The first week of NRL action featured plenty of rust, and more than a few surprises.
The Rabbitohs, Roosters and Panthers look head and shoulders over the others in the competition, but it’s unfair to make rash comments like that this early in the season. It’s not rash to quit Fantasy NRL after one week though. 598 points (including 11 to Milford and 20 to Josh Jackson) warrants quitting.
Here’s how the round played out:
Brisbane Broncos (6) v South Sydney Rabbitohs (36)
The year’s season opener was an unexpected boilover as last years champions eased past a disappointing Brisbane side at Suncorp. Led by the astute direction and expert goal kicking of Adam Reynolds, the Bunnies were the better side throughout and chalked up their first two points without a hint of fuss.
Glenn Stewart’s ball playing abilities added versatility to an already strong side, indicating that the Rabbits will again be tough to beat. Test players Dylan Walker and Greg Inglis both got on the scoresheet, while the Broncs were left to rue ill-discipline and a stuttering halves pairing of Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford – desperately lacking cohesion in their first outing together.
Parramatta Eels (42) v Manly Sea Eagles (12)
Anthony Watmough’s grudge match against his old club was not nearly as brutal as experts predicted. Instead, the Eels overwhelmingly got the better of the injury hit Sea Eagles, who appear to be on the brink of an internal halves crisis with rumours swirling around both Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans.
The enigmatic Chris Sandow was brilliant for the Eels, as was Semi Radradra who bagged the first hat-trick of the season. Will Hopoate took over from Jarryd Hayne with aplomb; leading raids into Sea Eagles territory often, and showing some positive signs with his defensive reads.
In a word, Manly were, useless.
Newcastle Knights (24) v New Zealand Warriors (14)
More of the same for the frustrating New Zealand outfit. The Warriors butchered a nice start, and a dominating share of possession to go scoreless in the second half and gift Newcastle two competition points.
The Warriors had positives in the performances of youngsters Kata, Lolohea, and Lisone, but will be dreadfully disappointed with their poor completion rate, poor fifth tackle kicking options and soft one and one defence.
For the Knights, Joey Leilua was dangerous with ball in hand and Tyler Randell played nicely from the bench. They’ll still feel as though they escaped with points from this one though.
Gold Coast Titans (18) v Wests Tigers (19)
The Titans put to the side and incredibly challenging buildup, and a host of unavailable players to surprise many with a fighting effort adjacent the West Tigers. Pat Richards slotted a late field goal to complete a greedy individual haul for him and a win for his side.
Earlier, the James’ were dominating the scoring. James Roberts had two tries for the Titans, Ryan James also crossed the line, and walking sick note James Tedesco dotted over for the Tigers.
Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods were in the thick of everything for the visitors, while the Titans just want their players to return from a long pool game.
North Queensland Cowboys (4) v Sydney Roosters (28)
We predicted a Roosters win, but the manner and margin still surprised us. That’s factoring in many people’s predictions that 2015 is the year of the Cowboys.
The Roosters proved Sonny Bill Williams wasn’t the key to their NRL success, with a complete team performance capped off by a memorable Mitchell Pearce showing. They still look an excellent side and with Guerra and Cordner picking up the SBW slack, they will go along way.
The Cowboys shouldn’t play this badly again; Jonathan Thurston certainly won’t. So don’t hit the panic button just yet if you’re a Cowboys fan or have Thurston in your fantasy team.
Penrith Panthers (24) v Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs (18)
Penrith were incredible for 60 minutes; the Bulldogs were good for twenty minutes. The net result was a close win to the Panthers in a difficult first round match.
After building their squad, their experience and confidence over the past two season under Ivan Clearly, the Panthers are now genuine title contenders, and displayed their credentials in an efficient first 60 minutes. They’ll be smarting they gave the Bulldogs a sniff but pleased they withheld the fast finishers.
Individually, James Segeyaro has carried on his form from last season’s playoffs; George Jennings justified the hype; and for the Doggies, Brett Morris was impressive in joining his brother at the club.
Cronulla Sharks (20) v Canberra Raiders (24)
Canberra’s win was a little surprising to tell the truth, but thoroughly deserved in a close encounter with the Cronulla Sharks. Jack Wighton was the star of the show, both for his electric running that led to two tries and his almighty haymaker aimed at Sosaia Feki. The young fullback was involved in everything, and although lucky to escape sanction for the punch (don’t the NRL have a one punch rule?), his performance suggests he’ll be a Dally M smokey this year.
Fifita and Gallend were excellent for the Sharks as they so often are, however, Ben Barba failed to find opportunities in the number 6 jersey. The kindest thing we can say about Barba’s performance was that he was on the field. I’m calling the fullback to number 6 failed experiments – the Lockyer curse.
St George-Illawarra Dragons (4) v Melbourne Storm (12)
Just the 16 points in a pretty dour encounter at Jubilee Oval.
The less said about this game the better. Although we were pleased for former hotel porter Eto Nabuli crossing for a try on debut.
The statistic that sums up how much of an arm wrestle this match was is the tackle count of the two hookers; Cameron Smith had 48; Mitch Rein had 47.
Don’t expect either of these sides to set your pulse racing this season.
