NRL: Round 1 Wrap up

A new year comes a new season of footy and here at RBP we couldn’t be more excited. Here are the highlights and a review of each 1st round game of the NRL.

Broncos V Rabbitohs (6-36)

Thursday saw 2014’s NRL champions, South Sydney Rabbitohs take on Brisbane Broncos to kick off the 108th NRL season. After losing Sam Burgess and Ben T’eo to the dark side, the Bunnies had to put in a solid performance to secure their title of premiers and that’s exactly what they did. Although having lost such talent they were still able to maintain composure and put the Broncos away in what was a pretty comprehensible victory with an end score of 36-6. With tries pouring in from Dylan Walker, John Sutton and Greg Inglis, the Broncos were stunned from what seemed to be a ‘mid-season’ performance by the Pride of the League. Able to crawl back with a try from interchange Matt Gillet, Broncos did show some venom, however all seemed futile after some beautiful work by Greg Inglis To put Luke Keary for yet another try for the Bunnies and then Joel Reddy added to the tally with a simple finish in the corner. Adam Reynolds’ boot was on point with an amazing 8 from 8, the most notable being the dying seconds of the game, slotting one from inside his own half.

Eels V Sea Eagles (42-12)

Manly veteran and now Eels newbie Anthony Watmough was the man under the spotlight in this encounter. Having played over 12 years at Manly it would undeniably be a strange sensation for him to step out onto the pitch opposing his former teammates, yet The Eels man left the feelings off the field and helped provide Parramatta with a performance that the Sea Eagles were simply unprepared for. Fijian monster Semi Radradra was scoring tries left, right and centre for Parramatta and started this season as top try scorer in the league. Manly crawled back and with only a 4 point deficit at half time were still in with a shout. It wasn’t to be however and after a scoreless half for them they left the field shaken not stirred, down by 30 with an end score of 42-12.

Knights V Warriors(24-14)

Saturday night saw two injury ridden teams fight it out for the opening points of the season. Warriors showed their class predominantly in the first half with a try in the 26th minute by Thomas Leuluai to put the sides level at 6 apiece, then in the dying seconds of the half Ryan Hoffman went down to record his first try in his first game for the Warriors. The home side seemed to be outdone by their Kiwi visitors as they trailed 14-6 with 58 minutes gone and a player down but the sweet feet of Dan Gagai saw him to the line for the second time in the match as he skipped passed one defender and boshed his way through two to put the Knights back into the game. Another try from Tyler Randell gave the Knights the lead and on the 75th minute Robbie Rochow wrapped up the match with yet another score. The victory was there for the taking for the New Zealanders but just seemed to bottle it in the last quarter, they did however show some promise and should not be overlooked whatsoever.

Cowboys V Roosters (4-24)

With an end score of 28-4, many questions are asked of the North Queensland Cowboys. Such an abysmal performance would be worrying for Cow’s players, management and fans alike and will definitely look to right their wrongs before their round 2 clash against Newcastle Knights. Roosters on the other hand proved themselves to be well focussed and well able to be strong competitors as they opened this season with such a huge win. Although Roosters came away with the points and showed complete domination in defence and attack, they will have iron out some creases for the remainder of the season as they tallied up 20 errors in the process of putting the Cowboys away. With Anthony Minichiello now retired, the Rooster’s number 1 jersey fell into Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s hands (safe hands at that) as the 21 year old showed to be a great prospect for the future with an all-round performance that impressed fans and management alike.

Titans V Tigers(18-19)

Arguably the most exhilarating game of the weekend. It was proof that the coke still runs in the veins of the Titans. A Thrilling encounter which was seen to the close with a late kick by Tiger’s Pat Richards ending the affair 19-18. Though missing some of their star players due to suspension over drug charges, the Titans showed some zing and were on a high throughout the game but seemed to suffer the comedown at the last few seconds as they conceded that drop kick. The score line wasn’t the only thing that was close, in terms of possession (47%-53%), runs (149-150) and metres made (1264-1266) both teams were almost equal, Tigers however just that small bit ahead which helped them secure the winning points.

Panthers V Bulldogs (24-18)

Panthers pounced their way into 24-0 lead up thanks to 2 tries from 19 year old Winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 1 from his debutante partner on the other side of the pitch George Jennings and 1 from Hooker James Segeyaro who scored the try of the game for us after breaking through and making something out of nothing to add to his team’s point advantage. It wasn’t until the 69th minute when the Bulldogs were finally unleashed in the form of Brown and Rona who went over for Canterbury in quick succession but it was Brent Morris’ breakaway try that made the game that bit more interesting, his ability to capitalise on some poor defending meant the Dogs were back in the game with minutes remaining after being so far behind. A last minute cross field kick could’ve given the Canterbury the draw but it wasn’t collected and dribbled out of play meaning an end score of 24-18 for Panthers.

Sharks V Raiders (20-24)

Another tight and tense affair in Canberra’s defeat over the Cronulla saw the visitors come away with the winning points at an end score of 24-20. Fullback Wighton knocked in 2 tries and nearly knocked out Sosaia Feki in a brawl that put both players in the bin for 10 minutes. Wighton came back and finished his match with an inspirational try saving tackle making up for his previous ill-disciplined blunder. Ben Barba’s boot proved ineffective for the Sharks as one of Wighton’s tries basically came from Barba’s poor attempt of a kick. Contrasting to Barba, 22 year old Mitch Cornish’s kicking for the Raiders proved dangerous for the opposition and will in no doubt be a huge asset for the Raiders as the season progresses.

Dragons V Storm (4-12)

The final game to round 1 was disappointingly uneventful when compared to the other previous fixtures; however there were some glimpses of class in this encounter which saw Melbourne see off Illawara 12 points to 4. The most impressive try of the game ironically came from the losing team as the Fijian winger and Dragon debutante Eto Nabuli leapt onto the ball to finally put his side on the score board in 49th minute. A series of silly errors for the Dragons saw them struggle in the match and the Storm team was riddled with ill-discipline namely coming from Felise Kaufusi as his dangerous tackling placed him on report. An anti-climactic finish to the weekend of some fine footy but a win nonetheless for Melbourne Storm.

A great weekend of footy! Here at RBP will be waiting impatiently for Round 2 for the following fixtures:

Bulldogs V Eels
Sharks V Broncos
Panthers V Titans
Cowboys V Knights
Sea Eagles V Storm
Rabbitohs V Roosters
Raiders V Warriors
Tigers V Dragons

How did your team do?