‘Clueless’: Dragons left with ‘massive headache’

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Cook laid on three tries, while Walker scored two and the duo were heavily involved as the Bunnies clinched the Charity Shield.

Most of Souths’ big guns fired, with Cam Murray, Thomas Burgess and Campbell Graham also having their moments in a fine team performance.

The Dragons showed some fight in the second half with four tries, but the game was all over by halftime with the Rabbitohs holding a commanding 26-0 lead.

Of the young brigade, Izaac Thompson on the wing was safe under high ball before getting hurt and big forward Davvy Moale was rewarded for some barging runs with a try.

What can you say about the Dragons? The Charity Shield is more than your average trial – both teams fielded their top teams… and the Dragons were clueless.

Fullback shapes as a massive headache for coach Anthony Griffin… Tyrell Sloan dropped two high balls, his confidence clearly low, and Cody Ramsey is out for year.

The youngster who wanted out of the club a few months ago broke down in tears after fulltime – clearly letting him go would have been better for both parties.

Jayden Sullivan showed some zip off the bench for the Dragons, scoring a smart solo try, and will probably be somewhere in the starting side for the premiership proper.

KNIGHTS 14 EELS 36

Two trials for the Knights – two poor losses … and more questions than answers for besieged coach Adam O’Brien.

Kalyn Ponga played the first half in his new role at five-eighth and did little – except for coming up with a bad one-on-one missed tackle on Mitchell Moses for one of the Eels’ seven tries.

The one positive for the Knights was the performance of new winger Greg Marzhew, who made two clean busts and scored a determined try.

Bradman Best – a real strike weapon – scored a fine solo try and Tyson Frizell was strong in patches.

Other than that, there was little to enthuse about for Newcastle and they will need to do some soul-searching before round one.

The Eels were professional without being brilliant but coach Brad Arthur will have been pleased with how they went about their business.

Halves Moses and Dylan Brown were strong, Junior Paulo came up with his usual quota of clever offloads and Clint Gutherson led the team well from fullback.

Winger Sean Russell showed he’s a first grader with two neat tries and some determined runs and much-maligned Jake Arthur came up with a nice try assist when given his chance.

ROOSTERS 16 SEA EAGLES 28

Manly’s new coach Anthony Seibold has clearly given his young team license to play what they see and back themselves in attack this season.

Manly were superb in a demolition job on the Roosters, with the final scoreline no reflection on the game.

The Roosters scored all their 16 points in a five minute burst – Manly totally dominated the remaining 75 minutes.

The most pleasing aspect for Manly is that it was their young guns that did all the damage.

Haumole Olakau’atu had a dynamic running and offloading game on the edge, while Tigers recruit Kelma Tuilagi was also punishing.

Hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong was good for the second consecutive week and Zac Fulton again stood out from the bench.

Out wide, the Sea Eagles were awesome, scoring a heap of long-distance tries, with winger Reuben Garrick bagging a hat trick and having another disallowed.

Fullback Kaeo Weekes produced a couple of try assists and centre Tolu Koula was too fast and strong for the Roosters defence.

Without halves Sam Walker and Luke Keary, the Roosters were clueless in attack and Trent Robinson has a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks.

Sure the Roosters had some stars missing, but Manly were without their two best players (Turbo and DCE) and their player of the year from 2022 (Lachlan Croker) and were still far too good.

PANTHERS 12 ST HELENS 13

Is the era of Penrith domination in danger of crumbling?

The question has to be asked after the Panthers – unbackable $1.06 favourites – were out-played and out-enthused by rank outsiders St Helens in the World Club Challenge.

The departure of their two most dangerous forwards – Viliame Kikau and Api Koroisau – has left the Panthers looking decidedly vulnerable.

They struggled to make yardage against the willing, but hardly intimidating, Saints pack and Ivan Cleary will need to go back to the drawing board over the next two weeks.

The return of star fullback Dylan Edwards and back-rower Liam Martin will help, but the Panthers just don’t look as menacing without their two forward stars.

They managed two tries against St Helens – both from kicks – and rarely troubled the visitors.

Full marks to Saints, who few gave any hope of even coming close to victory in the lion’s den in Sydney’s west.

Fullback Jack Welsby showed why NRL clubs are keen on his signature, scoring the opening try and saving one with a desperation tackle on the Panthers’ main man Nathan Cleary.

Konrad Hurrell – plenty of kilos heavier than in his NRL days with the Warriors and Titans, was a real handful and scored a try from short range with a determined run.

