‘I don’t get it’: Madge backflip looms as gamble fails; ‘embarrassing’ Eels reality outed: Talking Points

In 80 minutes, the edge of David Fifita, Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Alex Johnston combined for three tries, two try assists, two line-breaks, one 40/20 and 333 running metres, putting the rest of the competition on notice.

Recruited from the Gold Coast Titans where he spent the majority of last season in reserve-grade there were worries that Fifita couldn’t reclaim the form that saw him represent Queensland but he showed glimpses off this against the Dolphins.

“We were happy with David. I don’t know why he got the sin-bin but the rest of his game was good,” Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said.

Cameron Murray added, “It’s nice not having to tackle him like I have for the most part of my career, so it’s good running out next to him and he’s just a big physical presence.

“He attracts a lot of defenders and it takes a fair amount of effort to stop him so he just adds a lot of strike power and presence to our team.

“He’s committed to what we’re building here and he’s got a great attitude and he’s just buying into what we stand for.”

Meanwhile, five-eighth Cody Walker was back to his best and was able to control the attack, especially once Ashton Ward (ankle) went down with injury and was ruled out of the contest at half-time.

This was illustrated when he kicked a 40/20 just as it seemed their opponents were beginning to gain some momentum after scoring back-to-back tries.

“Cody is a big game player who steps up in the big moments. He changed the momentum and it was something we really needed,” Murray said.

And Latrell Mitchell was fluent and back to his destructive best after making the transition from fullback to the centres.

While he had fewer touches of the ball, every time he got it in his hands, he made the most of those opportunities.

“Latrell was happy with that and accepted that and he showed what he can do in the centres,” Bennett continued.

“I’d like to think he will play most of the season in the centres.”

BRONCOS CRITICISED FOR SPINE RESHUFFLE BLUNDER

The Broncos have been blasted for Michael Maguire’s confounding decision to bench Ezra Mam for their 26-0 thrashing by the Panthers.

Mam came off the bench last season after he was suspended for the first 10 games and then returned from injury in the finals for the Broncos’ tilt at the title.

However, he was widely expected to start at five-eighth this season as he did in the World Club Challenge, with Ben Hunt expected to switch to hooker or bench utility.

But Maguire threw a massive selection bombshell ahead of the Panthers clash with Mam returning to his bench role and Hunt starting at five-eighth.

By the time Mam came on the field 10 minutes before half-time the Panthers already had a commanding 12-0 lead and Braith Anasta couldn’t understand the logic behind the shock call.

“I couldn’t get my head around it I really couldn’t,” Anasta said on Fox League.

“Ezra is a freak and we saw it in the Grand Final off the bench and I understand at that stage Ezra missed a big part of the season and Hunt and Reynolds earnt their positions.

“But in this case after a full pre-season and he is your best option at five-eighth and you have got to start fast.”

Anasta started a few games off the bench in his career and noted how hard it is for a playmaker to get himself into the game off the pine.

“It is always hard as a half to get into the game coming off the bench,” Anasta explained.

“You are watching and you are not in the rhythm of the game. You want to make an impact when you come on so sometimes you try a little bit too hard like he did tonight.

“I would have started him. I don’t get it. Two ageing halves starting.”

It may not take long for Maguire to backflip on the decision, with former Broncos coach Kevin Walters predicting he will be rethinking the selection call in the coming weeks.

“It is the coach’s call to make that decision, I guess Maguire wanted to go back to the Grand Final combination with Paix at No.9, Hunt at No.6 and Ezra coming off the bench,” Walters said.

“He has had a full pe-season so it couldn’t be a fitness thing. It is one that Maguire will no doubt look at.”

Greg Alexander, however, like Anasta couldn’t work out why the Broncos have spent a whole pre-season with Mam at five-eighth only to change it for the first game.

“In the World Club Challenge Ezra started and I would start him,” Alexander said.

“I’ve been saying this leading up to this year that given what we saw from Mam last year when he got onto the field.”

Mam is one of the Broncos’ highest paid stars on a deal worth $1.1 million a season and Alexander believes Brisbane can’t afford to have a match winner and one of their highest paid players riding the pine.

“There was a game against the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium and Ezra won them the game. He is a match winner. He can win you the match on his own,” Alexander said.

“He can do things that win your team the game and I just think he needs to be on the field for 80 minutes. I don’t think there is a need to put him on the bench.”

It wasn’t just the fact that Brisbane was missing Mam’s spark early in the game.

Michael Ennis felt it was a poor decision that was unfair on Hunt, who had to double his defensive load, which blunted his creativity hen he moved to dummyhalf.

Ennis feels the Broncos would be better served bringing Hunt on fresh off the bench to work his magic in shorter bursts.

“I felt sorry for Hunt tonight,” Ennis said.

