I'm not sure there's been a closer run home/finals series in recent memory.
With so many top team clashes left to play out, every position besides 1st is still up for grabs and we should see some excitement going into the last round:
- If Eels win (broncos) and Melbourne lose (roosters) this week, the two will play off for 4th in the last round.
- Cronulla, NQL and Melbourne all competing for positions 2,3 and 4 with wins. All being from different states, that home final is super important.
- If Roosters (storm), Souths (Cowboys) or Brisbane (Eels) lose this week, they could find themselves level with the Raiders (Manly) with a play off for the bottom half of the eight. Particularly vital round for the Roosters and Souths as they play each other in the final round. If both teams lose this week, it's likely one misses the 8 altogether which is crazy.
Last year 22 points was enough for 8th spot, this year the Raiders could miss out on 30 points potentially.
Penrith are still red hot favourites, but I don't think anyone would be surprised if any other team in the 8 made the GF this year, apart from maybe the Broncos with their poor end of year form. Penrith won't get their halves back on the park together till the start of the finals, so a high flying Melbourne or Eels could easily knock them off and make that run to the GF all the more difficult.
TLDR - After a number of years of domination from the top few teams, this years finals are shaping up as very interesting.