The second week of consensus power rankings are in (albeit a tad late on my part!) and there is some interesting movement across the board as we rank the sixteen teams across five weightings.
The Outrageous Optimist – sixtiesboy: For rocketing the Eels all the way up to third in his power rankings after the gritty win over the Cowboys.
Storm Warning? –DK Eel: While the rest of the rankers felt the Storm fell within the fringe of the Top 8, DK was hugely impressed with their start to the campaign – placing them in third spot.
Plucked Eagles – Chris: While the Knights enjoyed the dubious honour of a near-consensus ranking at 16th, Chris was alone in installing bitter rivals Manly on the bottom of his rankings.
Please note that these rankings were compiled prior to the start of Round 3 and were in no way influenced by the Thursday and Friday night results.
1 (+3)
After grinding out a win over our boys the Broncos swiftly claimed top spot on the TCT Power Rankings after a clinically disposing of the much hyped New Zealand Warriors. Anthony Milford continues to impress at five-eighth and surely must be kicking himself for the actions that led to a 12-month ban from State of Origin. His loss is the gain of the Broncos though as they will be uncharacteristically strong through the Origin period by the looks of it. A shoulder injury to power-winger Corey Oates will sour the victory somewhat but make no mistake, the Brisbane Broncos are the benchmark in the early rounds of 2016.
2 (+1)
The only real knock you can put on the Rabbitohs is that they haven’t faced stern opposition yet. In spite of that, you can only play what is in front of you and they have certainly done just that, thrashing an out-of-sorts Roosters in Round 1 and then laying the smackdown on the lowly Knights in Round 2. Sam Burgess was imperious in the win over the Novocastrians and is wasting little time in attempting to reclaim his former mantle as the best forward in the game. Bryson Goodwin has been an unlikely star in the backline but there have been few players not picking up the slack for Maguire’s men.
3 (-2)
Weathered an onslaught from Penrith out in the wild west and then stole the victory after the siren rang out. Perhaps a bit over-ranked based on how Penrith led them from start until that final play but good teams always find a way to win and Hasler has a knack of extracting that ugly but effective effort out of his men. Moses Mbye is the man grabbing all the headlines for the Bulldogs and deservedly so after a very bright start to the season but the Dogs look to lack a precise kicking game between he and Reynolds. Their pack still is every bit intimidating as you would expect but they look a bit pedestrian on the edge so if a team can match it with them up the middle they can get somewhat stalled.
4 (+3)
Another big mover in the second week, the Sharks clawed their way up the ladder after humiliating the Dragons in the derby fixture. The 30-2 triumph for the Sharks featured plenty of squandered attacking opportunities as well. Their defence was on point though as they held the Dragons try-less for the full 80min. Chad Townsend and James Maloney look assured in the halves and will get better as the chemistry builds while resurgent fullback Ben Barba made it two strong performances in a row.
5 (-3)
The reigning premiers were ambushed at Pirtek Stadium by a ferocious Parramatta outfit. The defensive intensity of the Eels, who just about took Johnathan Thurston out of the game through their constant (but legal) brutality, stunned the visitors as they struggled to find any semblance of rhythm. Potentially the reverse of the Bulldogs here on our power rankings in the sense that they might be a bit underrated. They will still take plenty to beat up in Townsville and the Round 2 result will undoubtedly have their hackles up.
6 (=)
They got out of jail against the Roosters in the final minutes of the game but as I said with the Bulldogs – good teams will find a way to win. It is still early days for Ricky’s men but there is a bit of grit shining through and early wins can put a surprising amount of wind in the sails. 2017 is still a long way off but the confirmation that Parramatta wrecking ball, Junior Paulo will be joining them for two years will be a boost…even if they are taking out a second mortgage to get him!
7 (+3)
Our boys climb their way into the TCT Top 8 on the back of that resolute performance against the Cowboys. It wasn’t always pretty but we have been far too guilty of losing ugly in the past so you won’t hear anyone from TCT complaining! Kieran Foran made a sound club debut while Corey Norman displayed his continued growth as a player with a brilliant long kicking display that pinned the Cowboys back on most sets. A late try to Jason Taumalolo made the score closer than it seemed and there is little doubt that Brad Arthur would be frustrated that we gave them a sniff of a miracle finish. The Eels will continue to run the early-season gauntlet when they meet the Bulldogs in Round 3 in what could shakeup the rankings quite a bit.
8 (+1)
They gave Manly a late chance but the Tigers made it an unlikely two from two to claim a berth in the top four on the official ladder. James Tedesco is playing outrageous football and will have NSW selectors on notice. Teddy isn’t doing it alone though with Mitchell Moses and Kevin Naiqama playing great hands in the 36-22 win. There are still serious reservations over their defence after giving both the Warriors and Sea-Eagles real looks into the game despite holding big leads but they are a fantastic team to watch it attack.
