Another incredible weekend of NRL action is in the bag, with the Bulldogs and Storm still struggling to get out of their own way, the Roosters winning a tense battle of two halves against the Broncos and the Sea Eagles giving the Panthers a true run for their money.
Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 9.
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: Reece Walsh is back and his fingerprints were all over everything good that the Broncos did in the second half. This is a team that's still waiting to get a few troops back and has others, who played in this game, still working their way back to full health. What could have been a very embarrassing evening after the first half ended up being a reasonably respectable loss.
Stocks down: This was Brisbane in a nutshell. When it works, it's awesome - when passes are going to ground and the backline looks like they've never met each other before? It's not so great. The fact that they only really played well for 20 minutes and still nearly came back and stole the game away is a credit to how good they are at their best, but they need to do it for longer stretches of games.
- Matt Bungard
Canberra Raiders
Stocks up: This was a tough, professional road win from Canberra. They were missing troops, had to reshuffle again, and still found a way to control enough of the contest to leave the Gold Coast with a 28-12 victory. Manaia Waitere's double gave them spark, while the Raiders' middle held together despite looking makeshift on paper.
Stocks down: It wasn't completely clean, with Joe Roddy joining the injury list with a suspected broken hand. That's the catch for Canberra at the moment; they keep finding ways to win, but the casualty ward keeps making the job harder every week.
- Isaac Issa
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
Stocks up: For about an hour, there was enough there from Canterbury to suggest the effort hasn't disappeared. They had field position, spent long stretches attacking North Queensland's line and still looked like a side capable of making the Cowboys uncomfortable.
Stocks down: The problem is that all of that pressure didn't turn into enough scoreboard damage. The Bulldogs finished with just two tries and one line break, then faded badly late as North Queensland ran in three soft tries to turn a contest into a 28-12 loss. Add injuries to Jake Turpin and Kurt Mann, and this was another frustrating night for a side now searching for answers after three straight defeats.
- Isaac Issa
Cronulla Sharks
Stocks up: Cronulla needed a response and this was emphatic. After a fairly even first half, the Sharks turned the second half into a training run, piling on 34 unanswered points in a 52-10 win. KL Iro and Teig Wilton both finished with hattricks, Nicho Hynes was involved in everything, and Cronulla repeatedly found joy down their left edge whenever the Tigers cracked.
Stocks down: The only real knock is that they were made to work early, and for a period in the first half the Tigers were right in it. But once Cronulla cleaned things up and leaned into their strike, there was a clear gulf between the sides.
- Isaac Issa
Dolphins
Stocks up: The Dolphins' defence, and they had to do plenty of it early, was solid against the Storm. When reduced to 12 men, after Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was sin-binned in the second half, they managed to keep the visitors scoreless and continued that resilience right through to the final whistle. Their attack also looked sharp when they managed to hold onto the ball long enough. Jack Bostock, returning from a long ACL injury absence, made a crucial scything run to put the Dolphins ahead for the first time with 15 minutes remaining.
Stocks down: Almost constant handling errors hobbled the early efforts of the Dolphins. Their defence kept them in it and when they got their act together in the second half, they were able to take control of the game. They look like they could beat anyone if they only minimise their errors for the full 80 minutes.
- Darren Arthur
Gold Coast Titans
Stocks up: Gold Coast weren't completely without positives. There were moments where they played with energy, found enough footy to trouble Canberra and showed signs they could make the Raiders uncomfortable if they got their timing right.
Stocks down: But that's kind of the story with the Titans right now - the good moments don't last long enough. In a 28-12 loss at Cbus Super Stadium, they were too loose defensively, missed too many key tackles and too often had the final pass break down just as something was building.
- Isaac Issa
Manly Sea Eagles
Stocks up: The Sea Eagles were fired up for this opportunity to prove themselves against the high water mark of the NRL competition. They scored the first try of the game through some slick ball movement and matched the Panthers blow-for-blow through the first half, before the Panthers edged ahead just before the break. They managed to stay in with a chance of winning right up until full time, with Joey Walsh showing off his potential..
Stocks down: Not too much wrong with this performance, Manly were able to match it with the best in the league for most of the game. They could have used the ball more when they had the extra man in the second half. I couldn't understand their two attempts at a two-point field goal to level the scores near the end, surely throwing it around to win the game with a try would have made more sense.
- Darren Arthur
Melbourne Storm
Stocks up: The desperation looked to be back in the Storm defence, as they rallied after the midweek Craig Bellamy news. They scored the first try through Tyran Wishart, as their attack looked sharper despite the sloppy conditions. The fight looked to be there, but the ability to stretch it out across 80 minutes wasn't.
