The opening two games of the NRL pre-season challenge are in the books, with juniors impressing, players stamping their authority over Round 1 spots, and questions still looming.
Here are all the talking points from the double-header at Kogarah, where the North Queensland Cowboys beat the Canterbury Bulldogs by four points, and the St George Illawarra Dragons to the better of the Newcastle Knights by ten points.
Heilum Luki will reclaim his starting spot for the Cowboys
One of the big disappointments of the 2025 season was the ACL injury to Heilum Luki which stopped him from getting on the park at all.
It was the first time Luki had missed an entire season since his debut in 2021, but not the first time he had been struck down by injury.
He has come back from all his previous injuries tremendously, but there were real doubts about this one, suffering yet another knee blowout.
But he showed no signs of being away from the game during his minutes against the Bulldogs on Saturday evening.
Luki really did put his best foot forward at both ends of the park, scoring a try and not for a moment looking out of place.
He will come up against stronger opposition than a predominantly Bulldogs' reserve grade outfit, but with the Cowboys likely to consider John Bateman as a middle third player in 2026, the pathway is open for Luki to reclaim his second-row spot alongside Jeremiah Nanai in the Cowboys' 17 as Payten looks to turn his club around.
