NRL conclusions: Storm superb, Rabbitohs shocking and Englishman ‘sinking’

For those tracking at home, the central premise of the NRL in 2025 was reinforced by Round 3.

The good are good, especially Melbourne and Penrith, who played out a cracker to kick off the week.

On a quality level, it was lightyears above a lot of what we have seen between the lesser sides, a point underlined on Friday night.

The Warriors were marginally less bad than the Roosters in a stinker, then the Broncos beat the Cowboys in a manner that, Payne Haas side, didn’t exactly scream ‘championship material’.

Cronulla, one of our allotted good sides, smashed Souths and, despite victories for both, one would not want to be relying on the Tigers or Titans for quality levels.

This is an uneven comp at the moment, as evidenced by favourites taking seven of the eight games – and the only underdog winners, the Tigers, were favourites when the week started.

Canterbury and Melbourne are the only teams unbeaten through three – though the Dogs did everything to lose on Sunday – but four sides remain winless, as the Dragons (who had the bye) plus Parra, North Queensland and Redcliffe prop up the table.

That’s the top line: here’s the detail.

A good week for…

Melbourne, who won the Grand Final rematch and maintained their unbeaten record in the process. Or was it Penrith, who lost the battle but would be confident of winning the war, such was their performance despite several key outs?

In case you haven’t guessed. Thursday night’s blockbuster posed more questions than it answered.

The Storm raced away to a 14-0 lead, and with Nathan Cleary ruled out after an unfortunate collision with Jahrome Hughes, it looked like a statement might be incoming.

That was perhaps true, but the other way. Penrith were down to their bare bones, but roared back to lead 16-14 early in the second half. They lost eventually, but gained so much.

Melbourne won out in the end, but lost Nick Meaney to a broken jaw and Hughes to a broken hand. Pyrrhic for Craig Bellamy’s men, stirring for Ivan Cleary.

Maybe the big winners were the punters: this was a belting game, and if we’re getting this quality in Round 3, it bodes well for top of the table clashes going forward in 2025.

A bad week for…

South Sydney, who were smashed by Cronulla. Losing to the Sharks is no shame, but the manner of this was shocking.

The Bunnies’ left edge defence was paper thin, the middle was conclusively battered and, even when they did get some attack, the execution was miles off.

Souths were a bit lucky in Round 1 and very lucky in Round 2, but it all ran out in the Shire. They looked like a side 0-2 rather than the other way around here.

Crucially, this was a whole load of systemic failures, from poor cohesion on the edges in attack to an inability to stop the unders line in defence. Cronulla have run a crash play with Briton Nikora for three seasons, but Souths were continually surprised by it.

The saving grace was pint-sized fullback Jye Gray. Had he not been on hand to save multiple tries, this would have been a lot worse.

Standout…

Daly Cherry-Evans, who orchestrated Manly’s stunning first half against Canberra.

The Sea Eagles were totally dominant, controlling the ball and the field position, but in a rare development for this team under Anthony Seibold, they showed another side of their game: patience.

So far under Seibs, Manly have been all action all the time, often to their own detriment.

Here, they accumulated a massive 24 good ball tackles in the first 20 minutes without success – part good defence, part pedestrian attack – but never panicked.

They would have broken the door down earlier had Corey Horsburgh not stood deliberately offside, but after he was binned, added four tries in ten minutes to essentially end the game.

DCE was at the heart of it: his kicking provoked two of them and created more errors and repeat sets that stopped Canberra getting anywhere.

After a week of discussions over whether he is worth another year’s contract on the Northern Beaches, the halfback proved why it would be insanity to ditch him with a trademark, ball-on-a-string performance.

As an aside, Manly competed on all bombs, including midfield bombs, and got their rewards. There’s been a trend in the NRL to hoist kicks, let the opposition catch them and then tackle as soon as they land. It’s effective but boring footy.

Seibold’s Sea Eagles almost never do that, using their kicks as attacking opportunities. It paid off big time here.

Washout…

Kristian Woolf and the Dolphins, who are now 0-3 and have, if you were being kind, one good half of football from the six available.

The opening 40 against the Tigers on Saturday was as good as they’ve looked all year, with Jeremy Marshall-King playing forward, Isaiya Katoa scheming and Herbie Farnworth unleashed through the middle.

Previously, Redcliffe had looked slower than a week in jail, but suddenly found some zip – and 18-6 up.

But, like they have most of the year so far, the Dolphins crumbled. They conceded a very, very soft try from a dummy half, then twice had the chance to extend the score via penalty goals, but turned them down.

This Tigers side are a different beast in 2025, and all credit to them for coming back. Plenty of previous incarnations of Wests would have collapsed.

But the Phins didn’t so much open the door as swing it wide, lay out a red carpet and then ask what drink Benji Marshall wanted. It was terrible from Woolf’s men.

Everyone is talking about…

Brandon Smith’s move from the Roosters to Souths has been top of the agenda, even though the man himself is currently out long-term with a knee reconstruction.

Smith is a classic larrikin – as you might expect from a bloke who calls himself the ‘Hectic Cheese’ – but, while that is undeniably good for his brand, it’s not great for the Sydney Roosters, who were sold a pup when he joined from Melbourne.

Smith was rarely first choice at the Storm and never looked like he’d have the same impact as an 80-minute hooker, but Easts stumped up anyway.

Now burned, they’re happy to get shot of a player who is just as likely to get himself into trouble off the field as to do something special on it. With Reece Robson coming in next year and Connor Watson a more than adequate 14, the Chooks have long since cut their losses.

What Souths get is unclear. Wayne Bennett was already made to look silly by the Kiwi when he opted for Bondi over Redcliffe a few years ago, but now gets his man almost by default, as Smith doesn’t want to move house. It was Souths, the Dragons or a long commute.

As ever, the best thing Brandon could do would be to get his head down, get fit and let his football do the talking…but he’s far too quotable for that.

But nobody mentions…

Lewis Dodd, who is fast sinking without a trace in the NRL. The former Saint has had a horrible time in Australia: he did an AC joint that slowed his preseason, then got suspended in the pre-season and now can’t get a game behind Jamie Humphreys.

Dodd featured for Souths’ reserve grade on Saturday, but barely got a sniff as his forward pack was battered from pillar to post by last year’s champion Newtown Jets side. It wasn’t his fault, but that won’t really matter.

It’s a long road back for the halfback, though as ever in the NRL, he’s one injury or suspension away from a chance.

In a similar boar is Will Pryce: though he’s usually one of the best on deck in NSW Cup, but Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien has long since made up his mind on both the Bradford-born half and his reserve grade partner, Jackson Hastings. Both are coming to a Super League side near you, and soon.

Forward pass

Next week is a strange one. We get two of the big rivalries, but neither looks promising as a spectacle.

There is a Battle of Brisbane/Conflict on Caxton/El XXXXico, but with the Dolphins dreadful to start the year, there’s a solid chance that we get another underwhelming Brisbane showing and they win anyway.

Sunday sees the Eels go to Manly, usually one that fans of social class pencil in early, but Parramatta are godawful and the Sea Eagles should put an almighty score on them at Fortress Brookvale.

Instead, the blockbuster should be Saturday night between the Sharks and Bulldogs. It’s not a local derby – though half the Canterbury team live in the Shire – but it does pit two of the best starters up against each other.

Cronulla’s issue is always their ability against the better teams. The Dogs are undermanned but collectively impressive. It should be a belter.