20 Thoughts from Round 18

1. Talk of the Eels being "gone" seems a little bit premature ... but not by much. Mitch Moses has looked lost in the past few weeks. Dylan Brown's injury was horribly timed. Blake Ferguson is probably lucky there's no NSW Cup or he might be playing there. That said, it's up front where the Eels have completely fallen off a cliff. RCG was the form forward earlier in the season. Not anymore.

2. The Broncos are now the Titan's little bother. I don't care about reputation or standing, the Broncos are a mess right now. They have no coach, have lost one of their best players (Fifita) and they're playing better sans their million dollar half. Meanwhile the Titans are winning games, with style, and have three rep quality forwards on the way.

3. Do the Tigers work on a top nine finish each year? This has gone from a somewhat entertaining joke, into Rugby League law. If you want to know why the Tigers continue to miss finals (just), look no further than Thursday night. They lost to the finals bound Bunnies by 2 points after falling 20-0 behind within the first half an hour. Why did it take them giving up a 20-point head start to kick into gear?

4. Manly fans are split on a possible return of Tommy Turbo this weekend. On one hand they can't wait to see their megastar return for the final two rounds, but on the other there is the fact that a return means absolutely nothing to their 2020 fortunes. The fact he'll play Origin complicates things but under normal circumstances there is no chance he would return.

5. After seven weeks of denial and false hope, I'm not resigned to the fact that the Bulldogs will be finishing last in 2020. They've had so many chances to consign the Broncos to 16th for ultimate banter, however it's not happening. Sigh.

6. Do the Penrith Panthers need a loss before the finals? No. To suggest that they do is absolutely ridiculous.

7. I'm going to produce something in detail soon but I really hope Darius Boyd's last season or two don't detract from the incredible career he has had. He scored a beauty on the weekend and made some incredible plays. Sad end though.

8. I'll expand on this further later in the week but the fact the Sharks made the finals with two rounds to go is incredible. That cap penalty, and the Xerri fiasco meant the Sharks were playing WELL below what every other side is salary cap wise.

9. Seriously, it's almost unfair as to how good the Roosters are at full strength. They walked through the Knights on Saturday evening with such ease. How that roster had a spare $150,000+ to add Sonny Bill Williams late on is well beyond me. They're title favourites despite Penrith losing 1 game in 18. THAT'S INSANITY! Well deserved though.

10. I absolutely hate the fact that the Knights rested Ponga against the Roosters. That says to me that they knew they couldn't beat the Chooks so they'd take the chance to have Ponga in cotton wool. For what exactly? To win in round one and cop a hiding to the Roosters in the semis? Strange. Unless he's injured or in a game with NOTHING on the line (say vs a Broncos or Dogs) then don't rest your superstars.

11. Cody Ramsey's debut was the feel good moment of the weekend. The debuts of the youngsters this year have really created some brilliant headlines. Nothing will top the footage of Ramsey's mum saying what we were all thinking when he was denied a highlight reel, first-half hatty due to Lomax being ruled offside.

12. Heard a rumour that the Dogs are looking at signing Chad Townsend? First up, I'll drive him ... Secondly, the Sharks have some cap issues and this would allow them to not only find flexibility but also re-sign young Trindall. It's such an easy decision, which probably means the Sharks will sign him to an upgraded contract any minute now ...

13. The culture in Melbourne is so strong that a potential superstar in Nicho Hynes is willing to sit in the role of a part-time player rather than chase a starting number one. Seemingly every time he plays, he's amongst the field on ground. Incredible talent!

14. I think I tweeted this mid-week, but those bagging the Tigers for throwing big money at Addo Carr act like the Tigers have a choice. They've been bog average for as long as I can remember. Why wouldn't they take a punt on a rep regular and one of the quickest players in the game? So he may take a few games to slot into fullback, can you imagine him in space? Sign me up!

15. Staying with the Tigers, I actually saw some fans rubbishing a potential move by the club to sign James Tamou. I swear we as rugby league fans are our own worst enemy. He walks into that Tigers run on side, and their leadership group. Some of us don't deserve nice things.

16. The top sides might be looking over their shoulder at the Bunnies. They've won six of their past seven games, with only a six-point loss to the Storm in that run. Cody Walker is in red hot form, Damian Cook is looking dangerous and Adam Reynolds is controlling games with relative ease. It's such a shame that Latrell is missing the rest of their run.

17. Literally every Panther, other than James Tamou and possibly Josh Mansour, is having a career best year. Dylan Edwards is twice the player he was last season, Luai went from fringe first grader to genuine star, whilst everyone up front has come along in an unbelievable fashion. It's a game of timing!

18. Although this week officially ended the finals race, it has been over for a month now.

19. That Toby Rudolf try was the highlight of my weekend ... my week... My month ... 2020!!! Amazing stuff!

20. Did the Bulldogs really allow Morgan Harper to exit the club so they could bring back Tim Lafai? No hate on the returning centre but Harper is a freakish young talent who looks set for a big career. What's going on at the Dogs with their recruitment? Surely they could have brought Lafai in without losing a kid who already has three tries in two games?