The NRL is going all out with the big matches in the early rounds, with Souths following up the blockbuster against the Roosters with the preliminary final replay against Manly, meaning their first two games of 2014 were against the last two teams to beat them in 2013.

Manly versus Souths
It was in the corresponding match-up last year that Geoff Toovey gave his much-parodied post-match press conference that cost him 10K.

To show the NRL have a sense of humour, they appointed the same ref who caused that blow up – Shayne Hayne.

Expecting a high quality game, the first half was pretty ordinary. Scrappy play punctuated with penalties and dropped balls was the order of the day.

Manly’s try was assisted by some terrible defence from Nathan Merritt, who had no reason whatsoever to leave his wing.

Sam Burgess’ try was appropriate for the standard of play where a penalty got them close, then a stripped ball bounced into Sam’s arms and he just had to fall over the line.

The icing on this sloppy cake was Adam Reynolds, who regularly puts them over from all angles, hitting the post from in front with the conversion, which ended up being the difference in the game.

I say it often, but how important are the fifth tackle options? High reward if they lead to a try or a repeat set, but how often do you see a poor kick lead to a massive shift in momentum?

One minute you are deep in attack and all of a sudden the opposition is streaming down field. Reynolds’ bomb to Lote Tuqiri was easily defused by David Williams.

Standard of play lifted substantially in the second half and suspense built as the scores remained close.

Throughout the half it felt like it would just be a matter of time before Souths hit their straps and took control of the game. Perhaps knowing that Manly can’t run uphill (north), Souths relaxed a touch and let Jamie Buhrer go through basically untouched.

Even then, as the scores were tied, Souths looked more likely to win, right up until… they didn’t.

You’d think even Toovey would struggle to complain about the refs, as a Shayne Hayne penalty put Manly over the line in what was quite a boil-over given the absence of the Stewart brothers, yet he still found it necessary to give them a spray.

Brisbane versus North Queensland
I was so distracted last week with the start of a new season that I neglected to flog that dead Bronco of the unfair advantage Brisbane get by taking over Friday night football during the season.

My thoughts in 2012: “I do have to question the fairness of the draw that has been given to Brisbane though. Every week they have played on Friday night so far and have that timeslot again next week.

“No changes in routine, no short turn arounds, has got to be an advantage over teams that are changing it up every week doesn’t it.

“Brisbane have enough natural advantages being a one town team, do they really need any extra help from the NRL?”

In previous seasons I have referred to the Broncos as the “Easybeats” as, due to the number of Friday night games they get compared to every other club, they have “Friday on their Mind”.

Finally, the NRL got the sort of crowd they were desperately seeking in the Queensland derby, again proving Queensland is the home of rugby league in Australia.

A lot of questions about the Broncos coming into this season; poor trial form, uncertainty over 1,6 and 7 positions, rumours Corey Parker wasn’t a popular choice as captain replacing Sam Thaiday, and coach under pressure.

They have responded with gritty performances; more passionate than polished, tackling themselves to standstill to repel the opposition and then snatching the games with late tries against two teams that are expected to make the eight. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Johnathan Thurston almost pulled the match from the fire, however had the ball slapped out of his hands as he reached over to plant it in the 80th minute.

New Zealand versus St George-Illawarra
A head-to-head match-up that has been owned by St George-Illawarra, winning 16 of their 20 all time meetings, including winning the last eight dating back to 2007.

After getting smashed by Parramatta, the Warriors needed to bounce back, unfortunately they bounced like the proverbial dead cat.

A 31-12 loss looks bad in the paper, however the Warriors may look at this as one that got away due to the absolute gifts they gave the Dragons.

Anyone who has seen Mitch Rein play even a little bit should know he loves nothing more than having a go from dummy half hear the opposition line. Somehow the Warriors allowed Rein over.

Leading 12-6 at half time, the Warriors fell asleep; Sam Tomkins dropped an easy bomb, gifting the Dragons one try right after halftime and then the defence yielded straight away, allowing the Dragons to go back-to-back.

Shaun Johnson had one try ruled out by the video ref and dropped another as he dove over the line, then yet another one of those attacking kicks went wrong, with Brett Morris scoring down the other end of the field.

The Dragons’ final try came as another gift from a misdirected Warriors’ pass on their own try line.

With only two games gone, it’s already getting to desperation stakes for the Warriors, although they always have the State of Origin period to look forward to, being unaffected by missing players.

Meanwhile, the season couldn’t have started any more positively for the Dragons, and they will be full of confidence heading into their first real test at Remondis Stadium in the local derby against the Sharks next week.

Supercoach Steven Price has requested all Dragons games be against either New Zealand or Newcastle as he boasts a 100per cent record (7 from 7) against those two clubs.

Just don’t mention his 30per cent record against the rest of the NRL…

Melbourne versus Pink Panthers
Another match-up with a very one-sided history, Melbourne owning the head-to-head record, winning 19 of 26.

Penrith haven’t won in Melbourne since 2005, although they did managed to break their run of 11 straight losses by beating the Storm last year.

In bad news for Penrith – apart from having to turn out in their garish, cover-your-eyes pink jerseys – Cooper Cronk returned for the Storm and both Billy Slater and Cameron Smith were celebrating milestone matches to give them even more incentive.

Smith played his 263rd, breaking the Storm record, while Slater reached 250. Both records should go down with an asterisk in the record books.

Perhaps Smith’s record should have a category for marquee games for the period he was on a couple of different contracts at the same time.

