The Bench
How's your bank balance looking? I'm not sure many punters are in the green at the moment as one look at the NRL's top four serves as a reminder as to how bloody awesome this competition is. After the first few weeks, no one really knew what the Brisbane Broncos would be besides a project. They were meant to cook slowly, with Anthony Milford growing into his role and waiting for Darius Boyd to return. Well they are the best side in the NRL at this moment and rightfully so. They're joined by the Melbourne Storm, St George Dragons and South Sydney Rabbitohs in that top four.
Besides the Rabbitohs, it's safe to say that no one really expected those three teams to be so impressive at this stage of the season. The talk of the Roosters and Rabbitohs being the two best teams in the NRL has quietened with the Chooks loosing to the Broncos and the Rabbits being dismantled by Jonathan Thurston and his Cowboys last night. Do you reckon the Roosters and Rabbitohs are still the bench mark? I'm not sure but injuries have certainly played their part.
The Dragons are the most intriguing side in that top four. Their forward pack has plenty of aggression with the likes of Tyson Frizzell, Jack de Belin and Leeson Ah Mau all looking like completely different players this season. De Belin is making the middle of the field his own and with his current form it's pretty easy to forget about a certain Trent Merrin.
Everyone in the Dragons is playing well, Benji Marshall is leading the team admirably and in rather un-Benji-like fashion. We've always associated Marshall with the razzle dazzle but he's got the 7 on his back and he's playing like a classic halfback who leads the team around the field and dictates what happens when. Throw in some classy touches on top of that and a solid halves partner in Gareth Widdop and they can do plenty with ball in hand.
Don't look much further than Dylan Farrell though, he's the type of player who you only really notice when he's shit because he generally does everything pretty well. He's getting consistent game time in the centres and is strong defensively while also a dangerous attacker.
There's a young centre who forces his way into The Bench each week, he might as well pay rent because James Roberts is having the season of his life. Three tries as the Gold Coast Titans dispatched themselves of a rather weak Parramatta Eels and Roberts is proving to be one of the best centres of 2015. He's also off contract at the end of this season and you'd imagine that both he and the Titans would be pretty keen to agree to re-sign.
The Titans are in a very tricky spot after loosing Aidan Sezer as they also have Nate Myles coming off contract. He's still very much a rep forward and is the type of forward that every club needs, can the Titans keep him after splashing the cash on Daly Cherry-Evans?
We also saw young Penrith centre Waqa Blake in full flight as the Panthers defeated Manly. Blake is a big lad with plenty of speed and nifty footwork, making it pretty difficult not to imagine a nice future for him.
If there's a team that you want to make sure you watch every weekend, it's hard to go past the North Queensland Cowboys. Jonathan Thurston does what he does, but they have all the right pieces around him to enhance his already peer-less ability. What made their stinker of a start to the season so puzzling was the quality that they have across their 17 and wider squad.
On both sides of the field, Thurston has players that he can either give the ball to early and let them work their magic or he can throw a great pass and know that they are running the right line. Whether it's wingers Antonio Winterstein or Justin O'Neil, centres Kane Linnett or Tautau Moga and even the edge back rowers in Gavin Cooper or young Ethan Lowe, they all know what Thurston's trying to do and are good enough to help him on his quest.
What has changed for the Cowboys though is their dominance through the middle of the field. Against a Rabbitohs side that has Burgess x2, Tim Grant, Isaac Luke, Chris Grevsmuhl, Chris McQueen and even Glenn Stewart, the Cowboys made them look like the Eels against the Warriors from a few weeks back. Matt Scott is back to his best, he ran for 163 metres, while we're also seeing James Tamou find some form as well running for 107 metres.
That combination along with Jason Taumalolo who uses his speed and footwork awesomely through the middle and ran for 185 metres. For me, the key is hooker Jake Granville who showed promise with the Broncos last season but is relishing the greater opportunities offered by the Cowboys. Granville ran for 84 metres off 3 carries, that's 28 metres per carry which compared to Luke who averaged 13.5 metres per carry makes for great reading if you're a Cowboys fan.