The brothers Bromwich sealed the first round victory for the Melbourne Storm with Kenneth Bromwich (47th min) and Jesse Bromwich (67th min) scoring in the second half to see of the Brisbane Broncos.

Brisbane started the game in a lethargic heap, routinely turning the ball over with Anthony Seibold’s vaunted attacking structures clearly needing more time to come good in a new team. The sophomore coach will likely be without the service of James Roberts (lower back injury) and Matt Lodge (suspension) for the next couple of weeks as well.

The 10-point win marked Melbourne’s 18th consecutive Round 1 victory, even as they enter a new era without the services of Billy Slater. There is a lot of footy left to play given that it is only Round 1 but it sure looks like the Storm will be there abouts at the business end of the season once again.

Friday night footy kicked off with a relatively sloppy game in the Hunter which saw the Knights prevail late in the piece thanks to a 90m Edrick Lee interception try. David Klemmer was immense on debut for the Novocastrians as he cracked the 200m mark on the ground but it was a subdued performance from young superstar Kalyn Ponga as he makes the his full-time transition too the halves.

The match was not short on controversy either with Lee involved in a decision to award Sione Katoa a penalty try to bring the Sharks level with the Knights at 8-all.

Cronulla’s new-look spine clearly needs some more playing time together as the accommodate new recruit Shaun Johnson and re-acclimatise Matt Moylan at fullback.

Life without Blake Ferguson didn’t start too ideally for the defending premiers as they were gunned down in the second half by a fired up South Sydney outfit. The chippy game reached a flashpoint when amusingly the halves from both teams fronted up in the wake of a South Sydney try.

Adam Reynolds was superb as he steered his side to victory while young backrower Cameron Murray stepped into the void left by Angus Crichton’s departure to their rivals with aplomb.

The Roosters will bounce back from the loss but it was an immediate reminder to the entire NRL that heavy is the crown.

It was always going to be an emotionally charged game for the New Zealand Warriors following the horrific terror attack in Christchuch. The club opened the gates for free for anyone who wanted to attend in an attempt to help promote unity and provide a welcoming space in a time of need in a small but noble gesture.

Their players responded magnificently as they never gave the visiting Bulldogs a chance to work their way into the game. At 22-0 at half-time it was all but over but the Warriors didn’t rest on their laurels as they chalked up the biggest win of the round by a comfortable margin.

Seven different Warriors’ try-scorers troubled the record keepers on Saturday with rookie halfback Adam Keighran among them. The debutante also struck 6/7 from the kicking tee in an excellent first-up performance.

There was little positive to take out of the game for Canterbury but there is little doubt they will be fired up when they meet the Eels in Round 2.

The old dogs were up to their old tricks as Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall helped inspire the Tigers to a 14-point victory over the Sea-Eagles in torrid conditions at Leichardt Oval. Farah bagged a double as Michael Maguire started his tenure at the club with a solid first-up victory. If anything, the scoreline flatters Manly given that their sole try to Jorge Tafua came in the 79th minute.

Ryan Matterson had a strong debut for his new club while the Tigers will be further improved once their fullback Moses Mbye returns following a knee injury at training in the lead up to this game.

Manly looked much like the team they were in 2018, to be brutally honest, and you would be forgiven for mistaking their backline for something out of the Canterbury Cup. Writing them off after one game is nothing short of silly but they have a world of work to do in the coming weeks.

Jason Taumalolo almost single-handedly ran the Cowboys to victory with a monstrous night on the ground that chewed up anywhere between 286-304m (depending on the source). North Queensland surged late as Michael Morgan took control to bury the Dragons up in the tropics but they were mostly in control throughout the fixture.

There might be some concerns about the health of new recruit Jordan Kahu after he left the field midway through the game and was replaced by Te Maire Martin.

Likewise, the status of Tyson Frizell is up in the air following a brutal injury to his scrotum. Past incidents have yielded something between 1-8 weeks so there is a pretty high variance depending on how he responds to the treatment.

Of greater concern for the Dragons will be the sloppy play of their spine as the same issues that reared its heads in their trials, manifested once more on Saturday night. Matt Dufty ended up looking like their most dangerous play-maker in his Kurt Gidley-esque role as bench fullback but the resulting reshuffle (Ben Hunt to hooker, Gareth Widdop to the halves) seems far too clunky to be honest.

The Gold Coast Titans were awarded the ignominy of becoming just the fourth team in the NRL era to be shutout on opening week as the Canberra Raiders laid down 21 unanswered points.

Rookie winger Bailey Simonsson bagged the last try of the game but it was Pommy newcomer John Bateman that stole the show with a brilliant effort at lock-forward. Ricky Stuart had apparently been focusing heavily on defensive work in the preseason so kudos to the Raiders in that regard but I guess it also remains to be seen how much of that scoreline was a function of the Titans just been dross on Sunday night,

An injury to Tyrone Roberts didn’t aid their cause but the Titans join the Bulldogs and Sea-Eagles as the worst performers of the round and it is evident they have plenty of work to do in the coming week before tackling the Cronulla Sharks in Round 2.