The 2017 NRL premiership has reached the half-way mark, following the completion of Round 13, and a real gulf is appearing between the top teams and those just making up the numbers. Every year we look to sing the praises of a close competition, where the salary cap it doing its job to evenly distribute the talent, but this year it is pretty clear that the Top 8 is almost settled and only a handful of clubs are capable of winning the title.
The Top 8 as it stands mid-season is the Storm, Dragons, Sharks, Roosters, Broncos, Sea Eagles, Cowboys and Eels, with that order subject to points from byes which not all teams have received yet. There is still a long way to go this year, but I don't think many of the other teams are capable of making a run into the finals. There is a real gap in the quality of the teams playing in this competition, and unfortunately there are some really awful teams going around each week.
The Raiders were gallant against the Sea Eagles yesterday, and they are hovering around in ninth position, but they just can't string together consistent performances.
The Panthers and Bulldogs are among the next teams on the ladder and their clash yesterday just about ended the season for the Bulldogs. The Panthers have great potential in their roster and they play an incredible brand of football, so it is possible that they will repeat last year's run into the finals. Consistency is their biggest enemy as well, but moving Matt Moylan to five-eighth has really improved their play, so they still have a chance.
The Bulldogs are just awful and I can't see them getting any better. I'm at a loss to work out what is going on with Des Hasler's team -- I don't know what they are trying to do. They have a massive forward pack that do a wonderful job for them, but as soon as they win some momentum they throw long balls and lose all the ascendancy. The good sides use their momentum to attack over the advantage line, up the middle. The Bulldogs are playing a horrible brand of football, they are far too structured, they don't look like they know what they are doing and that must come from the top.
Coaches play an enormous role in how these teams develop the talent they have available to them. If you look at the Storm's Craig Bellamy, every year he takes on a few new recruits, often players that other clubs don't want, and he turns them into much better players. It doesn't matter what position they play, they all shine under him. Paul Green also seems to be able to do that with the Cowboys, Shane Flanagan has his players playing out of their skins and Roosters coach Trent Robinson is another who has the ability to improve players.
The Storm are still the benchmark team in the competition and my tip to win the title. It is virtually impossible to win it from outside the top four, so I think the biggest challenge will come from the Sharks, the Dragons, the Roosters or the Broncos. Those top sides all have great completion rates, excellent defence and a couple of very special players who can make a big difference to the outcome of any match.
The Dragons are a team that are right in the running. The return of Gareth Widdop on the weekend was the missing piece of the puzzle for them. He was there at the start of the year when they were playing unbelievably well and they have struggled a bit when he was out injured. They play a great brand of football with a pack of forwards being controlled by hooker Cameron McInnes out of dummy-half. They play very direct and on the back of that Widdop is able to get some quality ball to set up his outside backs. Widdop has wanted to be the star of the show ever since he left the Storm and now, without a dominant halfback in the team, he is showing us that he can be that star.
With the top 8 just about decided, the rest of the teams will have to start planning for next year and looking at ways to improve the way they play the game.