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The South Sydney Rabbitohs have picked up from where they left off last year, thumping the Brisbane Broncos 36-6, showing Wayne Bennett has a lot of work to do if he is to return the six-time premiers to their former glory.
Bennett was returning to Red Hill for the first time since 2008, after three-year coaching stints at the St George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights.
The Rabbitohs, on the other hand, are attempting to become the first team since Bennett’s Broncos in 1992-93 to successfully defend a premiership in a unified competition.
The match had the potential to be close, and the motivation was there for the Broncos to upset last year’s premiers with club veteran Corey Parker notching up his 300th NRL game and Justin Hodges captaining the side on his own for the first time.
But for all the expectation of a thriller to start the season, the result was an anti-climax for the fans, with the Rabbitohs scoring four second-half tries to ensure Bennett’s homecoming wasn’t a happy one.
The thumping season-opening victory by Michael Maguire’s men comes on the back of a dream five months for the club, during which they captured the NRL premiership, won the Auckland Nines, retained the Charity Shield, and won World Club Challenge on their debut appearance.
The club will now enjoy a 10-day break before facing the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium in a match which they will again be favoured to win.
While the Rabbitohs continue to impress, it’s clear that Bennett and the Broncos have a lot of work to do. The Broncos are currently in their longest premiership drought, with eight completed seasons having passed since they last mounted the premiership dais on October 1, 2006.
While it’s only early days, Broncos fans will be hoping that Bennett’s return to the club translates into a return to the successful years which saw them regularly play September football and feature in premiership contention.
They will get the chance to win their first match of the season when they face the Cronulla Sharks in the Shire next Friday night. The fact that Ben Barba will come up against the club that moved him on at the end of last season will add a lot of spice to the match.
Round 1 continues tonight when the Parramatta Eels face off against the Manly Sea Eagles, with Anthony Watmough to make his Parramatta debut against the club with whom he won the 2008 and 2011 premierships.
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