1. Roosters
Message sent! Yes, the Sea Eagles don't look the most formidable of opponents but the Roosters absolutely bodied Manly.
James Tedesco and Brett Morris had an absolute field day, both scoring hat-tricks and breaking tackles for fun. Sitili Tupouniua is an absolute monster and destroyed all in front of him. He had five tackle breaks and could have had bagged two tries.
Lindsay Collins' promotion was proven to be a brilliant move, he was massive. There wasn't a bad player for the Tri-colours but boy were Crichton, Tedesco and Morris super dominant. This was men vs boys. Bigger challenges await.
2. Storm
Melbourne recorded the most impressive victory over the opening round by defeating competition favourites the Bunnies on Thursday night.
The Storm came out of the sheds on fire, scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes and looking every bit defending premiers. Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cam Munster were sooooo good, especially in that first half.
62% possession shows that the Storm completely controlled this game. A brilliant performance across 80 minutes.
3. Knights
Newcastle were every bit as good as their 32-16 win would suggest on Friday evening. The five try to three victory came in entertaining fashion in front of big, and loud, home crowd.
The Knights big men led the way, with David Klemmer running for 217 metres and looking dominant. Daniel Saifiti crossed for two tries and helped his prop partner boss the middle. The Mitchell Barnett goal kicking decision looks a good one after he slotted six from seven, to go with his try.
Kurt Mann's injury did somewhat sour an otherwise party-like night. Pearce looked well in control of this game. Jayden Brailey had his best performance in Newcastle colours.
4. Panthers
The Panthers kept their regular season winning streak alive with a comfortable 24-0 win over the Cowboys. To keep a side to nil in the opening round of the season is really impressive.
Kurt Capewell crossed early in what was the only try of the first half. In the second half though Penrith ran like a machine and absolutely dominated their Cowboys counterparts.
James Fisher-Harris has matured into one of the best middle forwards in the game. Speaking of, the Panthers were able to keep Taumalolo to 73 metres. Hard to find too many negatives here from a very complete early season performance by the minor premiers.
5. Warriors
The Warriors recorded the upset of the round by defeating the highly fancied Titans on Saturday afternoon. Addin Fonua-Blake has already made a huge impact on his new side, running for over 200 metres with a ridiculous 96 post contact metres.
Another recruit in Bayley Sironen also made immediate impact scoring on his club debut. There was a lot to like here for the Warriors. Kodi Nikorima's late try iced this game while his halves partner Chanel Harris-Tavita was illusive with three tackle breaks. Good signs.
6. Sharks
The Sharks won a first round game for the first time in over five seasons after a 32-18 win over the Dragons. They were surprisingly slick in awful weather with an 88% completion rate.
Will Kennedy was the star in attack with two tries, although he won't be happy with letting the ball bounce to allow the Dragons back into the game. Chad Townsend stood up in the absence of Shaun Johnson, while Matt Moylan had his best game in two seasons in his preferred position in the halves.
Toby Rudolf and Aaron Woods owned the middle when they were on, although the Sharks middle fell apart when they weren't. Morris will need to make changes to his bench. Good win against their rivals.
7. Raiders
Although the final score line says a dominant victory for the Raiders, the Green Machine made this far more difficult than it needed to be.
6-all at half time, Canberra did start the second half on fire and ultimately ran away with it from there but there will be better performances in the capital. It was incredible to see Ryan James score on his return from a career altering injury.
Jordan Rapana looks far better back on the wing. CHK is a magician. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he produces this season. Hudson Young looks to have that second row spot nailed down after a try-scoring effort in his new role. 68% completion is pretty dire, otherwise job done.
8. Eels
The Eels recorded, by far, the most unconvincing victory of Round 1. In ten rounds fans will look back and see a 'W' next to their side over the Broncos but this was very, very close to a massive boil-over.
The 24-16 win looks good on paper but for the first 40 minutes the fancied Eels were spectators. Junior Paulo's 78th minute try completed the 24-point second half comeback but it was Reed Mahoney who starred on the night. Blake Ferguson's try in round one is a stank contrast to his early season last year. Job done, good comeback.
9. Rabbitohs
The Bunnies will be very disappointed with their opening 40 minutes on Thursday night but this loss in Melbourne won't ring too many alarm bells.
