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.
4. Suburban sell outs
Full disclosure: I am very torn on Suburban grounds. Having been at the Sharks/Souths game on Saturday night, the atmosphere was great but the facilities were dire.
That said, there is nothing in the game as pleasing to the eye as a jam packed Suburban ground. Especially those with hills.
The Sharks easily sold-out their reduced capacity game against the Bunnies. Manly put the "ground full" sign up against the Dogs, while Penrith and the Tigers both hosted bumper crowds.
Crowds were really strong across the entire competition but there's something special about seeing a local ground packed to the brim, especially in the afternoon sun.
Penrith and Souths will almost certainly be the hottest ticket in town despite the Thursday night time slot for Round Two.
The Dolphins have sold out their return to Redcliffe against Canberra. Talk is that Leichhardt Oval will again be jam packed on Sunday afternoon also.
Memberships and tickets to games held at these local stadiums are hot property!
