Round 8 produced plenty of talking points but didn't deliver a big upset.
I believe the Sharks may have closed as favourites but nearly everyone tipped the Cowboys. Otherwise, business as usual across the board.
Spoiler alert, as the kids say, this will be the least amount of movement in Power Rankings history.
All of the top eight sides here won. I don't like to move teams up after a loss unless it's absolutely called for.
With that said, below are our NRL Power Rankings following Round Eight:
1. Penrith Panthers (1)
Penrith have well and truly moved on from their "blip" (i.e. one loss) after having wiped the Knights off the park to the tune of 44 points to 12 on Sunday.
Nathan Cleary was again brilliant, as was Dylan Edwards and ... you know what? Penrith were Penrith and there's a reason they're the most short priced favourites of all time.
Their opponents on Sunday, Manly, have looked unbeatable since Kieran Foran took over. Manly are the biggest betting outsiders of the weekend. Says it all.
2. New Zealand Warriors (2)
The Warriors are absolutely flying right now!
They were honestly better than their 20-18 win over the Dolphins suggests. Alofiana Khan-Pereira is scoring tries for laughs, Jackson Ford is the form player of the comp and Erin Clarke is playing impossibly well.
They're in Sydney on Saturday evening to play the Eels. We all know about the Warriors previous travels woes but this team just feels different.
3. Brisbane Broncos (3)
The Broncos 32-12 win over the Bulldogs was their second straight as big underdogs. The Broncs jersey is a magical thing as even career journeymen are turning into stars.
Xavier Willison has stood up in the absence of his bigger name teammates, Gehamat Shibasaki has returned to 2025 form and Kotoni Staggs is set for an Origin recall.
They welcome back Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan when they travel to play the Roosters on Saturday night.
4. Wests Tigers (4)
The Tigers season continues to get better and better. A huge 33-14 win over Canberra set the Leichhardt Oval hill into raptures.
Adam Doueihi may be the form player of the competition right now. Terrell May is probably in better form now than last year. Luke Laulilii crossed for a double.
They travel to play the Sharks on Sunday sans Bula and Koroisau but will have their tails up.
5. South Sydney Rabbitohs (5)
The Storm ended the worst record in human, recorded history by finally beating the Storm in Melbourne. The 48-6 win was a way to end the hoodoo!
Alex Johnston's two tries played second fiddle to Tallis Duncan's hattrick. Latrell Mitchell was best on ground, again. Matthew Dufty has been incredible since his return.
The Bunnies are up the coast to play the Knights on Sunday afternoon. This will be a cracker afternoon in the Hunter.
6. Manly Sea Eagles (6)
The Kieran Foran lead Sea Eagles are absolutely flying! Four wins in a row has this Manly side looking a literal world different to earlier in the season.
Haumole Olakau'atu has entered beast code, Jamal Fogarty is well and truly back while every single backline player looks three steps faster than they did a month ago.
They face their biggest test this weekend as they play Penrith at Commbank. A win here says Foran has to be made full time coach right away.
7. Sydney Roosters (7)
The Roosters continued their brilliant recent run by recording a blistering 62-16 win over the Dragons on Anzac Day.
There's not enough storage space on the internet to run through all the try scorers. Tedesco, Walker, Nawaqanitawase, all brilliant. Pick a player in Roosters colours, they were great!
The Premiers are in town on Saturday night as the Roosters host the Broncos in the game of the round.
8. North Queensland Cowboys (8)
The Cowboys rebounded from a less than stellar result last up, to run riot against the Sharks on Townsville.
Ok they concede 34 points but when you score 46, that's easy to forget. Scott Drinkwater was near flawless. Murray Taulagi crossed for a hatty in the nine try to six rout.
They're in Sydney this Friday evening to play the Dogs. The high flying Cowboys will fancy their dances.
9. Cronulla Sharks (9)
The Sharks scored 34 points this weekend. That's good. The Sharks conceded 46 points this weekend. That's bad.
Having scored 34 points, the stats look good for KL Iro (hat trick) and Nicho Hynes (two try assists) but the lack of resolve in this team right now is almost insulting.
Cronulla simply have to beat the Tigers, at home, this Sunday. A loss and it's a long way back to relevancy, even this early in the season.
10. Newcastle Knights (10)
Newcastle were relegated to spectators for the majority of their 44-12 loss to the Panthers.
Dylan Edwards had a hatty inside 20 minutes which set the tone for the afternoon. Penrith probably had the best ten players on the park, conservatively.
A packed stadium on Sunday night, and the return of Kalyn Ponga, will lift them against the travelling Bunnies. They'll need both.
11. The Dolphins (11)
The Dolphins are in a rough patch. A real rough patch! That said, their efforts across the last two weeks have shown serious signs. They did lose, again, but I'm trying to find positives.
Herbie Farnworth is always the main positive, regardless of the result. Jamayne Isaako crossed for a double and again proved he will be missed next year when he departs for Melbourne.
The Phins haven't tasted victory since the 21st of March. They'll want to beat the horribly out of sorts Storm this weekend.
12. Canberra Raiders (12)
The Raiders played their part in a fun Thursday night game. Ok, they were unlucky at times but probably a distant second best in the 33-14 loss to the Tigers.
Matthew Timoko continues a strong return after spending time in the NSW Cup competition. All of the Raiders back five ran for over 100 metres. No one else in the team recorded triple figures.
A tough trip to the well rested Titans awaits. Looks a must win to be honest.
13. Parramatta Eels (13)
The Eels were a shell of the team they were last week. Floating in off the back of a huge win over the Bulldogs, the Eels were wiped off the park by the Sea Eagles.
Mitch Moses crossed for a try but was otherwise well outplayed by his Manly counterparts. Brian Kelly ran hard ... you can tell I'm struggling for positives here.
The Eels host the Warriors this weekend in a fixture that looks very difficult on paper.
14. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (14)
The Dogs win against Penrith now seems a long time ago. A second straight loss, and a fourth loss in five games, has Dogs fans pulling hair out.
Evidently Stephen Crichton and Jacob Preston are playing injured. It certainly looks like it. Both halves crossed for tries but neither had a good night.
They, surprisingly, enter their Friday evening clash with the Cowboys as favourites. They need a win!
15. Gold Coast Titans (16)
The Titans return after the bye with AJ Brimson back in the side and will start slight favourites against the travelling Raiders.
The club looks to be going in the right direction but they really need to start piling on back to back wins if they realistically want to play Finals footy.
16. Melbourne Storm (15)
Never thought I'd type these words, but the Storm are lucky the Dragons exist!
Six straight losses and this team look like absolute rabble! Craig Bellamy's tirades obviously aren't working any more as the Storm look to have developed an allergy to holding the ball.
They're massive outsiders in their trip to play the Dolphins this weekend. They'll have to turn it around with Jahrome Hughes who will miss the trip.
17. St George Illawarra Dragons (17)
A good week off the field for the Dragons failed to translate onto it, as they lost 62-12 to the Roosters on Anzac Day.
Kade Reed has some exciting moments but was barrelled in defence. That will be the story of his season but surely they must stick with him now.
A bye comes at a good time. This is the week the coaching change and player introductions should have happened.
