Power Rankings - Round 9

1. North Queensland Cowboys (equal)
The Cowboys accounted for the Bulldogs last start, but their task will get infinitely more difficult in the coming weeks, with matches against the Broncos and Tigers. On top of that, they'll lose Johnathan Thurston over the Origin period, and he'll take with him a lot of the Cowboys' mojo.

2. Brisbane Broncos (up 1)
The Broncos did just enough to win last weekend against the Panthers, and built their win on some solid defence, although many would argue they won the game on the back of a forward pass. They'll be looking to win another couple of games in a row to set them in a good place for the origin period, but they've done plenty already.

3. St. George Illawarra Dragons (down 1)
You've heard of a battle between a rock and hard place. Dragons v Rabbitohs was exactly that. The defensive efforts from both sides were impressive, although the Rabbitohs managed to get the bikkies. If Josh Dugan keeps playing the way he did last weekend, the Dragons will definitely be one to beat at the pointy end of the season.

4. Sydney Roosters (up 1)
They're ba-ackkk! We've been waiting for the Roosters to click for weeks, and finally they have. As predicted, the Roosters' halves were the catalyst, with Mitchell Pearce in particular having an impressive game. Has he done enough to win himself back an origin jersey? We'll see.

5. Melbourne Storm (down 1)
If you picked Billy Slater in your Supercoach team last weekend, you'd be absolutely laughing. Slater's return lifted the Storm visibly, and they easily disposed of the Eels. The Storm are finally starting to look like the cohesive unit that they have in previous seasons.

6. Canberra Raiders (up 1)
That's the first 10 try haul we've seen from the Raiders in a while, and didn't it look good! Blake Austin is absolutely killing it, but every player in the Raiders' side knows his job and is doing it well. Jarrod Croker and Josh Papalii were particularly impressive against the Titans.

7. South Sydney Rabbitohs (up 1)
What a rollercoaster of a weekend for the Rabbitohs. Firstly, Reynolds is named to make his return, then he drags them by the scruff of the neck to a win, and then he's injured again and will miss more footy. Just when things were looking up, the footy gods take a slash on the Bunnies again.

8. Penrith Panthers (up 2)
Wasn't Jamie Soward's return a breath of fresh air! The Broncos may be top of the table, but the Panthers certainly pushed them to their very limits last weekend. With a few blokes back on deck, the men from the mountain will cause a lot of headaches in the next few weeks.

9. Gold Coast Titans (down 3)
Ouch. Just when things were looking up, the Raiders come out and belt all the hope out of the Titans. I'm keeping a little faith in them by having them this high in the rankings, but another game like that won't be excused.

10. Wests Tigers (down 1)
If the Tigers' pattern from the last 8 weeks is anything to go by (WLLWLLWL), they're due for a loss. The only problem with that theory is their opposition this weekend - the Knights, who can't buy a win at the moment. Although they suffered a heavy loss last weekend against the Roosters, the Tigers' young and enthusiastic side probably won't lose to much faith in themselves.

11. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (equal)
James Graham will return for the Bulldogs this weekend, and his return will be much appreciated by Bulldogs' fans. They're not far from pulling out the wins, and Graham may be enough to get them across the line against the reinvigorated Roosters on Friday night.

12. Warriors (up 1)
Which camp are you in? The "don't lift your knees" camp, or the "learn to tackle, genius" camp. Either way, Konrad Hurrell landed himself in a whole pile of trouble. The week wasn't all negative press though, with the signing of Isaac Luke, and a good win over the Sharks. As one of the few sides relatively untroubled by origin duties, the Warriors should be sitting pretty in about 6 weeks.

13. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (down 1)
The Sharks are beginning to make a name for themselves as the team that almost wins games. Unfortunately, almost doesn't get you competition points, nor does it earn you a finals' berth.

14. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (up 1)
Have the Sea Eagles turned the corner? Back-to-back wins against the Storm and the Knights have put the Sea Eagles back on track, but they'll need to string together a lot more wins if they're to be a chance of making the finals in 2015.

15. Parramatta Eels (up 1)
It's a tough battle at the bottom of the power rankings this week, with the Eels duking it out with the Knights for the bottom spot. Luckily for the Eels, the Knights have been horrible for a few weeks now. Brad Arthur would be beginning to look over his shoulder, and not just to check if Sandow's driving behind

16. Newcastle Knights (down 2)
The Knights have now lost five on the trot, and what's worse, they don't even look like winning. Losing Mullen for a couple of weeks will hardly help their cause, considering they'll now be relying on Kurt Gidley and Tyrone Roberts to do the job for them in the halves. Tyler Randell was a breath of fresh air last week, but they'll need more than that to beat the Tigers.