It has been five months since the South Sydney Rabbitohs lifted the NRL premiership trophy. Since then, sporting fans across Australia endured a long off-season dominated by tragedy, triumph and controversy.

First, the country suffered from the untimely and tragic death of cricketer Phillip Hughes, who was felled by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November.

However, tragedy then made way for triumph in both the cricket and soccer, as the Australians defeated India in the Test series that followed, regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the process. Shortly after, the Socceroos defeated South Korea to win the Asian Cup for the first time.

Controversy struck back when John Sutton and Luke Burgess got arrested during the premiers’ pre-season training camp in Arizona. This resulted in Sutton losing the captaincy, with Greg Inglis assuming the role for this season.

And last but not least, the Gold Coast Titans were the latest club to be involved in a drugs scandal, with Greg Bird and Dave Taylor leading the list of players who have been stood down from the club’s season-opening match against the Wests Tigers this Saturday night.

But now it’s time to put that all behind as season 2015 of the National Rugby League kicks off this Thursday night between the Brisbane Broncos, coached by Wayne Bennett for the first time since 2008, and reigning premiers the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

If the Rabbitohs’ 39-0 humiliation of St Helens in the World Club Challenge is anything to go by, then it will be hard seeing them knocked off their perch by the 15 other teams hoping to achieve the ultimate success this year.

Let’s now preview the opening round of the 2015 NRL season in its entirety.

Broncos versus Rabbitohs
The season kicks off with Wayne Bennett’s homecoming to Brisbane and the master coach will have it tough trying to get his new-look Broncos off to a winning start against last year’s premiers, the Rabbitohs.

Bennett undertook a huge clean-out of the club, which has mostly underachieved since winning their most recent premiership in 2006. The club has not reached the grand final in Bennett’s time away from Red Hill and are subsequently enduring their longest-ever premiership drought.

However, a return to the glory days may not be far away, with Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Adam Blair among the big names to find their way to Red Hill during the off-season.

With the exception of Boyd, who will be out until at least halfway through the season due to an achilles injury, Milford and Blair will be expected to line-up for what will be Bennett’s first match in charge of the Broncos since September 2008.

Blair’s Broncos debut could overshadow that of the Rabbitohs’ Glenn Stewart, both of whom engaged in that brawl at Brookvale Oval in 2011 while they were playing for the Storm and Sea Eagles respectively.

Stewart, for his part, has already impressed for the Rabbitohs whereby he scored the opening try in their 39-0 thrashing of St Helens in the World Club Challenge. It was his first match since April last year when an ankle injury brought forward an end to his time at Manly.

And despite the off-season controversy involving John Sutton and Luke Burgess clouding the club, the Bunnies still remain a formidable team and should continue their recent dominance of the Broncos to start their premiership defence.

Prediction: Rabbitohs by six points.

Eels versus Sea Eagles
The first of the grudge matches for 2015 will take place in the first match to be played in Sydney for the season, with Anthony Watmough to make his Parramatta debut against his old club, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

Watmough’s departure from Brookvale Oval was one of the biggest stories of the season and he is sure to cop a baptism of fire from his old teammates in front of a pro-Parramatta crowd at Pirtek Stadium on Friday night.

His departure, as well as that of Glenn Stewart’s, could as well signal the beginning of the end of the Sea Eagles as a modern-day powerhouse. The club has been a regular finals fixture since 2005, winning two premierships in this period, but is slowly being dismantled by salary cap constraints.

As for the Eels, life will officially begin without Jarryd Hayne after he dropped a huge bombshell at the end of last season, announcing his departure the club to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL.

His departure came as a huge blow for the battling club, which bounced back from consecutive wooden spoons in 2012-13 to show considerable improvement under the coaching of Brad Arthur with joint-Dally M Medallist Hayne at the forefront.

His replacement, Reece Robinson, performed impressively during the trial match against Penrith and thus there is reason for Eels fans to believe that the club can move on from the departure of one of their most loved sons.

Expectations will be high at Parramatta in 2015 and it is one of the reasons why I have tipped them to beat Manly this Friday night.

