Our weekly NRL results and betting update takes a look over the second edition of the NRL’s Las Vegas odyssey which again proved a winner – off the field, at least.
The best was saved for last at Allegiant Stadium after three fixtures of questionable quality, while three of the NRL teams on show made forceful statement as another was left scrambling for early-season answers.
Here’s what we learned from the first part of the 2025 NRL Round 1 schedule.
Quality control
The Vegas experience earned rave reviews from travelling rugby league fans and the season-opening extravaganza is deservingly here to stay for the foreseeable future.
But the on-field product largely failed to deliver – particularly in comparison to last year’s classic double-header – with curious American observers surely left wondering what our game is all about after the first three fixtures.
Wigan led Warrington 42-0 before taking their foot off the gas in a 48-24 fizzer to get the expanded Allegiant Stadium docket underway, while Canberra’s 30-8 win over an awful Warriors outfit was a bumble-a-thon that never got into a rhythm – marred by 13 errors from each side.
The NRL’s blunder in lining up the England Lionesses to take on the Australian Jillaroos, instead of vastly more competitive archrivals the Kiwi Ferns, was laid bare in a 90-4 landslide that did women’s international rugby league a disservice.
Penrith and Cronulla finally dished up a close, high-quality match – won 28-22 by the Panthers – by which stage a significant proportion of the 45,000-strong crowd had made their way out of the stadium.
Webster rolls snake eyes in line-up gamble
The Warriors were the best-represented club in Las Vegas in terms of fan support, but their team barely turned up as they kicked off an NRL season for the first time since 1998.
Passive in defence, too lateral and unimaginative in attack, and generally lacking any sort of punch, the Warriors were easily overrun 30-8 by Canberra.
Luke Metcalf’s first top-grade outing in the No.7 jersey was forgettable – even discounting the crucial intercept pass he threw in the first half.
Meanwhile, boom centre Ali Leiataua was repeatedly found out defensively, and ultra-reliable veterans Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Mitch Barnett had arguably their least effective performances for the club. Marata Niukore picked up where he left off last year with an anonymous display on the edge.
Coach Andrew Webster is beloved in New Zealand, but his rotations and selections that came under the microscope on occasion in 2024 are already wearing thin with fans after some bizarre options to kick off 2025.
Webster promoted Jackson Ford to the starting front-row and played him for the first 50 minutes.
With a lightweight middle trio of Ford, Erin Clark and Dylan Walker on the field, the Warriors were unsurprisingly steamrolled and leaked three tries in 18 minutes with co-captains Barnett and James Fisher-Harris getting a spell.
Assistant coach Richard Agar reportedly throttling a journalist at halftime capped a disastrous visit to Allegiant Stadium.
It’s only one game…but it was a long way to go to play that poorly, rattling the squad’s confidence ahead of a tough Friday night assignment against Manly at Mount Smart Stadium in Round 2. The Warriors have already tumbled to the last line of premiership betting at $51.
Underrated Raiders set to defy expectations again
Widely tipped for the 2024 wooden spoon, Canberra overachieved by winning half of its games and only missing the finals on for-and-against.
The departure of stalwarts Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana again tempered expectations heading into 2025, but Ricky Stuart’s rag-tag Raiders started the year in impressive style to blow the Warriors off Allegiant Stadium.
Canberra’s forwards dominated from the outset, while an ability to create opportunities from anywhere on the park kept the scoreboard ticking over with the speed and power of Tom Starling, Xavier Savage and Matt Timoko leaving the Warriors grasping at thin air.
It was far from perfect – completing at just 69 percent – and much tougher assignments await at home to Brisbane in Round 2 and away against Manly in Round 3. At this stage, though, $3.25 for a Raiders Top 8 finish shapes as enticing early-season value.
Panthers’ perfect start in five-peat pursuit
Penrith’s past two seasons got underway with losses to eventual grand final opponents Brisbane in 2023 and Melbourne in 2024. The Panthers also lost World Club Challenge clashes in both years, to St Helens and Wigan, respectively.
But on a huge Round 1 stage – and in their first meaningful match without integral four-peat contributors Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris – the Panthers put the NRL on notice with a 28-22 victory over a spirited Cronulla Sharks outfit.
After conceding early, rapid back-to-back tries in both halves set up the win as the poise and precision of Nathan Cleary, Dylan Edwards and surprise five-eighth selection Jack Cole came to the fore.
The Panthers were forced to desperately defend their two-point lead by repelling the Sharks on their goal-line, before Cole and Cleary engineered the sealer for Daine Laurie with four minutes left.
Take advantage of the value in Penrith at $4.50 to salute for a fifth straight year while you still can.
Sharks display early bite
Cronulla answered a few critics with a top-four finish and the club’s first finals win in eight years in 2024, but heavy playoffs losses to grand finalists Penrith and Melbourne left some big question marks around Craig Fitzgibbon’s side’s ability to take the next step.
But the Sharks will leave Las Vegas satisfied that the gap is closing after a gallant six-point defeat to the four-time premiers.
Trailing 12-4 and then 24-10, the Sharks repeatedly clawed back and ultimately forced a grandstand finish.
Braydon Trindall, who delivered a silky try assist in each half, picked up where he left off in a sizzling ’24 finals campaign, while Addin Fonua-Blake gave an immediate insight into the grunt and class he provides this line-up with 190 metres and a trademark try with 12 minutes left.
On the fourth line of premiership betting at $10, the Sharks shape as a sound Top 4 option at $2.50.