The Roar
The Roar

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It's not yet Round 2, but is your team under the pump?

7th March, 2017
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Greg Inglis (AAP Image/David Moir)
Expert
7th March, 2017
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That first round sure shook things up in the NRL. Now, what do those results mean for the Round 2? Bad news for the Bulldogs, for starters.

I can appreciate that Canterbury were trying to change it up a bit against Melbourne, although a few of the options they took to try to speed up their attack were ill-advised in the wet conditions.

But even if it’s (hopefully) dry against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Thursday night, the result is unlikely to get any better for the Dogs.

The Roosters were brilliant in the first half against Gold Coast. They lost their way in the second stanza, but they were too far in front for it to cost them the match.

I’ll forgive them that. Even allowing for their star-studded line-up, they were coming from a long way back after finishing 15th last season. Maybe the dominant nature of their opening 40 minutes was a bit of a shock to them as well and they lost some concentration.

The Titans, meanwhile, are being dogged by questions regarding superstar Jarryd Hayne’s commitment and attitude.

Already, they face a bit of an early-season crossroads game on the road against Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Jarryd Hayne Gold Coast Titans NRL Finals Rugby League 2016 tall

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Even allowing for the unpredictable nature of the Warriors, the Knights surprised by only going down narrowly across the ditch.

Newcastle only won one game all last season, but they’ll be sensing an opportunity against Gold Coast. This is going to be a test for the Titans against a Knights outfit that is bound to open up physically and try to get their home crowd rocking in support.

South Sydney are gone already in terms of making the top eight after another superstar, Greg Inglis, tore his ACL in the loss to Wests Tigers.

They faced a difficult task to get there even with him. You could almost feel the air going out of them when it became a reality that he was gone for the season.

But Manly, their opponents at Lottoland on Saturday night, have got their own issues.

The Sea Eagles went hard for about 20 minutes against Parramatta before losing intensity. The Eels, much more disciplined and better drilled, handled the early contest and went on to dominate the match.

Manly are another team we’re more likely not to see in the finals. There were already a few big holes in their side and now they’ve got a couple of forwards suspended going into a game against a Rabbitohs side that will be relying on their pack.

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But if the Sea Eagles can’t get a win at home in this match, however narrowly, they’re travelling even worse than I thought.

Canberra were the best-looking losers in the first round and were even better than several of the winners. Going down in extra time on the road against North Queensland is no shame.

It was a quality game and if the Raiders reproduce that form at home against Cronulla on Saturday night they should win.

In losing first-up at home against Brisbane, the Sharks looked as though they might find it difficult to reproduce the same level of intensity that took them to last year’s premiership.

The departures of Ben Barba, who could give them a kick-start at any time with his zip out the back, and Michael Ennis, who drove them on mentally, hurt. Just how much we’ll have a very good idea of after four-to-six rounds.

St George Illawarra Dragons player Gareth Widdop

St George Illawarra, barren in terms of their attack last season, registered easily the biggest shock by compiling 42 points in beating Penrith. Now the Panthers face a big challenge at Campbelltown on Sunday against a Tigers outfit that carved up the Rabbitohs.

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The Panthers were one of the popular picks to win the title before the season kicked off. Maybe they were believing the publicity and forgot about actually doing the job against the Dragons.

Whatever happened, they need to switch on straight away against the Tigers and compete much better in the forwards, like they are capable of doing, or James Tedesco and Mitchell Moses will make life hell for them.

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