“Having to do that defensive workload, that left edge of Brisbane got put under a lot of pressure. But through the middle of the field it was death by a thousand cuts with Penrith. They stay at you through the middle and they are relentless.

“And for Ben Hunt at 35 to have to go from a defensive workload on the left in a fast start and then to move into he middle and try and execute and be creative and get his job done defensively, it is a big ask.

“I think Brisbane would have been more suited to bringing Ben Hunt onto the field fresh.

“I love the combination of Mam and Walsh together. They just have this chemistry together, They are electric.”

GRANT SHINES AS STORM SPINE SEND REMINDER IN STATEMENT WIN

All the talk heading into Round 1 was about the players the Storm have lost, but their stars reminded everyone just how good they are in clinical 52-4 thrashing of the Eels.

Harry Grant was the best player on the field with 63 run metres, seven tackle busts, two linebreaks and two tries, while Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes were not far behind with 130 metres and four try assists between them,

Meanwhile, the Storm unearthed their next superstar fullback in Sua Fa’alogo, who ran for 125 metres to go with four linebreak assists, a try assist and a classy double including a chip and chase try that was shades of Billy Slater at his brilliant best.

Ryan Papenhuyzen was a massive loss, as was Eliesa Katoa and Nelson Asofa-Solomona, but in Fa’alogo the Storm have a star of the future.

Joe Chan and Ativalu Lisati, meanwhile, stood up in the second row as the Storm sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition.

But it was Melbourne’s core trio that made the biggest statement on Friday according to Michael Ennis, even if it wasn’t all that surprising.

“There had been so much focus this week on, ‘Boy this Storm side looks a lot different. Geez, they’ve lost some experience’, and that’s true,” Ennis said on Fox League.

“But we focused so much on who wasn’t there we forgot about who is there. These are three of the best players in the game. Harry Grant, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes and they are showing us why tonight. They have been superb.”

Grant scored a brilliant double in a superb 60 minutes before he went off late with an injury scare, with Ennis lauding his performance as one of the best he has seen from a Storm No.9 following in the footsteps of the great Cameron Smith.

“They have put the blowtorch on the Eels’ middle and Harry Grant is just destroying him,” Ennis said.

“This is an 11 out of 10 (performance) from Grant, the golden boot winner just burrows low with his body position and powers his way over the top of Smith and Iongi.

“The Melbourne captain has made a Round 1 statement to the competition. He has been absolutely superb. Just watching him go about his work is absolutely elite.

“I think all of us that have played this position just admire what Grant does. How can you not? He is absolutely world class and no doubt Craig Bellamy is loving this.”

Voss went further with a huge call that Grant’s performance was better than anything Smith ever produced, particularly with his running game.

“The first 52 minutes from Grant was as good as you will see from a modern day No.9,” Voss said.

“Everything he does turns to gold. Every play, every touch has been as good as you can get.

“This is better than Cameron Smith at his best and I don’t say that lightly.”

While Storm coach Craig Bellamy didn’t want to give too much thought to such a lofty comparison, he said he and the club as a whole were lucky to have transitioned from a player of Smith’s calibre to Grant.

“At the end of the day we’re talking about two different players and probably two different eras and they are both wonderful, wonderful players,” Bellamy said.

“I just look back and look forward and just think like how fortunate this club’s been or how fortunate for me as a coach to have two guys that touch the ball more than anybody else in the team and to have Cameron play as long as he did and then soon as he retired Harry came in after.

“So, let’s say the whole club has been very fortunate to have two players like Cameron and Harry.”

The Storm next face the Dragons, who beat them in a shock upset at WIN Stadium in the corresponding fixture last year.

Get all the latest news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports NRL Sportmail. Sign up now!!!

ROOSTERS HALVES UNDER FIRE AFTER WARRIORS ROUT

The Roosters’ much hyped halves combination of Daly Cherry-Evans and Sam Walker got off to a rocky start in their shock 42-18 loss to the Warriors.

The pair missed seven tackles and had four errors between them, while they managed just one try assist in a disappointing first outing, particularly in defence.

Michael Ennis holds concerns about Cherry-Evans and Walker being used to the chief playmaker role as genuine halfbacks, but believes they will get better with more time in the saddle together.

“These two players love being the main playmaker, so it was always going to take a bit of time,” Ennis said.

“But I saw enough tonight. I don’t think Trent Robinson will lose too much sleep about the halves. He will be disappointed with the defence.

“But I agree with him when it got to 30-18 the Roosters were really coming and there was a couple of kicks from Walker early in the tackle count that.

“There was also a dropped ball from DCE, so there were a couple of moments that just halted all the momentum.

“But the first half wasn’t what I expected from the Roosters.”

