The remaining post-Vegas, opening-round NRL schedule produced a bevy of unexpected results, gritty performances and harbingers of an encouraging campaign ahead… as well as some early red flags for a couple of clubs.
Check out the lay of the land one week into the 27-round NRL regular-season rollercoaster.
Boilovers and unders
Continuing the trend set in the Las Vegas double-header, underdogs had a field day in Round 1 with four of six head-to-head outsiders collecting the first-up W.
Canberra went to Newcastle and pulled off a 28-12 victory in a scrappy Thursday night affair after being handed a 7.5-point start.
On Friday, $2.48 underdog Cronulla defied a double-digit deficit to roll the Warriors 16-12 in Auckland, while a Cam Munster-less Melbourne shut out Penrith 8-0 at home in the lowest-scoring opening-round game since 1987.
Parramatta landed a blow for the favourites by overwhelming toothless Canterbury 26-8 on Saturday, which preceded rejuvenated St George Illawarra making a mockery of the 5.5-point start they were gifted before thumping Gold Coast 28-4.
A weekend sweep of unders was on the cards, until North Queensland blew the Dolphins off Suncorp Stadium 43-18 on Sunday in the highest-scoring Round 1 fixture in a decade.
The Storm ($8), Cowboys ($15) and Sharks ($17) all shortened a touch in the premiership market, with the Raiders ($51) and Dragons ($67) the big movers.
The Panthers ($4.25) and Warriors ($17) drifted slightly, while the Knights ($31) and Dolphins ($81) slid significantly.
Storm’s stunning streak impedes premiers
It wasn’t pretty, but Melbourne’s staunch display to hold off Penrith in an error-strewn AAMI Park blockbuster was among the most important statements made on the weekend.
The club’s unbelievable record of winning every Round 1 match since Craig Bellamy arrived in 2003 remained intact via a supreme defensive effort in the Storm’s first competitive outing since being spanked 38-4 by the Panthers in the 2023 Preliminary Final.
Missing an injured Cameron Munster, the Storm trailed in almost every offensive stat but were led brilliantly by recently installed skipper Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen. It was an ideal springboard for their campaign ahead of a home assignment against the Warriors and a road trip to Newcastle.
The Panthers – who won’t be unduly concerned with the result after also starting slowly in 2023 and will be delighted with new centre Taylan May’s showing – have been held to nil three times in the past decade…all at the hands of the Storm.
Sharks find backbone
Cronulla’s record against its fellow top-six teams in 2023 was abysmal, losing matches to Brisbane, Melbourne, the Warriors, Penrith and Newcastle by a combined 178 points to 40 during the second half of the season.
Returning to the scene of one of their poorest displays – a 44-12 drubbing at Mt Smart – seemed a less than ideal way to start the new campaign…and at 12-0 in even time in front of a baying packed house in Auckland, another confidence-sapping beatdown seemed a formality.
But the Sharks dug in their heels, ground their way back into the contest to trail by just six at the break and scored the only two tries of the second half, making the most of rare chances on attack.
Craig Fitzgibbon’s charges saw off a welter of Warriors possession down their end with swarming defence and gutsy scrambling to close out an improbable 16-12 victory (despite enjoying just 46 percent possession and racking up 500 less running metres) that might just set up their year.
Shaun Johnson repeatedly pinned the visitors – recording a remarkable five forced line dropouts – but the Sharks refused to buckle.
Blayke Brailey, Teig Wilson and Cameron McInnes all topped 40 tackles in a performance that will help shed the flat-track bully tag.
‘Flano’ gets Dragons breathing fire
Controversial mentor Shane Flanagan made a spectacular return to the NRL head-coaching hotseat, steering St George Illawarra to a 28-4 victory on the Gold Coast that represented the team’s least points conceded since Round 9, 2020.
The Dragons, who leaked 28 points a game in 2023, soaked up plenty of goal-line pressure in a 6-4 first half before running away with the confidence-boosting competition points via a four-try, 19-minute burst.
It’s only Round 1 and perhaps the standard of opposition wasn’t up to scratch, but Flanagan has apparently got the best out of some of the NRL’s most maligned players straight off the bat.
Fullback Tyrell Sloan starred with three tries, but just as importantly was not a liability on defence and kept the errors to a minimum.
Reluctant winger Zac Lomax ran for 266 metres, made two line-breaks and scored a try – though he made four mistakes.
Playing under his old man for the first time since his 2018 debut at Cronulla, Kyle Flanagan started the second-half assault with a solo try.
Fellow club debutants Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Tom Eisenhuth were excellent up against a highly-rated Titans pack, and Jacob Liddle starred at hooker.
Backing it up week to week is a far more difficult proposition – and Saturday’s performance will count for nought if they falter against Round 1 disappointments the Dolphins this weekend – but the early signs are encouraging for the Saints.
Centres of attention
The deployment of three blue-chip fullback options at centre is set to garner more scrutiny the longer their respective teams search for early-season victories.
Versatile trio Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Stephen Crichton and AJ Brimson are arguably their clubs’ best centres and fullbacks – but the net negative of selecting inferior players in the latter position contributed to the Warriors’, Canterbury’s and Gold Coast’s underwhelming Round 1 losses.
The Bulldogs are going nowhere with Blake Taafe at fullback and Drew Hutchison in the No.7 jersey.
Despite crossing for a late try, Rolls Royce Crichton was largely left idling in the driveway on club debut, making eight runs for 62 metres in a floundering blue-and-white backline.
The new skipper must be given the opportunity to have as much influence as possible on a team screaming out for a marquee man. Crichton can’t do that from centre.
Brimson’s shift to centre is to accommodate the gifted Jayden Campbell at fullback. It made less sense for Titans coach Des Hasler to leave him there with Campbell ruled out until Round 4 and less still when five-eighth Kieran Foran was a late withdrawal – Brimson also being an accomplished No.6.
Keano Kini and Tom Weaver have promise, but they also had just nine NRL games between them (more than half of those being Kini’s interchange appearances) and aren’t going to engineer too many wins at this stage when teaming up in the spine with Tanah Boyd and Chad Randall.
Tuivasa-Sheck’s situation is a little different – Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, one of the resurgent Warriors’ best in 2023, is expected back from a hamstring complaint soon (though he is listed TBC) and coach Andrew Webster wants to give Roger the best possible chance to adapt to his role in the centres.
Fullback stand-in Taine Tuaupiki is a reliable competitor with upside and a low mistake rate…but he’s no RTS and is still searching for a genuine breakout game at NRL level.
Tuivasa-Sheck went looking for the ball and racked up 173 metres from 20 runs, but opportunities to unleash his trademark offensive qualities at centre were scarce.
Given the club’s outside-back depth, if CNK’s absence lingers and Tuaupiki doesn’t kick on, an RTS-to-fullback move must be on the cards.