The current forecast for South East Queensland

It does seem an odd coincidence that the first tropical cyclone to hit the mainland of South East Queensland in 50 years would hit only a few days after the Mardi Gras ended.

It makes me think, maybe Fred Nile wasn’t as big a lunatic as we thought he was.

Alright, there’s only been one major change thanks to Cyclone Alfred, that being the Souths-Dolphins game switching to Sydney, a decision that will almost certainly cost the Dolphins the 2 points as no fewer than 5 players miss the game to prepare for the storms with their families, already adding to the farcical scenes.

Should’ve just postponed the game.

That said, the 6 remaining games for Round 1, as the Gold Coast Titans have the bye:

– The Roosters take on the Broncos in the feature Thursday night contest at the SFS, as the Broncos begin life under Michael Maguire’s ruthless reign with Ben Hunt back for the first time since 2017, while the Roosters deal with the loss of 1,000+ games of experience, as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves retired before jetting off to the UK to get suspended playing for Hull KR, Luke Keary followed suit and went to Catalans Dragons (By sheer chance that was Trent Robinson’s old stomping ground), Terrell May was released and went to the Wests Tigers, Sitili Tupouniua went to Canterbury, Joseph Suaalii is starting for the NSW Waratahs with the hopes of a Rugby World Cup appearance in 2027, and Joey Manu went off to Japanese rugby, a decision he immediately regretted as he now attempts to find a way back into the NRL.

Then throw in Sam Walker and Brandon Smith still being a long way off a return from ACL tears at the end of last season, combined with their only key signing being Chad Townsend, and you’ll see why the Debbie Downers are out in force on poor old Easts.

As an odd note, this is the first time the Broncos have ever played at the new SFS, as they played the Roosters at the SCG in 2022 (A month before the SFS opened), The Gabba in 2023, and the Roosters had the home game in Las Vegas last year.

– Wests Tigers host the Newcastle Knights at Campbelltown, as the Tigers begin their quest for a historic Fourpeat of Wooden Spoons, so they signed up a bloke who knows all about winning Fourpeats, he being Jahrome Luai from the Panthers as he joins the fleet of ex-Penrith players to saddle up for the Tigers, while the Knights will probably do what they’ve always done under Adam O’Brien, that being have a dodgy start to the year, come good in the back half and lose a final.

– The aforementioned Souths-Dolphins game takes place in Parramatta on Friday night, as Wayne Bennett returns for a second stint in charge of the Bunnies, against the team he abandoned to return to Redfern, who are now being led by Bennett’s former Dolphins assistant and former St Helens premiership coach Kristian Woolf.

– The old rivals St George-Illawarra and Canterbury clash in Kogarah on Saturday evening, as Clint Gutherson lines up for the Red V for the first time after leaving Parramatta, and in a show of faith Shane Flanagan already made him captain, while the Bulldogs are celebration 90 years in First Grade this year, and they’d best not remember what St George did to them in 1935, when the score was only 91-6, still the only time a team has scored 90+ points in a First Grade game.

– Manly host North Queensland at Brookvale Oval on Saturday evening, one of the 5 games that Tom Trbojevic will be fit for this season as Anthony Seibold successfully restored Fortress Brookvale last year to return Manly to the Finals, while the Cowboys kick off their 30th anniversary season, and it’ll also be 20 years since their maiden Grand Final run, and 10 years since the historic premiership.

Another random fact about the Cowboys’ debut season in 1995 is that their first game (against Canterbury) was broadcast on Channel 9… the Cowboys didn’t have another game broadcast by Channel 9 until Round 25 of 2004 against the Wests Tigers, when the Cowboys were about to confirm a maiden finals appearance.

– And the Channel 9 Sunday game sees the Melbourne Storm host the Parramatta Eels in Melbourne, and just about everything is on Melbourne’s side here, as they haven’t lost a Round 1 game since 2001, which pre-dates Craig Bellamy’s appointment as coach and Cameron Smith’s debut, while former Bellamy disciple Jason Ryles makes his NRL coaching debut with the Eels, who have since lost Mitchell Moses, just to rub further salt into the festering wound.

So with all that done, here’s the remaining 6 Succinct NRL Tips for Round 1…

Progress score = 1/2

Lock of the Week

Considering the Cowboys have never won a Round 1 game in Sydney, and Manly have a pretty decent team on the field….

They’ll be doing the Eagle Rock at Brookvale at 9:30pm on Saturday night.

Still, the Cowboys will tell you there’s a first time for everything.