Cooper Cronk said earlier in the week that Cherry-Evans will need to improve defensively because opposition teams will target the pair as weak links in the defensive line.

After the 42-18 defeat, Braith Anasta warned the Roosters will continue to be targeted on the edge if the poor defence from the pair continues, while he also took aim at Walker’s decision making at times.

“There was tackle one and tackle two, two sets in a row that Walker kicked on,” Anasta said.

“The other concern for the Roosters halves is defensively. We are talking about attack a lot here and the No.6 and No.7 both missed a few tackles in key moments that led to tries.

“They didn’t have the best record in defence last year at the Roosters and Manly and that’s an area that other teams are going to target.”

However, Anasta feels the Roosters’ main issue stems from their inability to complete at a high percentage and their ill-discipline, which proved costly against he Roosters in an 18-7 penalty count.

“But it’s the same story with the Chooks. It’s errors and discipline,” Anasta concluded.

“They can’t complete. Low percentage plays when they don’t need them. It is cut and paste almost.”

Greg Alexander agreed the Roosters didn’t give their halves much of a chance with their poor ball control and completion rate, which should be a massive concern for one of the pre-season title favourites.

“I thought the halves were a little bit disappointing,” Alexander said.

“But I also think the team’s performance led to that, given the fact they just didn’t get the opportunities.”

Things don’t get much easier for the Roosters as they next face arch rivals the Rabbitohs in a blockbuster clash at Allianz Stadium next Friday night.

EDWARDS RETURNS TO BEST AFTER “SUB-PAR” 2026

Following a “sub-par” campaign in 2025, which saw him lose the Australian Kangaroos jumper to Reece Walsh, Dylan Edwards returned to his best on Friday evening to begin this season.

Starring in Penrith’s biggest opening round victory since 1988, Edwards made over 200 running metres, seven tackle busts, one line-break, scored a try and provided some great defensive reads.

This comes after he struggled to reclaim the form that saw him win the 2022 Clive Churchill Medal and four consecutive premierships last season.

“Everyone knows within the club just how much of a freak he is, how reliable he is. I love having him as my fullback,” said Nathan Cleary.

“Every time I take the field with him I have the utmost trust he is going to be putting his body on the line and putting in 100 per cent effort.

“He did it again tonight and came up with some massive defensive plays.”

As Cleary admired his teammates’ unanimous man-of-the-match display against the reigning premiers, Edwards admitted post-match that he is being driven by a renewed passion as the club attempts to claim the NRL title once again.

Speaking to media outlets including NRL.com, the NSW Blues fullback revealed that he lost a bit of passion last season which contributed to not standing up in the big moments.

“The guys in this team work really hard and I don’t want to be the one that lets them down,” Edwards told the publication.

“I finished the year sub-par, lost a bit of passion throughout last year as well, so I wanted to have a good pre-season and play well this year.

“I still have plenty to work on… far from the complete performance.

“(As a team) we came up here, we got a job done, and that’s what we came here to do.”

Coach Ivan Cleary also stated post-match that he believes Edwards can back to the form that made him the best fullback in the NRL and wear the No.1 jersey for the Australian Kangaroos.

“Dyl has worked really hard and his pre-season has been really strong, and definitely better than last year for a bunch of different reasons,” he said.

“I think he is ready for a big year.”

WILL 2026 FINALLY BE THE ‘YEAR OF THE SHARKS’?

The Cronulla Sharks couldn’t have begun their 2026 campaign with a better start.

Scoring a try within the opening two minutes, they piled on 34 points before the half-time and finished with a half-century to their name, as well as keeping their opponents to just ten.

While they comfortably defeated the Titans, it was the way they dominated on both ends of the field (especially during the opening 40 minutes) that should have their fans excited for this season.

“It was very pleasing. Obviously, put a hell of a performance in there but it’s also important to cool the chances,” Fitzgibbon said post-match.

“I was most pleased we were behind on penalties, behind on six agains, behind on field positions. I think it was 28 play-the-balls but we were ahead on the scoreboard.”

Away from their defence, the back-line was extremely impressive with all players having significant moments in the match but in particularly the halves pairing of Braydon Trindall and Nicho Hynes.

This comes after the duo have found themselves constantly criticised over the past few seasons after going out in back-to-back preliminary finals.

“I love the combination works between Trindall and Hynes. When it comes down to the Sharks, it has been absolute one-way traffic and absolutely dominated the red zone,” Cooper Cronk said.

Australian Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters added, “He’s been in everything that has been good out of Cronulla…Tricky Trindall is shaving off this very poor Titans defence.”

Hynes finished the contest with two tries to his name, while Trindall finished the contest with four try assists, two tries and two line-break assists in what was arguably one of the best showings of his 97-match NRL career.

“Is there anything he hasn’t done in the first-half? He has been unbelievable,” Steve Roach said.

