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The NRL loves a blockbuster match to kick off the season, but there are a lot of question marks about the teams that will get the competition underway in 2017.
I’m not saying it won’t be a good game when premiers Cronulla play host to Brisbane on Thursday, March 2, but the thought of the two clashing so soon after after both teams lost in the World Club Series in England last weekend is intriguing, rather than exciting.
Both the Sharks and the Broncos were beaten on their merits, by Wigan and Warrington respectively. There were no excuses for either side and thankfully their coaches – Shane Flanagan (Cronulla) and Wayne Bennett (Brisbane) – didn’t try to make any.
The two biggest worries for the Broncos coming out of their 27-18 loss was the fact they were outplayed in the forwards and Ben Hunt had an unhappy game.
While a halfback’s ability to perform is usually closely connected to how his team’s forward pack fares, Hunt couldn’t blame anyone else for the mistakes he made, which involved bad decision-making in defence and a poor kicking game.
They will get a couple of forwards back who didn’t play against Warrington, but it is already clear they miss the retired Corey Parker. In the short-term, at least, it’s going to be hard for them to get used to being without their former inspirational leader.
The Sharks couldn’t get on top in the forwards either and weren’t able to find any spark out of the back to start their sets with better field position.
Fullback Ben Barba has, of course, left the club and his natural replacement, Valentine Holmes, didn’t play in the World Club Challenge match because of a hamstring injury.
The word before the rest of the Sharks left for the game in England was that Holmes was unlikely to be fit for Round 1.
It remains to be seen whether Holmes, switching from the wing, can be as dangerous, in his own way, as Barba was at fullback for Cronulla.
When you have a look at Barba’s statistics for last season, you realise just how big a challenge it is.
In 27 games, Barba made 18 line-breaks and had 16 line-break assists and 27 offloads, as well as scoring 16 tries and running for an average of 100.1 metres per game.
The loss of retired hooker Michael Ennis is another obstacle the Sharks are going to have to overcome.
Ennis would have been very handy this year because of his extreme competitiveness and ability to drive teammates on. When you’re coming off winning a premiership, it’s easy to have a let-down.
The Sharks appear set to go with Jayden Brailey at hooker to start the season, since they have been unable to sign James Segeyaro. Brailey, who played against Wigan, is only 19. It’s going to be a huge challenge for him.
Flanagan said the Sharks didn’t execute well against Wigan and made a lot of errors in the play-the-ball and with passes out of dummy-half.
Bennett said the Broncos dropped too much ball and gave away too many penalties and that the result was a reminder of what makes you a good team and what makes you an ordinary team.
Both coaches were clearly keen to get back to Australia and work on the things that need working on in the limited time left heading into Round 1.
It’s a long season ahead and things can change dramatically from what we will see in the early rounds, but I’d still be a bit worried if I was a fan of whichever team loses the Cronulla-Brisbane clash, particularly if it’s the Sharks at home.
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