NRL Tackle: Dally M votes, Likes and Dislikes from Round 1
For all their big-name stars, Benji Marshall may be the key to the Rabbitohs living up to their pre-season billing. Likes, dislikes and Dally M votes in today’s The Tackle.
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Our rugby league writers reveal what caught their eye — good and bad — in Round 1 of the NRL.
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STORM v RABBITOHS
Like: The Bunnies fought back from 22-0 to give Storm a mighty scare in the season opener. Benji Marshall had a big say in that, with legend Johnathan Thurston labelling the veteran Kiwi as “the difference” in the Rabbitohs’ resurgence. His fingerprints were all over the Bunnies’ three tries with the playmaker certain to keep his spot for next week. He’s chasing an elusive second premiership ring in 2021 to go with his 2005 one, and judging on his Round 1 form he’ll have every opportunity to be a part of South’s title journey. What a fairytale that would be.
Dislike: The fact Storm’s round one performance was eerily similar to the last game it played – the 2020 grand final – was not at all lost on Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy. Storm led 22-0 against the Bunnies when Souths launched its comeback last Thursday to get within a converted try before the reigning premiers steadied. Bellamy labelled it a ‘spooky’ coincidence and you can be sure he’ll be addressing the mental lapses with his side. As Bellamy noted after the hard-fought victory, his side has plenty of improvement in it. Particularly with co-captain Dale Finucane and rising star Harry Grant to come back in.
Fox Sports key stats: Melbourne’s 19th straight round one win and 17th straight over the Rabbitohs in Melbourne and Craig Bellamy’s ninth straight win over Wayne Bennett. Souths’ record v Storm slumps to five wins from 34 starts.
- Nick Smart
Dally M votes
3 Ryan Papenhuyzen
2 Christian Welch
1 Latrell Mitchell
Judge: Andrew Johns
KNIGHTS v BULLDOGS
Like: Tyson Frizell’s last two seasons at the Dragons were solid but unspectacular as the Test and Origin forward lost some of the destructive power that once had him earmarked as one of the game’s elite forwards. It was clear by season’s end Frizell needed a change of scenery and his first outing in Knights colours proved what a weapon he can be. Frizell churned through 162 metres from 15 carries, the fifth best single-game total of his career — he’s always had it in him to be such a dangerous, athletic attacking threat, we just hadn’t seen it in a while. If this is his new normal he’ll be in the race for buy of the year.
Dislike: Canterbury have endured a tough few seasons and are embroiled in the club’s longest finals drought since the 1960s. That has to have an impact on their confidence, which came through in their inability to stick to their attacking systems beyond the opening quarter. In running in two early tries the Bulldogs showed what the future can be under Trent Barrett — they looked dynamic and dangerous, with plenty of off-ball movement. But that was all forgotten once Newcastle turned the screws, and therein lies the challenge for Barrett and his charges. Stretching that opening 20 into 80 might take all season, but it showed what the side’s ceiling can be if they stay on the job.
Fox Sports key stats: Daniel Saifiti celebrated his 100th game with a mammoth performance, scoring two tries, running for over 150 metres, making three offloads and 21 tackles. The Bulldogs conceded 32 points or more seven times last season.
- Nick Campton
Dally M votes
3 Daniel Saifiti
2 David Klemmer
1 Jayden Brailey
Judge: Scott Sattler
BRONCOS v EELS
Like: Broncos coach Kevin Walters promised to fix the worst defence in the league and his Brisbane players had a genuine crack at Suncorp Stadium. Even allowing for an injury crisis that claimed Matt Lodge, Xavier Coates and John Asiata, Brisbane showed greater hunger in defence. Pat Carrigan and Jake Turpin made 83 tackles between them in a gutsy effort. For the Eels, Reed Mahoney was outstanding and will rocket into contention for the Queensland Origin hooking spot if he continues his incisions around the ruck. Former Warrior and Eels recruit Isaiah Papali’i was strong off the bench.
