Round 2 saw two Premiership heavyweights fall to 0-2, while a wooden spoon favourite recorded a huge win. Where does your team land after the second round of the season?
1. Penrith Panthers (Last Week: 1)
Penrith are now two from two despite their superstar halfback not yet stepping onto the field. Safe to say their premiership defence has started well.
Viliame Kikau absolutely dominated on his 100th game, scoring a double and breaking four tackles. Isaah Yeo stood up and was arguably best on field in the absence of James Fisher-Harris.
Izack Tago has had a magnificent start to the season. Unfortunately his fellow wrecking ball Brian To'o will miss the next six to eight weeks through injury.
The 20-16 win over the Dragons wasn't the typical recent Panthers performance but it was a win under difficult circumstances and has them sitting pretty.
2. Newcastle Knights (2)
Newcastle now sit pretty atop the NRL ladder with a perfect two from two following a brilliant Sunday afternoon win over the Tigers.
No Kalyn Ponga, no David Klemmer, no problems for the Knights. Jake Clifford leads the Dally M with a perfect six points after back to back player of the match efforts.
Dane Gagai was untouchable out wide. I don't think you'd get too many arguments in saying he's the form centre of the competition across the opening fortnight.
Newcastle have a monster game in a 1st vs 2nd clash with the Panthers. Regardless of the result, fans in the steel city can be very happy with their start to 2022.
3. Brisbane Broncos (3)
The Broncos join the Knights, Storm and Panthers as the undefeated sides after two rounds. Their 16-10 win over the Dogs was their second close victory in as many weeks.
Adam Reynolds debut for the club went every bit as they had hoped. Reynolds kicked the Dogs into submission and provided the class Brisbane lacked for the past few seasons.
Herbie Farnworth should be the number one target for the Dolphins. He dead set has spiders on him. He ran for 262 metres and scored a double in a brilliant performance.
Brisbane are at least one win better than expected. Perhaps the Kevolution is indeed in full swing.
4. Melbourne Storm (4)
The mighty Melbourne Storm just keep on... Storming on!
Harry Grant put in arguably the best individual performance of the weekend against the desperate Bunnies. He is now the game's top number nine.
The Storm were so dominant in the first half that this game should have been well and truly over. 14-0 looked good but they deserved 28-0.
Craig Bellamy celebrated his 500th game as head coach in style due to a Ryan Papenhuyzen golden point field goal but won't be happy that the game almost slipped away.
5. St George Illawarra Dragons (5)
The Dragons may have dropped their Friday evening fixture but I'd argue they grew in reputation. They had the defending Premiers on the ropes right up to the final siren.
Ben Hunt, despite a third tackle kick down the middle which surrendered momentum, was pulling all the strings for the Dragons. Young Amone looks very comfortable in the top grade.
Andrew McCullough suffered a horror injury but the positive is Moses Mbye looked good filling in at hooker. He may have the job for the next few weeks at least.
There's a lot to like here for a side who look better than their pre-season expectations suggested.
6. Cronulla Sharks (10)
What a return to the Shire! Nicho Hynes after-the-siren conversion capped off a perfect day for the massive majority of fans who packed PointBet Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Captain Dale Finucane has set an example and his fellow forwards are following. The Sharks goal-line defence was, well... un-Shark like.
Hynes and Moylan produced the final moments of quality but 1 to 17 every Shark did their part. Ronaldo Mulitalo and Toby Rudolf are two of the genuine crowd favourites across the competition.
The Sharks are now one try from being in the top four, and one try from being in the bottom four. What a ride from the black, white and blue.
7. Gold Coast Titans (9)
Despite playing two games, I am yet to really get a good read on the Titans. They won, in controversial circumstances, this week after losing in a similar way last week.
AJ Brimson kickstarted this game in a brilliant way with a try assist in the first minute. Truthfully the Titans looked set for a big win early on yet were largely second best at times also.
David Fifita spent too many sets running a decoy. For the money he is on he should be topping the stats every week.
We'll learn more about where the Titans are after this weekend's clash with the Raiders but at one and one they're right where we all predicted they would be.
8. Parramatta Eels (7)
The Eels are one tackle away from starting the season at 2-0. Despite being largely outplayed in hostile territory, Parra almost pulled off a huge win in the Shire.
Mitch Moses was incredible while King Gutho was also brilliant in attack. Reed Mahoney was also super dangerous and Dylan Brown (surprisingly) topped the metres run with 185.
Isaiah Papali'i lead the way for the Eels forwards although Junior Paulo, who shaped as the big threat, was kept to under 100 metres run.
