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.
The Dragons have a huge second-row call to make
The Dragons are overstocked in the second-row heading into 2026.
That's not exactly a bad thing, but while all the attention has been on the make up of the club's halves, Shane Flanagan has other pressing issues.
Jaydn Su'A, who rested the game against the Knights, will certainly be on one side of the park when the famous old Red V run out against the Bulldogs in Las Vegas.
Who is on the other side is up in the air.
Dylan Egan would have been the favourite, but is out until Round 10. Luciano Leilua is potentially left as the incumbent, and while he has dropped weight during the off-season, his impact could mean he is better used off the bench.
That means it's a straight shootout between Ryan Couchman and Jacob Halangahu. Couchman's career would be further advanced if not for a knee injury during 2025, while Halangahu really impressed with his first-grade opportunities at the end of 2025.
Whichever way Flanagan goes, it won't be a bad thing, but this could be one of the trickier decisions anywhere in the NRL, although it's far from the only one the Dragons have to make around their excellent crop of young forwards.
