So on we go to Round 3, and the NRL decided the appropriate course of action to stop players like Latrell Mitchell from swearing 30 seconds after a game was to stop Triple M from filming post-game interviews for social media purposes, plus completely bar them from the field of play, a complaint that mainly stemmed from a certain major Free to Air network who broadcast the NRL, regarding allowing a radio station to capture video content.

Once again, The Buggles were right – Video has once again killed the radio star

Should’ve just done the sane thing and kicked Souths out of the comp, although with the way Souths are playing they’re doing a good job of it.

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s start to the season keeps getting better, as Jackson Hastings got the arse out of the halves as a result of the Knights’ 0-2 result, and instead of training with the NSW Cup squad in preparation for the weekend, he did what any self-respecting bludger would do, and that’s get in the car and go home…

Mainly because Tuesday wasn’t a training day for the NSW Cup squad and Adam O’Brien let him leave.

I find that the recurring problem for Newcastle is that they’ve got a Dally M-winning fullback on seven figures, and a pair of halves that are paid comparative peanuts because they aren’t quite as good as the fullback, a far cry from when they won those premierships in the era of analog TV, where they had an Immortal half-back on seven figures, and a fullback and five-eighth on comparative peanuts, because they weren’t quite as good as the Immortal.

At some point, you need a Meatloaf combination to win a premiership, at least 2 outta 3 to not be bad, while the Panthers have the Holy Trinity of quality fullback + quality halves pairing, and look what they’ve gone and done.

So all that said, looking through the games for Round 3, as Redcliffe get the bye immediately after walloping St George-Illawarra 38-0:

The highlight of the Round is the Grand Final rematch between the Panthers and Broncos at Panthers Stadium, although it appears the Broncos have copped another hit with Payne Haas needing minor knee surgery, so what was a likely Panthers victory seems an even more likely Panthers victory… Still, I said the same thing in Round 1 last year when they played at Penrith and the Broncs won.

The Warriors travel to Christchurch on Friday night to host the ladder-leading Canberra Raiders, and I still have no idea if either of these teams are any good, because the Warriors are unlucky to be 0-2, and the Raiders have played pretty well to be 2-0, for which they’ve been given no respect by the bookmakers.

The Channel 9 Friday game features another edition of Eastern Suburbs against South Sydney, and in this game we have a foundation team who have been in the league since 1908, and we also have a team who were introduced in 2002 after the South Sydney area was identified as a key area for expansion by the NRL.

The Dogs of War return to Belmore for the first time this year as Canterbury host the Gold Coast at the spiritual home of Canterbury-Bankstown, with the Titans having the better week last week by virtue of having a bye in Round 2.

The extremely hot and cold Dragons host the Cowboys at Kogarah in the Saturday twilight slot, as both teams play their first game outside of Queensland this season, and Ben Hunt reveals there’s another rat in the ranks at the Red V, as Zac Lomax seemingly wants out, and if Ben Hunt says someone wants out of St George, you’d better believe him, because he’s the first bloke out the door.

The Wests Tigers host Cronulla at Leichhardt Oval on the Saturday night, and we got the news this week that the Eighth Wonder of the World has no more than 2 years remaining as an NRL venue due to OH&S issues as a result of run-down facilities… I would note that Leichhardt is in the Prime Minister’s seat of Greylander, so Albo, this is one Yes vote you probably could win.

We’ve got another great edition of the Parramatta-Manly rivalry, as the Eels host the Silvertails in Parramatta on Sunday afternoon, and I would note that this year marks 40 years since the two teams featured in this ad for Toohey’s Classic:

Here we go again, Manly and Parra, Parra’s well ahead but the gap starts to narra.

And the last game on Sunday night sees the embattled Knights host the Melbourne Storm, who were up the proverbial creek with 5 minutes to go last week before Xavier Coates soared into the night sky like Batman, while the Knights needed a scapegoat after losing to the Cowboys in Golden Point (After leading 20-10), so they blamed the half and dropped him.

Of course, that means the Knights are now 0-5 at North Queensland Stadium, and they last won in Townsville way back in Round 2 of 2015… the year the Cowboys won their maiden premiership, and the Knights won their first 4 games, then collapsed and won the first of three wooden spoons in a row.

Now, time for the Succinct NRL Tips this week, and after a decent 6/8 in Round 2, here we go…

Round 2 score = 6/8

Running score after Round 2 = 8/16 (50%)

25% to 50% correct, what an improvement.

Lock of the Week

After a poor start through Round 1, the Lock is well and truly back in form after Chad Townsend’s game winning field goal got the Cowboys home in Golden Point, so now to find a lock for Round 3…

As much as I would like to go for the Cowboys again, I do like a bit of variety, so this week’s Lock….

BENJI MARSHALL’S GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT AGAINST THE SHARKS ON SATURDAY NIGHT.