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Ten matches to look forward to in season 2018 (part one)

Billy Slater is free to play the 2018 grand final. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
6th March, 2018
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Ah, Autumn… You bring with you cooler weather, less daylight, buckets upon buckets of rain, and brown leaves to replace the beautiful green ones to which we’ve all grown accustomed over the summer months.

However, I choose to look past your shortcomings. I look to the silver lining of your arrival. That is, the fact that with you, you bring the greatest game of all, rugby league.

With one sleep until the season opener, here are five games of the upcoming season you’d be nuts to miss out on, with five to follow tomorrow.

Dragons versus Broncos, Round 1
The perfect way to start this list is with the season opener itself. This will be an absolute cracker!

There are many different subplots to this game. Wayne Bennett and Darius Boyd up against the club they led to a premiership in 2010. The return to the NRL of serial bad-boy Matthew Lodge. The contined rise of Dragons prodigy Matt Dufty.

But perhaps the most intriguing subplot will be Ben Hunt’s first game for his new club, which happens to be against the only club he’s ever known.

Hunt enjoyed moderate success at Brisbane. While he had a grand final to forget in 2015, there’s no doubt that his side wouldn’t have even been there if it wasn’t for him.

Hunt has been impressive in the trials for the Dragons and will be looking to take his game to a new level this year. If he and Gareth Widdop can strike up an effective partnership quickly, I can see him making a push for the vacant Queensland number 7 jersey this year.

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Ben Hunt reacts to knock on in 2015 NRL Grand Final

Ben Hunt after he dropped that kick. You know which one. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Broncos versus Cowboys, Round 2
Whenever they face each other, these two teams find a way to create classic matches. Since the Cowboys’ inception in 1995, these two have always had an intense big brother-little brother rivalry, which has intensified exponentially since the 2015 grand final.

Every encounter since has been an instant classic. They played thrice in 2016. The Broncos won 21-20 in their first encounter since the grand final. This was followed by a 19-18 win to the Cowboys in May. They didn’t meet again until the semi-finals, where North Queensland again won, 26-20.

2017 began with another 21-20 scoreline, this time in North Queensland’s favour. Last time they played was September 2017, when Brisbane beat a depleted opposition 20-10.

With the scoreline 4-2 in the Cowboys’ favour (since and including the 2015 grand final), one could argue that the Broncos are due. But really, who knows with these two?

The one thing I do know is that this match will not disappoint. And if you do miss this one, don’t worry – they play each other again in Round 22, and they’ll probably find a way to cross each other’s paths at some point in the finals too.

Storm versus Cowboys, Round 3
Grand final rematches are always intense encounters. The Storm have had the wood over the Cowboys in their last four games, including the 2016 preliminary final, two regular-season games last year and the big dance. This means North Queensland will have an extra large point to prove in this match.

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The Cowboys will also want to send their retiring skipper, Johnathan Thurston, out a winner over his long-time rival and representative teammate Cameron Smith. These two are master game-managers, and it’ll be amazing to see what one has to do to get the win over the other.

Aside from the Smith versus Thurston battle, expect an absolute war in the forwards, with Jason Taumalolo and Jesse Bromwich spearheading their respective packs. This match will also see new Cowboys recruit Jordan McLean up against his old club for the first time. The battle of the packs is absolutely mouth-watering.

Luckily for us fans, we’ll get to see these two teams go at it again in Round 12, and likely in the finals too.

Melbourne Storm NRL Grand Final Rubgy League 2017

Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Knights versus Roosters, Round 3
I have no doubt that Mitchell Pearce circled this match in his calendar as soon as he left Bondi.

On a professional level, Pearce will be looking at this game as a chance to prove his rep credentials with a victory over Cooper Cronk. On a more personal note, he would love nothing more than to get one over that same man, Cronk, who has inflicted upon him loss after loss after loss at Origin level, and shamelessly took his spot at the Roosters while publicly stating that he wanted to play with Pearce.

From a team perspective, this will be the new-look Knights’ first chance to test themselves against one of the NRL’s true heavyweights – with due respect, the Sea Eagles and Raiders, whom Newcastle play in the first two rounds, will not challenge them in the same way.

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Finally, the amount of ex-Roosters turning out in red and blue this year – add Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Aiden Guerra and Connor Watson to Pearce’s name – make this match a deadset blockbuster.

Mitchell Pearce training Newcastle Knights.

AAP Image/Darren Pateman

Eels versus Panthers, Round 5
The Battle of the West has delivered some classics, and this year I could be a real Champagne rugby league affair given the fact that James Maloney, Nathan Cleary, Mitchell Moses and Corey Norman will be playing.

All four of these men will be pushing their case for State of Origin selection, and the best way to do that is to beat others in Origin contention.

I get the feeling that having this quartet on the field will allow the match to descend into a game of one-upmanship not seen since Jarryd Hayne’s Eels and Benji Marshall’s Tigers went head to head in Round 24, 2009.

Given some of the backline players that will be on show – particularly Bevan French, Clint Gutherson (should he return from injury in time) and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak – some amazing feats of speed, strength and will be displayed.

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