Nothing to worry about here for the Eels. They were beaten by a fellow Top Eight contender on the last play on an emotional day.
9. North Queensland Cowboys (12)
Well. This Cowboys side might just have a little more in them then we expected. They put the highly fancied Raiders away with ease and to the tune of 26 to 6.
Tom Deardon was very good but the big difference came in the increased output from Jason Taumalolo. Who would have thought the game's best forward could produce as such when allowed to?
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is looking very much at home at fullback and has huge things ahead of him. Valentine Holmes move to the centres has thus far been a positive one.
Jeremiah Nanai is looking like one of the breakout stars of the season. The Cowboys will need to fend off half the competition to retain their rising star.
10. Sydney Roosters (16)
No team rebounded more emphatically from Round 1 to Round 2 than the Roosters. Humbled by the Knights a week ago, the Chooks returned serve with a big win over Manly.
James Tedesco looked back to his best while Luke Keary looked more comfortable after another week. Sam Walker was the star here and plays well beyond his years.
The Roosters forward pack absolutely monstered their Manly counterparts with Sitili Tupouniua, Nat Butcher and Siosiua Taukeiaho all having field days.
Any worries we had re the Roosters were quickly done away with. They will need to back it up this Friday night against bitter rivals the Bunnies.
11. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (8)
The Bulldogs are an Albert Kelly being in the right place at the right time away from potentially being two and zero. That said, they're yet to put forward a good performance.
Matt Burton's foot should be registered as a weapon. You couldn't pay me enough to stand under one of those towering bombs.
Tevita Pangai Jr looked determined to continue his sinbin streak early on but his second stint showed why his signature was so touted.
Matt Dufty looked dangerous while Jack Hetherington looks a better player running wide.
12. Canberra Raiders (6)
Was this even the same side who ran out, and beat the Sharks last Friday evening? It certainly wasn't the same Jack Wighton who was the worst half on the field.
This is exactly what I was worried about for Canberra. They managed to scratch and claw their way to a brilliant win in front of their home fans against a top eight favourite only to be played off the park by the wooden spoon favourites a week later.
The Raiders super touted (and rightfully so) forward pack were no match for a bunch of upstarts, and a pretty handy Taumalolo.
Ricky Stuart will want to forget this performance in a hurry.
13. Wests Tigers (11)
Oh no! This is exactly what Tigers fans were afraid of. The Tigers travelled up the highway to play a Knights side sans Ponga, Klemmer and Saifiti yet were played off the park.
Luke Brooks continues to cop the brunt of criticism, which isn't unfair, but the issues go way deeper. Why was a clearly injured James Roberts allowed to play on for 50+ minutes?
Tyrone Peachey laughed as he walked off after being sin binned for a ridiculous brain snap. That is not what you want to see from a supposed major signing.
Jackson Hastings was a rare standout in an otherwise dire performance.
14. New Zealand Warriors (14)
Of all of the sides who are winless after two rounds, the Warriors are absolutely the 'happiest' of the lot. They fell short, in controversial circumstances, to the Titans in their second gutsy performance in a row.
I'm going to focus purely on the positive here. Wayde Egan looks to be emerging as a real star in the number nine. Reece Walsh looked incredible after his extended off-season.
Josh Curran is a machine. He's been a real stand out in the early rounds and has a motor few can match.
The Warriors ultimately lacked the finishing touch that Shaun Johnson would have added. They can count themselves unlucky to not be 50% right now.
15. Manly Sea Eagles (13)
Manly are lucky that the Bunnies entered the season with ever so slightly higher expectations (taken into account here) or they'd be bottoming out on this list just as they are the NRL ladder.
Truth be told they were awful against the red hot Roosters. Again, it's early in the season but the Sea Eagles lack of fight against good times is starting to worry me.
The 2021 game plan of tire out the defenders and unleash Turbo isn't working. Of course, he'll score five tries against the Dogs now but even so, that won't make up for this loss.
There weren't even any real standouts. The forwards were dominated, the backs starved of ball and the halves ineffective.
16. South Sydney Rabbitohs (15)
The Bunnies came within a Cody Walker shift of returning to the winner's circle despite an indifferent performance in Melbourne.
14-0 down at halftime may not sound great but they were lucky not to be 12/14 points worse off as they chased the shadows of a far superior Storm outfit.
Latrell Mitchell's monster field goal from 45 metres out ensured a Golden Point game they, for 65 minutes, didn't deserve or looked like they would receive.
Unfortunately, the Bunnies dropped the ball attempting to shift it wide allowing the Storm to scrape home. A huge improvement in the final 15 minutes.
