Power Rankings: Week 8

1. Roosters (1)

Ladies and gentleman welcome to the Latrell show. Yikes, this kid is good. Three tries, 200+ run metres, two line breaks, five tackle breaks and a try assist. There's a genuine call for his left-side partner Daniel Tupou to return to Origin. Boyd Cordner continued his red hot form. There are no weaknesses in this amazing side. Tupouniua is yet another brilliant find. They were every bit as good as the 42-12 scoreline.

2. Rabbitohs (2)

Message sent! The Bunnies put in their best performance of the season on thumping the hapless Broncos 38-6. Cody Walker is ready if the Origin call comes. Two incredible tries set ANZ stadium alight in the opening 20 minutes. Tom Burgess busted the Broncos up the middle allowing his brother Sam, Cook and co to run riot. Kyle Turner may have found a home at centre. The Bunnies are rolling!

3. Raiders (4)

The Raiders came back from a disappointing round seven loss by putting the Panthers away to the tune of 30 points to 12. Unfortunately, the win looks to have come at a cost but we won't speculate on the severity of the potential injuries here. There was a slight scare late on but the Raiders were very good here. They only had 44% possession but they used it far better than Penrith.

4. Sea Eagles (5)

No Turbo, no DCE, no worries. The Sea Eagles managed to win yet again, their fifth of their past six, with a gutsy 18-10 effort. It was the Reuben Garrick show as he scored all 18 points. Marty Taupau ran for 176 metres and laid the platform for his side. Kane Elgey laid on two tries as the only recognized half for his side for much of the game. The heart in this side is incredible.

5. Storm (2)

The Storm will be seething to have left the Shire sans two points. They simply didn't want it as much as the injury-ravaged Sharks. Finucane and Bromwich aside their forwards were dominated. Reduced to only 43% possession they just couldn't create the chances. A late try put them in a game they probably weren't in for 35 minutes of the second 40.

6. Eels (7)

What a difference a week, and a monster home crowd make. The Eels, despite going 14-0 down early on, romper home in incredible fashion. Sivo scored two incredible tries, continuing his impressive start to the season. Gutherson's try laid down a marker in the second half and proved a sign of what was to come. The five tries to three win was an impressive second straight win at their new home.

7. Sharks (9)

Words cannot do justice to how big this win is for the Sharks. To beat the Storm despite hundreds of thousands of dollars on the sideline should set up their season. A 100% completion rate in the second half combined with some super efforts from Uele, Capewell, Townsend and Dugan saw them home. This was young Flanagan's coming of age. Xerri and Williams hate being tackled. Huge win!

8. Dragons (6)

At 14-0 the Dragons looked in complete control, especially after scoring one of the tries of the season. The marker defence was reserve grade standard and allowed Mahoney and Gutherson to put the Eels back in the game. The Corey Norman injury stunted any ideas of a comeback. Paul Vaughan continues to lead the way. Another 144 metres up the middle. Jordan Pereira recorded an incredible 10 tackle breaks.

9. Tigers (8)

The Tigers have fallen out of the eight both here and on the ladder following a humbling defeat to the Roosters. The 42-12 loss was a reality check as they were unable to control the Roosters' left-hand side. They conceded 2013 metres, over 600 more than they made. Not good. Plenty of second phase play was created through 12 offloads but they lack creativity. Mbye needs to find form and Benji full fitness.

10. Cowboys (12)

Here come the Cowboys? That will be the hope for fans in the great north after a second win in three weeks. The 28-14 win looks more comfortable than it was but job done. Jason Taumalolo is back and firing, I love John Asiata in the halves but Michael Morgan's form is a real worry. Justin O'Neill put his name in the Origin discussion for the first time in a long time. Good win but the bigger test is to come next Sunday in the form of the Bunnies.

11. Knights (15)

Two impressive wins in a row for Knights and this is more like the team we expected to see in 2019. Ponga finished this off with an incredible try but this was a Mitchell Pearce master-class across the Tasman. That Kenny-Dowall try was a thing of beauty. David Klemmer recorded another 207 metres, what a buy. An incredible 91% completion rate enabled the Knights pile on the points. An obvious tactic to take the two when available kept the Warriors at arm's length.

12. Titans (10)

A 65% conversation rate went a long way to deciding this contest. The Titans were again the masters of their own demise with poor handling and decisions. Jai Arrow had another monster game with a Taumalolo-equal effort. Surely we'll see AJ Brimson play 80 minutes next week. Tyrone Peachey is largely going to waste. The talent is there.

13. Warriors (13)

Despite the return of RTS and Blake Green, the Warriors fell well short against the Knights. A first every NRL try to young Patrick Herbert and a double to Maumalo weren't enough to overcome their determined visitors. Kodi Nikorima watched on and will likely debut next week but I'd be hesitant to stunt Harris-Tevita's progress.

14. Bulldogs (12)

The 18-10 loss to Manly has been the storyline of their 2018 to date; brave but ultimately not good enough. Reimis Smith is lightning and scored two tries. Cogger is developing nicely. He's got a clever kicking game but made some crucial errors. Dylan Napa was huge on his return from injury. Okunbor is a weapon outside but is still very raw, especially in defense.

15. Broncos (14)

Forget Anthony Seibold's ridiculous post-match comments, the Broncos were awful. Absolutely played off the park and relegated to spectators at times. The six tries to one hammering has to be a wake-up call. The highly touted Broncos pack were monstered by a much better Souths outfit. McCullough tackled himself silly and looked dangerous in attack but otherwise, this was poor. Payne Haas was solid. Gillett looked well off the pace.

16. Panthers (16)

A late try to James Tamou saved this from looking worse. The Panthers are in dire form and it's hard to see them going on the five or six game win streak they now need to play finals. Cleary and Maloney are playing themselves out of their Origin jumpers. The aforementioned Tamou has been a beast in a below-par pack. The injury to Kikau is heartbreaking.