After a couple of weeks in second position, the One NZ Warriors have fallen outside of the top four in SENZ's NRL power rankings after their draw against Manly in Round 6, followed by last round's demolition at the hands of the Dragons.
Along with the Sharks leaping into the top four, the Dolphins and Bulldogs have cracked the eight in the biggest shakeup of the rankings to date this NRL season.
The SENZ League team of play-by-play caller Sam Hewat, plus experts Blake Ayshford and Anthony Gelling, have done the math following Round 7.
Here's how they saw each matchup:
Storm def. Roosters 18-12
The Storm are going to have to find a way to win games without needing a try in the last ten minutes! Their five wins so far this season have been by margins of just eight, four, two, two, and six.
Still, the fact they’re getting it done will keep Craig Bellamy a lot happier than if they were losing - they’ve also had one of the toughest draws to start the season.
For the Roosters, despite being minor premier favourites, they just can’t find their rhythm in 2024.
Blake Ayshford: Storm (1) Roosters (0)
Anthony Gelling: Storm (2) Roosters (1)
Sam Hewat: Storm (2) Roosters (1)
Dragons def. Warriors 30-12
Look away Warriors fans!
Last Friday night dished up arguably the worst Warriors performance of the last two years, going down to a cellar-dwelling Dragons team in convincing fashion.
Make no mistake, the Dragons were near-perfect and perhaps convinced a few that the pre-season wooden-spoon prediction was well off, with Zac Lomax stealing the show.
The Warriors were heavily down on troops but most of them won’t return for a few rounds, so the question is whether or not this was a one-off, or perhaps a sign of things to come?
Blake Ayshford: Dragons (2) Warriors (0)
Anthony Gelling: Dragons (3) Warriors (0)
Sam Hewat: Dragons (3) Warriors (0)
Dolphins def. Eels 44-16
Under sweltering heat in Darwin, where every player looked like they were caked in coconut oil, it was the Eels game to lose at halftime, up eight points to six.
But lose they did! To a Dolphins side missing five key players and their coach (who was struck down with illness). So bad were the Dolphins woes, they needed an NRL exemption to play young Trai Fuller at fullback, who wasn’t even part of the side’s top 30 roster.
They had just three more sets than the Eels across the 80 minutes, but they made Paramatta pay for a poor defensive attitude.
Blake Ayshford: Dolphins (2) Eels (0)
Anthony Gelling: Dolphins (3) Eels (0)
Sam Hewat: Dolphins (3) Eels (0)
Panthers def. Tigers 22-6
The Tigers caused the upset of the competition last year when they took down the Panthers in Round 9 to break a twelve-game losing streak, and Penrith fans were weary of the history as they met in Bathurst on Saturday.
The Tigers made them work for it, and a controversial no sin-bin call on what would have been a certain try for Justin Olam, definitely changed the dynamic of the game.
Penrith went about their work completing at 86% and forced the Tigers to pay when they made errors. It wasn’t quite a “beat them by 70” Panthers performance, but Penrith just know how to win.
Blake Ayshford: Panthers (1) Tigers (0)
Anthony Gelling: Panthers (2) Tigers (0)
Sam Hewat: Panthers (2) Tigers (0)
Sea Eagles def. Titans 34-30
There were many who tipped an upset for the Titans over the Sea Eagles up on the Gold Coast Saturday night, but it wasn’t to be.
Although the Titans get closer and closer to their first win with every game, they just can’t seem to turn off the leak of points they consistently allow. The encouraging sign is that they are getting more and more points themselves, and the move of AJ Brimson back to fullback seems to have sparked some attack through the middle.
For Manly, they’re not quite looking like a Premiership team just yet, and the two losses to the Eels and Dragons are a real blip on an otherwise ripping start to 2024, but this team should definitely be taken seriously as we move towards the halfway point of the season.
Blake Ayshford: Sea Eagles (1) Titans (0)
Anthony Gelling: Sea Eagles (2) Titans (1)
Sam Hewat: Sea Eagles (2) Titans (1)
Broncos def. Raiders 34-10
Poor old Chevy Stewart. The rookie fullback for Canberra was put squarely in the firing line at Suncorp on Saturday, with Brisbane scoring three quick tries off the youngster's mistakes.
To his credit, he bounced back well in the second half, but the real problem for Canberra was losing star half Jamal Fogarty who went off with a bicep injury that is now ruling him out for months.
Would Canberra have won with Fogarty on the field? Probably not. But more concerning is where that leaves Canberra now. They were exceeding expectations to start 2024 but losing a player as key as Fogarty might just send them tumbling down.
For Brisbane, once again they put away a difficult opposition without Payne Haas and Adam Reynolds in the team. This Broncos outfit is only going to get stronger as the season moves on and should rightfully be considered a true Premiership contender.
Blake Ayshford: Broncos (2) Raiders (0)
Anthony Gelling: Broncos (2) Raiders (0)
Sam Hewat: Broncos (2) Raiders (0)
Bulldogs def. Knights 36-12
Credit to the Bulldogs, whose performance against the Knights on Sunday is the type of performance many were expecting from them week-in-week-out in 2024. If that would be the case, they would be a top eight side every day of the week.
Unfortunately, it’s the inconsistency of the team that is really stopping them this year, particularly against teams above them on the ladder.
For Newcastle, it’s as simple as this: without Kalyn Ponga, they lose.
The fullback was injured halfway through the game and did not return. We’re now hearing he’s out for months with a foot injury. It’s a bold call, but go ahead and put a line through the Knights in 2024 – Ponga means that much to them.
Blake Ayshford: Bulldogs (2) Knights (0)
Anthony Gelling: Bulldogs (2) Knights (0)
Sam Hewat: Bulldogs (3) Knights (0)
Sharks def. Cowboys 42-6
The Sharks sit atop the NRL ladder after seven rounds, and with good reason.
It was a complete demolition of the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon, running in seven tries, Nicho Hynes hitting a perfect 7/7 off the tee, and the side completing at 90%.
The tone was set early with a try in the second minute, from there it was a riot. In fact, they’ll probably be disappointed they let in a try!
The Cowboys' edge defense was utterly exposed and with very little punch through the middle, Todd Payten is having to ask a lot of questions about where his side is at in 2024.
Blake Ayshford: Sharks (3) Cowboys (0)
Anthony Gelling: Sharks (3) Cowboys (0)
Sam Hewat: Sharks (3) Cowboys (0)
SENZ League Rankings after Round 7:
- Panthers (1st previous week)
- Broncos (3)
- Sharks (6)
- Sea Eagles (4)
- Storm (5)
- Warriors (2)
- Dolphins (11)
- Bulldogs (12)
- Raiders (7)
- Roosters (9)
- Cowboys (8)
- Eels (10)
- Dragons (15)
- Tigers (13)
- Knights (14)
- Rabbitohs (16)
- Titans (17)
HOW IT WORKS
Each week, our NRL experts award points to each team for their performance over the weekend while also taking into account difficulty of opposition, playing at home/away, injuries etc. Points are generally awarded in the following manner:
0 points: Poor performance in a losing effort.
1 point: Good performance in a losing effort, or disappointing effort in winning effort.
2 points: Good performance in a winning effort.
3 points: Strong and dominant performance in a winning effort.
4 points: Exceptional performance in a winning effort.
At the end of each round, the points are tallied and teams are adjusted up and down accordingly. For teams on a bye, they will receive one point from each expert.