NRL 2022: Every team’s mid-season report rated, plus the team of the year

With the competition at the halfway point and the Dally M Medal count now going behind closed doors, Paul Crawley has named his team on form this year, check out the biggest shock.

The NRL’s mid-season report cards are out. And this year we’ve thrown in a team of the year to go with it before the Dally M votes go behind closed doors.

With perennial battlers the Bulldogs and the Tigers again in chaos, the juggernauts that are the Panthers and Storm roll on again.

But this year’s shock improvers have been the Broncos and the Cowboys. While it’s another Queenslander leading the way in the Dally M Medal count who gets a shock selection in Paul Crawley’s team of the year over the player widely regarded as the game’s best.

Scroll down for all 16 report cards – and the mid-year Team of the Season.

NRL REPORT CARDS

Broncos

Grade: A+

Currently 4th, 8 wins, 4 losses, +63 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Bottom four

Last year’s finish: 14th

Crawley says: Before the season few gave the Broncos much hope of making the eight this year. Certainly no one had them top four. But even more impressive than the current six match winning streak is the fact the last two have been without star recruit Adam Reynolds. Kevvie Walters deserves huge credit. He went into this year with a gun pointed at his head, knowing that if the Broncos didn’t aim up he’d be gone. But he has them playing a brilliant brand of footy, and the fact six Broncos were selected in the Origin squads is a reflection of this phenomenal turnaround.

Raiders

Grade: C-

Currently: 10th, 5 wins, 7 losses, -41 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Outside top eight

Last year’s finish: 10th

Crawley says: For all the hard luck stories you can make for the Raiders, the fact is they would be pushing top four if they didn’t bomb those games where they raced up a lead only to fade away in the second half. Missing the game management of Josh Hodgson and Jamal Fogarty hasn’t helped. But with Fogarty returning they have it in them to make a charge for the finals if they can just cut out those classic coach killer moments – like when Corey Horsburgh put up his kick on the weekend on the first tackle after a set restart when they had the Eels on the ropes.

The Bulldogs season has been an abject disaster... resulting in coach Trent Barrett walking out on the job. Picture: Getty

Bulldogs

Grade: F

Currently: 16th, 2 wins, 10 losses, -149 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Fighting for top eight

Last year’s finish: 16th

Crawley says: No one considered the Bulldogs top eight certainties but they were at least expected to be in the fight given the massive hype that surrounded the recruitment of attacking weapons Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton and Matt Dufty. But not only are they sitting last but have the comp’s worst attack, scoring at an average of just 12 a game. And after watching Addo-Carr and Burton miss out on Origin, surely the first question any potential recruit with a desire of playing rep footy would now ask is why would you risk their career at this club, regardless of the money on offer?

Sharks

Grade: C+

Currently: 7th, 7 wins, 5 losses, +38 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 6th

Last year’s finish: 9th

Crawley says: A solid start to Craig Fitzgibbon’s head coaching career without setting the world on fire. Had four wins in the opening five games, but have been up and down since and copped another reality check last round against the Roosters. Still, they’re sitting about where we expected them to be and most positive is that there is still a hell of a lot of improvement to come. One thing you can’t dispute is that Fitzy’s got them fit, they’ve shown they can play tough, and there seems to be this real sense of camaraderie among the players.

Titans

Grade: E

Currently: 14th, 3 wins, 9 losses, -98 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Competing for top eight

Last year’s finish: 8th

Crawley says: A disappointing start for the team that finished top eight last year and were unlucky not to beat the Roosters in week one of the finals. To see them down in 14th spot and losing touch with those teams fighting for the bottom spots in the eight is a massive setback. You only have to look at how they threw away a 20-point lead last weekend against the Broncos to see where this team is at. Have all the talent but just don’t have enough experience in key positions, and it’s being exposed.

Tom Trbojevic’s season-ending shoulder injury tells the story of the Sea Eagles’ season of woe. Picture: Getty

Sea Eagles

Grade: D

Currently: 11th, 5 wins, 7 losses, -60 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 4th

Last year’s finish: 4th

Crawley says: Even before Tom Trbojevic was injured the Sea Eagles just weren’t aiming up like we thought they would this year. I’d picked them top four and they’re now 11th going into Origin. And you simply can’t ignore the fact their five wins have been against the battling teams including Bulldogs, Raiders, Knights, Titans and Tigers. Yet every time they come up against a quality opposition they get smacked, with the exception of that controversial loss to the Eels a couple of weeks back.

Storm

Grade: B+

Currently: 2nd, 9 wins, 3 losses, +189 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 2nd

Last year’s finish: 1st

Crawley says: Were cruising until injuries to Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes knocked them off track. Still sitting second and providing they get through the next six weeks with Cameron Munster and Harry Grant healthy they will be one of the teams to beat. Averaging 31 points in attack and 15.5 in defence. Though you can’t deny the 32-6 round 10 loss to the Panthers and especially the 36-6 round 11 loss to the Cowboys were very un-Melbourne like, and will give teams below them a sniff of hope coming into the second half of the season.

