1. Penrith Panthers

A last second win in the grand final rematch against the Storm on Thursday reinforced the Panthers number 1 spot in the power rankings. It was great to see many players like Kurt Capewell and Villiame Kikau stand up in the absence of star halfback Nathan Cleary. If the Panthers can manage to stay healthy it is hard to see anyone getting in their way.

2. Parramatta Eels

Another convincing win against the Sharks leaves the Eels as the only other undefeated team along with the Panthers. Another dominant performance by the Eels forward pack led by Paulo and Campbell-Gillard helped the Eels get over the line. The eels were able to score 28 points without Moses who copped a head knock early in the game which is a very promising sign for the Eels who look to make a run this year.

3. Melbourne Storm

It is not often that the Storm lose two games straight and it took the Eels and the Panthers to take them down. You could see the Storm’s attack struggle without Ryan Papenhuyzen (return round 4) and Harry Grant (return round 5-6). . You can never rule Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm out and I expect them to bounce back strong against a week Broncos side on Friday night.

4. South Sydney Rabbitohs

What a win. The Rabbitohs turned up to play in the highly anticipated local derby against the Rooster, bagging a 26-16 win. Cody Walker is continuing to show his dominance as well as Latrell Mitchell showing big strides of improvement. From the start of the year many people were backing the Souths as the premiership favorite. If they can keep playing this great style of attacking footy I can see them beating anyone.

5. Sydney Roosters

Yikes. Trent Robinson has confirmed that Luke Keary has torn his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. This is a huge blow for the Roosters who were operating off the back of Keary with there other halve Lachlan Lam also going down injured. Exciting young gun Sam Walker is expected to make his debut this weekend and will play in the halves alongside Drew Hutchinson. Although the Roosters still have plenty of talented players it will be interesting to see how they play in the next few weeks

6. Canberra Raiders

Another injury hit team on the weekend, they put up a gutsy effort against the Warriors but lacked the execution to get them home. Despite this loss I still believe that on their day the Raiders can be a top 4 team and that the 2021 Green Machine are as resilient and tough as previous years. The Raiders face a very important match this weekend against the young and talented Titans which will be sure to put them to the test.

7. Gold Coast Titans

The Titans really needed that win, and to get it in that fashion was even better with a dominant 44-8 win over the Cowboys. For the second straight week the Titans beat up on their fellow Queensland rivals and stamped their authority as the best team in the state. It was great to see the likes of David Fifita, AJ Brimson and Tyrone Peachey really stand up and help put a lot of points on the board. This weeks match against the Raiders will be a must watch.

8. Newcastle Knights

A very disappointing loss for the Knights in Mitchell Pearce’s 300th game, slumping to a 24-20 loss against the West Tigers. They shouldn’t let this loss dishearten them too much though as there were still plenty of promising signs in this game from players like Tex Hoy, Connor Watson and Jayden Brailey. If the Newcastle pack can keep dominating I think they will be hard to beat, especially with the expected return of star fullback Kalyn Ponga in the coming weeks.

9. New Zealand Warriors

Everyone has to love the Warriors. They have started the season 2-1 after a very gritty win over an injury hit Raiders side on Saturday afternoon. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck started to show flashes of Dally M RTS having an amazing game along with Kodi Nikorima. If the Warriors can keep disciplined with the ball and play some good tough defense I would definitely not be surprised if they knock off the Roosters on Easter Sunday.

10. St George Illawara Dragons

The Dragons got the pleasure of versing two below par teams in a row in the Cowboys and Sea Eagles. Although I don’t want to get ahead of myself, the Dragons showed some signs during these games which made them look like they could beat some higher level teams this year. On the back of Matt Dufty, Zac Lomax and the halves it will be interesting to see how they go against some higher level of competition.

11. Cronulla Sharks

To be fair the Sharks were very unlucky injury-wise and were force to play with no one on the bench for the entirety of the second half. Despite losing Wade Graham, Will Kennedy and Briton Nikora to concussions and Sione Katoa to a leg injury I still don’t believe the Sharks are going to be a winning team in 2021. It will be interesting to see them come round 8 or 9 when they get Shaun Johnson back. But for now they are lacking a spark and I can’t see them winning many matches.

12. West Tigers

A must needed win for the West Tigers against the Knights with some promising signs from the likes of Adam Douehi, Daine Laurie and Luke Brooks but I’m still not convinced that the Tigers are going to win many games this year. Watching them play they seem to be a bit flat, but maybe they are just lacking a couple of wins which could put them on a winning tear.

13. Brisbane Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos got a must needed win on the weekend against the Bulldogs, their first in 256 days. After leading 2-0 at halftime they finished the game beating the Bulldogs 24-0 with some big performances from Jamayne Isaako, Xavier Coates and Tevita Pangai Jr. Tom Dearden also showed why he should be the starting halfback for the Broncos going forward. Despite this the Broncos are going to struggle with the hardest draw for the next month, won’t be surprised if they go 0-4.

14, 15, 16. Many Sea Eagles, Canterbury Bulldogs and North Queensland Cowboys

I just had to create a bottom tier where I joined these three teams together. None of these teams deserve to be below each other and definitely don’t deserve to be above each other. These are the only 3 teams who haven’t managed to win a game yet and it is clear why. All three teams lack any ignition and determination to win. Manly and North Queensland will be boosted by returning stars in Tom Trbojevic and Michael Morgan respectively but I still don’t see any of these teams doing too well this year.