NRL Conclusions: DCE drama, pitiful Penrith – and all hail the Dogs?

Round 1 was predictable. Round 2 had upsets. Round 3 was predictable. Round 4? Who knows.

Souths started it by battering Penrith, though by the end, it didn’t seem like an upset at all. The Titans won at the Roosters, where they haven’t won in a decade, but when you stack up the rosters, it’s debatable that it was truly a shock.

Saturday saw the rain tumble in Sydney, causing chaos for Melbourne in Kogarah, while in the tropical heat in North Queensland, the Cowboys outlasted Canberra. 

Canterbury underlined their start to the season by remaining the only unbeaten side, turning over Cronulla to top the ladder. Manly are hot on their heels after defeating Parramatta, who remain winless and dreadful.

That’s the top line – here’s the rest.

A good week for…

The Dragons.

They were great on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Storm in a storm to pick up their first win of the year.

Given the horrendous conditions, it was always likely to be more about grit and defence than showy attack. That suits any underdog, but also the way that the Dragons want to play anyway.

Still, easier said than done against a side of Melbourne’s quality. St George Illawarra scrapped and scrambled for every inch of their win, surviving a few close calls but getting over the line in the end.

Their season had been highly underwhelming, but a Shane Flanagan side loves to get down and dirty. They earned every inch of this.

A bad week for…

Penrith, who have now lost three on the spin. 

We should first talk up Souths and Wayne Bennett, a coach who continues to confound, proving his greatness with every mediocre team he makes good.

But in truth, the Panthers were rubbish. 28-0 at half time rubbish. They were missing Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards, plus all the blokes that have left, but even with that, this was a million miles away from the style of footy that we have long associated with this team.

Some have speculated that the player losses have caught up with them. Others suggest that the weight of fatigue, generated by featuring in every finals match possible with multiple players in every rep squad, is taking a collective toll.

The most obvious option is the first. Daine Laurie, who had a shocker, isn’t as good as Edwards. Trent Toelau, not much better, is no Cleary. Jack Cole isn’t Jarome Luai. Isaiah Papali’i isn’t even a prop, let along James Fisher-Harris. 

There’s a price to success in the NRL. Penrith are paying it at the moment.

Standout…

Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo.

Hopes were not high when the Doggies lost both Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau to injury, and the negativity seemed merited by a win over Parramatta – everyone beats the Eels at the moment – that would have been a loss against anyone else.

Winning when you’re not at your best is a sign of a good team, as is the ability to plug new players into your system without missing a beat. In Cronulla on Saturday night, that was the story.

Though the creativity isn’t as good without Burton, the non-negotiables of Ciraldo’s footy are still all there. The line speed is superb, the intensity forces mistakes from opponents and the commitment to defence is incredible.

That’s what did for the Sharks. They battered their heads against a brick wall and, as it usually does, the brick wall won. That’s all coaching.

Washout…

Herbie Farnworth, unfortunately. The centre was given a bath by Kotoni Staggs, was dumped by Brendan Piakura for one of the shots of the year so far and generally had a torrid time of it in the rain at Suncorp on Friday night.

It’s unfair, really, to pick him out: Herbie is consistently one of Redcliffe’s best and, despite a few errors, made more metres than any Bronco and broke more tackles than any of his teammates. 

He is, however, emblematic of the malaise at his club. Centres are rarely the defensive issue, but they are often the pain point. Lose the middle somewhere and the try happens further wide.

This Phins side are slow in the roster, conservative in their coaching and smashed in their confidence. Farnworth is still trying his heart out but it simply isn’t working.

Everyone is talking about…

Daly Cherry-Evans, who is to leave Manly at the end of the year. The story broke on Monday, live on Channel 9, while over on Fox, Manly were publicly offering him a two-year deal. 

This has been horrendously managed by the Sea Eagles hierarchy, who have inadvertently fuelled what could have been a relatively cheery send-off for a club legend into the soap opera of the year.

DCE has a deep reservoir of public support and was always going to win a public relations battle. Manly, inexplicably, tried to spin this against him and have made themselves look very silly indeed.

But nobody mentions…

The Ashes. Well, punters do – the reaction on social media was huge, with punters welcoming the return of a flagship event, but it didn’t generate the same mass enthusiasm in Australia as it has in the UK.

Partly that’s a function of the games taking place in England in the middle of the night and the chaotic week of transfer news around Daly Cherry-Evans, but it’s also the general malaise that tends to greet Kangaroos games.

Australia have neglected their own national team for long enough, and centralised the NRL enough, that it will take time to sink in. People will notice later in the year when it’s happening, but not much until then.

Forward pass

Two games are unmissable.

Friday night is the NRL’s oldest derby as Souths defend a 3-1 record against the 1-3 Roosters. 

This game rarely needs hype, but it’ll get an extra dose as publicity machine and occasionally brilliant fullback Latrell Mitchell is set to make his season bow, returning from injury to face his old club. Little love is lost, to say the least.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, Melbourne face Manly for a Battle of Brookvale rerun. 

This was the site of the NRL’s all-time favourite punch-up, way back in 2011, and while we probably won’t see anything as spectacular as Adam Blair and Glenn Stewart swinging for the fences after both being binned, the feeling is very much still there.

Manly have won their last three at home against the Storm and will come in above their opponents in the ladder – though only on points difference – following Melbourne’s surprise defeat at St George Illawarra.