One down, 24 to go.

The first eight games of the 2021 NRL season didn’t just provide us with our initial set of winners and losers, it raised 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.

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Melbourne Storm

Can they get going from the get-go again?

By the time the Storm strode off AAMI Park for the half-time break last Thursday, their contest against Souths was theoretically over.

At 22-6 and four tries to one, many had put their glasses down and began casting their mind back to the last time Melbourne were bested in an opening round.

Although Souths ‘won’ the second half 12-4, it was the Storm’s perpetual ability to end contests early that saw them reign triumphant in another contest against quality competition.

If we look back at Melbourne’s previous pair of matches, we notice three distinct trends – they are unbeaten, they mathematically end matches before the break, yet they still seem unable to score second half tries.

In their finals fixtures against Penrith and Canberra, Melbourne ended the first 40 with respective leads of 22 and 18 points in both victories, but scored just a single try after the 45th minute – Dale Finucane’s dot down against the Raiders in the Preliminary Final.

Although this trend has leaked into this season, it has not halted their purple reign on the scoreboard.

Despite the points and the rings being claimed, you can be sure that Craig Bellamy will have made the necessary adjustments to not only beat Parramatta out of the gates this Thursday, but to beat them for the full 80-minutes.

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