Dislike: The jury remains out on whether Brodie Croft is the long-term solution for the Broncos at halfback. Croft lost 10 of 13 games in the No.7 jumper last season and he suffered another defeat as he failed to drive the nail into Parramatta’s coffin after steering Brisbane to a 16-0 halftime lead. With Tom Dearden breathing down his neck, Croft can’t afford too many quiet games. The same could be said for his Eels opposite Mitchell Moses. Parramatta fans are losing patience with Moses, who was hailed as the halfback who would finally break the Eels 35-year title drought. While he landed a booming sideline conversion to edge the Eels ahead at 18-16, Moses needs to show he can step-up when Parra are on the back foot.
Fox Sports key stats: Brisbane bring up the “dirty dozen” with a 12th straight loss - extending their current club record worst streak. The Eels record a fourth straight win over the Broncos for just the second time. The other was 2001-02.
- Peter Badel
Dally M votes
3 Junior Paulo
2 Reed Mahoney
1 Anthony Milford
Judge: Darren Lockyer
WARRIORS V TITANS
Like: Prop Addin Fonua-Blake was massive in his Warriors debut after joining the club from Manly in the off-season and could be one of the buys of the year. The Warriors showed they are prepared to play a much more disciplined style of football under new coach Nathan Brown than previous New Zealand teams. The Warriors have always had a reputation for being an erratic side with errors in them, but they made just four mistakes against the Titans and that proved to be the difference. Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has proven he will make his final season at the club a good one before jumping codes.
Dislike: After all of the pre-season hype the Titans failed their first test of 2021. All eyes were on how Gold Coast would come out of the blocks following a strong finish to 2020 and the signings of David Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, but the Titans were very underwhelming. They made far too many errors and their goal-line defence was sloppy as the Warriors crashed over for easy tries. If the Titans want to play finals in 2021 then they have to beat the teams below them and this was a poor start for a club supposedly on the rise.
Fox Sports key stats: The Titans made more run metres, linebreaks, offloads and tackle busts - but did not score until the 75th minute. Addin Fonua-Blake had a big first-up performance for his new club, running for almost 180m, making three offloads and 21 tackles in hot conditions.
- Travis Meyn
Dally M votes
3 Kodi Nikorima
2 Addin Fonua-Blake
1 Roger Tuivasa-Scheck
Judge: James Smith
ROOSTERS V SEA EAGLES
Like: He might be the third oldest player in the NRL but Brett Morris wasn’t complaining about the new faster speed of the game after bagging a hat-trick in the season opener.
Justifying his decision to extend his career by another year in just one game, Morris looked nothing like an ageing veteran when he took an intercept and ran 70m to bring up his third try.It appears Morris has lost little speed, even after playing 270 NRL games.
Josh Morris also scored to make it a night of celebration for the NRL twin good guys.
Let’s hope the brothers never retire.
Dislike: Bulldogs fans might be yelling “I told you so” after Kieran Foran was injured. While the injury does not appear to be serious, coach Des Hasler could not guarantee Foran would play next week after suffering a soft tissue injury during the flogging.
“It’s a cork,” Hasler said. I don’t know (if he will be right for next week).”
Of more concern than the injury was Foran’s defence. The injury plagued former star was part of a left edge that conceded seven tries. Hasler was forced to apologise to Manly fans for all the missed tackles after James Tedesco and Luke Keary exposed Foran, Brad Parker and Jake Gosiewski.
Fox Sports key stats: James Tedesco and Brett Morris’ hat-tricks were the first time a team has had multiple three-try scorers since Matt Dufty and Tim Lafai for the Dragons in round three 2018. It was the Roosters’ biggest round one win and Manly’s biggest season-opening loss.
Dally M votes
3 Brett Morris
2 Lindsay Collins
1 James Tedesco
Judge: Billy Moore
PANTHERS V COWBOYS
Like: The Panthers’ left edge. While South Sydney’s left-side may lay claim as the most destructive in the competition, there is little doubt the Panthers are going to challenge that at some stage this year. Brian To’o who switched from the right to the left side of the field scored a nice try but the combination between Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau is going to create plenty of headaches for opposition teams. Nathan Cleary’s straight running with Luai’s footwork makes them a tough duo to combat defensively.
