NRL Power Rankings: Round 7 Real deal: it's a good time to be a Roosters fan. Just when you thought it was going to be a four-horse race (gamble responsibly), the Knights come galloping into calculations as genuine premiership contenders. First week back after the representative break and some things stay the same - Melbourne are still the team to beat, Souths showed they can beat almost anyone ("almost anyone" accounts for their 14 NRL rivals not called the Storm) - but there have been some changes with Newcastle proving they are on the up with a big win on the Gold Coast and the Bulldogs and Panthers finally ending their losing droughts. Storm (last week 1): For some reason, they don't like the Warriors. If the referees had picked up the dodgy pass in the lead-up to the go-ahead try, Melbourne's unbeaten run may very well have ended last Thursday. Rabbitohs (3): What a great game at Brookvale. Tough, uncompromising, no holds barred, no beg your pardons. These old sparring partner clubs threw everything at each other and apart from an addition to the W column, Souths proved they are not fazed by the big occasions. Roosters (4): Those with no perspective about comparing football and battlefields would call their domination of the Dragons an Anzac Day ambush. These days, thankfully, that sort of insensitivity is passe. However, it was a good old-fashioned display of a superior football team showcasing its advantages in every facet of play. They were terrible last year but these Roosters are the real deal. Sea Eagles (2): A drop of two spots may seem harsh as they weren't too bad last Friday but Souths were better and the Roosters are in better form and Manly's short-term prospects are clouded by judiciary matters. Knights (5): It looked like daylight separated the top four and the rest a couple of weeks ago but supercoach Bennett's Knights trounced another pretender/contender on the Gold Coast to stamp themselves as a legitimate force in the NRL. Now the challenge is to do it consistently. Cowboys (6): Hard to read too much into their win over Canberra in Townsville. The Raiders are a lot like North Queensland - pretty good at home, but poor travellers. At least Matt Bowen is showing glimpses of his best, easing the pressure on captain/playmaker/five-eighth/goal kicker/team bus driver/bloke who cuts the oranges at half-time Johnathan Thurston. Brisbane (8): Just when you think you've got this team pegged as a middle-of-the-road side, supercoach Griffin's charges showed enough grit and composure when it mattered to conquer the determined but undermanned Tigers at Campbelltown to suggest Brisbane could be more than just fringe top-eight material. Dragons (7): Public Relations 101: Don't announce the re-signing of a coach during a match. A) It will mean it gets little to no media exposure and B) if said team cops a flogging, supercoach Price will then be left in an extremely awkward position fronting up to the post-match press conference. Bulldogs (12): A pulse. They're alive. They actually didn't dominate Cronulla as indicated by the 24-8 scoreline but when you've started the year 1-5, any win will do. Supercoach Hasler still has plenty left on his to do list, namely get Ben Barba and Josh Morris into space to weave their magic. Titans (9): Injuries cruelled their chances against Newcastle, but there is not a lot of experienced depth in supercoach Cartwright's roster. Every year there's a team that sprints out of the gates then vanishes. Gold Coast have that look about them in 2013. Raiders (10): There's still no consistency at Canberra and there hasn't been for several years. Supercoaches Henry, Elliott and Furner have delivered very similar results - the occasional run at the finals interspersed with a lot of mediocrity in between. Panthers (16): Injuries are starting to mount and when you're in a rebuilding phase, that means calling on players who may not be ready to play at NRL level. Young fullback Matt Moylan and winger Travis Robinson certainly don't fall into that category. They were dynamic in the 44-12 thrashing of Parramatta and look like first-grade regulars. Sharks (11): Cronulla unfortunately have a great deal in common with Essendon in 2013 and they might also change their name to the Bombers following Sunday's loss to Canterbury. Ben Pomeroy is a serial offender in fumbling away certain tries and it is frustrating Todd Carney to create so many half-chances only for the outside backs to - in many cases, literally - throw them away. Tigers (13): Supercoach Potter made a comeback to restart his career with the Western Reds in the mid 1990s and he might have to dust off his old boots again if the injury crisis gets any worse at TigerTown. Warriors (15): Why can't forward passes be reviewed by video referees? OK, some of them are impossible to tell because of the camera angle and you go with the call from the on-field officials but when you get a blatant one wrong like the one that cost the Warriors the lead late in their clash with Melbourne, the technology is there waiting to be used. Eels (14): Parramatta were pathetic pummeled at Penrith against the Panthers. Alliteration aside, supercoach Stuart has said there will be a few big losses like this for his rebuilding side and that's OK but Eels fans won't tolerate the woeful finish to the match when the players looked like they'd given up and were more concerned about arguing with the referees than preventing the embarrassing scoreline reaching its humiliating end point.