Round 19 locked in plenty of answers in the 2019 finals race with the minor premiership locked in and the top four all-but confirmed – although there was a big twist in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
Penrith banked their first minor premiership since 2003 and Melbourne's win ensured the top two are locked away while Canterbury's upset win over South Sydney pushed the Broncos to last spot.
However according to the NRL.com Ladder Predictor, the race for top four spots is still alive.
The scenarios for all 16 teams
Panthers (currently 1st, 35 points)
Best/worst case: 1st
With a three-point lead and one round to go, Penrith have locked in their third minor premiership with a big win over the Cowboys.
Storm (currently 2nd, 32 points)
Best/worst case: 2nd
Penrith's win pushed the minor premiership out of reach for Melbourne but their own victory over the Wests Tigers guaranteed they can't fall below second.
Roosters (currently 3rd, 28 points)
Best/worst case: 3rd to 4th
Huge win over the Sharks guarantees them a top-four finish, but the top two moved out of reach thanks to the Penrith and Melbourne wins. Can drop one spot if they lose to Souths and Eels beat Tigers.
Match Highlights: Eels v Broncos
Eels (currently 4th, 28 points)
Best/worst case: 3rd to 5th
Did what they needed to do in a scrappy win over Brisbane; can move up a spot if the Roosters lose but can still slip outside the top four if they lose to Tigers and Canberra beat Cronulla.
Raiders (currently 5th, 26 points)
Best/worst case: 4th to 5th
Survived a scare against the Warriors to ensure they can't drop below fifth, while third place moved out of reach thanks to the Roosters' win. Can leapfrog Eels into fourth if two results go their way but are safely three spots team of the Knights in sixth.
Match Highlights: Raiders v Warriors
Knights (currently 6th, 23 points)
Best/worst case: 6th to 7th
Huge win over the Dragons in the Alex McKinnon Cup on Old Boys' day helped them move ahead of the Rabbitohs. Can guarantee sixth if they beat the Titans, but will hang on regardless if Souths lose to Roosters. Need both results to go against them to drop to seventh.
Rabbitohs (currently 7th, 22 points)
Best/worst case: 6th to 7th
Horror loss to the then-last-placed Bulldogs has put their homes of a home final at serious risk. A finish of fifth or better moves out of reach and they will need to beat Roosters and hope the Titans beat the Knights to climb to sixth. Won't drop to eighth given their 117-point differential advantage over Cronulla.
Sharks (currently 8th, 20 points)
Best/worst case: 8th
Horror loss to the Roosters with Shaun Johnson also sidelined long-term due to injury. Can't finish better or worse than eighth unless they beat Canberra and Souths lose to the Roosters with a combined margin of 118 points in the two games.
Match Highlights: Sea Eagles v Titans
Titans (currently 9th, 16 points)
Best/worst case: 9th to 11th
A fourth straight win pushed them all the way to ninth, where they will finish if they topple Newcastle next week. With Manly and the Warriors playing each other, a loss can't drop them lower than 11th.
Wests Tigers (currently 10th, 14 points)
Best/worst case: 9th to 11th
Huge loss to the Storm allowed Titans to move past them into ninth. Can get back into ninth if they beat the Eels and Titans lose or can fall as low as 12th with a big loss to Parramatta is coupled with a Dragons win over the Storm.
Sea Eagles (currently 11th, 14 points)
Best/worst case: 9th to 12th
A huge home loss to the Titans put the exclamation point on a sorry season for Manly, though it didn't change much in terms of their likely finish compared to last week.
Tom Trbojevic forced off after injuring shoulder trying to stop Brimson
Warriors (currently 12th, 14 points)
Best/worst case: 10th to 12th
Showed plenty of ticker against Canberra but lacked a bit of game smarts and sadly lost inspirational skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to injury with the season finish line in sight. Could technically climb to ninth but reversing a 66-point differential on the Tigers would border on miraculous.
Dragons (currently 13th, 12 points)
Best/worst case: 11th to 13th
Produced arguably their worst effort of the year against Newcastle and now need a hugely unlikely upset over the Storm to climb higher than 13th, although they can't fall lower.
Cowboys (currently 14th, 8 points)
Best/worst case: 14th to 15th
Sorry season is nearly done after a big loss to Penrith in final home game of the year. Can't climb higher than 14th but can slip to 15th if the Bulldogs somehow upset minor premiers Penrith. Will be desperate to finish with a win over Brisbane and at least ensure the Broncos finish last.
Bulldogs (currently 15th, 6 points)
Best/worst case: 14th to 16th
Threw the wooden spoon race wide open with a relieving upset win over the Rabbitohs that moves them ahead of Brisbane. Can still overtake the Cowboys if they somehow upset Penrith.
Match Highlights: Rabbitohs v Bulldogs
Broncos (currently 16th, 6 points)
Best/worst case: 15th to 16th
Finally slipped to last on the back of their loss to the Eels and Canterbury's win in round 19. Can climb back off the bottom if they best the struggling Cowboys in their final game of the year (assuming Canterbury don't beat Melbourne).