Prediction: Eels by 14 points.

Knights versus Warriors
After three relatively unsuccessful years under Wayne Bennett, save for a preliminary final loss to the Sydney Roosters in 2013, the Newcastle Knights will look to move on from that was a season from hell last year.

The horrific neck injury suffered by Alex Mackinnon and the depression issues surrounding Darius Boyd were two issues the club had to face last year as they crashed from getting to within a game of the grand final in 2013 to 12th in 2014.

But with Rick Stone back in the coaching hot seat after initially stepping aside for the ill-fated Bennett era, he will be hoping to extract the best out of the club which he took to the finals in 2009 and 2011.

On the other side of the equation, the New Zealand Warriors will be a team to watch out for in 2015, if their impressive resurgence under Andrew McFadden and the form of Shaun Johnson during last year’s Four Nations is anything to go by.

After Matthew Elliott was sacked just five rounds into last season, McFadden immediately toughened up the side with his no-nonsense approach. So impressed were the club officials that he was then installed as head coach permanently.

Once again the club’s hopes will lay on Johnson, whose impressive form for the Warriors and the Kiwis saw him titled the Golden Boot winner for 2014. He proved hard to shut down as the Kiwis beat Australia to win last year’s Four Nations.

The match against the Knights in Newcastle will be the first of two consecutive matches the Warriors will play away from New Zealand to start the season, and here I think the Novocastrians’ home-ground advantage will get them home.

Prediction: Knights by 10 points.

Titans versus Tigers
One club that has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons as of recent is the Gold Coast Titans, who will be missing several of their best players when they take on a new-look Wests Tigers side this Saturday night.

Greg Bird and Dave Taylor are among those who will be missing for the ninth-year club who many are predicting for the dreaded wooden spoon this season.

The crisis-stricken club has not reached the finals since 2010 and if the last two weeks (and last four years) are anything to go by, then the club could be facing yet another season of difficulty in 2015.

By contrast, the Tigers will be the team to watch as new coach Jason Taylor returns to the coaching scene for the first time since 2009, taking over a young and talented side many expect will improve this year.

It will be interesting to see how the halves pairing of Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks perform in 2015, especially after the latter was exposed in defence by several teams last year following his stunning debut late in the 2013 season.

If there’s one team that will impress this year – it’s the Wests Tigers. It’s one of the main reasons why I have tipped them to beat the Titans this Saturday night.

Prediction: Tigers by 16 points.

Cowboys versus Roosters
If there’s one team that is desperate to land its first premiership this season, it’s the North Queensland Cowboys, whose captain Johnathan Thurston wants to be the one that leads them there on October 4.

Time is running out for Thurston, who turns 32 next month, to lead the Cowboys to that elusive premiership in 2015, which will mark two decades since the club first entered the competition in 1995.

Their bid to finally add some significant silverware to the club’s trophy cabinet will start when they welcome dual minor premiers the Sydney Roosters to Townsville on Saturday night in what doubles as a rematch of last year’s thrilling semi-final won by the Chooks 31-30.

The Roosters have lost Anthony Minichiello and Sonny Bill Williams to retirement and rugby union respectively, with Mitchell Pearce and Jake Friend given the co-captaincy of the club.

Friend, who was sacked by the Chooks in 2009 only to be welcomed back to the club in May 2010, will be sorely missed in the opening rounds due to off-season shoulder surgery, with Raiders import Matt McIlwrick to fill the dummy half role while Friend recovers.

Despite the setbacks, the Roosters are still considered to be premiership contenders, but an early-season trip to Townsville will test them early as they look to move on from the departures of Minichiello and Williams, and the absence of Friend.

Prediction: Cowboys by 18 points.

Panthers versus Bulldogs
A rematch of last year’s thrilling preliminary final between the Panthers and Bulldogs will kick off the first Sunday of the NRL season, with Channel Nine to telecast this game live after finally giving in to the fans’ demands for live free-to-air football on what is traditionally the least busiest day of the week.

