NRL Power Rankings Round One

Another new segment here at OTLS NRL, with the power rankings revealed each and every week on Tuesdays. Rather than ranking teams as the ladder stands, the OTLS NRL Power Ranking will take into account current form, potential, injuries and who we think would be the hardest to beat the next week.

 

1st Cowboys

The Cowboys were made to work for the win and were pushed to the limit, however the composure of their more senior players got them over the line (as well as a finish that could be only thought up in a hollywood studio). The departures of Hannant and Tamou weren’t felt at all with Scott and Taumalolo somehow stepping up even more, leading the forward pack as the Cowboys gained a whopping 1850 metres in the match. The Cowboys head down to Brisbane to play the Broncos on Friday night to enter another chapter into the epic rivalry they share.

   

2nd Raiders

Despite opening the season with a loss, the Raiders are placed second in our power rankings. Embarking on one of the toughest road trips in the NRL, without their captain Jarrod Croker or their first choice fullback Jack Wighton, it still took a freakish try in golden point to beat the Raiders. While unlucky not to win, they shot themselves in the foot with poor discipline and handling errors which gave them only 41% of the ball. They head back to Canberra to face defending premiers, the Sharks on Saturday night which should be another fiery clash.

3rd Roosters

The Roosters tore the Titans apart in the first half as Luke Keary and Mitchell Pearce looked as if they had played together for years. Took a back seat in the second half and despite being outscored 18-4, never looked like losing. Sydney’s back five were brilliant all night and will be hard to contain for the rest of the season, Latrell Mitchell dominant in his new position at centre scoring 3 tries. They play the Bulldogs next on Thursday night in what should be another game to show off more of their new attacking talents.   

4th Broncos

The Broncos opened the season for the third time in as many years, with a victory over the Sharks. Anthony Milford was sensational, scoring what would be the match winning try and snuffing out any bit of late momentum the Sharks had. Darius Boyd showed no signs of being weighed down by the captaincy as he set up two tries and Josh McGuire was an adequate replacement for the huge hole left by Corey Parker’s retirement. The Broncos head back home to play the Cowboys on Friday night and will be wanting to exact revenge for their finals exit last season.   

5th Storm

Melbourne were literally in their element as the rain bucketed down at Belmore on friday night, the Storm scoring two quick tries in the opening seven minutes and managed to defend that lead for the next seventy with their trade mark defence. Losing Kevin Proctor to the Titans and Tohu Harris to a 10 week injury was already bad enough for the Storm however Jesse Bromwich’s broken thumb might just be the tipping point. Melbourne head over the Tasman to the play the Warriors on Friday night at what looms as a danger game for the Storm.  

6th Eels

Corey Norman and the Eels were brilliant against the Sea Eagles and if not for Manly’s stubborn defence, could have won by more. The Eels forced seven goal line drop outs including four in a row that handed the Eels possession for an uninterrupted 13 minutes. Norman’s halves pairing Clint Gutherson was just as good in his role, slotting 4 goals from 5 attempts and looks set to continue his dangerous combination with Norman. Parramatta play the Dragons on Sunday afternoon and have a great opportunity to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 1999.   

7th Sharks

Cronulla’s premiership defence is off to an underwhelming start, as the loss of Ennis and Barba were clearly evident. While Jayden Brailey and Gerard Beale did a fine a job in their roles, the Sharks missed Ennis’ direction and Barba’s spark. Brailey’s debut was promising and should get better with more games under his belt and Valentine Holmes will boost Cronulla with his return next week. The Sharks face a tough task as they head to Canberra on Saturday night to take on the Raiders and the Viking Clap.    

8th Warriors

The Warriors have started the season with an unconvincing win over the Knights, needing to come back from behind twice before they could claim their first round one victory since 2009. Despite a slow start, the Warriors showed how good they can be, producing a stunning 13 minute patch before half-time that resulted in David Fusitu’a scoring a hat-trick. New Zealand will sweat on the news of Isaac Luke and Simon Mannerings injuries, their absences would be detrimental to the side. The Warriors stay at home and will take on a depleted Melbourne Storm on Friday night.    

