As we approach the halfway point of this disrupted NRL season, it's time to look at what the Stats Insider Futures model is tipping as the race to the finals heats up and the good teams further separate themselves from the bad.

As expected, the numbers make for grim reading for teams in Queensland. The Broncos have completed an awful turn in their projections. Meanwhile, the Panthers and Eels have surged up the grand final winners column since we last checked in on futures projections.

Brisbane Broncos

What a difference two months can make in rugby league...

The Brisbane Broncos were at 7% to win the Grand Final, 7.5% to finish as Minor Premiers, 36.5% to crack the Top 4, and morals for the Top 8 at 72.1% the last time we did this.

They've since endured a six-game losing streak and resorted to playing an 18-year-old rookie fullback, throwing Corey Oates into the back row and signing Issac Luke in an attempt to dig themselves out of the hole.

Plagued by injuries and off-field issues surrounding the coach and anybody else that has a voice at the club, 2020 looks to be a wasted season for the Broncos.

Prediction: Miss Top 8.

Canberra Raiders

What a difference two weeks can make in rugby league...

It was only two weeks ago that the Canberra Raiders were considered genuine premiership contenders at 11.5% to win the Grand Final. While not playing at their best, making the 2019 finale and still having players return from injury afforded them some leeway.

Now, Josh Hodgson is out for the season and all hope seems to be lost.

The Raiders are still a good football side. Jack Wighton and George Williams will win them games through to the end of Round 20. But an in-form Hodgson made them a great football side - one that you could count on being there in the last two weeks of the season.

Prediction: Sneak into Top 8, brief finals run.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

The 'playing for pride' portion of the NRL season is already here for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Many subscribed to the popular "they finished last year strong so should improve this year" theory. The Bulldogs had started the last two seasons with two wins in the opening nine rounds to undo any of the good work late in the season prior. Through nine rounds in 2020, the Bulldogs have one win.

They're without a head-coach now, too.

With a historically poor attack averaging just 10.8 points per game, not even the famous effort-inspired Bulldogs performances are enough for this group to be competitive most weeks. The introduction of Luke Thompson keeps them interesting and offers hope. This team is ultimately looking to 2021 already, though.

Prediction: Wooden Spoon.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Just when you think the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks reenter the Top 8 conversation with three wins on the bounce, they dish up a disheartening performance to concede 54 points to the Panthers.

The talent is there for the Sharks. Shaun Johnson leads the NRL in try assists and is carving up on the right side. Wade Graham can do the same if he was presented with some more early ball. It looked as though he would get it through Matt Moylan at fullback, but yet another injury has put an end to that for the time being.

But for every obvious strength, the weaknesses are clearer:

While Johnson, Graham and a healthy Moylan could conceivably drag the Sharks into the Top 8, the holes in the middle of the field make for a more reliable foundation to form a prediction.

Prediction: A mathematical chance for the Top 8 late, but ultimately fall short.

Gold Coast Titans

We're almost halfway through the season and Justin Holbrook is still tinkering with his Gold Coast Titans side. The players filling the back row and outside back positions are changing every week due to injury and form, but the feeling is that Holbrook is close to landing on a first-choice 17.

With the likes of Beau Fermor and Jaimin Jolliffe not only forcing their way into the 17, but earning a starting spot, Holbrook is developing some much-needed depth at the club.

He's also slowly putting together a long-term spine with Ashley Taylor and Jamal Fogarty combining nicely, Erin Clark doing enough to keep his number nine jersey and AJ Brimson due to return from injury in a month.  

Far from a finished product and still well and truly in wooden spoon contention, the Titans are playing with the future in mind.

Prediction: A Bulldogs-like late-season run with the overzealous Top 8 predictions for 2021 to boot.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are battling injuries and suspensions, just for a change.

Some of their absences could have been avoided (see: Addin Fonua-Blake). Others highlight just how important one player can be to the success of a football side (see: Tom Trbojevic).

The Sea Eagles were at 83.9% to make the Top 8 when Tom Trjojevic went down with his latest injury in Round 6. Three games and three losses later, Manly all of a sudden find themselves on the fringes of the eight. Trbojevic isn't due back for at least another month either.

Des Hasler will work some magic by the end of the season. Daly Cherry-Evans has a match-winning performance or two in him while Trobojevic sits out, too. We're still looking at a finals side, but the work they'll need to put in throughout the regular season might come back to bite them come finals time.

Prediction: Top 8 thanks to the second-easiest remaining schedule. 

Melbourne Storm

They just keep turning up...

If not for a historically excellent Roosters team, the Melbourne Storm would be favourites to win the premiership behind the play of their 37-year-old hooker.

Cameron Smith continues to dominate the game with the new six-again rule only opening up more opportunities for the magician to perform his tricks. Surrounded by Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and with a consistent forward pack laying the foundation, Smith is guiding the Storm towards another NRL Grand Final.

Prediction: Top 4, at least to Week 3 of Finals.

New Zealand Warriors

If the 4.4% in the 'Make Top 8' column was a little higher, things could have been so much different for the New Zealand Warriors.

Homesick players may look at the prospect of returning home a little different if finals footy looked likely. The dreaded late-season Warriors collapse isn't the foregone conclusion it otherwise tends to be when a place in the Top 8 is in touching distance.

