On the back of their 74-0 drubbing of the Wests Tigers in Round 18, the Cowboys have jumped seven places to assume top spot in the NRL Power Rankings this week.
The shutout victory at Queensland Country Bank Stadium – which was the biggest victory recorded in the last 88 years and the third largest in Premiership history – sees the Cowboys end Melbourne's one-week stay as leaders of the rankings.
North Queensland's mid-season revival, which has them on a four-game winning streak, comes after they had languished in 16th place on the list as recently as Round 13.
But despite their form placing them as the competition's hottest team right now, Todd Payten's men still sit just outside the competition's top eight and they represent the biggest discrepancy between ladder position and rankings standing this week.
In a round featuring a couple of blowout scorelines, Newcastle came close to matching the Cowboys with a 66-0 drubbing of the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon, which unsurprisingly has them as Round 18's other big movers.
The Knights are up five places to sit ninth, five places higher than their actual ladder position.
Knights hold the Dogs scoreless
The Raiders survived a nail-biter against the Titans to claim their tenth win of the season and move up four places in the rankings, while the Sharks and Rabbitohs are both up three spots after beating the Dragons and Warriors respectively.
The Warriors are the big fallers from Round 18, dropping seven places after going down 28-6 to an injury-hit South Sydney in Auckland, while an 18-point defeat to the Panthers sees the Storm drop from top spot to seventh.
Despite not playing a minute last week, action around them in the rankings means the Eels have fallen four spots to sixth and now occupy the same spot they do on the competition ladder.
The Wests Tigers remain welded to the bottom of the rankings and ladder, while heavy defeats for the Dragons and Bulldogs see them remain in the bottom three in both as well.
All three clubs face sides in Round 19 who currently occupy top eight spots on the ladder and in the Power Rankings.
