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A game as good as the one between South Sydney and Sydney Roosters on Sunday isn’t supposed to be possible in Round 2.
Teams are supposed to be still finding their way at this early stage – making basic errors, getting rid of the rust, keeping it conservative – but this game was something else.
It was extraordinarily good, full of all the things that make rugby league great when it is played the way it should be.
Watching it, I thought this was a game worthy of finals football – maybe even a grand final – and it just kept getting better and better. Even allowing for the undoubted quality of the Rabbitohs and Roosters, I honestly found it hard to believe we could see something like this in March.
Two teams not content with just hitting it up for five tackles and then kicking, but really playing footy. There were great tries (Greg Inglis collecting a kick in-goal and setting up Alex Johnston for a length-of-the-field runaway was just one) and massive power plays (George Burgess and Dylan Napa among the main performers here).
There was great opportunism (the Michael Jennings try after Joel Reddy allowed a spiral bomb to bounce), some fireworks (Jared Waerea-Hargreaves to the fore) and a classic stuff-up just to keep everyone honest (Shaun Kenny-Dowall dropping the ball over the line).
The ebb and flow was striking. First it was Souths who looked well on top, leading 12-0, but then the Roosters scored the next 22 points. Souths responded, cutting the deficit to four, and then the Roosters got their lead back out to eight.
Souths came back again, but with two consecutive tries this time, and led 28-26. Fittingly, in such an absorbing contest, we couldn’t be sure who was going to win until very close to the end, when Issac Luke scored for Souths.
The worst period in the game for Souths coincided with halfback Adam Reynolds being off the field concussed. They got their act back together when he came back on.
Souths coach Michael Maguire was disappointed his team had lost control of the game for a while, but coaches are never happy. This was an epic contest between two great sides.
Just throwing forward for a minute, I wouldn’t have any problem with NSW coach Laurie Daley sticking with Trent Hodkinson as halfback for State of Origin Game 1 – as long as the Canterbury player was in good form. But if Daley decided he wanted an alternative and Reynolds was in form, I hope he would go for him.
When Mitchell Pearce was playing halfback for NSW he tried to have a big influence but couldn’t come up with the plays. Meanwhile, the other players in the team who were capable of making a sizeable impact didn’t get enough opportunities.
Hodkinson didn’t try to be too brilliant in last year’s series. He just did his job and didn’t over-play his hand and Jarryd Hayne ended up as clearly the most influential player for the Blues. I could see Reynolds fitting similarly into the NSW side.
But that’s down the track.
There are some teams in the NRL who – if they weren’t watching it live – shouldn’t view the Souths-Roosters game on replay either. It would only dent their confidence by making them realise just how far off the pace they are – and are likely to stay.
It’s obviously still very early days and a lot could change over the next few rounds, but there are a few things that already look pretty clear in the pecking order.
On performances so far I’ve separated the teams into a few groups, headed by the Rabbitohs, Roosters and Penrith at the top. Canterbury is alone in the next group, but within reaching distance of the top pack and likely to join it at any stage.
Then I pile Newcastle, Warriors, Canberra, Manly, Melbourne and Parramatta all in together.
Brisbane, North Queensland and Wests Tigers, who play St George Illawarra at Campbelltown on Monday night to complete Round 2, are in the next sector.
The Cowboys were the team I found hardest to place. Not quite sure what to make of them at this stage. And in the bottom group I’ve got Cronulla, the Dragons and Gold Coast.
I’m stunned by how bad the Sharks have been in attack. I expected them to get back into the top eight this season and there is still plenty of time for them to do that, but they are the biggest disappointments in the competition so far.
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