The cream is rising, but can it reach Penrith at the top?

Are we in for a final month of blowouts?

Two teams held to zero points, an average winning margin of 18 points, seven of eight games decided by double figures, half the round decided by at least 20 points (and the Roosters led North Queensland by 20 until the Cowboys scored at the death).

Let’s be honest – while there’s been a few fun games, the last few weeks haven’t been great for those who love a close contest and as more and more teams fall away, tire out, lose interest (looking at you, Manly), send players away for early surgery or put the cue in the rack to save energy for finals, it’s likely we’ll see losing teams get properly worked over in the last three weeks of the regular season.

Reminder: Nothing Penrith does for the next three weeks matters

Yes, they’ve had injuries and suspensions. Yes, they got held to zero by Melbourne at home and went down 16-0. Yes, Liam Martin hurt himself.

But Penrith have one hand and four fingers on the JJ Giltinan shield and they’ll be full strength in the final round and week one of the finals, so don’t fall for the ‘Panthers are vulnerable’ talk that’s going to be around. They’ve done enough this regular season and all they care about is being ready for that first ‘real’ game.

Spoiler alert: Roosters and Bunnies

Writing off the Chooks is an annual thing for rugby league types and not much was expected of South Sydney after Adam Reynolds left for Brisbane, but performances this week showed there might be something in these two that’s capable of challenging the top four sides.

The Bunnies were clinical in moving past the Eels 26-0 and they’ll back themselves to do similar next up against an ever so slightly wobbly Cowboys team, who were thoroughly dismantled on the SCG by the Roosters.

Barring a calamity, the Roosters will play finals. They’ve won five on the trot against opponents increasing in class and were undoubtedly impressive against the second-placed North Queensland.

(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

The question is how much damage they can cause once they get into the finals, and while there hasn’t been consistency at all from either club in 2022, they’re two clubs who are great at pacing their seasons to lift when it matters.

Goodnight, Manly and St George Illawarra

The Sea Eagles and Dragons bow out of finals discussions for 2022 on the back of losses to the Gold Coast and Canberra but let’s be honest with ourselves, they were cooked weeks ago.

Including the ‘pride jersey’ debacle where seven players stood themselves down, Manly have lost three on the trot by 10, 16 and 20, and dropped well out of finals contention. Coach Des Hasler is facing questions about his future and Kieran Foran is going to the Gold Coast next year. Their performance this Sunday was one of a team who have accepted their fate.

As for St George Illawarra, they’ve hung around the mid-table region to the surprise of many and the excitement of few, playing a conservative brand of league that drives fans crazy and isn’t enough to seriously challenge the best of the best.

Hopefully both clubs can show a bit in these last three games to keep the fans engaged.

Did the Dragons get hosed, though?

In short, no. Unlike the scenes in Canberra and St George Illawarra’s first meeting in Round 16 where three clear infringements in the last 10 seconds weren’t penalised, this was a different beast as the clock wound down to 0.

Here’s why: time expired halfway through the tackle on Dragons winger Mathew Feagai by Canberra’s Corey Harawira-Naera, Feagai dropped the ball getting up to play it anyway and referee Adam Gee was in the process of whistling the game complete while Feagai was in the process of losing the ball.

Cool? I’m sure that will take care of any disputes about those last three seconds of the game.