they have awoken, and as expected, it’s all on the back of their superstar number seven. Thurston has turned in two man of the match performances in a row and is looking to make it a trifecta against the Bunnies. This Monday Night will show exactly where they’re at. Matt Scott is an absolute machine up front while Tamou had his best game in recent memory. I hope Lachlan Coote manages to avoid injury as he is looking like the footballer he promised early in his career. Ethan Lowe and Gavin Cooper are absolute workhorses.
The Warriors have done nothing in 2015 to rid themselves of the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde side. The Warriors starting props made a mountain of metres, and Mannering tackled himself to exhaustion again. Shaun Johnson just hasn’t found the form that saw him dominate parts of 2014. Chad Townsend is comfortably outplaying him right now. Konrad Hurrell had a nightmare return to the NRL but fans will be hoping he is better for the run. The Warriors need to turn their form around quickly or face fading away. Sam Tomkins is rumoured to have worked out a deal to return to England. Not a great start to the season across the Tasman.
Something I haven’t typed for a while, the Sharks have won an NRL match. They dominated the premiership favourites for 75 minutes on the back of brilliant efforts from youngsters Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes. The only time they conceded points was when both Paul Gallen and Michael Ennis were forced off through injury. The Sharks can take a lot out of a season starting win and will look to make it two in a row against the Knights. There wasn’t a bad player for the Sharks this weekend. Ben Barba returns via the bench and may struggle to find his way back into the side. I named Valentine Holmes as the most exciting youngster in the game in the pre-season, and can’t believe it has taken this long for him to earn the number one role.
The Titans couldn’t follow up their win over the Sharks in Friday Night’s local derby. The Titans weren’t all that bad on Friday Night, but they weren’t all that good either. They need more from their stars in Bird, Myles and Taylor, if their season is going to be salvaged. Sezer is obviously feeling the pressure as he has not set the world on fire, while young Elgey continues to learn his trade. Josh Hoffman has shown some signs, and looks prime for a big game. Ryan James has been an absolute monster up front.
Manly now sit rock bottom of the NRL tackle, somewhere I honestly didn’t see them at any time during the season. Simply put, they are missing Watmough and Stewart, as their current crop of forwards just aren’t winning the battle. They should welcome back their all-star centres in the next fortnight, and both DCE and Foran have shown signs, so I don’t expect them to sit in the bottom few for too long. Young gun Tom Trbojevic couldn’t have done more in his debut, scoring two tries and handling the high ball with extreme confidence. Rumours of unrest between players and coach continue, and until they start putting some wins together, those rumours will not go away.