Ruben Wiki: Fitter than ever NRL keeps us guessing

Even though we're one third of the way through the season, this year's competition is looming as something of a lottery.

Normally the table takes shape about halfway through but it could be as late as round 20 before we start to know the best eight teams.

The sides currently on top of the table certainly deserve to be there and I've been very impressed with the way the Cowboys are playing. They are doing the simple things well and, if they keep playing like that, they will be hard to beat this year.

What might count against them is regular finals experience, because there's nothing like having been there and done it when teams are in a tight game. It's for this reason that the cream should slowly rise to the top, like the Broncos and the Bulldogs, but there will be a heap of teams up there.

I don't think the salary cap is the main reason why this year's competition is tighter than any I can remember. I really think it comes down to the fitness regime each side is put through these days which means most teams can go the full 80 minutes and, in the end, cancel each other out.

Because of this it often comes down to the bounce of the ball or a piece of individual brilliance that separates the sides - like Luke Priddis' grubber kick for the Panthers' match-winning try against us last weekend.

We're seeing some teams win one week and then get touched up by 50 points the next and the only reason I can see for this mental attitude.

It's a very long season and it's hard to play well every week which means each club will have their ups and downs. What separates the good teams from the rest is how you bounce back from these sorts of defeats.

The good thing for the Warriors this season is that, although we haven't been able to put back-to-back wins together, we've seen improvements every week and in our first seven matches no one was able to post a large score on us. It would certainly be hard to swallow if we weren't improving - although it would be nice to have some of our key players fit and healthy for a long stint.

We arrived in Perth on Wednesday night and went to training straight away to try to get acclimatised and get the legs moving. Although it was 8pm local time, it meant we were hitting the tackle bags at midnight New Zealand time.

I've been known to do a few things at midnight but never training.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY