Something just feels right about walking into work on Monday morning and spending the first hour discussing the weekend of rugby league action.
Although you often lead with the bad it always rounds back to the exciting moments.
Ours is a game that never fails to deliver. Whether it be for positive reasons, or negative ones, Rugby League is always in the headlines. Round One 2023 certainly lived up to the billing.
Earlier we discussed five things that should worry fans from Round One. Now it is time to look on the positive side.
Round 1 was chock full of highlights both on and off the field.
We saw one of the all time great upsets, a plethora of brilliant tries and a series of huge (and legal) hits that I'm sure are still hurting those on the receiving end.
As with the negatives, the below points may not apply to the wider League audience and more to the group of fans affected.
Here are five things that Rugby League fans should be very excited about from Round 1.
1. The Dolphins
The NRL's new kids on the block kicked off their NRL existence in the best possible way. A comprehensive win over a genuine Premiership threat in front of a huge home crowd. You couldn't have written a better script.
There were genuine concerns that the Dolphins might go without a win for an extended period. We needn't have worried.
The worry was that the shine would fade on the new club if victories failed to materialise and that fans would fall away. Again, we needn't have worried.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow reminded everyone that he is one of the competition's great entertainers. Felise Kaufusi produced his best performance in years with some highlight reel efforts in both attack and defense.
Jamayne Isaako crossed for a double and slotted conversions from absolutely everywhere.
The 28-18 win over the Roosters will be a trivia question in future and will live on in history.
To say it was unexpected is an understatement. To say it was a brilliant event is equally as understated. I'd go so far as to say it was a perfect afternoon for the Phins.
