NRL Weekly Wrap: Everything we saw in Round 1

Round 1 Storm prove inevitable against gutsy Eels

The Melbourne Storm are still undefeated in Round 1s under Craig Bellamy after an 83rd-minute Harry Grant dummy-half charge resulted in a walk-off four-pointer to seal a 16-12 golden point win over the Eels.

Will Penisini claimed the first points of the night for Parramatta before Nick Meaney came up with Melbourne’s answer shortly after half-time.

The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued with Junior Paulo bounding through a gaping hole in the 58th minute to cross for the Eels only for Young Tonumaipea to tie things up running off Cameron Munster – who battled through a gruesome finger injury for much of the game – moments later.

Grant earnt best on ground honours whilst Josh King assisted on a try, ran for 133 metres, and made 55 tackles.

Paulo, meanwhile, ran for a game-high 208 metres with six tackle breaks and scored a try whilst J’maine Hopgood went the distance making a team-high 57 tackles and running for 172 metres in his club debut.

Nicoll-Klokstad shows out in Warriors return

Offseason addition Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad – who played seven games for the Warriors back in 2017 – scored a try, ran for a game-high 204 metres, and pulled off a try-saver for the ages on Kalyn Ponga as the Warriors kicked off their 2023 campaign with a win over the Knights in Wellington.

After claiming the opening points of the encounter, the Knights conceded two quick tries before regaining the lead early in the second stanza.

Some sharp work courtesy of fellow recruit Brayden Wiliame resulted in Nicoll-Klokstad’s try in the 51st minute before Wayde Egan crashed over late to seal things.

Tohu Harris was also sensational for the Warriors running for 145 metres and making a game-high 51 tackles whilst Egan scored a try, assisted on another, and made 33 tackles.

Fullback Lachie Miller stood out for the Knights in his club debut running for a team-high 181 metres with 11 tackle breaks whilst Ponga had a mixed night at five-eighth having a hand in both the side’s tries before his night ended early due to a head knock.

Kev’s men conquer shaky Panthers

The Brisbane Broncos made the trip to Penrith as heavy outsiders after losing five of their final six games in 2022 to sensationally drop out of the eight but Kevin Walters’ squad managed to pull off a stunning 13-12 upset to hand the Panthers just their third loss from their past 30 at BlueBet Stadium.

Liam Martin, Dylan Edwards, and Stephen Crichton linked up to give the Panthers an early lead before two Herbie Farnworth tries in the space of four minutes put the Broncos on top.

Adam Reynolds slotted an all-important, 70th-minute one-pointer before sparkplug nine Soni Luke gave the defending premiers a glimmer of hope with a 76th-minute try out of dummy-half only for the visitors to hold on.

Payne Haas put together his usual, tradesman-like performance running for a team-high 207 metres with seven tackle breaks and making 27 tackles without a miss whilst Patty Carrigan added 170 metres of his own and 50 tackles.

Dylan Edwards assisted on a try for Penrith and ran for a game-high 289 metres.

Trbojevic returns, Sea Eagles dispatch of Dogs to open Seibold’s tenure

Manly rewarded new head coach Anthony Seibold with a comprehensive 31-6 victory over the Bulldogs at 4 Pines Park on Saturday afternoon to start their season off on a high.

Captain Daly Cherry-Evans led the way with the first hat-trick of his NRL career whilst Tom Trbojevic managed a try of his own to go along with a try assist, 173 run metres, and five tackle breaks in his first game in over nine months.

Canterbury, on the other hand, looked a fair way off where rookie head coach Cameron Ciraldo would expect them to be.

Offseason injuries to Luke Thompson and Tevita Pangai Jr. has left their middle stocks razor-thin with debutants Jayden Tanner and Jacob Preston carried on the bench and journeyman playmaker Fa’amanu Brown promoted to starting lock.

The side did themselves no favours completing at just 65 per cent, missing 29 tackles, and conceding nine penalties.

Cows squeak past Raiders in Townsville rollercoaster

The North Queensland Cowboys looked poised to snag a dominant Round 1 win when they raced out to an 18-0 lead over the Raiders after 35 minutes in Townsville.

The visitors had something to say, however, after an Emre Guler crash-over moments before half-time left the door ajar for a Canberra fightback.

Tom Starling and Jack Wighton notched tries within four minutes of one another midway through the second half to tie things up only for veteran seven Chad Townsend to knock over a 75th-minute field goal to drag the Cowboys over the line.

Reuben Cotter ran for a game-high 216 metres and with four tackle breaks and made 35 tackles whilst Scott Drinkwater scored a double and ran for 128 metres.

Despite completing eight more sets and running for nearly 400 more metres than Canberra, the Cowboys managed to win only by the skin of their teeth to kick-off their campaign.

Ilias, Rabbits leave Shire with two points

The Rabbitohs came out on top of the Sharks 27-18 at PointsBet Stadium less than six months after ending their season in the finals thanks to a coming-of-age performance courtesy of halfback Lachlan Ilias.

Ronaldo Mulitalo had the ball dislodged over the line by a desperate Ilias effort in the early goings before the young halfback backed it up with the contest’s opening points the following set.

The Sharks blew several opportunities before South Sydney built an eight-point lead in early in the second half thanks to centre Campbell Graham who crossed for a second try at the 65-minute mark to seal it.

Cameron Murray ran for 158 metres and made a game-high 51 tackles whilst Graham grabbed a double, ran for a team-high 198 run metres, and broke five tackles.

Toby Rudolf had a strong outing for the Sharks running for 165 metres and making 41 tackles.

The Dolphins!

In a stunning inaugural outing, the Dolphins pulled off an extraordinary 28-18 win over premiership heavyweights the Roosters in front of a rowdy Suncorp Stadium crowd.

The Dolphins entered the clash as heavy outsiders but out-enthused and out-aggressed a languid Roosters outfit who were without stars Joseph Manu, Angus Crichton, and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Veteran edge forward Felise Kaufusi led the way with some bruising defence whilst Mark Nicholls crossed for a try and ran for 174 metres in 49 minutes off the interchange.

Jamayne Isaako scored two tries and ran for 184 metres with six tackle breaks and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scored the club’s maiden try to go along with a game-high 192 metres.

The Roosters had a tough afternoon; they completed at just 68 per cent and conceded seven penalties whilst only two members of their forward pack cracked 100 run metres.

Leichhardt faithful unable to boost Wests Tigers over Titans

Part two of Tim Sheens’ Wests Tigers tenure has gotten off to a less-than-ideal start after the Titans marched into Leichhardt Oval on Sunday evening and came away with two competition points in a 22-10 win.

The hosts had all the momentum early only for the Gold Coast to claim the encounter’s opening two tries through centre Phillip Sami.

The Titans leapt out to an 18-2 second-half lead which the Wests Tigers ate into thanks to tries to Adam Doueihi and Daine Laurie but were unable to complete the comeback.

David Fifita had a strong outing for the Titans running for a team-high 206 metres and assisting on a try whilst A.J. Brimson scored and assisted a try and ran for 159 metres with four tackle breaks.

Doueihi was the Wests Tigers’ standout, scoring a try, assisting on another, and running for 167 metres with six tackle breaks.

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