Stocks down: In scoring the first try Tyran Wishart had his ankle folded over underneath the tackle of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, and played no further part in the game. Whilst looking good early, once the Dolphins levelled the scores at 10-10, the Storm appeared to run out of steam, adding to their error count and missing way too many tackles. The emotion that they played with early could not sustain their efforts right through the game.
- Darren Arthur
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Newcastle Knights
Stocks up: Well, in an incredible twist of fate it turns out that getting all of your best players back is beneficial to your team! Kalyn Ponga was superb, Dylan Brown set up the winning try and the Knights are looking like a team that can make something happen this year.
Stocks down: The second half defence was truly awful. In a game that they were leading by four converted tries, they only ended up victorious due to errant goalkicking. Is this an indictment on them, or on the league as a whole? I honestly don't know.
- Matt Bungard
New Zealand Warriors
Stocks up: If Jackson Ford's name was for some reason only written in pencil instead of pen in your Origin squad, it's time to get the biro out. Another fantastic game for the Gerringong junior, who has already made Warriors fans feel a lot better about life without Mitchell Barnett in 2027 and beyond. What a player.
Stocks down: Not a lot in terms of on-field stuff - Wayde Egan failed a HIA but they have a bye this week anyway, so he won't miss a game. All eyes on that blockbuster at Magic Round with the Broncos.
- Matt Bungard
North Queensland Cowboys
Stocks up: This was the sort of win that says plenty about where North Queensland are at. It wasn't always pretty, but they absorbed Canterbury's pressure, stayed calm, and then found another gear late to make it six wins from their past seven. Reed Mahoney had the added motivation against his former club, Jason Taumalolo equalled the Cowboys' games record, and their attack simply had more punch when the game needed to be decided.
Stocks down: The win still came with a serious worry, with Jeremiah Nanai re-injuring the shoulder he had only recently returned from surgery on. For a side building momentum, keeping their key forwards healthy now becomes just as important as the wins themselves.
- Isaac Issa
Parramatta Eels
Stocks up: Ronald Volkman is one of the few success stories for the Eels in what has been a tough season so far. Scored the first, ended up with a double and has proved an able foil for Mitch Moses despite the results not really going their way.
Stocks down: This kind of seems like it's going to be Parramatta's M.O. this year; hang tough for long stretches of games, but leak a few tries late on. It was a similar story at Brookvale a week ago and the sheer weight of their injuries is really taking its toll.
- Matt Bungard
Penrith Panthers
Stocks up: Penrith were really tested by the Sea Eagles and did very well defensively, especially when reduced to 12 men in the second half with the sin binning of Jack Cogger. Dylan Edwards was everywhere, once again answering calls for James Tedesco to be given his Blues fullback jersey.
Stocks down: Penrith are still making more errors than coach Ivan Cleary would be happy with. After leading 12-6 at halftime Scott Sorensen dropped the ball near halfway and the Sea Eagles took advantage, levelling the scores. They dropped the ball on their try line not long after, and Lehi Hopate soon scored in the corner to take a lead. Next it was Edwards trying to force a pass that saw a turnover, but on that occasion they were were able to hold Manly out. Five eighth Blaize Talagi scored a good try, but seemed to try too much at times.
- Darren Arthur
St George Illawarra Dragons
BYE
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Stocks up: Latrell Mitchell is the best player in the world. There's really no credible argument to the contrary, and he very nearly dragged a team that had no business winning over the line.
Stocks down: Errors and defence will kill what is otherwise a superb football team. They repeatedly shot themselves in the foot in the first twenty minutes, and when they did finally complete an improbable comeback, coughed the ball up off the kickoff. There's so much talent on this roster, but the application needs to match.
- Matt Bungard
Sydney Roosters
Stocks up: This was the best game that DCE and Sam Walker have played together, so far. It's a combination that we knew would take a few weeks to gel, but one that I never had any doubt would succeed. The Roosters are absolutely humming right now and look like a completely different team to the one that got poleaxed by the Panthers just over a month ago.
Stocks down: Dragons aside, their recent successes have all come in the second half of games and when it was 24-0 at half time, I thought that finally we were going to see a complete 80-minute showing from the Tricolours against quality opposition. Instead, they just flipped the script and almost allowed a 30-point lead to slip.
- Matt Bungard
Wests Tigers
Stocks up: The first half wasn't a disaster. They hit back through Adam Doueihi, then went ahead through Taylan May after Samuela Fainu's bust, and at 18-10 at halftime they were still close enough to make it a contest.
Stocks down: After that, it completely fell apart. Doueihi's shoulder injury was a brutal early blow, and once Cronulla started turning errors into points, the Tigers had no answer. Benji Marshall called the second half "unacceptable," and that feels about right - a side that came in with one of the competition's best defensive records simply collapsed after the break.
- Isaac Issa