Unfortunately those wearing cardinal and myrtle looked as though they were star struck in the opening 10 minutes, almost watching Cameron Munster run through and score.
Ultimately they would turn this into a contest on the back of Latrell Mitchell's brilliance and Alex Johnston's ability to find the line. Only 98 running metres came from their starting props, that is a big issue.
Arrow was massive on debut and MUST start next week. Tom Burgess's Instagram post saying he was ok was a huge relief.
10. Broncos
For 40 minutes it looked as though the Broncos were going to start their season with a huge upset win over the Eels.
Unfortunately, they fell apart in the second half and conceded 24 unanswered points, but it's worth focusing on the first half.
Xavier Coates continues his impressive rise, scoring a double. He's going to be hard to contain. David Mead's early try marked his return to the top grade. Lodge's injury was unfortunate. Did I miss an injury to Tevita Pangai Jr? He had big metres and seven offloads but only played 38 minutes.
Warning graphic
Xavier Coates went to hospital for scans after landing heavily on his head/neck in scoring. Really hoping only short term nerve traction injury (burner/stinger) & no long term issue or fracture, obviously great signs he was able to walk from field under own power pic.twitter.com/K2Oiuy8XJX— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 12, 2021
I think we can all agree it's fantastic to hear John Asiata was cleared of any serious injury. Good effort but a shame to let a 16-0 halftime lead fall.
11. Dragons
Ultimately the Dragons dropped two competition points here but they were an unlucky knock on away from possibly completing a come from behind victory.
The Dragons first half last night was deplorable. They were awful and rightly copped it on the way from the field. In the second half they were a completely better side and probably bossed 25 of the 40 minutes.
Ben Hunt was brilliant in the seven while Matt Dufty absolutely torched the Sharks' middle. Unfortunately with Dufty, for every incredible try comes an error that inevitably leads to a try conceded. Paul Vaughan ran for over 200 metres in a big effort. They have a lot of work ahead of them but this wasn't all doom and gloom.
12. Bulldogs
There were some good moments here for the Dogs but ultimately they were a distant second best in their season opener.
Kyle Flanagan provided each of his team's tries in a solid effort on club debut. I was shocked there were Dogs fans critical of him considering his three try assists. Nick Cotric played well also on debut in blue and white, while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed for a double.
Adam Elliott scored a try, however I'm not to sure about the celebration. Trailing 18-10 at halftime, the Dogs were well in this but look far from the finished product.
13. Titans
The Titans new era started with an upset loss. Only a late try to Corey Thompson made this close on the score line, which is a bit of a worry but I certainly wouldn't worry too much.
Both of their star recruits made plenty of metres and were hard to contain. If the Titans hold the ball a little bit better and take their opportunities, they'll be fine. AJ Brimson continued strongly from his 2020 late season burst that saw him debut for the Maroons.
Not an ideal result though.
14. Tigers
Tigers fans will be contemplating what could have been. Level at half-time, this game was there for the taking, only for the Tigers to fall away.
A late try to David Nofoaluma helped add some respectability that their first half effort deserved. Tigers fans were quick to jump on Luke Brooks. Although it's far too early to really judge, it was not the start the halfback or his team wanted.
Luciano Leilua is going to be unstoppable soon. He's fantastic. Liddle and Laurie played well enough. Unfortunately their solid first half will largely be forgotten thanks to their second half fade.
15. Cowboys
The Cowboys walk away from their Round 1 trip to Penrith having not scored a single point.
Scarily their big weapons were blunted on Saturday night with Taumalolo making very little impact. He ran for just 73 metres, which while not terrible, is less than half of his 2020 average.
Holmes needs to play fullback, while I think Drinkwater is headed to the halves sooner rather than later. What has happened to Coen Hess? 42 missed tackles and 59% completion; this was dire.
16. Sea Eagles
Yuck! I know the Roosters aren't a genuine title threat, however this was awful from the Sea Eagles. I know they're missing Turbo but they've had an entire off-season to work on their issues from last season, only to concede NINE tries. Not the way you want to start a season.
Walker at the one didn't work. Croker at nine won't last. Foran ran the ball 12 times but was otherwise largely ineffective. 68% completion, one line break vs seven conceded.
Manly are so desperate for an option at nine they've signed a player who won't be available for literal months.
