There were some big results over the weekend, giving a good indication of where the 2017 NRL premiership could be heading. Melbourne Storm confirmed they are the team to beat with a convincing victory over the Broncos on Friday night, while the Sharks may have shown they are the only team capable of challenging them.

The Storm continued to impress and I think they are the benchmark team by quite a fair way these days. The Sharks showed they can get into a grind and play tough, in-your-face footy and that's the only way to beat Melbourne at their best.

Cameron Smith Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

It was the margins on the weekend which really surprised me and marked some teams as being very doubtful premiership contenders. To see the Broncos blown away and the Roosters blown away, really makes me wonder whether either team has any hope of going all the way this season. They just don't seem to be able to play the full 80 minutes, to grind out a victory, they float in and out of games and you can't beat the top sides when you're doing that.

The only other team that looks like they might be up to the challenge is the Sea Eagles. They continue to impress and with Daly Cherry-Evans in top form, they stand out as the third best prospect. They have the forwards to engage the Storm in an arm-wrestle and we saw what they did to the Sharks recently.

One team you can definitely write off are the Panthers after another disappointing effort, this time against the Rabbitohs. They can't play a tough 80 minutes against anyone; they can score some freakish points and look really good in attack at times. They have been a major disappointment this year and it's hard to see them ever winning a premiership when they miss so many tackles.

Sam Burgess attracts a pack of Panthers Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The Bunnies looked fantastic and they could sneak into the eight if they maintain that kind of form. They were very well-balanced, completed their sets at a high level and looked like the premiership winning side of 2014. They played that forward-dominant style of play, led by Sam Burgess and topped off by Angus Crichton who is such a damaging runner on the edge of the ruck. Alex Johnston was brilliant in picking up five tries, Cody Walker had a great game at fullback, where they are obviously still missing Greg Inglis and Adam Reynolds and John Sutton combined well in the halves. They are untouched by Origin, so have a really good opportunity to build some form leading towards the end of the season.

The Origin teams will be selected on Monday, and aside from a few injury doubts the Blues should remain unchanged. Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizell had injury scares out of the loss to the Titans, but both should be right to take their place. Captain Boyd Cordner is the real concern, as he battles a calf muscle injury, which are always tough to recover from.

The Queenslanders of course have their big decisions to make over who will replace Johnathan Thurston and Boyd Cordner. I have heard that there has been a big push for Michael Morgan to play in the centres and to add Cameron Munster to the rest of the Storm spine. Cherry-Evans could then find himself on the bench.

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I actually think the Blues will be happy to see Cherry-Evans selected at five-eighth. While Cherry-Evans has been in fantastic form for the Sea Eagles and I've backed him to be the man for the job, there is still a doubt over whether he can handle the step up to Origin level.

Origins are often won between the ears before the players even take to the field. I think we saw that in Origin I, where the Blues really believed they were the better team, largely thanks to Thurston being out of the side. In this Origin decider they will have that mental boost again and I think the doubts over Cherry-Evans will add to that confidence.