BY ROB

With eight rounds of the 2015 NRL season complete the Sportress has taken it upon ourselves to review the progress of all 16 teams, from those who’ve excelled beyond their normal standings to those who’ve crashed and burned.

2015 is proving to be a somewhat chaotic season, and this is seen and felt by those who engage in the mystic pastime of tipping. The Sportress has its own little tip comp running on footytips.com.au, which throws up some amusing points. Out of a six person comp the current leader is currently living in another country, has the least interest in league of the six and has failed to submit his tips on two occasions.

The rest of us have tried every trick possible; tipping the favourites, tipping on form, tipping by heart. It is now almost a universal rule that if you tip against a lower tier team struggling to win they will inevitably screw you over by producing a solid 80 minutes to trounce their more favoured opponent.

The NRL ladder after 8 rounds is a good example of this topsy turvy season, three teams in particular – The Dragons, The Tigers and the Titans. Their ascendency means that at least three sure fire contenders have fallen from grace – The Bulldogs, the Roosters and the Sea Eagles.

Brisbane Broncos

The Broncos hold the top spot by way of points differential, having lost only two games so far: round one where the reigning premiers smashed them at Suncorp and then round seven where fellow table toppers the Dragons narrowly beat them by two points. Their wins for the most part have been pretty comprehensive, especially week three where they hammered the Cowboys 44-22. Their next game is at home facing the Panthers before a three game road trip to play the Cowboys, the Knights and the Raiders. Having been midfield contenders the last few years the Broncos are definitely playing well, but they need to maintain their form during the turbulent rep phase.

St George-Illawarra Dragons

Had you asked any pundits who would be second at this point it’s probable they would not have named the Dragons. Yet here we are with the Dragons sitting pretty in second, unbeaten since round three. After opening losses to the Storm and Tigers the Dragons fashioned an impressive late game charge to down the Raiders. All their games since have been low scoring arm wrestles, but this iteration of the side clearly has a knack for the grind. Despite handing the Bulldogs a 31-6 flogging their most impressive win has to be the 13-0 score line against the Knights in round. They next face off against the Bunnies before playing the Raiders, Sharks and then the Bulldogs.

Melbourne Storm

The Storm have claimed third place at this point, with an interesting collection of wins and losses. It’s probably the losses that stand out more, namely the two to the Sea Eagles, who are currently spoon front runners. The other loss was at the hands of the Cowboys, marking the start of the Cowboys five game streak. These three games aside the Storm have been at their usual clinical best, dismantling teams with tough defense and precise attack. Their impending games include the Eels, the Bunnies, the Roosters and the Panthers.

North Queensland Cowboys

The Cowboys are always strong favourites, but their abysmal start to the season had many wondering what was going on up in Townsville. After hammerings from the Roosters and Broncos along with a narrow loss to the Knights the Cowboys were firmly anchored to the bottom rung. This all changed when they staged a last gasp win over the Storm. They remain unbeaten since that game, rocketing up the table into fourth place. They play three of their next four games at home, hosting the Bulldogs, the Broncos and the Sea Eagles, with a trip south to play the Tigers in round eleven.

Wests Tigers

In fifth place on 8 points the Tigers are arguably the beginning of the log jam. They have a 50/50 win ratio, starting their season with a field goal win over the Titans. They then easily beat the Dragons, before succumbing to Souths the following week. The real stinger was in round four, a morale breaking lead blown field goal loss to the Bulldogs. They beat the Eels, but suffered a loss to the Warriors and another lead blown loss when they faced the Raiders. Redemption came in round eight when they exacted their revenge upon the Bulldogs, downing them 38-14. The Tigers will need to eliminate second half complacency if they are to hold a spot in the top 8. They next play away to the Roosters and Knights, before returning home to face the Cowboys and Titans.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The reigning premiers are currently sit on sixth with a veritable mixed bag of wins and losses. After a flawless off season dominating nearly everything in their path it looked as though they were set to continue the dream run, with comprehensive wins in rounds 1 and 2. In round 3 however things went pear shaped, with the Bunnies going down to the Eels 29-16. They rebounded the following game to beat the Bulldogs before copping it from the Cowboys the following match. The Sharks and Raiders inflicted further losses, and with Adam Reynolds still not dude back for another few rounds the Bunnies will have to dig deep to get their title defence back on track. With games against the Dragons, Storm, Eels and Titans coming up the Bunnies can’t afford to lose too many of their next few games.

Gold Coast Titans

The Titans were in strife before round one with off field dramas plaguing the club. The NRL bought the venture out, which quite obviously has had a positive effect on the side. A narrow loss in round one was compounded by a 40-0 hammering from the Panthers in week two, and it wasn’t until round four that the Titans found their mojo against the sharks. After the loss to the Broncos the Titans embarked on a three game win streak, which saw them enact revenge upon the Panthers in with a 32-6 score line. The Raiders, Sharks, Bunnies and Tigers all lie in wait for the Titans after the rep round concludes.

Penrith Panthers

The Panthers round out the current top 8, having also suffered from a mixed start to the year. Despite being strong finals contenders in 2014 it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the men from the foot of the mountains, with losses to the Roosters, Knights, Cowboys and Titans. Offsetting these though are wins over the Bulldogs, Titans, Sea Eagles and Sharks. The high point so far would have to be the 40-0 demolition of the then struggling Titans, which has given the Panthers some clear air in For & Against (ironically the Titans then eroded much of this beating the Panthers 32-6). With a slew of big names set to return from injury over the next few rounds the Panthers have a good chance to make inroads into the top eight. They next face the Broncos before playing Manly, the Storm and the Eels.

