We have something new for the 2025 NRL season. With last season's final table acting as a starting order, each week we will move teams up, down or nowhere at all, depending on their performances on the weekend.
This week, the Eels and Dolphins finally get to climb a ladder off the bottom of the board, while the Roosters continued their snake slide to the bottom. The Storm move to within a step of the Bulldogs who hold on to top spot after beating the Knights.
The results won't match the 2025 NRL competition ladder, but will give an alternative indication of how well each team is traveling.
Last year's finishing order: 1. Storm, 2. Panthers, 3. Roosters, 4. Sharks, 5. Cowboys, 6. Bulldogs, 7. Sea Eagles, 8. Knight, 9. Raiders, 10. Dolphins, 11. Dragons, 12. Broncos, 13. Warriors, 14. Titans, 15. Eels, 16. Rabbitohs, 17. Tigers
1.
Bulldogs - steady
The Bulldogs played their first game of the year at Accor Stadium in front of a healthy Sunday night crowd. They needed a win to remain undefeated and atop the NRL ladder. They had all the ball early, but had lost the magic touch from their victory over the Sharks, choosing instead the dour approach they used against the Eels. The first try didn't come until the second half, and it was from a bomb that came off Jacob Kiraz's head to Josh Curran. The next try followed shortly after with the Knights struggling to keep up their defensive effort, down a couple of players. The Bulldogs went on to score 20 points, but more impressively kept the Knights scoreless.
2.
Storm - ladder up 1
The Storm traveled to Brookvale with the bonus of having Jahrome Hughes back from a broken hand. As expected this was a ferocious battle early before the Storm crossed for their first try through a perfect Cameron Munster pass to Stefano Utoikamanu, who beat some lazy defence up the middle. Manly kicked out on the full from the restart and the Storm cashed in again immediately with Munster this time dummying and stepping his way through to score himself. Minutes later Hughes put Grant Anderson away in the corner with a floating pass. The game looked to be all but over in the space of five minutes without the Sea Eagles touching the ball. Once the Sea Eagles had some possession they fought back hard. But, the Storm regathered themselves and no doubt with Craig Bellamy's words of wisdom ringing in their ears they stepped it up and ran away with the win in the second half.
3.
Broncos - ladder up 3
Brisbane hosted the Tigers and made some big gains early with hard running one out around the ruck, both their forwards and outside backs looking to pitch in. They crossed for the first try thanks to a kick through the line, but conceded the second through the same method. They fell behind after being unable to contain the Tigers out wide, but managed to go to the break up 14-12 thanks to a last minute two-point field goal from Adam Reynolds. Early in the second half they started to rip the Tigers apart, with Reynolds working his magic before injuring his hamstring kicking a conversion. As the Tigers tired, the Broncos took full advantage, with Ben Hunt taking over from Reynolds.
4.
Warriors - bye - steady
5.
Raiders - ladder up 2
The Green Machine hosted the Sharks in front of a sparse Canberra crowd on Thursday night. After exchanging tries and locking the scores up at 12-12, a Jamal Fogarty torpedo bomb caused all sorts of problems for Samuel Stonestreet and Hudson Young was able to crash through some feeble Sharks defence to break the deadlock. Fogarty's kicking game was near perfect, putting the Sharks under territorial and aerial pressure. They were unlucky to concede a try right on halftime to go to oranges locked at 18-18. Fogarty's bombs continued to cause the Sharks' back three nightmares. In the end it was Young that started an incredible passage of play which ended with the match-winning miracle try to the home side.
6.
Rabbitohs - ladder up 2
With Latrell Mitchell back and in the centres, the Bunnies hosted the Roosters in the latest chapter of their historic rivalry. They lost their halfback Jamie Humphreys early and Cody Walker at halftime, but battled on. They went to the break 8-6 up thanks to a converted try and a penalty goal. In the second half they allowed the Roosters far too much space to move and they soon found themselves 14-8 down. There was a lift in effort once they drew level at 14-14, with the crowd getting behind them as the clock wound down. Then, cometh the hour, cometh Latrell, with the star Bunnie taking the ball 11 metres out from the Roosters line and throwing a flat bullet-like pass, cutting out two players to find his winger who crossed in the corner. To top it off Mitchell nailed the conversion from the sideline for a 20-14 winning lead.
7.
Sea Eagles - snake down 5
Manly opened the scoring with a penalty goal against bitter rivals Melbourne. They were then knocked on their backsides by a Storm blitz which saw the Sea Eagles concede three tries in five minutes without touching the ball. They looked likely to be blown off Brookvale Oval, but through some determined running and the fleet-footed magic of centre Tolutau Koula, they struck back. The Storm kicked out on the full from the restart and the packed Brooky crowd found their full voice. Another penalty goal was all they could manage to go to the break 18-10 down. The second half was a horror story, with the Storm overpowering the rattled Sea Eagles and showing no mercy.
8.
