Light bulb moment ... sorry, bit long ...
I think this is really off the mark. there are a few things I don't agree with.
First one is the claim that the successful teams are all grubby. I think that is just wrong and self-pitying. Sure, the good teams have grubs (and they get well-publicised for it because they are successful) but every team has some grubby players and I don't think it has that much of an effect on being successful. The Dragons weren't good because Smith and Scott were nasty, they were good because they had great depth in their forwards adn they followed a plan to perfection. Manly aren't successful because of Matai or Wamtough cheapshots, they are successful because for years they have had the fastest defensive line in the NRL and it flusters the opposition in attack, leading to them being consistently stingy in defence. And while the Storm probably get helped by some dubious wrestling, the fact that they have the best organised defence in the NRL is way, way more important than the occasional chicken wing or grapple that gets your blood boiling.
I don't ever want to see Broncos players diving, grappling or cheapshotting but apart from that I don't see how you can complain about what the other teams are doing. The Roosters and Manly give away tonnes of penalties for being very fast off the line and for holding down int eh tackle but that isn't cheating. it isn't some devious ploy or secret loophole in the game that they are exploiting. It is a calculated risk and they get penalised heavily for it but in the end they do it because the risk is worth the reward. And personally, that is what sport is all about - pushing the limits to reach your maximum potential. It is the same with Melbourne and their gang tackles.
I think complaining about it also ignores the amount of dedication and skill from the coaches and players to carry out those tactics. Ffast line speed requires great fitness from players and also a tonne of discipline so that big gaps aren't exposed. The gang tackles of Melbourne and Manly are the same and they require great organisation and discipline so that you don't end up with players struggling back to the line.
It isn't like all these teams have just decided '**** it, let's bend the rules' while the rest of the NRL are trying to play fairly and getting screwed because of it. Manly, Melbourne, Sydney, Souths etc have great teams and they are putting in a tonne of work and are reaping the benefits of it. Personally, I'm jealous.
Secondly, it seems like a bit of a silly issue to bring up but I find it funny that you put the Sharks in with those other clubs as having dominant packs. The Sharks have some bloody impressive forwards but this year they have been so poor by their standards. they are letting other teams through the middle way too easily, especially considering the talent they have. if I was to describe the Cronulla pack this year (bear in mind i've only seen them play ~7 times) it would be a bit soft, weak defensively, or underperforming. certainly not dominant.
Thirdly, I don't agree with your assessment of our pack. We do have a very strong pack but I think how we have performed so far is roughly consistent with their ability. We have some great hard-working forwards like Hannant, Parker and McGuire and they are a big reason why we are one of the best teams for making ground and conceding very few dropped balls. Likewise, much of our attack over the last season and a bit has been focussed on the brilliant runs of Glenn, Parker's great offloads and Gillett's running and offloading. I think our pack has actually been quite good in attack, we probably get let down by our halves and our execution more. The place where I feel our forwards struggle and have failed to be consistently strong is in defence. We are all over the shop and that is partly to do with the fact that a few of our forwards are pissweak in defence and our defence never moves up well.
I don't think our forward pack is too nice. It just isn't good enough in defence and that would be fixed by taking a leaf out of Manly or Sydney's book and looking at getting our defensive line moving up faster and more aggressively. Plus teaching Gillett and Thaiday how to tackle.