The Wests Tigers and Dolphins have completed their pre-seasons with wins on Friday evening, while the Penrith Panthers and New Zealand Warriors will head into the season proper on the back of losses.
The four sides all showed plenty during the double-header at Leichhardt, but there will be plenty of questions and talking points to be answered over the fortnight leading into their respective Round 1 encounters.
The Tigers have an even longer wait with the Round 1 bye.
Here are all the talking points from Friday evening's action at Leichhardt.
1. Nathan Cleary shouldn't be playing Round 1
There will be mixed views on Nathan Cleary's hit that saw him sin binned during the first half, but the bottom line is this: It's the defenders responsibility to avoid direct, forceful contact with anything above the shoulder of a defender.
While Ivan Cleary found it rather funny that his son had been given marching orders for the shot on Heamasi Makasini, the Tigers' back, and plenty of other neutral observers, certainly didn't.
The argument could be made that Cleary did bounce up to the final position of the tackle, although it does depend which camera angle you're looking at. Some certainly made it look worse than others for the Panthers and New South Wales Blues halfback.
The bottom line is that forceful contact was made in a dangerous manner, and while Cleary might yet escape with a Grade 1, the match review committee, if there is going to be consistency from last year, will likely dish out a Grade 2 charge on Saturday morning.
