Keep up to date with all NRL scores and recap every game over the weekend with the Rugby League Writers team grades.
While not every game of every round throughout the 2023 NRL season is hyped up as a blockbuster, there is always something to take away from the 80 minutes.
Here, we’re summing things up before digging into the biggest moments of the round on Monday.
Note: The grades are relative. An A grade for The Dolphins in 2023 will look a lot different to an A grade for, say, the Penrith Panthers. NRL scores don’t always tell the story. We’ve all justified a loss to our team as “brave” or “one they needed”. It’s a moving scale for each team as expectations and goals change throughout the year.
Thursday
Melbourne Storm 16 def. Parramatta Eels 12
Parramatta Eels: B-
It wasn’t the sort of Parramatta Eels performance we’re going to see later in the year. There were glimpses of the shift-into-shift and offload-heavy attack but, for the most part, Parramatta adopted a conservative approach and looked to do the little things well. Josh Hodgson and J’maine Hopgood ended up the standouts. Hodgson has still got it, and Hopgood is that good. In the end, Parramatta did enough to beat most teams at this point of the season without playing particularly well, and while Melbourne weren’t outstanding either, they simply don’t lose in Round 1.
Melbourne Storm: B
Classic Melbourne Storm. They talk about using Round 1 as a reflection of their preseason, and showed everybody that they’ve had a good one. They didn’t look to do too much with the ball; they never do at this time of the year. Instead, they were patient in attack, defended well, and did all of those little Storm things that make them so good. Their pressure on Moses late in the game proved to be particularly influencial on the result. Cameron Munster and Nick Meaney both missed field goals for the win leaving Harry Grant to finish the job. Best on Ground for the Storm tonight, Grant beat a ruck defence with eyes only for a field goal to jump out and crawl over to score the winner. Superb.
Friday
New Zealand Warriors 20 def. Newcastle Knights 12
New Zealand Warriors: B+
A promising start to Andrew Webster’s tenure at the club. The Warriors soaked up some early pressure before winning the ruck convincingly as the game went on. Wayde Egan worked smartly through the middle to get Tohu Harris, Shaun Johnson and Te Maire Martin playing over the ad-line and the Warriors found the space out wide from there. Jackson Ford, Marata Niukore and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad were all strong in their club debuts, with the latter making a number of big defensive plays as the Warriors defended a narrow lead.
Newcastle Knights: C-
Some expected growing pains particularly in good ball with Hastings, Ponga and Miller still working out their combinations. Ponga had the kind of game that suggests he will succeed in the five-eighth position and learning how to bring Bradman Best (only 10 runs for 71m) into the game will be key to that transition. Overall though, a disappointing performance. The Knights were resilient to navigate an early injury to Frizell and a late sin-binning to Crossland, but couldn’t ice the game despite multiple chances in the second-half. Need more from their bench to complement the early work of Daniel & Jacob Saifiti.
Brisbane Broncos 13 def. Penrith Panthers 12
Penrith Panthers: C-
An unfamiliar performance from the defending champs. Looked lost in attack and became frustrated and impatient when the points didn’t come instead of forcing drop-outs and building pressure like we’re used to seeing. Brisbane’s defence can be credited to an extent but the old firm of Yeo, Cleary and Luai can and will be better, given time. Lacked some penetration around the ruck as expected but Soni Luke’s inclusion changed that – he needs to play more minutes next week. Forward pack and backline are still elite; it’s a matter of when, not if, this Penrith attack clicks.
Brisbane Broncos: A
Kevvie had the boys up for this one. Matched it physically with the Panthers through the middle and competed on everything to find themselves up at halftime. Ball movement was fluid for a Round 1 hit-out and their line defence was superb, including a number of big defensive plays from Cobbo and Staggs. In attack Mamm was everywhere and bench hooker Corey Paix made a difference with his deception around the ruck. Despite multiple injuries late in the game, the Broncos were able to hold off a desperate and fast-finishing Penrith outfit. A brave win.
Saturday
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 31 def. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles: B+
Promising signs in Anthony Siebold’s return to the NRL. The short kicking game of Daly Cherry-Evans saw Manly dominate from the opening sets, with two early forced drop-outs and an assist for Tom Trbojevic coming off the Manly skipper’s boot. Cherry-Evans finished the game with three tries, one assist and a field-goal at the finish – a real captain’s knock. The Sea Eagles’ fluidity in attack was backed up by some bruising defence – most notably Croker, Parker and of course Jake Trbojevic – which saw them dominate possession and field position throughout. In saying all that, it didn’t feel like we saw anything close to their best.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: D
The teething issues were painfully obvious in this one as Canterbury’s new recruits worked out the kinks in attack. Passes to the wrong target and mistimed runs are to be expected early on, but there’s no excusing the three kicks out on the full and poor decision making with the ball in hand. They tried to be a little too clever with Kikau at times but the bones of a decent side were there to see when they kept things simple. Mahoney was superb in his club debut to be the most likely Bulldog in attack while also making 52 tackles for just two misses. Don’t jump the gun at one bad game – this side needs time and I won’t be surprised if that ends up as one of their worst performances of the season.
