Stocks: New Zealand Warriors flying, Brisbane Broncos dismal

Form reversals littered the second round of the 2026 NRL season, while last year's premiers took another dive, and last year's wooden spooners paid dearly for a second win.

Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 2.

Our footy experts cast their eye over the week's action to find out whose stocks are up -- whether it's a coaching masterstroke or a player having a blinder -- and whose are down.

Brisbane Broncos

Stocks up: The Broncos looked like blowing the Eels off the park early, racing to a 12-0 lead in under 12 minutes. From there too many errors started creeping into their game. One positive, however, was the front-row partnership between Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan. Not only are they two of the most destructive ball runners in the NRL, they combined beautifully for the Broncos second try with Carrigan slipping a perfect pass to put Haas through the Eels line from close range.

Stocks down: Star fullback Reece Walsh came out looking like he had a point to prove, scoring two tries and causing trouble across the field. His positive play however was overshadowed by a couple of very poor dropped kicks, both leading to costly Eels tries. He took his eye off the ball on both occasions, gifting possession to the Eels in attacking positions. Possibly more disturbing for the Broncos was their inability to stop the Eels from scoring tries on the back of those errors.

- Darren Arthur

Canberra Raiders

Stocks up: With a greater share of the ball and better conditions you could easily see the Raiders reversing that result. Their attack looks very sharp at times, with the new halves pairing growing in confidence and the outside backs electric. Kaeo Weekes and Xavier Savage will cause plenty of headaches for other teams again this year.

Stocks down: For a second consecutive round the Raiders have been on the wrong end of a mountain of set restart calls. At halftime coach Ricky Stuart implored his players to clean up the ruck, but it wasn't long before the annoying little bell started ringing again. They were lucky early that the Warriors kept dropping the ball in the wet weather. Eventually the weight of possession saw the score blow out to the Warriors' advantage.

- Darren Arthur

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs

BYE

Cronulla Sharks

Stocks up: It's tough to find positives about the weekend, but I'll say this; they were slightly unlucky to be in as big a hole as they were at halftime, and fought hard to keep it respectable in the second. It's hardly a consolation for a fanbase that's moved far beyond the need or want of a 'brave loss'; but it's something.

Stocks down: One interesting thing about the Sharks in the past couple of years is that collectively, people will treat every game against a quality opponent as a plebiscite on Cronulla as a club. If they win, as they did a few times last year, they're quality contenders. If they lose, as they did on Saturday? Well, they're flat-track bullies who'll always finish behind the serious teams. It looks like we're doing that again.

- Matt Bungard

Dolphins

Stocks up: Trailing 14-0 and struggling for fluency throughout much of the contest, Kristian Woolf's side dug deep in the second half to produce a gritty comeback victory, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was the catalyst. When the Dolphins needed a moment of brilliance, "The Hammer" delivered, producing the decisive plays that swung momentum back the Dolphins' way. It wasn't the free-flowing football that defined their attack last season, but the resilience shown to claw back into the match will please their coaching staff immensely.

Stocks down: Despite the victory, the Dolphins will know there's plenty to fix. Their attack looked disjointed for much of the game, particularly early when their completion rate sat at just 57%, and their sets lacked cohesion without Jeremy Marshall-King at hooker. The Dolphins built their identity last season on fast, entertaining football, but that rhythm was largely missing for long stretches here. If they're to climb the ladder in 2026, they'll need to rediscover that attacking fluency quickly.

- Isaac Issa

Gold Coast Titans

Stocks up: For large periods of this contest, the Titans looked like the better football side. After a brutal opening-round defeat, their response was impressive, as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead and showed far more resolve with the ball and in defence. Fullback Keano Kini was electric whenever he chimed into the backline, and the Titans looked far more organised and disciplined than they did a week earlier, suggesting the foundations are there for a competitive side if they can maintain that level for 80 minutes.

Stocks down: Unfortunately for the Titans, games are decided over the full 80, and their inability to close out the contest will sting. Whether it was fatigue, lapses in defensive concentration, or simply a failure to wrestle back momentum, the Titans let control of the game slip when it mattered most. For a side desperate to prove it can compete with the league's middle tier, this was a result that could easily haunt them later in the season.

