The big winners of Round 22 were...
Luck went the way of the Melbourne Storm as the only top-four side to win last weekend, which saw them jump above the Canterbury Bulldogs into second place with a game in hand on current ladder leaders Canberra Raiders.
That was despite a pretty average performance in western Sydney against Parramatta Eels, winning just 16-10 in a performance that head coach Craig Bellamy said will not get them anywhere near lifting the trophy.
"We weren’t really playing that well or sticking what we’d be doing in that situation," Bellamy told reporters after the match.
"A couple of times we went away from that so we just need to have a look at that.
“We were fortunate enough to get out of it tonight but if you keep doing that it’s not going to help you. We know there’s some things we’ll need to do differently or it’s not going to work in six weeks time.”
But perhaps the big winners of the weekend were actually the Brisbane Broncos in more ways than one.
Their second-half demolition of South Sydney was their sixth win from their last seven games and they're living up to the potential that saw them amongst the pre-season Premiership favourites prior to a run in which they lost six out of seven.
Head coach Michael Maguire has warned against complacency and his axing of Jesse Arthars and Josiah Karapani in response to the 22-20 loss to Parramatta a fortnight ago shows he means business. They're a big watch going into September.
The big losers of Round 22 were...
It feels strange to put a pen through a top-four team with five rounds left in the season, but that's what many pundits and supporters have done to the New Zealand Warriors after they lost four of their last six matches, including all three against Queensland-based opponents.
The Warriors have fallen behind even the Sharks and Dolphins in Premiership betting markets with their only two wins coming against the Tigers and Knights, who are hardly worthy scalps.
A lapse in defensive structure saw them fall behind in the dying seconds of this weekend's home loss to the Dolphins, their third loss from six home games as a favourite this year already.
Next weekend's trip to Sydney to face the Bulldogs could see them tipped out of the top-four by the time they head out to warm up if the Panthers and Broncos can win their games earlier in the round.
The good news is that there appears to be plenty of depth to dip into with their NSW Cup side needing to win just one of their last four matches to clinch the minor Premiership in the reserves competition.
Panthers trainer banned for five weeks
One of the controversial talking points of the weekend came out of the Panthers' thrilling extra time win on the Gold Coast, where yellow shirt trainer Corey Bocking was seen to have interfered with the conversion kick of Jayden Campbell when the scores were level at 26-26.
Campbell missed the kick that would go to golden point.
On Monday, the NRL handed out a five-game ban to Bocking as well as a $50,000 fine for the club, with this not the first breach of 2025 by a Panthers' trainer.
Ken Irvine Medal leaderboard
The only change to the top five in Round 22 saw Phillip Sami move from 12 to 14 with the Titans' last two tries of their thrilling loss to Penrith.
Try of the Week
The Dolphins can be ridiculously fun to watch at times and this week was no exception, especially the way that they took the lead with just seconds left on Friday night through this extraordinary fifth tackle chain of passes.