The big winners of Round 9 were...
Canberra Raiders and NZ Warriors share the spoils again after they extended their respective winning streaks to five and three respectively, each clinching golden point victories along the way.
That's despite being in front at the half-time break in just one of those five victories, and so whilst they've been short of complete 80-minute performances, it takes a much more resilient and determined side to come from behind than to start strong and fade away.
The Raiders have been Melbourne and Cronulla as outsiders during that period and, despite having conceded the most points of any top eight side so far, have still been able to get over the line in additional tight encounters against the Gold Coast and Brisbane earlier in the season.
A very fascinating five-game period awaits ahead of their Origin bye: fellow top-four contenders Canterbury and New Zealand await amongst what they would currently consider three soft kills (Titans, Roosters, Rabbitohs).
The Warriors, on the other hand, came strong out of the blocks in consecutive home wins against Newcastle and North Queensland only to be outscored after half-time, so that's going to make for an especially fascinating matchup.
The big losers of Round 9 were...
South Sydney Rabbitohs, whose season is truly imploding now.
They've been susceptible to some horrendous blowouts - 0-26 v Cronulla, three tries conceded in 12 minutes at home to the Cowboys, 0-20 v Canterbury... and then they rolled over and allowed the lowly Newcastle Knights to blow them out of the water within 15 minutes.
Veteran head coach Wayne Bennett was understandably frustrated and he didn't hold back after the match, blasting the players' "attitude" early in the game and demanding they "own it" and "fix it".
Yes, they've got the longest injury list of the competition by far - there were ten names on it as of Monday morning - but Bennett nonetheless demanded his selected players earn their "well paid" salaries and "play like first graders".
Jye Gray was added to that list with a quad injury. Latrell Mitchell will return from suspension this weekend but there's not much good news beyond that for at least a couple of more weeks. They'll need as many of their best as possible back before the start of June when they begin a truly scary period: New Zealand, Canberra, Canterbury and Melbourne are all likely to defeat them in a four-round period.
Dally M Leaderboard
Five players collected the full six points at the weekend including some of the game's biggest names. Luke Metcalf and James Tedesco moved into the top five with their six-point hauls, whilst Nathan Cleary also got full honours along with Jahream Bula and Nathan Sharpe.
The form of Tedesco and Cleary in particular must be very exciting for New South Wales three weeks out from the beginning of the 2025 State of Origin series.
Try of the Week: Round 9
Canberra's starting fullback Kaeo Weekes put on the afterburners like he'd just come off the pine four minutes earlier to level the scores with only two minutes to spare in the Raiders' golden point victory over the Storm. It's without dispute the highlight of the weekend.