NRL Round 1 Preview: How Your Team Will Start 2019?

After what felt like the longest pre-season in recent memory, rugby league fans can finally let go of off-the-field dramas and let the footy do the talking as Round One of the 2019 NRL season begins today.

The Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos will kick-off the year in a blockbuster Thursday night showdown at Aami Park in Melbourne. It’s the beginning of a new era for both teams, with Kiwi Jahrome Hughes replacing the retired Billy Slater in the Storm’s number one jersey, while Anthony Seibold will coach the Broncos for the first time.

These are two of the key factors outlined by rugby league immortal, Andrew Johns. Writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, Johns has not only predicted the Broncos to upset the Storm in Round One, but to go all the way to the grand final.

“They’ve got the best young forward pack we’ve seen in the last 20 years,” he wrote.

“It just depends on what their halves, Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima, can do off the back of those forwards.”

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However, Seibold is refusing to dwell on what this year could hold for his new side.

“Regardless of the performance or the result we have on Thursday night, it will not have (long-term) impact,” he told broncos.com.

“After eight or ten weeks we will know where we stand as a team,” he said.

A new-look Newcastle Knights side will host the embattled Cronulla Sharks in the second game of the season on Friday night. Brothers Jayden and Blayke Brailey will play in the NRL together for the first time, with 20-year-old Blayke making his debut from the interchange bench. Briton Nikora will also make his debut for the Sharks, replacing injured co-captain Wade Graham in the second row. For the Knights, backs Edrick Lee and Jesse Ramien will spend their first game in the red and blue jersey against their former club, Kalyn Ponga will make the highly anticipated switch to five-eighth, and star recruit David Klemmer will line up against New South Wales Origin teammate Aaron Woods – and neither will hold back.

Friday night will also see the Sydney Rooster begin their title defence against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Roosters forward Angus Crichton, who has been named on the bench, will line up against his old side for the first time. Rabbitohs skipper Greg Inglis has been cleared to play, despite having only trained with his teammates in three sessions during the pre-season. Inglis will switch to right centre to face off against fan favourite Latrell Mitchell.

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The Roosters trained on the SCG on Thursday, and the turf has been given the all clear after being damaged during a Super Rugby match last weekend.

On Saturday, the Warriors will open their season in Auckland in what will be coach Stephen Kearney’s 50^th match in charge of the club. They’ll face a rejuvenated Bulldogs side, with Dylan Napa, Christian Crichton, Corey Harawira-Naera and Jesse Sue all making their club debut.

Wests Tigers, under new coach Michael Maguire, will host the Manly Sea Eagles at Leichhardt Oval. Moses Mbye and David Nofoaluma have both been ruled out with injury and will be replaced by Corey Thompson and Mahe Fonua. Benji Marshall will captain the side as Chris Lawrence recovers from a broken jaw. Fullback Tom Trbojevic will miss the start of Manly’s season with a hamstring injury, while Des Hasler has returned to the club as head coach.

The Cowboys will begin life without Johnathan Thurston in Townsville, with Michael Morgan taking over the captaincy. They’ll face the St George Illawarra Dragons, who will be without suspended forwards Jack de Belin and Korbin Sims.

It will be the ‘battle of the west’ on Sunday afternoon as the Penrith Panthers take on the Parramatta Eels. The teams are locked at 23-wins against each other at Panthers Stadium. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will return from injury for the Panthers, while Blake Ferguson will make his Eels debut on the wing. It will also be the first time Ivan Cleary coaches son Nathan, who will play in the halves alongside James Maloney.

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In the final match of the round, the Gold Coast Titans will host the Canberra Raiders. The Titans will test new combinations with 20-year-old AJ Brimson, who has been named on the bench but will likely force a shuffle in the back line which could see fullback Michael Gordon moved to the wing. However, Gordon told nrl.com he wants to minimise potential changes on the field.

“Obviously you want AJ on the field but you don’t want five positional changes to happen at the same time,” he said.

“You work in your units and develop these combinations all the time and the more you disrupt them the more lack of cohesion you get.

“The more you chop and change the more uncertain you probably feel at times. That’s what the coaches are debating at the moment,” he said.

For every point scored in every game during Round One, the NRL will donate $100 to the St Vincent de Paul Society. All funds raised will go towards helping those affected by the North Queensland floods. The Cowboys and Dragons match has also been re-named the ‘Together for North Queensland’ match.