Commentator Matt Russell added, “Remarkable numbers for the Cronulla five-eighth.”

“We worked hard in the off-season so it was good to put a good performance in,” Trindall said on Fox League after the match.

“We’re working well together for the last couple of years and I think we came into pre-season in some good condition so it’s good to bring it out.

“I think I was most impressed with our defence in that starting 20. The boys really went after it and made a bit of a statement.”

‘HE’S A GENERAL’: SANDERS SEALS WIN WITH FIELD GOAL

Ethan Sanders has stepped up and delivered in only his 5th career match in the NRL.

Replacing Jamal Fogarty in the famed No.7 jersey and with recruit Coby Black breathing down his neck, Sanders took his opportunity with both hands and single-handedly won the match for the Raiders in extra-time by sinking a field-goal between the posts.

Not only did he score the extra point to win his club the match, but he did it with a calmness and composure that only a few young halfback’s posses.

“Full credit to Ethan Sanders for being so composed for being such a young kid, with such high expectations (to) come into our side and steering us around I thought he did a great job,” Raiders teammate Hudson Young said on Fox League.

“He’s an awesome talent and he’s got such a great leader to lean on in Ricky Stuart looking above him.

“We just told him to go out and back hismelf and I was so happy for him to go out and take that shot.

“He probably felt that pressure on him and for him to walk towards that is such a great sign.”

A former Under-19s NSW Blues representative, Sanders arrived at the nation’s capital last season after coming through the Parramatta Eels system, which saw him win the Under-19s SG Ball Cup in 2023.

Entering the Raiders with high expectations on his shoulders, he struggled during his two appearances last season but by all accounts had a sensational pre-season which saw him really impress coach Ricky Stuart and the club’s coaching staff.

Now, he has paid them back in the best way possible.

“He really impressed me tonight. I know (there’s a) bit on social media, a bit of comments about whether or not he will deliver and he really showed up tonight and proved everyone wrong,” Raiders winger Xavier Savage said.

“Sanders has really stepped up and Strangey alongside him and they’re working together really well and they’ll only get better each week.”

Sanders’ halves partner and childhood friend Ethan Strange was ecstatic to see the rookie halfback to land the match-winner and believes it is only the start of their combination in the NRL.

“I can’t give Sando a big enough wrap. How calm and composed he was the whole game,” his halves partner Ethan Strange added.

“I played with him growing up so I always knew that would be him but he got to prove it to everyone and our teammates so I’m so happy for him and I’m so happy he kicked that field goal

“He’s a general. I knew he was going to smack it in…we’re living out our childhood dreams together so can’t wait for what’s next.”

Speaking post-match, Sanders was lost for words when asked to reflect on the field-goal that saw the Raiders go over the line to begin their 2026 campaign.

“A bit surreal. I’m not sure what happened there. I’m still a bit in shock,” Sanders said straight after the siren.

“To be able to share the field with them and get the win is awesome.

“We sort of had a plan to kick to (the) corner and when the opportunity comes, take it but we thought we got a bit of quick one on the last tackle there and sort of just found the ball in my hands.

“I was glad I got it away because I was cramping a bit before that, so just lucky it went over.”

TEAM OF THE WEEK!

The Fox Sports Lab have named their team of the week for Round 1, with Sharks playmaker Braydon Trindall winning the honour of Player of the Round!

1. Kalyn Ponga – 16 runs, 143m, 1 linebreak, 2 try assists, 3 offloads and 6 tackle busts

2. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – 15 runs, 127m, 1 linebreak assist and 3 try assists

3. Stephen Crichton – 15 runs, 167m, 1 linebreak, 1 try assist, match-winning field goal

4. Tolutau Koula – 16 runs, 191m, 1 try, 1 try assist, 2 linebreaks and 8 tackle busts

5. Jacob Kiraz – 29 runs, 246m, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 3 tackle busts and 4 offloads

6. Braydon Trindall – 2 tries, 2 linebreak assists, 4 try assists, 40/20

7. Tanah Boyd – 18pts, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 3 try assists and 371 kick metres

8. Stefano Utoikamanu – 19 runs, 204m, 1 linebreak and five tackle busts

9. Harry Grant – 2 tries, 2 linebreaks, 7 tackles busts and 26 tackles

10. Keaon Koloamatangi – 24 runs, 220m, 2 offloads, 2 try contributions and 15 tackles

11. Hudson Young – 18 runs, 137m, 1 try assist, 3 offloads, 4 tackles busts and 33 tackles

12. Joe Chan – 16 runs, 198m, 1 try, 2 linebreaks, 5 tackle busts and 25 tackles

13. Cameron Murray – 17 runs, 137m, 1 try assist, 2 offloads, 2 tackle busts and 24 tackles