Massive challenge for the Maroons .
Walters had a lot of coaching to do after losing Game One last year and proved he is more than capable . They have a great crop of youngsters coming through that have plenty of big game experience .
Keep your eye on the ball NSW .

Smith has been incredible at all levels of the game .
Congrats to him on an amazing rep career .
He will be missed .

I can understand clubs getting into bidding wars for players and paying too much . We have a developing market in player agents who all want to make a buck .
I can’t see any upside to a long term deal for the clubs . If they are looking after their man and paying him well they are always in the box seat to retain him anyway . They won’t be getting him cheap by the end of the deal either . DCE’s contract is set up to rise automatically in relation to the cap .
DCE could well go through 4 or 5 coaches during his contract .
Manly could miss 4 or 5 halfbacks better than the one they’ve got in that time .
They could miss the finals every year till 2023 , and have no options .
The downsides of a long term contract are many and have been well laid out in this article .
I think every clubs most valuable marquee player …. is the coach .
Pay him the big bucks .
The stability and smarts Bellamy brings to the Storm is undeniable .

I can’t wait to see the Nrl’s condensed pre game interpretation of Oedipus Rex .

And the horses birthday clash !

Nice one TB .

I am all for the referees trying to crack down on holding / professional fouls .
Even though I watch a lot of football I really can’t tell (most of the time) when a penalty is going to be blown for a ruck infringement .
Will the Dragons be able to drag the Storm into the trenches and keep them there ?
I am not sensing much love between team mates at the Roosters .
Losing MP , the long serving head of the Bondi boys social committee, has had a much bigger effect on the club than anyone could have predicted .

Great points Scott , on a week full of action .
Broncos are up the creek without Macca .
So are the Knights without Pearce , but maybe not quite as far .
DCE as captain reminds me of Steve Smith . Great players … but captain ? Really ?
In a situation where the captain was required to tell some team mates to pull their heads in , they both ended up doing nothing then added fuel to the fire .
My talking point for the round is how did Canberra lose a man for 10 minutes for a very minor indiscretion while Sam Burgess gets nothing for a high shot in the same game ?
Burgess will miss some games via the judiciary but that doesn’t seem fair to the Raiders.
The Raiders probably didn’t deserve to be within cooee of the Bunnies, but that aside,the game was well in the balance when Croker was binned .
It seems a bit odd to me that a referee can make a snap judgement on the pull of a jersey but can’t be trusted to make a judgement on a malicious tackle .
There was method in the madness when the esteemed inventors of the game came up with the send off rule , but if that part of the rules has been abandoned , surely a high shot is worth as much time in the bin as a shirt pull …… if not more .

This seems to be a phase that all sports go through as they become more professional .
Is there actually anything in the NRL rule book related to diving ?
They just need to call it for what it is ( diving / simulation) and in obvious situations start to penalise for doing it .
It will soon go out of fashion .
They need to stamp it out quickly or we will end up with the situation we have now regarding professional fouls while defending your try line . They let sides get away with it all last season until it became a plague . Now the refs have a mountain to climb trying to get it out of the game , whilst being criticised by all and sundry for trying to do so .

I don’t think anyone actually considers Hadley to be a journalist ….. do they ? He is just another mouth with an opinion that I find hard to respect most of the time , and as has been pointed out , a personal agenda .
Brad Arthur has been great for the Eels as this article clearly points out .
Lets not forget they played the best opening 14 minutes of the season !
They certainly have some issues in the roster that were papered over at the end of last season by the outstanding form of a few players that have coincidently been missing so far this year .
I am not sure Hayne will ever be the player he was , but at the money he was asking … worth a punt .
Gold Coast do seem a better team without him , but they also have a new coach and have a had a chance to form a fresh team dynamic .
Interesting , the departure of some big names from the Tigers and Panthers this year , sees them much better and more balanced football sides .
There were pre season reports Griffin had lost the dressing room but that doesn’t seem to be the case .
Then there are the reports no one wants to play with Hastings at Manly .
Team harmony and spirit can be a mysterious animal . It is often overlooked when people look for answers based on talent and rosters alone .It doesn’t take much to upset things sometimes , but it can return in an instant as well .
They just need a win , and soon if they are to salvage anything out of 2018 .
No better time than this weekend against the arch enemies .