Sharks - snake down 3
The Sharks opened up early like an overly ripe peach to allow Hudson Young to stroll through for the Raiders' second try. Both sides were playing exciting football, with neither showing much steel in defence. With nine minutes remaining in the first half and the scores locked at 12-12, a difficult spiral bomb was completely messed up by Samuel Stonestreet and a couple of tackles later Young was over once again. Errors were proving costly to Cronulla. Briton Nikora showed all his soccer skills right on halftime to dribble a kick into Corey Horsburgh's legs, toe through the rebound, get a delicate third touch on it before diving on the ball just short of the dead-ball line. The second half was more of an arm wrestle, and in the end it took a miracle try from the Raiders to take the two points from a Sharks team who really should have shut them down.
9.
Cowboys - ladder up 5
The Cowboys traveled to Parramatta to take on the Panthers on the back of their first win of the year. They opened the scoring before allowing the Panthers to score two. Things looked ominous when Reece Robson was sent to the bin before halftime, but with some hard running and sweet passing they scored a try while a man short to level the scores at 12-12. A Luke Garner try just before the break looked like it might spell the beginning of the end for the Cowboys, but they came out in the second half and simply outplayed their more favoured rivals.
10.
Tigers - snake down 1
It only took until the third tackle of the very first set of the game for the Tigers to let the ball sing. It was clear that they knew there were no prizes to be won up the middle against the Broncos' formidable pack. They stuck to the plan and started scoring tries out wide, which was perfectly fine, unless your name was Adam Doueihi who failed to convert any of the first three tries as the Tigers took a 12-6 lead. The tide then turned and the Tigers began to lose the game up the middle, as the Broncos began to dominate. The battered Tigers had no answer to the five-try second half onslaught.
11.
Dragons - snake down 1
On the back of a big win over the Storm a week earlier, the Dragons travelled to Parramatta and skipped away to a handy 20-8 lead early in the second half. They looked to have the two points in the bag, but the Eels fought back hard and the Dragons let it slip. With the Eels levelling the scores at 22-22 with a 76th minute penalty goal to Zac Lomax, the game moved into golden point extra time. Lomax stepped up again to stick a dagger into his former club, kicking the winning field goal.
12.
Knights - snake down 1
The Knights, having enjoyed the bye the week earlier, were fresh and keen to knock over the Bulldogs. They lost winger James Schiller in the opening minute to a head clash and prop Daniel Saifiti left the field with a calf injury he sustained while running onto the field. Despite the disruption, the Knights were a solid wall in defence, repelling the Bulldogs who had all the ball early. Into the second half the toll of only having a two-man bench started to show, as they battled through ten minutes with Phoenix Crossland in the sin bin, before also losing Jack Hetherington to injury. With the ball they simply couldn't break through the Bulldogs' defence.
13.
Dolphins - ladder up 3
Dropping to the bottom of the NRL ladder thanks to the Eels beating the Dragons earlier in the day, the Dolphins were playing for pride as they took on the more favoured Titans on the Gold Coast. The desperation showed in their defence, which proved impenetrable until there were 14 minutes remaining and they were 28-0 ahead. With the two points in the bag and improved performances across the park, the Dolphins were satisfied with their day's work, creeping away from the foot of the ladder in the process.
14.
Panthers - snake down 2
Nathan Cleary was back leading the reigning premiers and it looked as though they were heading for a much-needed victory. Leading 12-6 following a deft Cleary grubber kick try, the Panthers were gifted a 12-man Cowboys side when Reece Robson was sent to the sin bin for a high shot. Prop Lindsay Smith dropped the ball cold on two occasions and the short-handed Cowboys levelled the scores at 12-12. The Panthers skipped ahead to lead 18-12 at half time, but that was the end of their scoring for the game. The much-improved Cowboys shut them down while crossing for two second-half tries. It seems that Cleary is missing Jarome Luai more than anyone might have expected.
15.
Eels - ladder up 2
Winless and at the bottom of the NRL ladder, the Eels hosted the Dragons determined to turn things around. New signing Josh Addo-Carr scored the opening try of the match for the Eels, before King Gutho came back to haunt them, scoring two of the next three Dragons tries to put the visitors well ahead. But the Eels weren't done and fought back bravely to level the scores with a penalty goal with six minute remaining. Fullback Isaiah Iongi, who had another strong game, started the fightback with a try in the 56th minute. Then it all came down to former Dragon Zac Lomax to win the game for the Eels with a field goal in golden point extra time.
16.
Titans - snake down 3
In a game influenced by the head contact crackdown, the Titans were unable to take advantage when they had a player advantage, while conceding points when a man down. Their every attacking opportunity was thwarted either by the Dolphins defence or their own ineptitude. They threatened to fight back late in the second half, but even that fizzled out through errors with and without the ball.
17.
Roosters - snake down 2
The Roosters, desperate for the two competition points, took on their rivals at Accor Stadium and really should have done so much better than to be down 8-6 at halftime. They had plenty of ball and field position but their completion rate was awful. Chad Townsend's kicking game was off the mark as well, so even the completed sets were ineffective. James Tedesco's goal line defence was keeping the Roosters in the game. Into the second half, his attacking nous helped set up their second try. But despite losing key players the Rabbitohs were able to finish on top, with Latrell Mitchell having a great game on his return.