NRL Round 3 delivered just one head-to-head upset, but the early premiership picture continues to get more clouded with in-form teams stumbling and slow starters regaining a foothold.
Three previously undefeated teams suffered heavy losses, leaving Melbourne and Canterbury as the only clubs without an L against their names. Meanwhile, Gold Coast got off the mark in emphatic fashion, and North Queensland and Parramatta hinted their first dubs won’t be too far away.
Cronulla, the Warriors and Wests Tigers – who compounded the Dolphins’ difficult start to life after Wayne with a rousing comeback – went back-to-back, while Manly and Brisbane recovered from Round 2 ambushes.
Honours shared despite Storm’s GF revenge
The 2024 grand final rematch seemed destined to fizzle out as Penrith linchpin Nathan Cleary was rubbed out by injury in the eighth minute and Melbourne raced to a 14-0 lead with only a quarter of the game gone at AAMI Park.
But the Panthers arguably claimed a moral victory despite the end 30-24 result in the hosts’ favour in an instant classic.
Also down to their third-string fullback with Dylan Edwards out and Daine Laurie a late withdrawal, the rejigged Panthers incredibly took a 16-14 lead early in the second half and refused to go away in the dying stages.
Jack Cole justified his spot in the halves by taking over in Cleary’s absence, while backline tyros Paul Alamoti, Izack Tago and Casey McLean had a night out in a thrill-a-minute encounter.
For their part, the Storm got the job done with aplomb – but it came at a hefty cost with Jahrome Hughes (hand, Round 6), Nick Meaney (jaw, Round 9), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (concussion, Round 5) and Grant Anderson (knee, TBC) set for stints on the sidelines.
The Storm are healthy outright title favourites at $3, while the Panthers have been joined on the second line at $5.50 by the up-and-down Broncos.
Signs of life from battlers
After conceding 78 and 88 points in the season’s opening fortnight, respectively, North Queensland and Parramatta belated showed some backbone in losses to two of the NRL’s heavy hitters in Round 3.
Down 12-0 at halftime to Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, the Cowboys rallied to 12-all before the marquee class of Adam Reynolds, Reece Walsh and the unstoppable Payne Haas gave the Broncos breathing space to cruise to a 26-16 win.
The Eels were in an equally cavernous hole heading into the weekend but turned a corner in a gutsy 16-8 loss to unbeaten Canterbury.
The blue-and-golds are treading water until Mitch Moses returns, but Josh Addo-Carr capped a strong club debut against his former team with a memorable try – set up by gifted young fullback Isaiah Iongi – and Zac Lomax was a beast with over 300 running metres and nine tackle-breaks.
The Eels ($3.50) and Cowboys ($5.00) nevertheless remain on the top two lines of Most Losses betting…but if they’re the worst the NRL has to offer, this shapes as a season with fewer gimmes than ever.
Sliding doors moment sparks Brookvale blitz
For a change, it was hard not to feel sorry for Ricky Stuart amid a press conference sulk.
The obstruction call against Corey Horsburgh to disallow what was initially awarded as a blistering Canberra opener to Sebastian Kris was the right one – but ignoring the late hit on Morgan Smithies in the lead-up seemed to contradict every protection the NRL has strived to give playmakers.
Instead, Manly marched downfield and Horsburgh, the hero of last week’s upset of Brisbane, was despatched to the sin-bin. He returned 10 minutes later just in time to see the Sea Eagles run in their fourth try for a 24-0 lead.
Game over.
The Sea Eagles piled on three more unanswered tries in the following 20 minutes, with Reuben Garrick – who welcomed his first child into the world a day earlier – finishing just two points shy of the club record he co-holds, tallying 28 from four tries and six goals.
The Raiders regrouped to score the only two tries of the last 28 minutes in a 40-12 defeat that ‘Sticky’ will be inclined to chuck in the bin and forget about, given the controversial sequence of events that led to his side’s collapse.
Blowing out to $51 in the premiership stakes despite being arguably the most impressive team of the opening two rounds, the Raiders now head to Townsville for a Saturday night showdown with the Cowboys. The opening market can’t split the teams.
Mount Smart regains graveyard status
Despite a record-shattering cleansweep of home sellouts, the Warriors were overwhelmingly disappointing at Mount Smart Stadium in 2024. The club’s faithful was subjected to a succession of agonisingly fadeouts and listless losses at the hallowed venue.
But the Warriors have turned it around so far in 2025 with back-to-back gritty victories over Manly and Sydney Roosters, putting a lamentable Las Vegas adventure behind them in the process.
In a grinding slugfest on Friday night, the Warriors did not lead until the 65th minute but showed unfamiliar poise to graft out a 14-6 win over a Roosters side that had put 38 points on the four-time premiers a week earlier.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was a colossus at the back, Wayde Egan and Chanel Harris-Tavita complemented his toil in the spine, and the Warriors boast two budding superstars in centre Ali Leiataua and equally destructive teenage backrower Leka Halasima.
Andrew Webster’s side now heads to Campbelltown to take on a resurgent Wests Tigers side that has also won consecutive games since a Round 1 loss.
Both clubs are chasing a 3-1 record after four outings for just the fifth time in the respective, similarly tortured histories.
Titans show spine
Being handed the Round 1 bye always appears an inherent disadvantage, but the way Gold Coast opened up through the middle early on in its first meaningful outing of the season against Canterbury had alarm bells ringing.
The Titans’ response against unbeaten Newcastle could hardly have been more satisfying for coach Des Hasler. They kept their try-line intact for 74 minutes and blotted out Kalyn Ponga – a Dally M votes magnet in the first two rounds – all night, forcing him into five errors.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Moeaki Fotuaika set the tone from the opening minutes, allowing the brilliance of Jayden Campbell, Keano Kini and co. to flourish in a 26-6 demolition.
Campbell is still finding his feet in the No.7 – and came up with some terrible fifth-tackle execution – but, unlike Luke Metcalf at the Warriors, is ensuring he doesn’t suppress his natural attacking instincts while he learns the halfback craft.
Week-to-week defensive consistency has long been an Achilles heel for the freewheeling Titans, who will be eager for a repeat performance without the ball when they face the Roosters in Sydney on Friday.