9th Tigers

Wests Tigers showed what they can do when they are given free reign, the big four (Tedesco, Brooks, Moses & Woods) ran riot against a Souths team that was desperately trying to recover from two injuries to their backline. David Nofoaluma was excellent with 6 offloads, 205 metres and 13 tackle breaks while opposite winger Moses Suli had a promising debut. The challenge for the Tigers now is to keep up that standard of play on a consistent basis. The Tigers will get to test that consistency against a desperate Penrith team on Sunday afternoon at Campbelltown.

10th Dragons

Shocked the Panthers and the NRL with a big win despite a horrible outing against the Souths only two weeks beforehand. The Dragons forwards had a huge day, all of their starters gained at least 100 metres as they combined for a round high 1981 metres. Any worries fans had about the Dragons attack were short lived, who even though made 13 errors, still used the ball wisely when in the attacking 20m zone. Dragons head down to Wollongong on Sunday afternoon to take on the Eels.   

11th Panthers

Heavily fancied, the Panthers dropped the ball big time in their loss to the Dragons(both figuratively and literally). Penrith committed a massive 14 errors with a lowly completion rate of 59 percent that robbed them any chance of building pressure, their defence wasn’t any better as the Panthers missed a whopping 47 tackles and conceded 6 line breaks. While the conditions didn’t promote great skills and you could chalk it up to round one nerves, Penrith will be eager to leave the loss forgotten in the past when they take on the Tigers on Sunday afternoon.

12th Sea Eagles

The Sea Eagles did surprisingly well considering the mountain of defence they had to do on their own line but with the little possession they did have, they weren’t as impressive. Manly only had a completion rate of 69% and made 10 errors, so as much as Parramatta’s consecutive dropouts starved them of the ball, they didn’t help themselves with silly turnovers. Martin Taupau’s two week suspension is another in a string of unnecessary enforced absences that is holding him and the Sea Eagles back. Manly are back at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon to take on an injury ravaged South Sydney outfit.  

13th Bulldogs

The Bulldogs struggled to break through the Melbourne Storm defence and their attacking game doesn’t look to have improved at all since last season. While the intense rain would have no doubt undermined any of the attacking potential the Bulldogs have, they seemed to wait for someone else to create something rather than make a play themselves. Canterbury head to Allianz on Thursday night to take on the Roosters in what should be much better weather and we’ll see what the Bulldogs are really made of.

14th Titans

The Titans looked exactly like a team that had hardly played together, particularly in their first half against the Roosters. Their attacking style looked sluggish while their defence lacked any cohesion though they both did get gradually better as the game wore on. Gold Coast will sweat on the news of Kevin Proctors injured shoulder that made him miss the entire second half, with Peats and Paasi already out the Titans forward pack will be quite light. The Titans will head down to Newcastle to take on the Knights Saturday afternoon in what will be a must win game for them.     

15th Knights

Newcastle surprised everybody and gave the Warriors a big scare with a much more competitive showing than what we’ve been accustomed to however they eventually succumbed to their 19th loss in a row. Though the Knights showed some great signs for the future, they still made costly errors that lead to the Warriors scoring and they also failed to halt the momentum that let the Warriors score 20 points in 13 minutes. The Knights head back home to take on the Titans early Saturday afternoon and have a real chance of winning their first game in 335 days.

 

16th Rabbitohs

The Souths season was off to a great start for the opening 5 minutes, scoring a try and leading the match until disaster struck. Greg Inglis twisted his knee while attempting to tackle James Tedesco and despite Inglis staying on for another hour, all momentum shifted to the Tigers, Hymel Hunt also failed a concussion test in the 20th minute that reduced the souths to virtually 15 players. With Inglis out for the remainder of the season and Halfback Adam Reynolds still missing for another 3 weeks, the Souths season is looking very bleak. The Rabbitohs head to Lottoland to face Manly on Saturday afternoon and will need to play better much than they did against the Tigers.  

 

Written By Mitchell McGuinness

 

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