St George Illawarra are clearly the form team of the competition. I'm unsure if it will take them all the way to September but right now, no one is playing as well as they are. The key for them is their ability in the ruck where the likes of Cooper, Merrin, Rein, Thompson, de Belin etc etc. are shining and it's bringing their biggest strengths into the game in Widdop/Marshall. I thought they showed signs last year of what they were capable of (eg R16 vs Storm) but this year they've gone to another level and they're last play kicking options are second to none. This was evidenced by the way they took RTS out of the game and even turned him into a liability for the Roosters.
I do get the feeling that the bubble may burst soon but it's just a matter of who will burst it. They survived Brisbane and Sydney, they take on a wounded Rabbitohs in Round 9 and by rights should be one of the stronger teams during the Origin period because the only players they should lose is Merrin and Dugan.
I think they may have booked their spot.
Sydney on the other hand look really out of sorts. I don't know what's happened to James Maloney, but he's making a lot of bizarre choices lately. His kicks aren't putting any pressure on the back three, his defence is a concern and his options with the footy are poor. I'm not sure when it started, it may have been the Cronulla game but his form is really affecting the Roosters of late.
He's not the only player either, Dan Tupou, somebody I actually had in my Kangaroos team the other day has been poor for them too and would be in the running for most disappointing.
I think they really missed the likes of Guerra and Aubusson out there. I think the Roosters are one of the best exponents of fringe running in the game, and instead of trying to manufacture a replacement, they went away from it and just threw Napa in there to give themselves more of a defensive steel. I don't think it worked for them on the day and they really needed to test out those fringes because that's where you're going to get the points out of the Dragons. Work over their halves, earn quick play the balls, get their forwards back-peddling and run over them.
I thought it was a good game. The weather stole the show somewhat but it had a lot of interesting talking points going for it.