2. Gold Coast Titans Ok, I know, Jarryd Hayne is here and a lot of you are sick of him. That's fine. You're wrong, but that's fine. Hear me out. This club was written off by all and sundry at the start of the season - James Roberts was gone, Kane Elgey was out for the entire year and of course, Daly Cherry-Evans had backflipped on the club to stay in Manly. Despite this, through a mixture of strong signings (Nathan Peats, Koni Hurrell and Hayne were all vital mid-season acquisitions as well) and a very solid forward pack (Ryan James may win the Dally M), the team that nobody believed in are in the finals after finishing eighth ... and it wouldn't be the first time a team featuring Hayne went on a tear and shocked everyone to make the grand final. Right in the middle: The Panthers are the perfect team for the truly neutral supporter. Credit:Brett Hemmings 3. Cronulla Sharks

With the longest title drought in the NRL, it's almost impossible to not feel at least a bit sorry for Sharkies fans. It's bizarre how quickly they fell out of favour with a lot of neutrals during their mid-season winning streak, because nobody does tall poppy syndrome better than Australians. Regardless of how you feel about Andrew Fifita, Paul Gallen, Michael Ennis, Jack Bird and co., Cronulla have been a breath of fresh air as they, along with Canberra, toppled the traditional hierarchy near the top of the table and their fans deserve some success after so many horrible years. Also, if it means anything to you, Chad Townsend has the best hair in the entire league. Look at that hair. Glorious. Credit:Getty Images 4. Penrith Panthers You never know what to expect from a Panthers game. At times brilliant, at times comically bad, whatever your opinion of them (I honestly don't know anyone who hates this team), you can be sure something exciting is going to happen. Bryce Cartwright is explosive and Nathan Cleary's rise has been eye-catching - he's been an excellent foil to Matt Moylan, who continues to be called a 'promising youngster' on broadcasts every week, despite having nearly 70 games under his belt and being in his mid-20s. Penrith last won the comp in 2003, and have been a wildly fluctuating team since. Nobody will be upset if Penrith somehow come from sixth to win the comp, but I don't think any neutral would be wildly excited either, so here we are - right in the middle. 5. North Queensland Cowboys

The Cowboys' position on this list is more a product of their own success than anything else. If not for their triumph last year, they'd be either first or second on my (and I suspect most people's) list. I don't know how many more years we have left watching Johnathan Thurston play rugby league, so let's just continue to enjoy it. This team is a model of efficiency, they score points for fun (second-most in the league) and defend well (also second) and they have a legitimate shot at going back to back. That's never been done in the NRL era, so if you're looking for an excuse to cheer on the defending premiers, that's a pretty historic reason to do so. Magic moment: Johnathan Thurston celebrates with his family. Credit:Getty Images 6. Canterbury Bulldogs Dogs fans are panicking. They've stumbled into the finals in horrendous form, losing their past three games and winning just three of their past seven. In 2014, they were worse - they won just three of their past NINE, and had to travel to Melbourne to take on the Storm in week one of the finals. Instead of waving the white flag, they blew Melbourne off the park and ended up making the decider from seventh spot, falling just short of what would have been a stunning title success. This year, they also finished seventh and again, they're already being written off by most - this is foolhardy. You can never count Canterbury out, but their constant presence in the finals has led to them being one of the most unpopular teams in the game - and this means the only reason you as a neutral should be cheering for them is the sheer amount of anger and jealousy it would stir up among the NRL diehards. Also, their halves combination of James Graham and Sam Kasiano is one of the most exciting in the league. 7. Melbourne Storm

They are always good, I like all of their players and their jerseys are pretty sharp but still, I hate them. Apart from when they got kicked out for cheating, they haven't missed the finals since 2002. That's 14 straight years with finals footy! No team should be spoiled with this kind of success, especially one in a city that doesn't really care about rugby league. It seems cruel that this team gets to be good every year when Newcastle, the most passionate rugby league stronghold outside of Sydney, has just finished last for the second year in a row. On top: The Melbourne Storm cruised to victory – and the minor premiership – on Saturday night. Credit:Quinn Rooney Loading If any NSW-based team had this level of sustained success, the crowds would be coming in droves ... but no, let's waste arguably the most dominant run any team will ever have on an indifferent audience. Do not cheer for them. 8. Brisbane Broncos

There is quite literally no reason to cheer for the Broncos. Since they entered the competition, nobody has won more titles - the collective schadenfreude of the league community when they blew last year's grand final in the dying seconds was, in a word, beautiful. They joined the competition in 1988 and in that entire time, have missed the finals just four times. To add to this, the vast majority of their fans also get to win State of Origin every year (and there's a special place in hell for born and bred Sydneysiders who inexplicably decided to support Brisbane) and have already won the grand final more times than fans of most teams will see in their lifetime. If they play Melbourne in the decider, the most palatable outcome is Bane showing up and destroying the stadium.