How good is it to have the footy back? After 67 days of lockdown we finally got to watch live rugby league... and it was worth the wait.
Parramatta Eels 34 - Brisbane Broncos 6
With the Eels hyped up to their eyeballs about being Premiership contenders Blue and Gold fans would've had every reason to be nervous about playing Brisbane in Brisbane. After a middling first half that gave the Eels a 12-6 lead at the break, they stampeded their way home, running in four unanswered tries.
A major plus for the Eels was their defence. They have now gone three consecutive games conceding six points or less.
Their biggest test will be next week against the Manly Sea Eagles who are fresh off a clinical win against the Bulldogs.
Cowboys 36 - Titans 6
Well things can't get much worse for the Titans after they were demolished by a rampant Cowboys side. New recruit Reece Robson was impressive for the North Queenslanders while Jason Taumalolo had a dominating second half, running for over 150 metres.
It looks set to be another long year for the team from the Gold Coast, although Moeakai Fotuaika was a shining light, pumping out 154 metres in 11 runs.
The match could also see the beginning of the end for Jake Granville, who was easily outplayed by his teammate at dummy-half.
Roosters 28 - Souths 12
The Roosters seem to once again be firmly in control of their traditional rivalry. The much reported on clash that hyped up Latrell Mitchell facing his former club wasn't exactly the blockbuster many were expecting.
Speaking of Mitchell, he, along with many others struggled with the pace of the game, however his well publicised shift to fullback isn't exactly helping given his early struggles in the position.
Meanwhile for the Roosters, they seem to be pretty happy with the mid-season recruitment of Brett? Morris (TBH I still can't tell them apart), whose defensive performance killed off any hopes Souths had of a comeback.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett's side seems to be on the slide now following the retirements of Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis while they are also missing Cody Walker due to suspension and James Roberts as he recovers from rehab.
Warriors 18 - Dragons 0
Of all the bottom sides in the competition, the Dragons are surely the worst. Coach Paul McGregor has been at the club for six years. He has a halves pairing that have both played Origin, a forward pack full of representative experience and what should be a relatively exciting backline.
That all counted for nothing though on Saturday afternoon when they were belted by a clinical (Yeh I'm surprised too) Warriors outfit that completed 46/48 sets.
McGregor has no excuse but himself really. He built the side. At the Titans Holbrook has coached three games, at the Bulldogs they're only just recovering from Des Hasler's poor contract decisions. At least Tyson Frizell saw the writing on the wall and is heading up the F3 next season.
Tigers 28 - Sharks 16
This was a see-sawing affair at times but the Tigers were able to hold off Cronulla. The joint venture benefited greatly from the arrival of Harry Grant and the debut of Billy Walters.
For Cronulla, well they seem a long way from the team that broke their Premiership drought in 2016 and struggled for consistency. Josh Dugan had a bit of a night to forget after his terrible attempt at a tackle allowed David Nofoaluma to score directly from a line drop out.
There isn't much more firepower for John Morris to call on either given the suspension of Bronson Xerri and the release of Brett Morris (again I don't know if this is the right one) to the Roosters.
Raiders 22 - Storm 6
The Raiders travelled down to Melbourne and while it's a graveyard for most, AAMI Park was George Williams' playground on Saturday night. The Raiders were too energetic, too direct and too skillful for the Storm. Melbourne made some uncharacteristic errors and their usually brick wall-like defence was picked apart.
Williams seems to have slotted comfortably into the NRL. Meanwhile Melbourne seem to be struggling without an organising half to dig them out of trouble. They may rue the day they released Brodie Croft and kept Jahrome Hughes.
Panthers 14 - Knights 14
This Newcastle side should've been belted by 40 or 50 points such were their struggles in the first half. With their two front line hookers out and Mitchell Pearce leaving the field early in the game, it seemed as though Penrith would run away with the match.
However, the Panthers began imploding in the second half. Luai seemed clueless in attack and rookie Matt Burton wasn't exactly setting the world alight. The Knights coped well with Penrith's plan of passing it to Viliame Kikau and were it not for some poor goal kicking they'd have won that match.
Manly 32 - Bulldogs 6
Tom Trbojevic starred in the Sunday night clash that saw Manly easily account for a struggling Bulldogs side. Canterbury's spine is a cause for severe concern given its relative inexperience and the fact they lack a genuine game breaker.
The only positive for the Bulldogs is the expected return of Kieran Foran in round four who will add a lot to the side. The de-registrations of Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera also haven't helped.
Meanwhile for Manly they enjoyed playing on the front foot and T.Trbojevic is one of the best exponents at attacking in broken play. He will be a handful for the Eels next week.
Replies
The Dragons should be wishing there's a phase 2 of Covid. Man they are bad.
Their halves pairing are collectively on over 2m per season and both need to play reggies for some time.
Now, who was it that wanted to keep Norman and boot Moses, Carlo?
Moses may have been a petulent little bugger there for a while, but he has matured and Corey is still planking and no doubt carries film cannisters. A great decision to let him or make him walk.
I missed the Manly game and heard Tommy T was on fire. This week's match against them will be a cracker. I'll be watching it with a Manly supporting mate, so the Eels better get up and will need to step up again from last week. If the Eels defense remains as stoic as it has been, the attack will surely come. I do wish that Brown was playing this week, see how we go.
Manly's depth is a bit suss, so if something happens to a turbo, you know one of them blow a flange gasket, they will be half the team they are at present.
Go the Eels!
After round 3 you could probably put a line through most teams. I think that the only teams capable of winning the 2020 premiership are the Roosters, Raiders, Sea Eagles and the Eels.
The Raiders had the toughest opposition in round 3, so they look the strongest of the lot and gee wiz their new halfback looks the goods. The Roosters and Parra had strong-ish opposition which was slightly weakened with some key players unavailable but overcame them pretty comfortably. Manly played the dogs so that might not be a great barometer of where there at however Tommy Turbo is a freak.
They (4 teams above) seemed to handle the new format the best but it's still early days. It'll be an intesting game on Saturday between Manly and Parra. The winner will certainly increase their favouritism.
How good is footy.