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The Bulldogs’ Belmore rebuild is going to take time with the new-look team looking vastly inferior to the clinical Sharks in their final pre-season trial.
Canberra are facing a selection headache at fullback, the Wests Tigers look like they’ve regained their fangs in attack, the Storm are carrying average form into Round 1 while it’s not all bad for the new-look Warriors despite losing in Christchurch.
Cronulla needed extra line breaks and a bunch of offloads to overtake Manly for the Pre-Season Challenge winning bounty of $100,000 but the fact that star halfback Nicho Hynes was unaware of the statistical mathematics required when he was replaced midway through the second half showed that they weren’t particularly concerned with the new format.
The unbeaten Sea Eagles ended up being crowned the pre-season champs under the contentious rules set up for the trial matches.
Here are the key takeouts for each team heading into Round 1 from the two matches on Sunday so far.
There was a large crowd at Belmore and plenty of anticipation for the Bulldogs to show they’ll be finals contenders again with their new-look side but the Sharks burst their bubble.
First-year coach Cameron Ciraldo will need time to get his new-look squad working as a cohesive unit but time is running out with their Round 1 clash with Manly at Brookvale less than a fortnight away.
Canterbury need to go back to the off-season drawing board when it comes to defensive schemes.
Ciraldo needs to inject some Panthers DNA from his time there as assistant coach because, based on what the Dogs dished up on Sunday, they will be leaking plenty of points again in 2023.
A couple of Cronulla’s tries down the left edge in the second half ripped through paper-thin defence from Canterbury’s outside backs.
Viliame Kikau. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Viliame Kikau was patrolling the left edge, wearing No.11 with his trademark blond-streak hairstyle but for the first time in his NRL career he was not wearing a Panthers jersey.
The Fijian forward crossed the try line inside 90 seconds when he collected a rebound from a kick from fellow new recruit Reed Mahoney.
Unfortunately he didn’t last long and after copping a head knock in the first half, was replaced and placed in cotton wool.
A not so new face but one at Belmore for the first time in several seasons, veteran five-eighth Josh Reynolds received an enormous reception when he came on midway in the second half.
And the biggest cheer of the day went up when Reynolds crossed for a try 10 minutes from full-time after backing up a break he had initiated down the right edge.
Ronaldo Mulitalo roughed up Jake Averillo after putting a big hit on the Canterbury centre and new Dogs forward Ryan Sutton tried to square things up soon after with a shot on Blayke Brailey but his timing was terrible.
He smashed into the back of the Sharks hooker after he had passed and based on last year’s judiciary, Sutton should expect to be charged when the match review committee announces its findings on Monday morning.
Mulitalo was in the crosshairs when players rushed in on the sideline threatening to start a melee and late in the first half, the winger was again part of a bit of push and shove when Averillo pounced on him in the in-goal area.
The Kiwi speedster was booed by the Belmore crowd but had the last laugh with two tries in his team’s thumping triumph.
Nicho Hynes won the Dally M Medal last year because of his consistent excellence and he’s picked up where he left off.
Fresh off his Preston Campbell Medal-winning effort for the Indigenous All Stars, he combined with Matt Moylan for Cronulla’s first try to Sione Katoa and laid on another one for Ronaldo Mulitalo with a pinpoint kick.
Their other first-half four-pointer came from a Moylan grubber for Teig Wilton. Cronulla’s hopes of improving on last year’s finals fadeout hinge to a large degree on the support that Moylan can give Hynes as a secondary playmaking option.
This was his first hit-out of the pre-season and the veteran five-eighth also presented Wilton with another try to kick-start the second-half scoring.
Seb Kris could suit up as Canberra’s fullback in Round 1 with Xavier Savage sidelined and Jordan Rapana facing yet another suspension.
Kris was switched from centre to the back in Sunday’s trial against the Wests Tigers at Belmore in a move that coach Ricky Stuart said he had been considering for a while.
Adam Doueihi is tackled high by Jordan Rapana. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Rapana, who was named at fullback after Savage broke his jaw against Canterbury last weekend, reverted to the wing but he is now likely to be out of the running for the role at the back after he was charged by the match review committee for a high shot on Adam Doueihi.
He was sin-binned for the incident and Fox League analyst Cooper Cronk said it was “probably on the lighter side” but with his judiciary history he will likely have a fight on his hands to be available for the trip to Townsville to face the Cowboys in Round 1.
Danny Levi will be Canberra’s first-choice rake for Round 1 after another strong display at hooker, laying on the first try and finishing it off after a Nick Cotric kick inward from the wing.