Instead, the Warriors have just three wins through nine rounds, the third-toughest schedule to come, one player has already returned home, and four more will join him after Round 11. Two of which make up the back-three - easily the Warriors' most formidable area of the field.

As long as this season might already feel for a group that has gone almost three months without seeing family, it could soon feel much longer.

Prediction: Wooden Spoon contention - 14th-15th.

Newcastle Knights

The foundations of the Newcastle Knights rebuild are finally taking shape. 

Adam O'Brien has taken over and turned this group from Top 8 pretenders into a genuine finals side that can upset any of the big guns on their day.

The yardage troubles through the middle are no longer with the Knights 3rd in running metres with 1,896 metres per game. Meanwhile, O'Brien has done the unthinkable and nurtured Kurt Mann into a playable five-eighth to pair with Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce.

While the Knights might still be a season away from premiership contention, they're coming along nicely.

Prediction: Top 8 wearing the 'team nobody wants to face' tag entering October.

North Queensland Cowboys

A team featuring Jason Taumalolo, Michael Morgan, Valentine Holmes, Jordan McLean and Scott Drinkwater shouldn't be struggling for relevance in the race to make the Top 8.

However, when Taumalolo is the only one that can stay on the field, it's no wonder Paul Green's men face an uphill battle towards October.

Green doesn't make it easy for himself. Some selections leave you scratching your head on Tuesday before, I'm sure, some North Queensland Cowboys fans bash it against the wall on game day. But with so much talent on the sidelines due to injury, Green receives somewhat of a free pass. He's the worst-performing coach since 2018 that is still employed and looks set to spend the second half of this season avoiding the wooden spoon.

Prediction: Bottom 4.

Parramatta Eels

With only one loss this season - to the Roosters - and a favourable draw to come over the second half, the Parramatta Eels are flying towards October.

At 9.5% to win the Grand Final and 11.1% to be Minor Premiers when the NRL season restarted in May, the Eels have shot up the list to be favourites to end Round 20 at 1st on the ladder while only behind the Storm and Roosters to lift the Provan-Summons Trophy.

They've managed to navigate Mitchell Moses' injury so far while Nathan Brown has vowed to behave himself from here. If the key players in this group are healthy heading into October, that 19.4% will jump up even further.

Prediction:  Top 2, Week 3 of Finals.

Penrith Panthers

So much of the focus around the Penrith Panthers' future has been around Nathan Cleary's development. While he's proving to be one of the best halfbacks in the NRL in 2020, it's the improvement of the Panthers middle that has seen their futures percentages jump since the season restarted.

Futures on May 29

James Fisher-Harris will be recognised as one of the best middle forwards in the NRL by the end of the season while Isaah Yeo will shed the 'most underrated player in the competition' narrative when he dominates a finals match.

With Jarome Luai learning to use Viliame Kikau effectively and Stephen Crichton popping up outside the big Fijian, the Panthers still have room to improve out wide before hitting the finals.

Prediction: With the easiest remaining schedule in the competition - Minor Premiers.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

In Damien Cook, Cody Walker, Adam Reynolds and Latrell Mitchell, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have a finals-quality spine. If they can play some consistent football together and work on their combinations, South Sydney's ceiling goes way beyond their current 4.6% to win the Grand Final.

Cameron Murray is a match-winner. Thomas Burgess, Alex Johnson along with Reynolds have been there and done it all before. So too has the man in charge, Wayne Bennett.

Many were quick to write the Rabbitohs off as they limped out of the suspended portion of the season. However, they are improving as the weeks go by and will continue to do so with some luck in the injury department. Souths are the smokiest of chances to be a contender in October, but a chance nonetheless.

Prediction: Bottom of the Top 8.

St George-Illawarra Dragons

St George-Illawarra Dragons fans can be forgiven at being a little frustrated by their team's recent run of promising form.

With three wins in their last five games along with two encouraging enough losses to the Roosters and Raiders, the Dragons are bouncing back from their early-season four-game losing streak with Paul McGregor's position as coach looking more comfortable by the week. 

While the last month has offered positive results, the Dragons are more likely to continue riding the carousel of mediocrity with just an 8.7% chance at playing finals football in 2020.

Prediction: 12th - Mary to last the season.  

Sydney Roosters

The Sydney Roosters are back-to-back NRL premiers and at 26.3% to make it a three-peat.

Their squad is stacked and Trent Robinson is the best coach in rugby league right now. He's developed fringe talent well enough to plug them in and cover injuries without it having a significant impact on results. 

What more can you say about this team?

Only an injury to James Tedesco or Luke Keary will trigger any doubt that the Roosters will be there on Grand Final day.

Prediction: Premiers.

Wests Tigers

Currently sitting inside the Top 8 on points differential, it's unlikely that the Wests Tigers are still there by the end of Round 20.

Michael Maguire has uncovered Top 8 qualities in this group. Despite only missing the eight by one competition point in 2019, the Tigers may miss it by more in 2020 while looking a much-improved side.

The unsettled halves have stalled the development of their attack. Some big scores involving a fair chunk of luck throughout the first seven weeks of the season papered over the cracks. When faced with an above-average defence, the Tigers struggle for creativity and fail to pile up points. 

With the toughest schedule of all 16 teams to come the Tigers will be up against some good defensive teams that, without a lift in their good ball attack, they will rarely crack. 

Prediction: 9th-10th.

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