Two down, 23 to go.
The second round of the 2021 NRL season didn't just provide us with our second set of winners and losers, it raised yet another series of questions.
With each of the league's 16 teams set to do battle again this weekend, we attempted to answer the major issues facing their playing lists and coaches alike.
New Zealand Warriors
How do they alleviate the familiarity?
Sadly, for the Warriors' faithful, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
When Ken Maumalo crossed the line with 13-minutes left on the clock, it appeared that the road-trippers would open their season at 2-0.
However, what unfolded in the game's final eighth was a narrative that had been played out at Mount Smart from over a quarter of a century – fight your way back into a game, grab the lead and blow it just as the clock strikes midnight.
The Warriors ability to claw back from 14-6 down following Mitchell Barnett's 50th minute conversion was admirable, and is almost certainly something Nathan Brown will have highlighted throughout the week, but with a propensity for still shooting themselves in the feet, Brown has his work cut out for him going forward.
Near enough has been good enough in the past and an inability to play to the hooter has cost them dearly as well. These simple brain fades are hard to rectify – just ask any of the franchise's armada of former coaches – but the buck stops with Brown, whose job it is now to teach his contemporary tribe of Warriors to pot the eight ball before housing the cue.
