The 2015 NRL Season is finally here! In the first game of the season, the Brisbane Broncos host the South Sydney Rabbitohs from what is expected to be a near-capacity Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Join The Roar for our live coverage of the game from 7:30pm (AEDT).
The Broncos have made some pretty big changes to their squad. First and foremost, they have changed coach, as Wayne Bennett returns home. They have also signed young, talented playmaker Anthony Milford, who will form a combination with Ben Hunt in the halves.
Another new signing, Adam Blair, will start the game in the front row, while an international second row of Alex Glenn and Sam Thaiday will meet the Rabbitohs. Pressure will be on Blair to perform, as Matt Gillett is coming off the bench for the Broncos and any of Thaiday or Parker could replace Blair in the front row to make room for Gillett in the starting side.
Jordan Kahu lines up at fullback, after looking like he would be nowhere near that position in the pre–season.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs might have lost Sam Burgess and Ben Te’o but they still are going to provide formidable opposition for any team in the 2015 season. New captain Greg Inglis will have a pivotal role to play at the back and a lot of this team looks and feels like the grand final team of 2014.
The Rabbitohs have named a squad of 20 players. Joel Reddy comes onto the wing vacated by the retired Lote Tiquiri, while Glenn Stewat and Ben Lowe replace the departed Burgess and Te’o. Dave Tyrell grabs the one front row spot, alongside George Burgess, while new recruit Tim Grant could miss out on a spot on the bench with three to be omitted from the seven-man bench and Grant wearing number 18.
This game will be a battle of the playmakers. The Rabbitohs have Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary, hooker Issac Luke along with fullback Inglis, while the Broncos have the aforementioned halves pairing of Milford and Hunt, with Andrew McCullogh at hooker.
Another major factor in the result will be the crowd at a packed Suncorp, which could create an Origin-like atmosphere.
Both of these sides travelled to England for the World Club Series a couple of weekends ago. The Broncos were back in Australia the day before the Rabbioths, but overall had a much more bruising and close clash against Wigan than the Rabbitohs’ walk-over of Saint Helens. However the Broncos left a fair few players in Australia for the series, so may be fresher.
Prediction
With new coach Wayne Bennett and the home crowd behind them, I’ll tip the Broncos to get the job done in a close one.
Either way it should be a cracker to open the NRL Season, so join The Roar from 7:30pm (AEDT) to follow our live coverage, and remember to leave your comments as the game progresses.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Not sure to be honest mate.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Thaiday.
Luke
Guest
Can you tell me who Gillett replaced before scoting this try please??
Luke
Guest
Who did Matt Gillett replace in that game last night before scoring that try??
steveng
Roar Rookie
It was a no contest at Suncorp stadium as the Rabbits annihilated the Broncos in their usual second half blitz. The Broncos tried hard in the first half and looked like they could be on par with the Rabbits but in the second half the Rabbits piled on the tries and with Reynolds goal kicking the Broncos had no chance of ever coming back. The 36-6 score line was a bit flattering to the Broncos as the Rabbits could have reached the half century if a few attacking moves would have gone their way. All in all the Rabbits outclassed the Broncos and showed us why they are the World Champs and the NRL premiers. ps: Cory Parker should give the game away after his kicking and performance last night and against in the Indigenous game...lol...Go the Bunnies premiers of 2015
Renegade
Roar Guru
I must admit that I'm kind of still in Cricket mode because of the World Cup taking place but yeah I'm glad the footy is back..... no doubt, once the Sharkies game is on come Sunday, rugby league will be front and centre in my mind again. I'm actually looking forward to tonight's game between Parra and Manly a lot more than last night's game.... In hindsight, it was a pretty dull choice for the season opener I thought. There's no real history between Souths and Brisbane and most people expected a flogging.... tonight's game should be a lot more closer and intense I feel.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Aaaah I see, apologies Rene I was more focussed on the overall depth of the comps. Who said St Helens wouldn't make the NRL Top 8? That's crazy. Yep Souths looked quite good. Will be interesting to see how they respond week to week. Will definitely be up there again. Pretty pumped for tonight. As a Manly fan I'm used to off-field drama, but im still keen to see how the boys respond. Great to have the footy back!
Renegade
Roar Guru
Sorry EJ, maybe I haven't got my point across how I wanted too. I'm not saying the NRL isn't a stronger overall competition but the talk that St.Helens for instance would struggle to make the NRL top 8 because souths flogged them is unfounded. As I said at the time, Souths would have flogged any team be it NRL or ESL in that game. I never suggested the WCS matches were of highest quality all I said was there was no difference to an NRL game. And I saw nothing to suggest the Broncos-souths game last night was better than any of the 3 WCS matches. Anyways, Souths couldn't have started their premiership defence any better - they've had a tremendous start to the year.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
It simply confirms the point how much stronger the NRL is. Quality all the way down to the spoon. Any of our teams 1-16 have a shot against a top SL team. Do you think the SL's 8th team would beat the NRL's 2nd best team? Odds would be 30-1. I think the perceived quality of the matches was because of the fact that the NRL sides were still in pre-season while the SL sides had already played 2 games of their season proper. Closeness does not equal quality. How much better will the Broncos be for the run last night? Then once they've played Rd 2 they will have ironed out more kinks. That's where the SL sides were, in their own backyard, and they still failed to beat the NRL sides, who were still in trials. I'm not knocking the concept. I enjoyed watching the games. But I won't agree that the SL sides are on the same page as their NRL counterparts.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I think with the new structure this year the SL is a lot closer. Regardless of that though the quality of the WCS matches was no different to last night. And isn't the fact we are saying that there are 14 quality teams in the NRL contradict the fact that 8th beat their 2nd?
Jay C
Roar Guru
Isaac was close to best on ground. Gee he is strong isn't he. He ragdolled a couple of our guys tonight.
Jay C
Roar Guru
Gillet ran partially through a couple of holes. But didn't bend the line as I would describe it.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
He went to dummy half because McCullough ran out of juice and needed a break.
P.Marlowe
Guest
I don't know - was Corey Parker really playing dummy half? I couldn't tell from where I was sitting - all I could tell is we looked generally slow (Gillett and MacGuire aside).
Mike from Tari
Guest
Why did Cory Parker go to dummy half, how many penalties did Blair give away, Broncs got piggy backed upfield with twice & couldn't score, spear tackles, high tackles & crusher tackles who will go on report, refs still couldn't police the wrestle in the ruck.
P.Marlowe
Guest
Gillett was good. As we were camped on our 10 meter line for about the hundredth time I did think 'Vidot might be useful here'.
Mike from Tari
Guest
Right off
P.Marlowe
Guest
Poor James Gavet - that was one of the worst debuts that I can recall. Dropped balls, missed tackles, needless penalties. Just back from the game - Broncos were bad, Souths did what they needed to do and rarely looked troubled. Given the amount of ball the Broncos dropped and penalties they conceded, its somewhat understandable they conceded a lot of points. However, basic one on one missed tackles (ahem Jack Reed) and how directionless we looked in attack are somewhat concerning.
Mike from Tari
Guest
Gillett bent the line 3 times, he stood out in their attack.
Muzz
Guest
Was Gerard Sutton referring to the video ref as "horse"?