Ha ha . The Elite ! There are so many bylines for Sunday nights game . With crowd support pretty evenly split it should be a cracker . Roosters in a thriller .
JT to be too good for a Storm still finding their feet with Croft .
Panthers .If they start well it could get ugly !
I expect the Tigers bubble to burst …. but not just yet . Tigers by a field goal .
Warriors to continue to surprise – They will run around an out of shape Raiders .
Manly to win well .
Parra to bounce back in the cool of the evening . Too much attack for the disjointed Sharks .
Gold Coast to surprise the Dragons in a close one . Gotta make up some tipping ground somewhere .

Couldn’t agree more Ron . Using ‘Warriors’ and ‘resilience’ in the same sentence is something I haven’t seen in sometime !
There are quite a few new faces and combinations for the Warriors so the good start is a real positive . The additions have made a noticeable impact already . There is no reason to expect the improvements won’t continue as they play together more . To see SJ and RTS running the ball is awesome .
The only worry out of last weeks game was that they really should have been out of sight by halftime . They squandered good opportunities . Hopefully they can learn to be a bit more ruthless when they have teams on the back foot . Just keep the pressure on until the points come .
They still have Mannering to return as well . Without him in that pack last season they might not have won a game .
It will be interesting to see what they bring against some of the heavyweights over the next month .
Can they really compete for the full 80 when under pressure ?
At least they look fit enough to give that a crack in 2018 .

There is such a preoccupation with size these days . If your pack is lacking size it may well be noticeable ,but the Raiders pack clearly has plenty of size . They look to be a bit short in the fitness and mobility department .They get tired and don’t stick at their defence or guys simply run past them cause they are too big and too slow . To concede 60 points to the Titans and Knights in the first two rounds is a real worry .Now they will be tested in the next month by injuries . I know it’s early in the season but the similarities to 2017 are scary .

Barrett won the coaches battle yesterday before the kickoff by keeping his squad in the cool for as long as possible . Parra started the game like they had already been defending their line for half an hour . There was no energy in any of their play and the game was gone after 20 minutes .

It’s ridiculous to write of the Broncos after one game but I do agree with some of the points well made .
Lodge and Pangai look good but they are lacking some go forward off the bench . Maybe just an attitude adjustment is all that’s required .
Macca will make a huge difference when he gets back up to speed , but they will miss a solid “football brain” in the halves . Milford and Nikorima are both fine players but both very similar . One of them has to do the dirty work .
They did play plenty of good games together last season so it’s poor to judge them on last Thursday behind a well beaten pack .
Many have questioned Bennett’s moves in the past only to be proven wrong . He plays the media well , when he needs to protect his boys . You have to admire him for that .
Didn’t this exact same scenario go down after round 1 in 2015 ?
Rabbits pumped them 36 to 6 . Look how that turned out .

Well said Bunney . It was pretty obvious to me how much they are going to need Lodge and Pangai this year . When they got interchanged , the Broncs weren’t in the game .
All the talk about how the Raiders lost so many close games last season , that they should have won .Thats a really bad loss for the Green Machine first up . Absolute coach killer .
Eels looked like they were going to win by 50 .Oh No ! All he talk out Penrith way must be true ! The love is gone .They look slow and disinterested . What a turnaround . I don’t even know what to make of it . Crazy game . Amazing what a difference a win makes .
Griffin is the man … for the next week anyway .
Good signs for the Warriors … but it still only amounts to one win in a row . Check back in a month .
They look like they will be plenty of fun to watch this year . RTS and Johnson look sharp and there is plenty of fit and willing young forwards coming through . Afoa , Lisone and Papalli were all running straight and hard . They will be a real handful for most sides if they can keep up that sort of commitment for the whole season. I know its early but Tohu Harris looks to be a fantastic signing .
Gutsy win by the Tigers
Inspiring scenes on the bell at Newcastle .
Mitchell Pearce – The Musical .
Great weekend !

Say what you will about Lodge , but the Broncos really need him this year .
When Lodge and Pangai were off the field the Broncos didn’t offer much at all .
Bennett will sort it out , but could be a slow start for the Broncos .
I fear that after the Origin period , they may have left themselves with too much work to do .

Go Warriors !
I am not exactly sure why , but the worse they go the more I love ’em .

