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The NRL season is picking up pace with Round 2 complete, but injuries are threatening to de-rail the season before it really begins for a couple of clubs, while the Queensland derby saw yet another thriller to headline the action.
It’s been a fascinating weekend of footy really. The Roosters got things underway with a tough fought win over the Bulldogs before the Storm beat the Warriors in rain that resembled something which would cause a flood.
The Cowboys then got the better of the Broncos in another Queensland derby classic before the Knights beat the Titans in their first win since early last season. To round out Saturday, the Rabbitohs beat the Sea Eagles in a battle of understrength teams before the Cronulla Sharks put the Canberra Raiders to the sword.
The round closed out with a double-header on Sunday, and it was a couple of smashings. Penrith put 36 on the Tigers, before the Eels thumped the Dragons.
Anyway, onto the talking points from the weekend.
Injuries and suspensions… and plenty of them
It’s been a pretty tough old week for a lot of teams, with injuries a-plenty that could change the course of the season.
The North Queensland Cowboys were the hardest hit with three big injuries to come out of the brutal game against Brisbane.
The worst of them looks to be Matt Scott, who has injured his ACL. It could well be season ending and if that’s the case, it’ll be a big dint in the Cowboys forward pack.
Lachlan Coote is also reported to have torn his calf while Antonio Winterstein has broken his forearm. North Queensland can cover Winterstein effectively, but they will be sweating on their fullback not being out for too long.
The Cowboys woes in the forwards are made worse by the suspension of Jason Taumalolo, who will miss a week with an early guilty plea thanks to a shoulder charge.
Earlier in the weekend, the Bulldogs got things off on a sour note both losing and having both Will Hopoate taken out with a fractured eye-socket and Kerrod Holland – their goal kicker injure the AC Joint in the shoulder which could rule him out for a substantial length of time.
The Roosters were not to be let off the hook either with Blake Ferguson doing some damage to his ribs.
The Gold Coast Titans also copped plenty on Saturday afternoon, with Jarryd Hayne injuring his ankle and a pair of dislocated shoulders for Anthony Don and Karl Lawton.
Hayne’s injury ankle is set to be a long-term recovery as well, but funnily enough not having him on the field may improve the Titans chances, allowing Ashley Taylor to take over.
The injuries continued on Sunday with Bryce Cartwright going down despite the Panthers being able to run away with the match.
Simply put, it’s been a horror weekend on the field.
Luke Keary might just be the buy of the year
Wow. What a start Luke Keary has had to his time at the Sydney Roosters. Two matches, two brilliant performances and more importantly two wins for his new club.
Keary has played a heavy hand in both victories and has looked and felt every bit the part so far.
Calling someone the buy of the year after just two games is a huge call – but at the moment it doesn’t look like one that will be far off the mark.
The match on Friday against the Bulldogs saw him set up a bag of tries including a couple with kicking on a five-cent piece. His combination with Mitchell Pearce is looking fantastic and they have the Roosters on the right track.
Whatever happened last year at the Rabbitohs, it wasn’t the Luke Keary who won a grand final in 2014, but he is back now – just playing in tri-colours.
And on that…
The Roosters are serious premiership contenders
The jury was very much out on the Roosters coming into the season, but they have wasted little time confirming their credentials and that 2016 will be just a blip on the radar.
2016 was horrible to put it nicely. Off-field distractions and incidents affected their performance on the field for much of the season and with injuries cruelling them they simply never recovered to make a legitimate charge at the top eight.
Two games into 2017 though and they have won two straight, their attack clicking on already cylinders and already having 60 points to their name. Granted, they haven’t played a premiership heavyweight yet, but they can only play what’s in front of them and while there are still issues to sort out, they look every bit a contender so far.
The Roosters do have a pretty tame draw coming up, but let’s explore this question again after their Round 6 clash with the Broncos.
Melbourne have envious forward depth and will cover the loss of Jesse Bromwich – or anyone else – just fine
Jesse Bromwich mightn’t have been on the paddock for the Storm in Auckland on Friday night, but they covered his loss fine with everyone standing up a little extra and doing a job, particularly in the second half which saw them dominate the Warriors.
While the Auckland-based club might not be the best yardstick to measure forward depth with, the Storm won the battle for most of the match. Jordan McLean took ownership of leading the pack, but it was hard to spot a bad performance in purple up front.
When Bromwich does return, it’s only going to make the Storm’s depth stronger and at the moment it’s hard to see who stops them out of State of Origin time.
Queensland derby is another classic
Again. They did it again. The Broncos and Cowboys turned on yet another classic.
How they continue to send games to golden point and give everyone in Queensland a heart attack is an unknown fact, but they do.
Johnathan Thurston is one of if not the greatest the game has ever seen and he found a way to get the Cowboys out of an extra time thriller for the second week in a row.
The game itself might not have been the best they have played, but the scores were tight, the atmosphere pumping and the Broncos versus Cowboys has quickly become must-watch television and the NRL’s hottest rivalry.
Mark the date for their Round 26 clash in the calendar right now. Drop everything, throw the TV on and settle in for what is sure to be another classic.
There’s bite in the Cronulla Sharks yet
After a pretty tame Round 1 loss against the Brisbane Broncos, the Sharks bounced back and put the Raiders to the sword in Canberra.
Their attack ran up 42 points with Wade Graham scoring a hat-trick, and all of a sudden the Sharks are back at the front of everyone’s minds.
James Maloney, Chad Townsend and young hooker Jayden Brailey combined sensationally to guide them to victory, with the Raiders – who many had as favourites for the premiership – folding under pressure.
The Sharks are out to make a statement and proved that on Saturday. The battle for them, with a younger side will now be keeping that going and a local derby next week against the Dragons would provide the perfect platform to make another statement.
Hold the phone, Newcastle won something!
19 games and 336 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Newcastle Knights won something – not including a trial victory in the pre-season.
The verdict was they were going to improve this year – whether that meant avoiding the spoon or not was still up in the air – but they now have a victory on the board.
While the Gold Coast Titans struggled with injury throughout the contest, the Knights had to play what was in front of them and did so well, running up 34 points.
After a solid performance against the New Zealand Warriors last weekend, the question now is whether they can keep it going and continue to give teams a scare.
The Dragons we expected have arrived
It’s not good news, but it was expected nonetheless. The Dragons had a shocker to close out the round against the Eels on Sunday evening.
As a Dragons fan, let’s just say it was tough to watch.
You got the feeling something wasn’t quite right when Russel Packer dropped the ball on the first play of the game and it didn’t get much better.
The Dragons were bullied up the middle, beaten for energy and were nowhere near the Eels level. While it’s only one less, it’s more than worryinng for the Dragons and given they beat a dreadful Penrith last week, they need to make a statement next time out.
Well, there you have it Roarers – our talking points for Round 2. What did you make of the weekend?