NRL Round 1 Reactions

NRL Round 1 Reactions

Liam Fogarty

After two massive weekends in two different hemispheres, Round 1 of the 2024 NRL season is officially done.

It’s just good to have footy back, isn’t it?

As much as I love watching our Aussie cricketers play, there is a distinct lack of violence in their Test series against the Kiwis and my little caveman brain has been craving blood and violence ever since the final whistle blew in the grand final last year.

We’re officially back though, and while my bloodlust has not fully been satisfied yet, it is a very long season.

If the rest of the year is anything like these last two weeks we’re in for a big season of the greatest game of all.

I must be doing something right in the Neds office, the big boss Mr Ned himself has given me another article this year where I get to tell you guys all about my thoughts from the previous round.

If you disagree or don’t like the opinions I give, please feel free to head to the comment section on Facebook and call me a flog.

I get a kickback from Neds every time the punters cyberbully me so I might just start saying really click-baity stuff to get a response.

Let’s get stuck in hey?

1. Broncos Brotherhood fills me with hope

While it certainly wasn’t the result on the field in Vegas that many people were expecting from the 2023 runners-up, it was what I saw from the Broncos off the field that filled me with confidence about the side that Kevvy has put together.

One of the things that was instilled in me at a young age was that no matter what, you look out for and stand up for your mates.

We saw that in droves from the Broncos boys after the game.

The way they stood up for Ezra after the on-field dramas is the exact way I would hope my teammates would respond if something similar went down for me.

Rugby league is a crazy sport, the amount of brotherhood required to do well in this sport doesn’t compare to any other.

You need to know that the bloke standing next to you in that defensive line has your back and is willing to put his body on the line for you and the team.

While they still have a lot of areas to polish up on the field where it actually matters, what I saw from the Broncos shows me that they are hands-down the strongest and most cohesive unit in the league.

I’m confident that off the back of that teammate chemistry and brotherhood that they will finish near the tippy top of the ladder again this season.

2. Underdogs galore

Don’t beat yourself up too much if you had a dismal first week of footy tips.

It was a bizarre first round of footy with six underdogs getting the job done this week.

I, like many, leant towards a lot of the betting favourites in the first round of the season.

You’d think the bookies that are paid to have a pretty good idea of how the games will go should get at least 50% correct shouldn’t they?

SHOULDN’T THEY?!

Well nobody is perfect… except me of course and maybe Patty Carrigan with his long flowing locks.

Round 1 last year, we saw six favourites salute and if you were a lame and boring tipster, you would’ve got your year off to a good start.

It will be an uphill battle for those thousands of us that have started the year on 2/8 but don’t get too fruity with your picks early trying to tip yourself out of a hole.

Footy justice is the great equaliser and I can’t imagine we will see a week like last week very often.

3. Scoreless Panthers Worry Me

A lot of people (including myself) were very quick to write the Panthers off last year when they lost in Round 1 to the Broncos.

“They’ve lost too many hot boys”, “they’re too full of themselves”, “they’ve won two in a row, they’re not as motivated to win as they have been”.

You name the excuse, I probably belted it out to some poor unassuming random in the Stones Corner Hotel smokers section.

Everyone knows how they finished 2023 and while they were red hot garbage against a Storm side who had more than their fair share of cobwebs, I’m starting to see a similar pattern emerge in the conversations about the Panthers.

The pitchforks are starting to come out once again but I’m not ready to condemn them yet.

I’m actually more scared about their results in the WCC and Round 1 than anything else.

It might be the kick up the bum they need and we could once again see them rip through the comp and go bloody close to a fourth premiership in a row.

The Storm, while getting another Round 1 win, still didn’t score enough points to beat Nathan Cleary’s girlfriend’s team who put 10 past Uzbekistan and Bellamy’s men could only muster 8 points.

4. The Titans are a cursed franchise

There is no other logical resolution.

How else can you explain how shit they are consistently?

The Titans are my hometown club so I’ll always have a little soft spot for them.

Every year I am quietly optimistic about the way the GC boys will perform.

But my god, that was a dreadful 80 minutes of footy from the Titans on Saturday night.

Des’ men were $1.40 favourites to pick up the two points over a Dragons side that many have tipped for spoon honours this year but that dreadful performance from the 13 turnstiles the Titans trotted out makes me think they could be spoon frontrunners.

23 missed tackles is what the stat sheet reads but you’ve got to get close to a bloke to even be considered trying to tackle him. Some of those Dragons tries the boys walked in untouched by a GC defender.

The Titans have such a promising team on paper, they do every year, but I’m convinced that they will never actually turn that into on-field form because old Bull Bailey broke a mirror in the Carrara sheds back in the day or something.

5. I forgot about the Cowboys

You know what I think it was?

Last year the Cows finished 11th and while that looks and sounds ugly, they were only two points out of the top eight and being in the finals.

I reckon I’ve carried that stigma over to this season and I certainly wrote the Cowboys off as no chance to beat the Phins yesterday at Suncorp.

My god, was I wrong.

Granted, there was a lot that Wayne’s men did that put the Cows in very good positions to run up the score but every time the Cowboys had a green set they looked so threatening.

Having Nanai back and healthy was certainly a huge boost for Payten’s men.

One of my favourite ATS picks, he saluted once again yesterday at about $2.90.

The now top-of-the-table Cows will take on Ponga and the Knights up in Townsville on Saturday arvo.

While that will show me a lot, I now need to be persuaded that they’re not just flat-track bullies.

Also, Hamiso got Dally M votes for that stinker her put on.

WTF is going on there?