9 (-4)
The most interesting ‘losers’ on the TCT Power Rankings this week are the Melbourne Storm. They fall four places despite a solid win over the Gold Coast Titans. This is largely due to some eye-catching efforts from other teams in conjunction with the relative volatility of the power rankings over the first few weeks until a baseline for the form of each team is established. The loss of Billy Slater for the season was a massive blow to the Storm prior to kickoff against the Titans. Rising star Cameron Munster was brilliant in replacing him but there is little doubt it weakens their backline as Bellamy would certainly prefer to be fielding both Slater and Munster. Look for them to climb the rankings in the coming weeks though.
10 (+2)
The highest seeded team with zero wins to their name! A rather inglorious title but the Panthers have proven to be solid if very rough around the edges in the first two rounds of action. The loss to the Dogs would have hurt Anthony Griffin and his men. They led the Dogs throughout the game but it would seem the reduction in interchanges caught up with them with boom backrower Bryce Cartwright falling off Moses Mbye for the game-winning try after the hooter. Cartwright will certainly bounce back from the moment of laxness but it doesn’t get much easier for Penrith as they tackle the newly installed #1 team on the TCT Power Ranking in the Brisbane Broncos.
11 (=)
The 34-16 scoreline doesn’t really reflect it but the Titans weren’t all that bad against the Storm. They were billed to be firmly entrenched in a three-way brawl for the spoon (along with the Tigers and Knights) by pundits in the pre-season but they have looked competitive, if raw, in the early exchanges of 2016. No area of their team stands out on paper but they are turning up on the field and with a number of young and inexperienced players in their top 17, they will likely get better as the season goes on.
12 (+2)
From here on out it gets ugly in the power rankings so strap on in. The Warriors climb to the top of the cellar after clinging on to dear life against the Broncos. Most fans would be forgiving of a reasonable loss against the Broncos, who have wasted little time picking up from where they left off in 2015, but the facts are that the Warriors look very, very ordinary on the field. Isaac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck were meant to be the final pieces in one of the most dynamic spines the game has ever seen but they are flat-out getting into first-gear at this stage. They face the Storm in Round 3, a fixture in which they have proven to be something of a bogey team for the Melbourne franchise…so perhaps that will be the jump-start they desperately need.
13 (+2)
Also crawling their way up from the bottom are the Roosters who were narrowly pipped by the Raiders 21-20. Trent Robinson wasted little time canning the Blake Ferguson experiment at fullback, opting to instead play rookie Latrell Mitchell there. The Roosters looked an improved side after their stunning capitulation against the Rabbitohs in Round 1 but the lack of experience in key positions proved costly as none of Hastings, Nikorima or Mitchell could guide their team home in the money minutes.
14 (-6)
Ooof! What a fall from grace for the Dragons. After a gallant defeat against the Storm they were absolutely pummeled by the Sharks and damn well near shut out on the scoreboard. The Kurt Mann experiment has been nothing short of disastrous with the poor bloke turning in an absolute Barry Crocker. Will ‘Mary’ McGregor be just as willing as Trent Robinson to admit his mistake and can the move? A hamstring injury to Josh Dugan will do him no favours and quite possibly result in Mann retaining the custodial duties for the time being. The have plummeted down the rankings as a result and will now face the imposing Rabbitohs.
15 (-2)
The Sea Eagles drop to 15th spot in the rankings after falling to 0-2 with a loss against the Tigers. There are few bright spots for the Northern Beaches club and on a very serious note they could just as well be occupying 16th spot. Very little is going right for rookie coach Trent Barrett; Daly Cherry-Evans is looking lost as the primary half, Dylan Walker looks like, well, a centre playing in the halves (and not in the Jamie Lyon sense!) and his new recruits in the forwards in Nate Myles and Darcy Lussick are either plodding it up in first-grade (Myles) or plodding it up in Intrust Super Premiership (Lussick). Newcomer Matt Parcell is the lone bright spot for the Sea-Eagles, but even he is currently being held back behind Api Koroisau. Improvement needed all over the park for this mob.
16 (=)
Someone has to bring up the rearguard in the rankings and although a few other clubs were worthy of the spot it has fallen to the Knights for the second week running. The Rabbitohs were far too good for them in Round 2 and there wasn’t much positive to take out of the game for the Knights. Much like the Roosters and Dragons, the Knights have experimented at fullback to little success with half-turned-fullback Jaelen Feeney. With Dane Gagai, Sione Mata’utia, Nathan Ross and Jake Mamo all on the books surely there must be a better option in the #1 for the Novocastrians?
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