I remember a cold wet Monday night at Brookie a few years back when it cost nearly 100 bucks for a friend and I to sit in the grandstand . The wind was blowing and we got wet anyway . We was gouged , well and truly !

Nice work Tim .

It’s hard to argue with any of those assessments .
I don’t think Blair and Harris can provide the mongrel the Warriors need but they may be able to
inspire some of the young guys to rip in . It’s certainly an upgrade on Hoffman and Lilyman .
If their pack can keep them in games they have the guys to win them plenty .

Panthers … could be top 4 or could be a smokey for the spoon ! I know that sounds ridiculous
but anything can happen when morale is down . Or is it ?
Totally get the Moylan and Cartwright departures . Peachy is too good to not be a starter
somewhere in the NRL . I get that one too . Mansour comes down to money . After putting 3 seasons
of development into RCG …. and him really starting to show his potential … if he goes
I’d be prepared to say somethings up .
I think Yeo will be the surprise packet for them this year .

Cowboys will be riding a tsunami sized wave of emotion this year .
I hope JT stays fit and has a great year .
They look hard to go past at this early stage .
Anyway , it’s on … tonight !

It seems we could be testing the idea of ” there’s no such thing as bad publicity ” .
I tend to think the viewing audience will be up , not down , for Thursday night’s season opener , thanks to the Lodge story . I would expect the networks to be selling their airtime as such .
I watch a lot of NRL but I can’t recall ever seeing him play . Is he any good ?
I guess he must be … to be getting the Todd Carney package and not the Steve Irwin .
Just to clarify …. Steve Irwin ( Raiders team mate ) not the great man I admired and respected who left the planet way too soon …… RIP .

Thats big news for the Warriors !
If a few of the new recruits can put in like RTS does every week , 2018 might not be the write off everyone is predicting .

If Hayne’s not at fullback ( which he won’t be ) I think the wing is his next best position as a straight swap for Semi . Kick returns , starting sets etc , good under the high ball . Wouldn’t be surprised to see him there this season . Arthur has done a great job with this team . Can see them giving it a real shake this year .

As per , I find TB’s points all concise and well conceived .
No mater how many rules and restrictions you place on clubs you will never stop them from making poor decisions . Well run clubs shouldn’t be penalised because poorly run clubs get it wrong more often . The NRL is a ” club ” sport with the players the most visual representatives .
Delving into players personal affairs is an invasion of their privacy and publishing their personal contract values with third parties is absurd .
What many people think they are entitled to know these days , seems ridiculous to me .

Croft seemed to have plenty of time . Never looked rushed . Kicked well . Threw some great passes . Great signs for the Storm . Let’s see how he stands up after getting targeted every week ….. but , wow , he does look very very good .

I am leaning towards the Dragons for this one . The Broncos will look very different this year and may take a few weeks to get going . Will it define their season if they lose . Hardly ….. and to quote , ” premierships aren’t won in March “. I think starting the season well is way more important for teams like the Knights , Warriors and Tigers who haven’t an established much of a winning culture in recent times and need some wins to boost confidence and belief . I don’t think anyone will be writing off the Storm or Roosters if they take only one win from their first four . You can probably put the Broncos and Cowboys in that basket as well .

“No salary cap ” , whilst loaded with many potential disasters , may serve to attract some new administrators to the game . We might then be given the opportunity to see exactly what kind of revenue can be generated by the game . It is very hard to guage how the game is going when its controlled and propped up from every angle . I understand the cap and it’s function , but it may be getting in the way . I wouldn’t tender unconditional support for no salary cap at this point , but it is well worth thinking about .

Agree Souvalis .I think Heighington and Lillyman were purchased for their off field influence , but if they get some quality minutes out of them as well , all the better . Watson and Ponga both look like potential superstars . Herman looks fit and hungry . Guerra is a rep level player . Safiti boys. Buhrer back . Pearce …. well it could go either way . Just have to wait and see . I think Pearce gettin out of the Roosters ( even though not of his choice ) will be great for him . A chance to re invent his game might be just what he needs .
l’ll back them to do well this season , which for me ,is not getting the spoon . The roster is good enough to make the eight ” if ” – they all get along with each other . That’s always the unknown in a team with a lot of new faces .