sidelined

Ok, so my tipping wasn’t crash hot for round 1 but hey, it was the first round so plenty of time to ease myself into the race. Which is what the Eels and their fans are hoping after a dismal first half against the Warriors. Full credit to the Warriors who out muscled and out enthused the Eels in the first half. They were one of the impressive teams from round 1.

One of the other impressive teams was the Titans. Even though they lost to the Dragons they showed that they are not going to be easy beats. The second half of Sunday’s game was very entertaining. The Dragons also showed that, at this stage, they aren’t suffering too much with the loss of Gasnier. New Dragon’s five-eighth Richie Williams showed he will be a more than able replacement (not that Gasnier was going to actually really be a five-eighth).

The third impressive team was the Rabbitohs. All the hype over was fulfilled as the new look Bunnies downed the Roosters last night. The game needs a strong South Sydney and they game their fans a glimpse that this season may find Souths on the right side of the ledger. As for the Roosters, it could be a long winter.

A cheeky subbie at the SMH headlined the Monday sports liftout ‘Big Knight Out’ referring to Sonny Bill Williams high tackle on Andrew Johns that has dominated discussions of the Knights v Bulldogs clash on Sunday. Sonny Bills tackle was a shocker but there was no deliberate intent to knock out Johns. It ended up being a cracker of a game with new coach Brian Smith grabbing a 1 point win for his new club. A bit hard to gauge the 2007 prospects for both clubs from this game given how the game turned around.

The Storm had a tight win over the Tigers which suggest Wests may do a bit better than expected. The Storm still deserve premiership favouritism.

The Sharks finally ended a 10 match losing streak over the Panthers. Good on the Sharkies but they will have to do more to convince people that they can compete this year. As for the Panthers, it will get lonely in the mountains at times this year.

Jamie “Judas” Lyons returned to the NRL with a 22 point haul in Manly’s win over Canberra. A good start by Manly but already injuries to Menzies, Matai and Orford threaten to derail their early season campaign. As for Canberra, the mantra “it is a rebuilding year’ may ward off the winter chill till about June when it will become bleak city for their fans.

I didn’t get to see the Broncos and Cowboys game but reports suggest it was a great game. The Cowboys started last season off with a bang so the question is can they sustain their form. Thurston will love having Jason Smith outside him this year. The combination will make the Cowboys a dangerous attacking team with Matt Bowen chiming in from fullback.

Even with the loss of Lockyer, Broncos fans won’t be too worried. It will be a long season and if the Broncos can nurse themselves through State of Origin (same with the Cowboys) then they will be in the reckoning finals time.

But, as I said it is a long season. I don’t expect a real pattern to emerge to after 6 or 7 rounds. But last year showed that the composition of the eight can change dramatically through the season.

Worth noting that the aggregate attendance for round 1 was the highest ever. The two games at Suncorp contributed to this but the Monday night turnout was 24,000 which was very good.

I can’t wait for the weekend.