I'm just going to start this column every week with a "what a round of rugby league" until we witness a boring round of footy action.
Judging by Round 3, I cannot see that happening!
Round 3 produced an all time upset, two comebacks of epic proportions, a message sent by two title favourites, unfortunately a host of season-changing injuries and much more.
Here are 20 random thoughts from yet another headline filled round of the greatest game of all:
1. As we all suspected, The Bunnies have issues well beyond their young halfback being out of form. They can deny it all they want but there is an attitude problem. Their stars are not leading by example. Watch this space as if they lose to the Bulldogs on Easter Friday, I wouldn't be shocked to see this get much, much worse.
2. I knew this new interpretation of the kick chase rule would cause issues. Here we are in week three and we've had the "drop zone" term implemented to last week's "disrupter". For those who missed it, chasers must now genuinely contest the ball rather than just throwing an arm up to distract. We saw two incidents this weekend. The first where a player was adjusted to have "jumped early" and lost his right to not be interfered with. We saw a player jump and miss the ball only to be ruled in the "drop zone". Stay tuned for next week's new term.
3. The Titans are the worst team in the game right now, comfortably. Losing captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui is a dagger blow. Des Hasler has to dig into his bag of tricks and turn it around before the season gets away from his new club. The fact we're saying that in Round 3 is frightening.
4. I was shocked to hear pundits refer to the Sharks as "high flying" before the Tigers loss on Saturday night. They were good in New Zealand and ok in patches against a Dogs side who played without luck. They had that Tigers thumping coming. The same players making the same mistakes week after week. Nothing changes, why expect anything different results wise?
5. Despite what NRL officials best efforts to romanticise big stadiums, suburban grounds are still the way to go. The Dogs and Tigers both had huge advantages playing at their spiritual homes in front of loud crowds. You cannot convince me that moving games away from these venues is good for fans, or rugby league in general. It also provides a 14th men for the home sides.
6. It must be the increased pressure but coaches seem to loathe the idea of giving young players a shot. The amount of fringe first graders, with experience, who get picked over young guns is astonishing. The Tigers and Raiders look like different teams having allowed Ethan Strange and Lachlan Galvin to join the halves. I won't single out any players but each fan base has one.
7. I've said this before but there simply is nothing better than a Rugby League debut. The scenes on Sunday afternoon as Blaize Talagi monstered Tom Trbojevic out of the way to score his first NRL try, well they will be hard to top. He reportedly had 80 fans in the stands, all wearing a shirt with his face on it. It looked, and sounded like 800. I am a sucker for theater and his is Rugby League theatre at its finest!
8. How good were the Sydney Roosters on Friday night? Souths were pretty dire but as bad as they were, their local rivals were equally as brilliant. James Tedesco seems hell bent on proving all his doubters, myself included, wrong. In the pre-season I predicted Dom Young to top the try scoring charts this season and be the buy of the year. After two appearances I am feeling very confident about both statements.
9. The Cowboys were absolutely dead to rights on Saturday evening. They rode their luck, and I maintain if Raymond Faitala-Mariner scores, it may have been out of reach, but from that very moment they were very much the better side. A great sign from the boys from Townsville.
10. On the other end of things, the Dragons let a huge lead slip and are left licking their wounds. That said, the opening stanza should give them something to build on. Zac Lomax has been very good on the wing but I think it may be worth letting him have a game or two at fullback. Nothing to lose.
11. I will, without apologising, continue to promote the NSW Cup until every person who reads this watches each week. Saturday afternoon produced a host of talking points, and some amazing tries as the Panthers thrashed the Dogs. Meanwhile a last minute field goal saw the Jets overcome the Magpies on Sunday afternoon to complete an amazing comeback. Don't miss out!
12. That Manly/Parra game was the game of the season thus far. What an absolute ripper! The Storm/Warriors game had a better finish but this was absolutely magnificent rugby league.
13. I feel it may be too soon but I'm excited to hear that the NRLW is expanding. The Bulldogs will enter the competition, with either the Warriors returning or the Bunnies coming in. Great news for the women's game.
14. News is that Penrith will headline Vegas 2025. Great move. Even if they bottom out and don't make finals footy this year, the three time Premiers are the main attraction. Nathan Cleary is the face of the game right now. It just makes sense.
15. People making light of the Tigers needing song sheets for their new team song have too much time on their hands. That said, surely they had that rehearsed before the big moment. Sometimes thing just fall into our laps.
16. Again, it is time to decide whether we're serious about head knocks or not. Too many times we're saying high shots lead to HIA's but not penalties. Then we're seeing high shots penalised but not leading to HIA's. It's not an all or nothing approach but what it is right now is akin to a lottery.
17. I'm not worried about Jason Taumalolo's minutes. The coach's job is not to justify contracts but to put players to their best use. If that is playing 20-30 minutes, so be it.
18. Des Hasler. I've never seen a coach under such pressure after two games. Rightfully so.
19. To the letter of the law, Jake Trbojevic caused an obstruction and was rightfully penalised. Time to bring common sense in though as the "obstructed" player was 10 metres from the ball and made zero attempt to make the cover tackle.
20. Taylan May's head clash with Reece Walsh was the very definition of an accident and I'm happy to see he wasn't suspended. I understand why he was penalised, there was no attempt to tackle (he didn't wrap the arms). That said, you can't penalise accidental head knocks or there would be five suspensions every weekend for it.