Halfback Lewis Dodd was again impressive and up front, Sione Mata’utia, Alex Walmsley and the old pro James Roby were top shelf.

BRONCOS 20 COWBOYS 18

Enigmatic young star Selwyn Cobbo has given Broncos coach Kevin Walters a viable option for round one with his performance in the Broncos’ come-from-behind win against the Cowboys.

With Reece Walsh racing the clock to be fit with a facial fracture, Cobbo stepped into the key fullback spot and was dynamic.

Should Walsh still be unavailable for round one in a fortnight, Coobo looks the goods.

Rival fullback Scott Drinkwater was also sharp in a top quality trial in which both teams completed at over 80 per cent.

Pat Carrigan led the way for the Broncos and his work-rate was outstanding.Cowboys utility Ben Hampton damaged his hamstring while making a run and looks set to miss the opening rounds.

The win was a big psychological boost for the Broncos, given their poor finish to last season and the fact that the teams will meet in round two.

WARRIORS 6 STORM 24

A typical Warriors performance, showing great spirit in the first half to lead 6-0 before crumbling after the break, conceding 24 unanswered points.

Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak posted the only try of the first half with a solo 70 metre bust from a scrum and the Kiwi team had the Storm clearly rattled.

But Craig Bellamy made some adjustments at the break – and probably fired a few missiles – and the Storm cruised home. New winger Will Warbrick was as dangerous as anyone on the field for the Storm.

A former Kiwi Olympic sevens silver medallist in rugby union, Warbrick beat four defenders for a great try and has size and speed to burn.

Joe Chan – a 20-year-old forward recruit from Catalans in France – also looked good for the Storm, as did Eli Katoa, who scored a try against his old club.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona was sharp for a big man so early in the season, scoring a determined try and running with real purpose.

TIGERS 36 RAIDERS 4

The Tigers needed to make a statement after they were AWFUL at the Warriors last week – they did that and then some in a comprehensive win over a disappointing Raiders outfit.

Danny Levi – in the mix for the hooking spot for round one with Zac Woolford and Tom Starling – got the Raiders off to a fine start with a great try from a Nick Cotric kick infield but from then on, Canberra showed very little.

Adam Doueihi was superb for the Tigers at five-eighth, setting up most of their attacking raids.

It was shades of the Tim Sheens – Benji Marshall combination in that magical winter of 2005, with the Tigers scoring long range tries and showing some razzle dazzle.

Tommy Talau, who missed all of 2022 with a knee injury, looked sharp in the centres and youngsters Junior Tupou and Shawn Blore all had fine touches. Brandon Wakeham, deputising for Luke Brooks at halfback, also gave the coaching staff plenty to think about with a strong effort.

BULLDOGS 16 SHARKS 36

After a great start to the Cameron Ciraldo era last week, the Bulldogs came crashing back to earth against a professional Sharks outfit.

With Nicho Hynes and Matt Moylan calling the shots, the Sharks were far to slick for the Doggies.

New signing Viliame Kikau got the Bulldogs off to the right start with a try from a kick but when a head knock brought an early end to his day, much of the air went out of the home team’s balloon.

Sharks fullback William Kennedy came up with the play of the day with a great trysaving tackle on Bulldogs centre Jake Averillo. Back-rower Teig Wilton bagged two tries for the Sharks, as did livewire winger Ronaldo Mulitalo as Cronulla racked up the points.

Biggest cheer of the day came when Josh Reynolds made an emotional return to Belmore, even though the score was 30-4 at the time, he brought all his enthusiasm and was rewarded with a try.

Hooker Nu Brown also pushed his place for inclusion in the Bulldogs’ top 17 with a trademark try from dummy half.

DOLPHINS 16 TITANS 40

Trials are normally about seeing young guns in action, but for Titans coach Justin Holbrook, the performance of two old hands gave him most pleasure in the demolition of the Dolphins.

Veteran five-eighth Kieran Foran was superb in his first game in Titans’ colours, having a hand in three tries.

And enigmatic back-rower David Fifita was at his dynamic best, swatting defenders off throughout his stint on the field.

Holbrook can build a winning team around these two class players – and the signs were good on Sunday night.

Rookie winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira certainly appreciated their service, running in four tries – including the first three of the game – to secure a spot for the start of the premiership.

The Dolphins’ right edge defence was a real problem, constantly targetted by Foran, and coach Wayne Bennett will need to plug the leaks over the next two weeks.

Another concern was that just one forward – Jarrod Wallace – managed to break three figures in running metres.

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