Dislike: Basically everything the Cowboys dished up except for their first half defensive effort. New coach Todd Payten summed it up best when he said his side should have got beat by 50-0. They did well to turn the Panthers back in the first half but their fundamental errors was troubling. Jason Taumalolo produced one of his least productive performances in recent memory, while million dollar men Michael Morgan and Valentine Holmes were also well below their best.
Fox Sports key stats: Jason Taumalolo ran for just 55m — his lowest ever tally playing at least 40 minutes in a game (he played approx 50 minutes). It was the Panthers’ 10th straight win at Penrith — the first time they have achieved this feat.
- Michael Carayannis
Dally M votes
3 James Fisher-Harris
2 Nathan Cleary
1 Dylan Edwards
Judge: Gary Belcher
RAIDERS V TIGERS
Like: How good was it to see Ryan James cross for a try on debut in his new Canberra colours after two years out of the game and two knee reconstructions.James worked his butt off over the summer to impress Ricky Stuart after his move down from Gold Coast and in the end it was enough to get him a spot on the bench. And he went crashing over in the second half, everyone at the ground and at home watching on TV would have cheered. James’ parents had flown down to be at the match and must have been so happy and relieved. James, 29 is one of the NRL’s genuine nice guys.But he also showed why he could be a very smart pick up for the Raiders given his experience and ability to get across the line.
Dislike: Joey Leilua is the definition of a coach killer and he lived up to it again in the Tigers’ loss to Canberra. Michael Maguire’s men showed great desperation against a weight of possession to go to the sheds with the scores locked at 6-all at halftime.
But ‘Madge’ would have been filthy with some of the plays Leilua came up with against his old club as he took short-cut options that constantly backfired on his team. When he gets the balance right Leilua can be as dangerous as any centre in the game. Unfortunately he doesn’t get it right often enough.
Fox Sports key stats: Wests Tigers’ first round one loss since 2014. They have won just two of their past 11 games, conceding more than 25 points in all 11. Canberra halfback George Williams set up three tries and kicked five from six goals.
- Paul Crawley
Dally M votes
3 Hudson Young
2 George Williams
1 Jordan Rapana
Judge: Greg Alexander
DRAGONS V SHARKS
Like: Who says there’s no characters left in rugby league? After admitting he was “filthy” fellow forward Aaron Woods scored when he didn’t, Cronulla’s Toby Rudolf was asked on Sunday night with Matty Johns how he’d celebrate the victory given he’s an “old-fashioned player’’. Rudolf: “Probably about a thousand beers. Probably go to Northies... (laughs) nah, honestly, it’s all about recovery these days. Straight home, straight in the ice bath and stay very, very quiet.” Also enjoying himself on Sunday night was Matt Moylan, who knows he must prove he’s overcome his chronic hamstring problems if he’s to win a new deal. So far, so good. The former Panther, coming off a big off-season, was back to his scheming best against the Dragons.
Dislike: Jesse Ramien could be missing for some time after collecting Matt Dufty with a high shot that led to a heated push and shove between up to a dozen players.
Ramien was sin-binned and faces suspension for the nasty swinging arm that forced the Dragons fullback from the field for a HIA.
Dufty returned to the field but Ramien may not be so fortunate.
Former former Origin hardman Gorden Tallis declared Ramien would be out “for weeks”.
The hard-running centre will be a big loss if he is outed for any length of time.
Fox Sports key stats: Sharks have won four of the past five games against the Dragons and three straight against them at Kogarah. They defeated St George in 4 straight games in the late 70s and early 80s at Kogarah. Sharks highest score v Dragons since 2007.
- Adam Lucius
Dally M votes
3 William Kennedy
2 Matthew Moylan
1 Jack Bird
Judge: Luke Lewis
Originally published as NRL Tackle: Dally M votes, Likes and Dislikes from Round 1
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