Round 1
Gold Coast Titans 24 d. New Zealand Warriors 18

2010 National Rugby League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

NRL Round 1 Team of the Week
Tue March 16, 2010
Aaron Winder weighs up the form and selects the best players in each position for the first round of the 2010 NRL season.

You will hardly see any record breaking stats in Round 1, unless you include Handling Errors, Missed Tackles and Penalties but Newcastle Knights Second Rower Cory Paterson's 7 Offloads would have been the equal third highest in a single game in the entire 2009 season, while North Queensland Cowboy's Centre Willie Tonga's 3 Line Breaks would have been equal second last season in Line Breaks in a single game and Brisbane Broncos Fullback Corey Norman's debut effort of 4 Line Break Assists and 3 Try Assists was a spectacular effort against the Cowboys.

On the other side of the coin Indigenous All Stars Greg Bird of the Titans and Jamal Idris of the Bulldogs each had 5 Handling Errors, Cronulla Sharks Five-Eighth Trent Barrett and Melbourne Storm Hooker Ryan Hinchcliffe fought the law and the law won giving up 3 penalties each. New Zealand Warriors Five-Eighth James Maloney had 8 Missed Tackles [Chris Sandow watch: 5 vs. Sydney Roosters] against the Gold Coast Titans.

High profile players Terry Campese [Raiders], Michael Ennis [Bulldogs], Trent Barrett [Sharks], Michael Jennings [Panthers] and Daniel Mortimer [Eels] need like to improve their games next time they play.

Onto the first Team of the Week of the season.

Line-up:
01. Lachlan Coote [Panthers] - 2 Tries, 19 Hit-Ups, 198 Metres Gained, 5 Tackle Breaks
02. Sam Perrett [Roosters] - 1 Try, 21 Hit-Ups, 213 Metres Gained, 7 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 1 Try Assist
03. Shaun Kenny-Dowall [Roosters] - 2 Tries, 15 Hit-Ups, 242 Metres Gained, 2 Offloads, 5 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break
04. Israel Folau [Broncos] - 1 Try, 13 Hit-Ups, 114 Metres Gained, 5 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 2 Line Break Assists, 1 Try Assist
05. Steve Turner [Bulldogs] - 2 Tries, 15 Hit-Ups, 133 Metres Gained, 2 Line Breaks
06. Benji Marshall [Tigers] - 98 Metres Gained, 7 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break Assist, 1 Try Assist
07. Johnathan Thurston [Cowboys] - 1 Try, 2 Offloads, 5 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 2 Line Break Assists, 3 Try Assists, 25 Tackles
08. Scott Logan [Raiders] - 1 Try, 14 Hit-Ups, 117 Metres Gained, 3 Offloads, 5 Tackle Breaks, 2 Line Breaks, 26 Tackles
09. Nathan Friend [Titans] - 1 Line Break Assist, 2 Try Assists, 49 Tackles
10. Luke Douglas [Sharks] - 1 Try, 12 Hit-Ups, 87 Metres Gained, 1 Line Break, 38 Tackles
11. Jeremy Smith [Dragons] - 1 Try, 18 Hit-Ups, 137 Metres Gained, 2 Offloads, 4 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 26 Tackles
12. Frank Pritchard [Panthers] - 12 Hit-Ups, 131 Metres Gained, 4 Offloads, 6 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 2 Try Assists
13. Corey Parker [Broncos] - 17 Hit-Ups, 159 Metres Gained, 4 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break, 54 Tackles

Interchange:
14. Matt Gillett [Broncos] - 1 Try, 15 Hit-Ups, 119 Metres Gained, 5 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break Assist, 23 Tackles
15. George Rose [Sea Eagles] - 1 Try, 12 Hit-Ups, 136 Metres Gained, 4 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break
16. Jason Ryles [Roosters] - 91 Metres Gained, 4 Offloads, 28 Tackles
17. Scott Anderson [Broncos] - 11 Hit-Ups, 121 Metres Gained, 21 Tackles

Player of the Week: Sam Perrett [Roosters] - 1 Try, 21 Hit-Ups, 213 Metres Gained, 7 Tackle Breaks, 1 Line Break and 1 Try Assist.