The Panthers surprised many by finishing in the top four and knocking off minor (and reigning) premiers the Sydney Roosters in the first round of the finals last year. However, injuries to key players, in particular Peter Wallace, conspired against them as they went down to the Bulldogs in the last four.

This Sunday’s showdown against last year’s runners-up will give them the chance to atone for that loss, as expectations of another successful season inspires the club to its first premiership in a dozen years.

The Bulldogs have had an eventful off-season since losing last year’s grand final to South Sydney. They lost their skipper Michael Ennis but successfully reunited Dragons premiership winger Brett with his twin brother Josh for the first time since 2008, and appointing James Graham as their new captain of the club.

Expectations will also be high for the Bulldogs in 2015 but the reality is that time is running out for them to land its first premiership since 2004 but first under Des Hasler’s coaching. Already the club has lost two grand finals since he took over in 2012 and Dogs fans won’t want to see their club losing another this year.

Given the high hopes both sets of fans hold for their clubs in 2015, this match could be close. I’ll tip the Panthers in this one.

Prediction: Panthers by six points.

Sharks versus Raiders
In stark contrast to the earlier match on Sunday which pits two of last year’s heavyweights against each other, the other match of the day sees last year’s underachievers, the Sharks and the Raiders, square off at Remondis Stadium.

After a season from hell last year caused by the psychological effect of the ASADA scandal and numerous injuries to key players, the Cronulla Sharks will hope to open a new chapter in the club’s history with a win over Ricky Stuart’s Canberra Raiders on Sunday night.

The Sharks enjoyed a successful off-season last year, landing the services of Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis as well as that of Ben Barba, who was shown the door by the Brisbane Broncos after just one season at Red Hill.

As the saying goes, the only way is up. That’s the attitude the Sharks will take into this season as they seek to put behind the two most turbulent years of their history behind them and win back the respect and trust of the NRL, its fans and stakeholders.

On the other side of the equation, the Canberra Raiders only avoided the wooden spoon last year by beating the Sharks in Round 24 last season then following it up with wins over the Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels.

Still, the Raiders are considered by many contenders for the wooden spoon this season, given their lack of ability to land a big-name player during the off-season on top of the loss of promising fullback Anthony Milford.

Names like Blake Austin, Sisa Waqa, Frank-Paul Nu’uausala and Iosia Soliola are hardly big-names, however Nu’uausala did feature in the Sydney Roosters’ 2013 premiership team while Soliola previously played under Ricky Stuart at Bondi between 2005 and 2006, and also featured in St Helens’ Super League-winning team last year.

The Sharks’ home ground advantage, and its desperation to move on from the last two years, will prove telling factors in this showdown.

Prediction: Sharks by 10 points.

Dragons versus Storm
The opening round of the season concludes with the St George Illawarra Dragons welcoming the Melbourne Storm to Kogarah Oval on Monday, March 9.

Despite pre-season predictions for the club forecasting another year without finals football, the Dragons impressed during the last month, leading the Rabbitohs 12-0 late in the Charity Shield match before being forced to settle for a 12-all draw and also defeating Warrington during the recent World Club Series in the UK.

Benji Marshall appears to be returning to his best form after an ill-fated stint in rugby, and his partnership with Gareth Widdop will be key to the Dragons’ chances of returning to the finals for the first time since 2011 this year.

The 2010 premiers will now fancy their chances of beating the Melbourne Storm, which they did at Wollongong in Round 16 last year, avenging their narrow but controversial 28-24 loss in Melbourne from earlier in the season.

The Storm will be without their captain Cameron Smith due to an ankle injury and experts are forecasting that their dynasty of success, part of which was tainted by the salary cap scandal, is set to come to an end.

Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk will all be 32 by Christmas and given the Storm’s disappointing finals performances since their most recent premiership win in 2012, retirement rather than another premiership would be imminent.

While the Storm have shown the ability to win without Smith in the past, I think the Dragons’ home-ground advantage and their impressive pre-season form will get them past the line against Craig Bellamy’s men.

Prediction: Dragons by six points.