Knights

Grade: D-

Currently: 13th, 4 wins, 8 losses, -140 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Fighting for the top 8

Last year’s finish: 7th

Crawley says: Knights fans have every right to be filthy considering they finished seventh last year and got close Parra in week one of the finals despite Mitch Pearce having a shocker. Yet after starting fast against the Roosters and Tigers they’ve gone backwards. No doubt a rotten run with injuries and Pearce’s exit didn’t help. But some performances just haven’t been up to scratch regardless. Kalyn Ponga’s recent form and Anthony Milford’s arrival offers a glimmer of hope they could make a run home.

Cowboys

Grade: A+

Currently: 3rd, 8 wins, 4 losses, +134 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Bottom four

Last year’s finish: 15th

Crawley says: Most popular choice for wooden spoon but instead have been the season’s biggest and best surprise. And for all the joy you get out of watching their thrilling brand of attack, to think they have a better defensive record than the Storm (averaging just 12.75 a game) is unbelievable considering they had the worst defence last year (averaging 31.2). Thoroughly deserved having six players named in Queensland’s squad, and hopefully the upcoming series helps take some of these young guns to the next level.

Eels

Grade: B

Currently: 5th, 8 wins, 4 losses, +56 points differential

Pre-season Prediction: 5th

Last year’s finish: 6th

Crawley says: Have claimed the two biggest scalps by beating the Storm in Melbourne and the Panthers at Penrith, but still look like they have a fair bit of improvement to come. Last weekend’s win over the Raiders was the first time they’ve put together back-to-back wins since round five, so consistency is key from here. The expectation this year was Parra have to at least make the preliminary final for a pass mark _ and those wins over the Panthers and Storm show why they deserve to be rated among the genuine contenders.

Rabbitohs

Grade: D

Currently: 8th, 6 wins, 6 losses, +27 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 7th

Last year’s finish: 3rd

Crawley says: Losing Adam Reynolds and Dane Gagai was always going to make it tough for last year’s grand finalists. When you throw in Latrell Mitchell’s injury on top of losing Cam Murray for a period, there are plenty of excuses for Souths to fall back on. The thing is, they don’t wash because it was a conscious decision to let Reynolds go knowing it would leave rookie Lachlan Ilias wearing the No 7 jumper. Credit to Ilias because he has done his best and is getting better, but I still don’t think they will go toe-to-toe with the top teams even when Latrell returns.

The Rabbitohs fell to pieces with injuries to Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray – but can challenge the best when full strength.

Dragons

Grade: C

Currently: 9th, 6 wins, 6 losses, -73 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 8th

Last year’s finish: 11th

Crawley says: Play a tough and physical brand of footy but just lack that sprinkle of star power, although they do have some young backs with huge potential. The Dragons are about where most expected they would this year, just sitting outside the eight but not really threatening the big guns yet. Did score a gutsy Anzac Day victory over the Roosters but aside from that are yet to beat any other team above them on the ladder. That is the concern because they do have a reasonably tough run home, with seven of 12 games against teams currently in the top eight.

Roosters

Grade: B-

Currently: 6th, 7 wins, 5 losses, +53 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Premiers

Last year’s finish: 5th

Crawley says: My pre-season premiers but at the halfway point I am feeling a little underwhelmed from what we’ve seen so far. But let’s not forget Trent Robinson has said all along we won’t see the best from this Roosters squad until the second half of the season, and they are sitting fifth and starting to find their rhythm. The round 10 win over Parramatta was by far their best performance, while against the Sharks last round their attack really started to click. My major concern is the fact they don’t have a recognised dummy half with Sam Verrills out injured again.

Led by Nathan Cleary, the Panthers have dominated the first half of the season. Picture: Getty

Panthers

Grade: A+

Currently: 1st, 11 wins, 1 loss, +216 points differential

Pre-season prediction: 3rd

Last year’s finish: Premiers

Crawley says: Coming off a premiership and have gone to another level, the only defeat coming against the Eels where they lost by a conversion. Are averaging 28.7 points in attack while conceding 10.7, the comp’s best defence. Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary are again providing outstanding leadership, yet the real strength is that right across the park they just don’t have a weakness, and work so incredibly hard for each other. Make no mistake, this has the potential to end up one of the great club teams we’ve seen over generations.

Warriors

Grade: D

Currently: 12th, 4 wins, 8 losses, -97 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Wooden spoon

Last year’s finish: 12th

Crawley says: They say defence wins comps and the Warriors have conceded the most points (311) of any team so far this year. That sums it up for me. Even though I tipped them to finish last it must still be so bitterly disappointing for their fans to watch another season slowly slip away. The sad thing is you just know if they could get it together the Warriors have shown that they have the talent to be a top eight team. They just don’t have the resilience to go with it.

Tigers

Grade: E

Currently: 15th, 3 wins, 9 losses, -118 points differential

Pre-season prediction: Bottom four

Last year’s finish: 13th

Crawley says: We don’t need the results of Tim Sheens’ mid-season review to know it’s time for change at the Tigers, because the last round capitulation against Souths summed them up perfectly. They went into that game (against a side they beat five weeks earlier) knowing Michael Maguire’s future would be riding on the result. Yet after racing to a 12-0 lead they crashed to a 44-18 defeat. In Maguire’s four seasons they’ve slipped from 9th to 11th to 13th to now sit 15th. The bigger issue is this will be the 11th straight year they haven’t played finals football, and that’s under five different coaches.

Originally published as NRL 2022: Every team’s mid-season report rated, plus the team of the year