After the opening round of the 2025 NRL season appeared to draw a definitive line between the NRL’s contenders and also-rans, Round 2 turned the premiership on its head with a series of massive upsets.
Four favourites were toppled – three of them in emphatic fashion – to leave Newcastle, Canberra, South Sydney, Cronulla, Canterbury and Melbourne as the unlikely group of undefeated teams with a fortnight of the season in the books.
Freaky Friday
A Manly ($1.35) and Penrith ($1.04) Friday night quinella seemed as sure a thing as the NRL has to offer – but the Warriors and Sydney Roosters had other ideas as they set about atoning for Round 1 disasters.
The Warriors were disturbingly passive against Canberra in Las Vegas and started poorly at home against the Sea Eagles. But Andrew Webster’s side belatedly found their footing, blotted out Manly’s attacking weapons and battered the visitors into submission in a shock 36-16 result.
Novice halfback Luke Metcalf, under intense scrutiny, was far from perfect but laid on two tries and scored another in a vital confidence-booster. Engine-room recruits James Fisher-Harris and Erin Clark were superb, and hooker Wayde Egan picked the Sea Eagles apart.
Later that evening, $11 outsiders the Roosters pulled off an astonishing 38-32 boilover against the Panthers – snapping a 10-match losing streak in the rivalry.
The Tricolours fielded five players with five games or less in the NRL – including second-gamer Taylor Losalu, who is on a NSW Cup contract and was onsite for a concrete pour the following morning, and development deal debutant Hugo Savala – but outplayed the four-time premiers on heart and desire.
The ageless James Tedesco starred with three try assists as his NSW and Australian successor, Dylan Edwards, hobbled off with injury, while young Kiwi international Naufahu Whyte led a severely depleted pack.
The Roosters ($2.25) and Warriors ($3.00) have firmed significantly in the Top 8 market in the wake of their turnarounds, while the clubs square off in a fascinating Friday night clash in Auckland in Round 3 with the hosts opening as the narrowest of favourites.
Rabbitohs revelling in Wayne’s World 2
South Sydney’s wins over the Dolphins and St George Illawarra were hardly premiership material, but the undermanned Rabbitohs have showed tremendous character to go 2-0 as returning coach Wayne Bennett’s influence takes immediate effect.
With Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton, Alex Johnston and Tyrone Munro on the sidelines, along with long-term injuries to Cameron Murray and Euan Aitken, Souths pegged back a 12-point second-half deficit to snatch a 25-24 victory in Wollongong.
No.1 deputy Jye Gray staked another claim for a permanent spot in the line-up when Mitchell returns with a try and over 300 running metres.
Prop Sean Keppie was extraordinary in the second half and scored the levelling try, while Jamie Humphreys – who only got the Round 1 nod due to English halfback Lewis Dodd’s suspension – nailed the memorable, casual match-winning field goal in just his third top-grade appearance.
More formidable tests await in the next two weeks against Cronulla and Penrith, but Souths – into $2.50 to make the Top 8 – have laid an important foundation for the season ahead courtesy of their fill-ins’ efforts.
Capital punishment
Unfancied Canberra got its campaign off to a flying start in Las Vegas, but the suspension absence of Joe Tapine and Xavier Savage – arguably their two best against the Warriors – afforded the Raiders a 12.5-point start in Round 2 with the red-hot Broncos rolling into town.
The Broncos looked a shadow of the side that put a half-century on the Roosters, in the face of a relentlessly aggressive Raiders outfit that powered to a 32-22 win.
Veteran Josh Papalii and reborn Corey Horsburgh earned a decisive points decision over marquee opposite numbers Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan.
English second-rower Matty Nicholson bagged a first-half double on NRL debut and centre Sebastian Kris (162 metres, two line-breaks, two try assists, eight tackle-breaks) typified the Green Machine’s reputation-defying performance.
The Raiders are still struggling for respect in the premiership stakes ($41) but are on the seventh line of Top 8 betting ($2.00) as they prepare for a huge Round 3 road trip to take on chastened Manly.
The Walsh enigma
The harder Reece Walsh tried in Canberra, the more his game unravelled. Four glaring errors, a penalty, less than 100 running metres and zero highlights thrust the fullback under a harsh spotlight in Brisbane’s convincing loss.
Rightly or wrongly, Walsh’s status as arguably the NRL’s most scintillating individual talent – with charisma and a salary to match – make him an easy target when things don’t go according to plan, despite several other factors contributing more heavily to Saturday’s result.
Reining in a high-risk, high-reward approach could stifle Walsh’s greatest strengths, but the fullback has to find a way to close the gap between his blistering best and chaotic worst if the Broncos are to challenge for the title.
Walsh is miles behind Kalyn Ponga – whose consistency he should be striving to emulate – in the early race for the Queensland No.1 jersey.
Winless quartet on the ropes
Four teams are at an early 0-2 crossroads, all confronting serious deficiencies that threaten to derail their seasons before they have a chance to get going.
External circumstances hampered the Dolphins in Round 1, but Thursday’s tepid 26-12 loss in Newcastle will ensure the ‘Bennett curse’ narrative rears its head if they can’t pick up a win or two in the next three rounds against Wests Tigers, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
St George Illawarra blew a 24-12 lead in a home loss to depleted Souths, with veteran fullback recruit Clint Gutherson’s monumental display negated by a lack of impetus in the halves.
Coach Shane Flanagan could barely contain his disappointment in new No.7 Lachlan Ilias in a regrettable post-match press conference.
It’s an even more dire situation in Townsville with the Cowboys haemorrhaging 78 points in consecutive seven-try thrashings at the hands of Manly and Cronulla – the latter at home on Saturday. The heat is already intensifying on coach Todd Payten, despite steering the club to fifth last season.
The Jason Ryles era at Parramatta has kicked off with two jarring defeats. But a 32-6 loss to three-time wooden spooners the Tigers at CommBank Stadium would have been harder to take for the blue-and-gold fanbase than being blow off the park in Melbourne.
The Eels’ plight has been compounded by news Mitch Moses is a couple of months away from returning from a foot injury, cranking up the scrutiny on Newcastle-bound Dylan Brown.
Meanwhile, a rudderless Titans side came off the Round 1 bye with a 40-24 loss to Canterbury and will be aiming to glean the positives from rallying from 22-0 down after an error-strewn 20 minutes.
But defensive ineptitude and the halves puzzle (minus Kieran Foran for the time being) already shape as major headaches for Des Hasler again.
The Dolphins, Dragons, Eels and Titans are on the last line of title betting ($67), with the Cowboys one rung ahead ($51).