Tom Starling will probably retain a spot in the game-day squad as an energy player off the bench while Zac Woolford, who cemented a starting spot over the second half of last season, looks like being the odd man out.
Levi only signed with the Raiders midway through the off-season after the Kiwi international played in the Super League with Huddersfield last year following stints with Newcastle, Manly and Brisbane.
Tim Sheens’ return as coach is already starting to have an effect with the attack-centric coach getting Wests to throw the ball around much more.
They went side to side for their first try then Douiehi exploited the advantage with Rapana in the bin for a Tommy Talau try as he blazes his way down the comeback trail from knee surgery.
The Tigers added a long-range try early in the second half after shifting the ball wide from inside their own 20 before Doueihi combined with another player returning from a season on the sidelines in Shawn Blore to send Charlie Staines over in corner.
Their defence also looked much improved, holding out the Raiders for four straight sets at one stage in the second half on their own line before getting the ball back from a tap-back on a short drop-out.
The joint-venture were the second-worst defensive team in the NRL last year, and conceded 42 points in one half against the Raiders in the final round of last season.
“I’m not saying we’re going to be an iron wall or something,” Sheens said. “But we will be tougher in that area than we have been, in so far as just getting into the right positions.
“They can tackle, but defence and tackling are two different things. (Assistant) David Furner has worked really hard on the defence.”
Former Bulldogs playmaker Brandon Wakeham put in an eye-catching performance at halfback with Luke Brooks (calf) rested and after laying on a couple of tries including the last one for winger Junior Tupou, he could be more than just a back-up option at his new club.
The Warriors headed to New Zealand’s South Island needing to beat Melbourne and rack up a few statistics to steal the Pre-Season Challenge winner’s cheque from Manly but they fell short.
Neither team was particularly impressive with a raft of errors from the experienced campaigners who lined up at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch as well as the many rookies who were given a pre-season run by both coaches.
Both clubs started with line-ups heavy on NRL experience before emptying their bench in the second half with a host of youngsters getting some game time as Melbourne overcame a 6-0 half-time deficit to win 24-6.
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Craig Bellamy has plenty of work to do before Round 1 to keep his flawless record in season openers alive.
With plenty of injuries to his squad – Ryan Papenhuyzen (knee), Justin Olam (arm), George Jennings (illness), Tariq Sims (calf) and Marion Seve (knee) – there are plenty of spots up for grabs for the opening assignment against Parramatta at CommBank Stadium on March 2.
The best-available spine of Nick Meaney at fullback, halves Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes, with Harry Grant at hooker, looked clunky, particularly in the Storm’s scoreless first half.
Meaney was not as involved as he should have been from the back while Hughes and Munster looked rusty in their combination with Grant.
Munster scored a try late in first half but was denied by centre Young Tonumaipea stopping in the defensive line after the five-eighth had caught a high Hughes kick, dummied and plunged over the line.
There did not seem to be as many wise old heads keeping the Storm cool calm and collected as there used to be with the Bromwich brothers and Felise Kaufusi gone to the Dolphins and Brandon Smith now a Rooster.
Former Eels forward Marata Niukore is just what the Warriors need. He could turn out to be one of the best buys in the NRL this season.
He produced a big hit to knock the ball loose from Melbourne’s forward Warriors forward Aaron Pene in the first half and from the ensuing scrum win, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak’s flowing mullet set sail for the line after running through a couple of feeble attempted tackles from Munster and Meaney.
Eliesa Katoa is a certainty to be Melbourne’s right edge-forward for Round 1, a role filled by Kaufusi for several seasons.
The former Warrior showed he is ready to realise his potential at his new club, showing his size and strength and considerable pace to score after a Grant break in the second half.
Will Warbrick also impressed on the right flank, charging onto a Hughes pass to score the go-ahead try.
The 24-year-old, standing at 193cm and weighing 105kg, made two line breaks while running for an impressive 205 metres.
His first year after switching from New Zealand’s rugby sevens ranks was hampered by injury but he looks a fair chance of Round 1 debut with plenty of injuries out wide.
Warriors veteran Shaun Johnson. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
There are green shoots sprouting at the Warriors under new coach Andrew Webster.
It’s tough to gauge too much from a trial when each team used well over 20 players but especially in the first half when each team fielded close to its strongest line-up, the Warriors’ defence was again strong on the back of their previous trial win over Wests Tigers.
Particularly in last 10 minutes of first half when the Storm were camped down their end, the Warriors showed actual resilience and some starch in defence.
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