Newcastle Knights

The Knights had a cracking start to the year winning four straight, leaving them atop the ladder after four rounds. The following four games have been the reverse, starting with a 13-0 loss against the Dragons. They also managed to concede a healthy margin against the Eels in round seven, followed up with a two point loss to the Cowboys last weekend. With games against the Sea Eagles, Tigers, Broncos and Warriors in the pipeline the Knights need to regain their hunger for the grind. If they can string some wins together it would position them well to pounce on a faltering top 8 side.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Last years grand finalists are victims of the four must fall rule, which purports that four successful teams from the previous season will struggle the following year. The Dogs got off to a good start, overcoming a loss to the Panthers to down the Eels, Tigers and Sea Eagles. Things came unstuck in round five in a highly controversial match against the Bunnies which then flowed into a hiding from the Dragons. The Dogs recovered to belt Manly only to succumb to a reinvigorated Tigers outfit. With the Cowboys, Roosters, Raiders and Dragons ahead it looks to be an uphill struggle for the Belmore boys over the next few rounds.

Canberra Raiders

The Raiders set off on the right foot when they downed the Sharks in round one, only to stumble through the next three games with losses to the Warriors, Dragons and Roosters, the Dragons loss in particular being a tough one. Things got brighter when the Green Machine downed the Sea Eagles in Albury before a close loss to the Storm at home. The real surprises have been the last two games, both played on the road, both seeing the Raiders chase down convincing leads to beat the Tigers and the Bunnies, teams much higher up the ladder. If the Raiders can continue with this confidence football they can definitely be a disruptive force at the back end of the season, possibly even a finals chance, but they need to win the early arm wrestle in games rather than chase down big leads. The Raiders will face three top 8 sides in the next few rounds, the Titans, the Dragons and the Broncos, as well as having to deal with the Bulldogs snapping at them from 11th spot.

Sydney Roosters

The Roosters had a good start to the season with three wins in their opening four games, the only blemish being a 34-26 loss to the Bunnies. Things became decidedly unstuck after a loss to the momentum building Sharks, and from there it was all downhill with losses to the Storm, the Broncos and the Dragons. A perennial favourite with bookies and Sydney league snobs the Roosters will need to dig deep as they will no doubt lose a few players to rep selections. One thing in their favour is a positive points differential, which means a few wins strung together will almost assuredly bounce them back into the top 8. With games against the Bulldogs, Tigers, Storm and Sharks looming the Roosters definitely need to start bagging wins.

New Zealand Warriors

An opening loss to the Knights was quickly erased with wins over the Raiders and Eels, before losses to the Broncos and Storm removed some of the gloss from the Kiwis season. A round six win over the Tigers seemed to have them back on track, but victory was short lived as both the Cowboys and Titans beat them by four points apiece. The Warriors are known as a true hot and cold team, and it would appear as though someone is currently playing silly buggers with the taps. A finals chance still lingers, but one suspects that that optimism should be reserved for next year when RTS arrives at MT. Smart. The Warriors must next tackle fellow cellar dwellers the Sharks and Eels before facing off against the Knights and Bunnies.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

The Sharks had a woeful start to the year with four straight losses, going down to the Raiders, Broncos, Storm and Titans. Things changed in round five however when the Shire side put in a gutsy performance to beat the Roosters. They then went on to defeat the Knights and win over the reigning premiers in absolutely atrocious conditions. Their winning ways came to a halt against the Panthers, but if they can bottle some of the grit that they showed in their wins they can quickly ascend the ladder. The Barba gambit is still an ongoing issue, but the Sharks have overcome all sorts of problems recently, so surely they can fix a minor positional imbalance. They must next face the Warriors, Titans, Dragons and Roosters.

Parramatta Eels

Parramatta opened their account with an impressive win over the Sea Eagles, which in retrospect hints more at the Eagles utter failure than any improvement by the Eels. They lost to the bulldogs and Warriors, but once again found that winning feeling when they downed Souths. Losses to the Tigers and Titans followed, but the Eels once again showed verve when they came from behind on the scoreboard to steal a win from the Knights. A round eight loss to the Broncos has them anchored to the bottom of the log jam, but like all the teams ahead of them they only need a few successive wins to get their season back on track. The Eels will next face the Storm, Warriors, Bunnies and Panthers.

Manly Sea Eagles

Manly has had one of the most miserably starts ever. Still undergoing inner turmoil after releasing Watmough and Stewart the Eagles suffered a shock loss to the Eels in round one only to regain their marbles the next week in time to beat the Storm. But from round three onward it was a litany of losses inflicted by the Bulldogs, Dragons, Raiders, Panthers and then the Bulldogs again. The sunshine broke through briefly when they recorded another win over the Storm, but it’s clear that the situation at Brookvale is anything but good. Manly need to win a vast majority of their upcoming games if they wish to be anywhere near the top 8, and with both of their halves seemingly set for new clubs it doesn’t look like 2015 will be a good vintage for the Northern Beaches squad. They next play the Knights, Panthers, Cowboys and Broncos, which is a tough run by any reckoning at this point.

So there you have it, a quick (?!) snapshot of the NRL premiership race one third gone. We’ll have another look at the state of the ladder at the end of round 17 (another 8 rounds including byes) and then a final summation once round 26 is complete. Some teams will find form, some will falter, but picking who does what at this point is quite clearly a mugs game!