- Isaac Issa

Manly Sea Eagles

Stocks up: When Manly are clicking, they look hard to handle, and that was evident throughout brief moments of their clash with the Knights. Jamal Fogarty continues to lead this side with confidence and maturity, while Tom Trbojevic showed glimpses of his attacking prowess. Luke Brooks and Haumole Olakau'atu were also impressive Sea Eagles in an otherwise disappointing team showing, reminding fans of the potential that this side possesses.

Stocks down: It's not looking good over in the Northern Beaches. A 0-2 to start the year, with their second loss coming at the hands of the wooden spooners missing their three best players. Their defence looked lost at the best of times, while their forward pack looked aged and weary throughout most of the match. Their inability, or disinterest, in holding onto their opposition in 1-on-1 situations resulted in easy points for the Knights, with very few Sea Eagles going the extra mile in that regard.

-- Isaac Issa

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Melbourne Storm

Stocks up: There was only one major change for the Storm as we headed into the 2026 season, and that was the presence of Sua Fa'alogo at the back. This game was well and truly his coming out party as he scored a hat trick and was involved in most of the good things the Storm did. There was no doubt the 22-year-old had some big shoes to fill taking over from Ryan Papenhuyzen, but so far so good.

Stocks down: A 26-point win is great, particularly against a tough Dragons team that is usually a lot harder to break down at either of their home stadiums. But 28 of those points came in the final 20 minutes of the game. Is that sustainable? Perhaps not, and Craig Bellamy will certainly be concerned that a relatively anaemic Dragons attack was able to rack up 20 points of their own in a half hour period at the back end of the first half, and just after half time.

- Matt Bungard

Newcastle Knights

Stocks up: No Ponga? No Brown? No Sharpe? No problem. The Knights carried their attacking blitz from Vegas into their Round 2 clash against the Sea Eagles, scoring 36 points without their three star men for the majority of the clash. Bradman Best was at his, well, best, racking up 190 metres alongside two try assists, while Fletcher Hunt proved to be an exceptional Ponga replacement.. The rest of Newcastle's outside backs looked strong as well, scoring 24 points in total against an experienced Manly backline.

Stocks down: No Ponga, no Brown, and no Sharpe... do we have a problem? The Knights got by just fine without their attacking trio this weekend, but the side's injury toll to start the season is certainly concerning. Newcastle's error toll sitting at double digits will also bode poorly for Holbrook, with most coming off the back of poorly organised plays or simply a lack of focus. They'll want to work on amending the silly mistakes soon, lest they fall into old (losing) patterns.

- Isaac Issa

New Zealand Warriors

Stocks up: The kicking game of Tanah Boyd in the sloppy conditions went a long way towards ensuring a comfortable Warriors victory over the Raiders. From deep inside his own territory he was able to turn the Raiders around, including a 40/20 at one vital point. When he wasn't kicking for territory he was putting in pinpoint attacking kicks. His overall game as improved markedly, but his kicking was most notable in this clash.

Stocks down: Not too much went wrong for the Warriors in this win, which was expected to be a much closer contest. They did have trouble with their handling, as Warriors football is definitely not wet-weather football. Once they were able to control the ball, they starting tearing the weary Raiders defence apart.

-- Darren Arthur

North Queensland Cowboys

Stocks up: The Cowboys started to pick up momentum for periods in the second half, and almost looked a chance of making a comeback at one stage. Their stars, most notably Jaxon Purdue and Jake Clifford, put in maximum effort whenever they were in an attacking position, which wasn't often. Helium Luki continues his successful bounce back in 2026, and Soni Luke looked strong off the bench too, providing good defence and solid service out of dummy-half.

Stocks down: North Queensland have now lost back-to-back games to start the season, with both losses coming at the hands of sides that were in the bottom 9 in 2025. Their stocks are all the way down, a sentiment that Cowboys players themselves seemed to agree with by the looks of things, with very little enthusiasm sparking from the club's starting lineup. Their defence was average, and their errors were plentiful, with stars Reed Mahoney and Tom Dearden failing to ignite any attacking spark for the Cowboys' pedestrian offence.

- Isaac Issa