It's been a long wait but finally the NRL is back and already there is several talking points. ESPN's NRL experts take a closer look and analyse the good, bad and the ugly in the Set of Six.
An injured Greg Inglis deserves better
NRL clubs, coaches and players are always preaching about the importance of player welfare, and rightly so, but what happened to Greg Inglis on Friday night flies in the face of that conversation.
Everyone in the game agrees that player welfare is a serious issue but it seems some NRL identities change those views when it involves a player from their club.
Inglis was clearly distressed after suffering a knee injury early in Souths' loss to Wests Tigers on Friday night and twice signalled to the Rabbitohs' medical staff that he wanted to come off. But he was forced to stay on the field until halftime and then re-appeared on the field to start the second forty minutes.
Inglis is one of the NRL's premier players and deserves to be shown more respect and not put in a position that may not only jeopardise his career but also embarrass him.
The fact that Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire failed to front and explain his side of the story speaks volumes; instead he let chief executive Shane Richardson and a number of his players face the music.
In a media release on Saturday, Richardson said club medical staff had deemed Inglis fit to continue. But both what transpired on Friday night, and the extent of Inglis' ACL injury, suggest that may have been a grave error in judgement. It's about time the NRL appointed its own doctors to avoid any conflict of interest or heavily fine clubs and coaches if breaches of this nature occur in future.
New season but same old Warriors
Every year it seems the Warriors are rated by many tipsters and so-called experts as serious premiership contenders and every year they let everyone down.
Sure, the Warriors started the 2017 NRL season with a win but they did so off the back of a contentious late try despite being at home, holding a commanding halftime lead and playing against Newcastle - the worst team of the past two years with just one win from their previous 26 starts.
The NRL ladder will show the Warriors are one from one but in truth, there are teams that were beaten in the opening round that were a lot more impressive.
Like all sides, the Warriors should improve as the season unfolds; the addition of Kieran Foran should help that. But too many expectant fans have been hurt too many times and immediate thoughts are that 2017 will just be another year of broken promises.
The play that proves why Thurston is still the best
Very few would argue that Johnathan Thurston is the best player in the NRL, possibly even the best player rugby league has ever seen, and one passage in the Cowboys' win over the Raiders on Saturday night shows what separates him from the rest.
With the game in the balance heading into golden point extra-time, the Cowboys, as they usually do, looked to Thurston for something brilliant, a slice of magic to get them out of jail - and once again he answered the call.
Round 1 is always physically and mentally draining. After playing 80 minutes of high-intensity football and battling fatigue, Thurston attempted a field goal that went horribly wrong. However, with almost every other player preparing for the re-start he saw an opportunity.
Thurston never took his eye off the ball as it bouncing off the underside of the crossbar, and then fizzed around in the in-goal area; he then reacted quickest and his action encouraged Gavin Cooper to follow suit and beat his captain to the ball for the winning try.
While it is just one match-winning play, it is further evidence of Thurston's never-say-die attitude, the competitive nature that puts him at another level and who knows, it may just be the play that proves the difference between a top-four or a top-eight finish at the end of the season.
Dragons throw preseason form guide out the window
Very few preseason predictions had St George Illawarra rated any higher than 15th, but the Dragons are arguably the talk of Round 1 and sit in top spot on the NRL ladder.
Sure, it's only Round 1. So any suggestion the Dragons are a genuine premiership contender are extremely premature. But after an offseason of widespread criticism, unfortunate injuries and some questionable recruitment, the Red V deserve their time in the sun.
St George Illawarra was given little hope against one of the preseason favourites in Penrith, but that lack of expectation seemed to spark them into action as they best 80-minute performance from a Dragons side in recent memory.
It is a long season but if they can maintain the rage, who says they can't defy the critics? After all, very few thought Cronulla would it last year.
NRL's new judiciary system already a mixed bag
The NRL should be applauded for thinking outside the square with the new judiciary system, but like any new initiative there are going to be positives and negatives.
The positive is that we should avoid any situations like last year that saw Wade Graham miss an State of Origin match as a result of a grade one offence. But under the new concept, players will be given the option of accepting a suspension or paying a fine.
Round 1 also highlighted the negative side of the idea with Melbourne centre Will Chambers free to play next week after paying a fine for running for distance and throwing a punch at a Canterbury player.
In the same match, the Storm's Cameron Munster was also found to have tripped Bulldogs forward Josh Jackson but he too will be free to line up again in Round 2 despite both incidents appearing to warrant at least one week on the sidelines.
There is never going to be a perfect outcome but surely punching and tripping warrant more than a grade one offence -- it maybe something for the NRL to review at a later date.
Eels win easily, but it's not all bad news for Sea Eagles
After finishing 2016 suspended, Parramatta half-back Corey Norman made a stunning return to the NRL as the Eels extended their recent dominance of arch-rival Manly to six consecutive wins.
Norman was instrumental in everything the Eels did well; scoring a try and kicking one of the most incredible 40/20's ever seen on a rugby league field to lay the platform for their second four-pointer.
Despite suffering a 20-12 defeat, it wasn't all bad news for the Sea Eagles. They were often the architects of their own demise with poor ball control handing the Eels 60 percent of possession. But Manly showed great commitment and pride in their defence, particularly during a midway through the second half when they held firm after seven consecutive goal-line drop-outs.
There were also promising signs from new signings Blake Green and Brian Kelly who both scored tries; so there is a sense that better times might just be around the corner for Manly.
While it is never ideal to start the season with a loss, there were some reasons for optimism for the Sea Eagles. If they can maintain that resolute brand of defence and improve their ball control then the Sea Eagles won't be that far away from playing finals football for the first time since 2014.