Slater’s asterisk should be for the number of games he would have served in suspension if his name was Steve Matai. Shoulder charges, kung fu kicks and head butts have all gone unpunished. Probably appropriate in his 250th game he would be sent to the sin bin.

Penrith got their first look at off season trade Jamal Idris, I’d wager in an XXXL jersey – he’s listed as the heaviest player at the club at 120kg.

Penrith almost disrupted the celebration with another good performance, taking it right down the wire with Melbourne squeaking past by the narrowest of margins for the second straight week on the back of two Cronk field goals.

The Panthers were ripped off just before halftime, with a try being called back for a pass that looked a lot better than many that are allowed to go.

Instead of lining up for a kick at goal, Penrith gave away a couple of penalties that gave Melbourne a kick at goal at the other end.

A six-point turnaround in a game decided by one point. Certainly not the first time the Storm have received the rub of the green from the refs.

Easts versus Parramatta
THUD! That was the sound of the Parramatta season coming back down to Earth – again looking very similar to 2013.

Last year, after beating Warriors by 30 at home, they played the Roosters in Round 4 away and got rolled 50-0.

This year, the Eels beat Warriors at home in Round 1 by 20, then played last year’s Premiers – who were cranky after their first round loss. This was always going to be a far sterner test, even without Sonny Bill Williams.

The Eels had about as much chance as the GWS Giants against the Swans… Um, scratch that bit.

The Eels were in the match right up until the sixth minute, when the carve up began.

Even 18-4 at halftime didn’t give an indication of the capitulation that was about to come in the second 40 minutes, with seven tries – 38 points in 40 minutes – in the face of some awful defence.

I shudder to think what would have happened had Darcy Lussick been rightfully sent off for his swinging arm in the 17th minute.

It doesn’t get any easier for Parramatta as they travel to Brookvale next Sunday.

Gold Coast versus Wests Tigers
There is nothing that makes you feel older than when players you feel like you were watching just yesterday all of a sudden have children playing.

Alistair McDermott, the Marsh brothers and Ian Healy’s niece come to mind in cricket circles, while Curtis Sironen has been the main league culprit.

This season, Gold Coast have debuted son of Penrith stalwart Steve Carter as their reserve hooker.

While listening to this match, the callers kept referring to him as ‘Hurricane’ Carter, from which I assumed his name was Rubin.

It turns out his name is Paul (it may be Paul Rubin Carter, I don’t know), which is a shame as if his name was Rubin, the following would have made a whole lot more sense…

To the tune of Bob Dylan’s Hurricane (obviously).

Refs whistle rings out on a hot Coast day
Enter Tiges and Titans ready to fight
A very small crowd turned up to see them play
Everyone asking why wasn’t it played at night

This is the story of the Go-old Coast
Unfortunately they ended up toast
Looked like they hardly even tried
Play crap like this and they will never be
The champions of the world

Two early tries, coach John hates to see
The Gold Coast defence going missing mysteriously
“This isn’t how I coached you” and he throws up his hands
“Next week you’ll be dropped I hope you understand”

It was one way traffic, the tries didn’t stop
The Titans tanked from fullback to props
And they have international props
But with only 10 minutes seen, the red lights were flashing
That this was going to get ugly

Gold Coast Titans hardly tried
In the afternoon heat, they were deeply fried
Richards, Brooks and Thompson all scored Tige tries
Any more games like this will get Cartwright fired

How hard can it be for a paid league man
To throw a pass that goes to hand?
Channel Nine must have felt framed
When they are struggling for tv ratings
But they had to show this game

Newcastle versus Canberra
Historically, this isn’t a match-up that produces many close games.

It was 11 clashes since the last time a game between these two was decided by less than 10 points; the average winning margin has been 21.72 points, and who could forget that titanic defensive struggle of 2006, which ended 70-32 to Newcastle!

Very difficult to get a read on what would happen in this game. Newcastle are traditionally tough at home, but had some key personnel out and no conclusions could be drawn from their last match due to their numerous injuries.

Canberra looked good for a while in Townsville before fading, but have always been a bit bi-polar week to week.

The game itself was much the same, as fortunes and the lead swung back and forth before the Raiders sealed the game with a try in the last minutes to get Ricky Stuart’s first win as Raiders coach.

Going back to last year, this was Canberra’s first win in eight games, and the following could be heard from the visitors change rooms after the match…

We’re bad… the Green Machine
We *mumble mumble* Green!
We’re big… hmmmm hmmmm um…. mean
That’s why *um… something…* the Green Machine

Canterbury versus Cronulla
A match-up the Sharks have struggled with in recent times, winning only once in the last eight games and not made any easier for the Sharks with arguably their best four players – Todd Carney, Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita and Luke Lewis – watching from the sidelines.

The patchwork side was no match for the Bulldogs, who showed no mercy and put the Sharks to the sword.

Hard to tell whether the Bulldogs were that good or the Sharks that bad.

Andrew Fifita reportedly broke down in tears after confirming he was leaving at the end of the year – crying all the way to the bank, apparently after signing for four years worth $850K a season.

Seems too much to be paying him to me, but leaves everyone with this strange situation where he still has a season to play for the Sharks (less suspensions, Origin stand downs) but has already pledged his allegiance to another club for the future.

The Sharks ruse to try to confuse Canterbury into thinking Andrew Fifita was still playing by picking twin brother David didn’t work, nor did any of the other tactics employed by interim coach Peter Sharp.

Sharp has a career coaching record of only 39 per cent, so that’s perhaps not surprising, and I wonder if Shane Flanagan is silently watching his stocks grow as the Sharks struggle without him.

That’s how I saw it from the Couch. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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