- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
The Knights don’t have a roster to be in the top four but they should not be one of the worst teams in the NRL.
And at the moment they are the least reliable team of 17, as evidenced by their meltdown to lose from being 20-0 up against the side that previously had the unwanted title of the competition’s softest underbelly.
They haven’t had the usual excuse of Kalyn Ponga being sidelined to explain away their 3-6 record.
Penrith are the more obvious biggest under-achievers of 2025 and it all boils down to their tepid defence – they coughed up 12-point leads twice up north against the Cowboys on Saturday night.
Grand final hangovers, Vegas travel and salary cap player exits can no longer be used as reasons for their sluggishness – at some point you are what you are and this year the almighty Penrith juggernaut now looks nothing more than just a fringe finals team.
Here’s how the teams stack up after Round 10.
1. Bulldogs (Last week 2): With Stephen Crichton leading from the front despite being out wide at centre (try explaining the logistics of that sentence to a non rugby league follower), Canterbury are never out of the contest even when they are down by 20.
He is emerging as a prime contender to go back-to-back in Dally M Captain of the Year awards.
2. Storm (3): They embarrassed the Tigers on Sunday. It was the fourth time this year that Melbourne have romped to at least a 34-point margin by half-time in just their sixth appearance at AAMI Park.
That is phenomenal. And the Tigers paid the price of Melbourne coughing leads to Canberra and the Dolphins in recent weeks with Craig Bellamy’s team showing no mercy in the second half to absolutely obliterating them to make it a 64-point humiliation.
3. Raiders (1): They said it wouldn’t last. And they were right. After a one-week flirtation with top spot in the Power Rankings, the Green Machine appeared to be confirming that lofty status with their first-half demolition of competition leaders Canterbury on Saturday.
Alas, the old Faders re-emerged as they conceded a 32-point avalanche in the closing 40 minutes.
4. Warriors (4): They started like a house on fire in Wollongong but after going up by 14 they came back to St George Illawarra’s level.
Luke Metcalf wisely potted a field goal with the scores level and just over 10 minutes to go. A few other NRL playmakers in recent weeks should have used this forward-thinking attitude.
It’s a fallacy that you can break a deadlock too early with a field goal. Going in front is never a bad thing.
Ronaldo Mulitalo Sharks celebrates scoring a try. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
5. Sharks (5): Sunday’s win over Manly was exactly what Craig Fitzgibbon wanted to see. A clinical exhibition from start to finish even despite a 14-point Manly flurry early in the second stanza.
That result now gives Cronulla four wins from their past five matches with their only defeat coming in controversial circumstances in extra time against the Tigers a fortnight ago.
6. Roosters (10): They get a big bump up the charts in their bye week to officially claim best of the rest status because everyone else in the mid-table logjam is treading water or sinking.
With Sam Walker hoping to return in a month, they are emerging as one of the more likely dark horses from the mid-table logjam of teams.
7. Broncos (6): Michael Maguire has known all season that his team hasn’t quite clicked into top gear despite a few impressive wins here and there over the Bulldogs, Roosters and Cowboys.
For the most part they have been clunky and with Ben Hunt out for a month their spine is going to be adjusted yet again headed into Sunday’s stoush with St George Illawarra.
8. Panthers (9): When the Penrith teams of the past four years would lead 18-6 the scoreline would usually end up something to the tune of 34-10.
And if they were up 30-18 with less than 10 minutes left like they were last Saturday at QCB Stadium against the Cowboys, they were the masters of slowing the tempo down, controlling field position and ensuring the two points remained in their grasp.
But their edge defence, particularly in the centres, has been a continuous problem. And with three wins from 10 starts the Panthers are now looking like a 50-50 bet at best just to make the top eight.
8. Cowboys (11): It’s hard to put them above or below Penrith considering they just played out a 90-minute draw with each other.
They showed plenty of fight to twice come back from 12-point deficits but after losing by four the previous week to the Warriors and botching a couple of match-winning field goal attempts against the premiers, those missed three competition points could mean the difference between a playoff berth or a top-four spot in the final wash-up.
10. Sea Eagles (8): Start taking down the imaginary fortress signs at Brookvale – Sunday’s loss to Cronulla was their third straight loss at home after going down to the Dragons and Melbourne in recent weeks.
They would be the bronze medallists behind Newcastle and Penrith for disappointing outfits this season – they have a stacked line-up but can’t stack up any consistently good form.
11. Tigers (7): One of the many glaring issues for Benji Marshall’s team from their Storm shellacking was their reluctance to put their body on the line to dive on loose balls and you cannot do that against the relentless Melbourne machine.
Tiger Town was never going to be rebuilt in a day and after impressive wins over the Sharks and Dragons, they got a very stark reality check.
12. Dolphins (12): They stay in 12th after coming from behind to run down the Eels.
It was hardly a tour de force but it keeps them away from the bottom of the ladder and with a 4-6 record they are bobbing along at the bottom of the second tier of teams in the playoff race.
Latrell Mitchell is tackled. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
13. Rabbitohs (16): They had every right to turn up their toes when they went down by 14 against the Broncos and the rain started to fall at Accor Stadium on Friday night.
But the heavily depleted Bunnies refused to yield and when the game is on the line Latrell Mitchell is one of the NRL’s most valuable players if you need a big play to get you over the hump – his ice-cool 48m field goal was straight from the top shelf.
14. Dragons (13): They are muddling along and pretty much always getting down and dirty in the contest.
But with a rookie halfback and a few players who are probably just hanging on to their NRL careers, Shane Flanagan still needs to do plenty of roster rebuilding to make them a serious playoff contender.
15. Eels (15): They keep their noses (do Eels have noses or just nostrils?) in front of the Titans mainly due to their efforts in the previous three or four matches.
They didn’t ever get out of second or third gear against the Dolphins and if Mitchell Moses is contained then Parra don’t have too many other creative sparks to generate points.
16. Titans (17): A pulse. They’re alive. Des Hasler’s mission to salvage what could be the final go round of his illustrious coaching career is off life support.
They’re a long way from being a healthy specimen just yet and after dropping David Fafita recently Hasler needs to keep putting his faith in lesser-known players who will have a go rather than selecting his team on reputations.
17. Knights (14): After one week of brilliance in belting the Bunnies, normal transmission resumed for Newcastle – they looked fine as they raced to a 20-0 lead then played like reserve-graders.
Their second-half performance was lacking both polish in their execution and anything resembling effort in their application. It’s too early for a SpoonBowl but it’s a vital match this Friday for them against Parramatta in Newcastle.