North Queensland Cowboys 19 def. Canberra Raiders 18
North Queensland Cowboys: C
Almost perfect in the first half. Got all the one-percenters right – kick pressure, kick chase, completions – to dominate possession and earn the right to use the ball. Played on the front foot thanks to an aggressive forward pack and the productivity of Reece Robson from dummy-half who threatened all game. The spine combined beautifully in attack with the highlight being a trick shot off the boot of Townsend which found Drinkwater flying in behind the ruck. Completely different story in the second half. They were good enough to ice their opportunity when Townsend slotted the winning field-goal, but should have never let Canberra get so close.
Canberra Raiders: C+
Completely outplayed in the first half. Struggled to get over the ad-line in attack which limited Wighton and Fogarty’s opportunities with the ball, and in defence they conceded too many cheap penalties and metres in yardage. Finished the first half with 100+ more tackles than their opposition and looked dead in the water, until Guler crossed just before the break to swing the momentum. They showed great resilience to win the second half but just didn’t have the class to win the match. Starling made an impact from the bench and Kris was willing if not a little raw deputising at fullback.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 27 def. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 18
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: C
We can’t put this loss all down to the absense of Nicho Hynes. Braydon Trindall filled the void exceptionally well and didn’t look out of place in first grade in the slightest. However, the Sharks gave up possession too often (14 errors), fell off too many tackles (55), struggled to keep up in yardage (-180m) and were ultimately beaten fairly convincingly in the end. A Sione Katoa try late in the first half allowed the Sharks to eat their oranges only six points behind but the Rabbitohs quickly gained control in the second half. We’re not going to get a great read on the Sharks until Hynes is back on the field so we can’t read into this one too much.
South Sydney Rabbitohs: A-
The Bunnies lost Tevita Tatola in the first minute of the game. His replacement, Jai Arrow, didn’t make it through to halftime before succumbing to a hamstring injury. Still, the Rabbitohs impressed to start their season with a bang. Lachlan Ilias, in particular, announced himself as a potential breakout player in 2023. Superb on both sides of the ball, the young halfback’s ball-playing and deception at the line caused havoc to the Sharks left edge defence as the Bunnies flipped the script and piled up points down the right side. Called a “statement game” in commentary following the final whistle, the Rabbitohs have jusitifed any preason premiership hype afforded to them in recent weeks.
Sunday
The Dolphins 28 def. Sydney Roosters 18
The Dolphins: A
A Wayne Bennett special. An incredible result for the Dolphins. A huge result for rugby league. Regardless of the team list, you can always rely on a Bennett team to play tough in a big spot. Whether or not the list matches the opposition, Bennett instills a belief in a game plan that his players will complete for 80 minutes. The Dolphins did just that in this one. The pack surged up the field, Sean O’Sullivan organised things well in yardage, and Isaiya Katoa provided some nice moments in good ball for the Dolphins to pile up points. For those that doubted Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as a fullback, those doubts started to subside today. It wasn’t all lollipops and rainbows. The Dolphins have a lot of work to do if they’re to clean up a clunk good ball attack. They weren’t all that convincing in icing the game while the Roosters played with 12 men late in the game either. Still, it’s a time for celebration. A team most had already awarded the woodem spoon is 1-0 to start the 2023 NRL season.
Sydney Roosters: D-
A handful of injuries don’t begin to explain away this Roosters performance. They’re typically slow starters to an NRL season. Their fairly high-risk style of play doesn’t profile for a round often won with completions, patience and a good kicking game. Finishing up with 13 errors and playing with only 38% territory in the second half, it all went horribly wrong for the Roosters. There appeared to be a clear plan to find Joseph Sua’ali’i in space but they couldn’t hold onto it for long enough to continue to act on it further in the second half. He’s one positive in an otherwise forgettable performance for one of the premiership favourites. All that saves them from an F is the fact they walked into a Bennett ambush at Suncorp.
Gold Coast Titans 22 def. Wests Tigers 10
Wests Tigers: D
It’s the NRL’s worst-kept secret that Wests are going to use the footy this year but they might’ve overdone it in Round 1. Shifted effectively in exit sets to work quickly upfield but fell apart in good ball. Finished with more than 40 tackles inside Gold Coast’s 20m line for just two tries – an underwhelming return. Brooks and Doueihi both had their moments – Doueihi trained the defence perfectly to set up Laurie late in the piece – but the Tigers didn’t give themselves a chance with just 68% completions. There’s potential in this squad, but as we expected it’ll to take some time to click.
Gold Coast Titans: B-
Almost beat themselves with nine penalties conceded, 11 errors and 31 missed tackles but were bailed out by an equally ill-disciplined Tigers outfit. Verills distributed smartly from dummy-half to get the Titans forwards rolling downfield and looks a good fit in this pack. Foran and Fifita looked ominous as a pairing to set up Sami early on, but an injury to the veteran five-eighth blunted the Titans best weapon in attack. Luckily for them, the points were already banked and the Gold Coast were able to defend their half-time lead. Great signs to repeatedly turn Wests away while defending their own line in the second half.