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The NRL’s off-season recruitment merry-go-round has spun up the most unlikely opening round results in the competition’s 110-year history.
As the NRL’s biggest first-round crowds since 2013 attended with a new sense of hope and optimism, all four of last year’s bottom four delivered with upset results.
It marks the first time this has occurred in Australia’s top-tier rugby league history, dating back to the NSWRFL premiership in 1908.
Both Newcastle and Wests Tigers scored wins off the back of a combined 15 new recruits, while the Warriors finally claimed their first victory in Perth over South Sydney on their ninth attempt.
The Gold Coast then finished the perfect set when they came back from 18-0 down to beat Canberra 30-28 on Sunday night
“The bottom half of the competition is far stronger than what it was last year,” Knights coach Nathan Brown said.
“Because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement coming out, there were so many players that allowed themselves to come off contract.
“Fortunately for us we were in the position to bring in a lot of players, but a lot of other clubs low on the ladder had the same opportunity.
“Until the new salary cap comes out (in 2023), we’ll never see that movement again. It’s going to be a hard competition.”
The Knights’ win helped kick start a new era at the club, with Mitchell Pearce starring when he delivered on his massive off-season signing with a golden-point field goal to sink Manly 19-18.
Meanwhile the Tigers had six new faces at their disposal when they shocked the Roosters 10-8 on Saturday afternoon, with Corey Thompson scoring the match winner in his first game at the club.
Ben Hunt also had an immediate impact at St George Illawarra, as he scored a try and another assist to help beat former club Brisbane 34-12 in the season-opener on Thursday night.
In total, five of the eight teams who missed last year’s finals tasted success as more than 140,000 people attended matches – including 38,824 at the Perth double-header.
Melbourne, North Queensland and Penrith were the only members of last year’s top eight to win matches – the latter when they crushed Jarryd Hayne’s return to Parramatta 24-14 on Sunday.
The Storm’s 18-point win over Canterbury in the second game of the Perth double-header was their 16th round one win in a row, while the Cowboys’ six-point win over Cronulla came in Johnathan Thurston’s 300th NRL game.
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