Do you agree with the Team of the Week and the Player of the Week?


Sideline Cynic - NRL Round 1
Mon March 15, 2010
A review of the major highlights and lowlights from Round 1 NRL action.


Corey, Corey Hallelujah
The debut of Corey Norman at Fullback for the Broncos on Friday Night was certainly, for the most part, an eye-catching performance. One glaring error resulting in a Cowboys try blotted his copybook, but his goal line defence and general play more than made up for that mistake. As is so often the case though, media types have gone into hyperbole overload after this first glimpse, already speculating as to what he could achieve in the game. I certainly will look forward to seeing, hearing and reading all the speculation about his allegiances for State of Origin, his future contract negotiations and the obligatory interest from Rugby Union as the weeks go by.

Hair Apparent
Already significantly under-represented in the NRL, the ginger brigade suffered a further decline in their numbers with injuries to both Shane Shackleton and Tom Symonds during round 1. Shackleton's injury means the end of his season, while Symonds looks like being available again in a couple of weeks. With redhead numbers beginning to dwindle, focus will now fall onto the likes of Keith Galloway, Peter Wallace and Allan Tongue to maintain adequate membership numbers in the fraternity. Either that or they could look at encouraging Fui Fui Moi Moi to re-think his current blonde tips in favour of a more rust coloured tint......

Clean Slate
The performance of both the Knights and Roosters in their respective matches was not totally unexpected given the recent turmoil they have endured. The Roosters of course had the extra incentive of not only wanting to rid themselves of the wooden spoon, but also determined to take down a traditional rival that had seen more exposure in recent months than a WAGS dress on an Awards' night. Both teams displayed tremendous enthusiasm and desperation (again, not dissimilar to some WAGS...), and while it is still early days, it certainly provided cause for optimism from both fan-bases.

What Were They Thinking?
Nathan Merritt - Losing his grip on the ball with no one near him and only 25 metres from the try-line. Audible groans (and more distinctive language) resonated around the ground.
Daniel Conn - Around 90 seconds after Merritt lost control, decided to grubber for himself with men lining up outside him and the Rabbitohs on the hop. Needless to say Daniel may hav a little discussion with Brain Smith this week.
Johnathon Thurston - Decided against taking a shot at field goal from point blank range with the scores lock at 24 all and only minutes remaining against the Broncos. The rest is history.
Jamal Idris - With one minute remaining and trailing by 4 points, Idris broke into the clear down the right flank with only the fullback to beat. Steve Turner was looming on the inside, but Idris took the odds to kicking ahead only to see Shannon McDonnell win the race to the ball.

Round 1 MVP
Nate Myles - set the standard for the Roosters with his willingness to not only get involved in the middle of the ruck, but also bobbed up with some important cover defence. Have the Roosters found their new Fitzgibbon?

Notable Mentions ? Darren Lockyer, Johnathon Thurston, Aiden Tolman, Corey Patterson, Todd Carney, Gareth Ellis.

Final Thought
Following their high profile recruitment drive and subsequent inflated expectations, the Rabbitohs have entered the unfamiliar territory of being the team everyone will be "up" to play against in 2010. How they respond to this challenge will be interesting to observe as the season progresses.

Mon March 15, 2010
• Titans shut out Warriors in the second half
  
Tue March 9, 2010
• NRL Round 1 (2010) Teams, Stats and Predictions (updated)
  
Tue March 9, 2010
• New Titans recruits to debut against Warriors
  
Tue March 9, 2010
• Mannering to miss season opener against Titans
  
Tue March 9, 2010
• Virtual/Fantasy NRL competition returns to rleague.com
  
Tue March 9, 2010
• First Warriors for 2010 season announced later today
  
Thu March 4, 2010
• 2010 Rleague.com NRL Fantasy League Game
  
Thu February 25, 2010
• rleague.com NRL Footy Tipping in 2010 - Win an XBOX 360 Arcade!
  

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