2017

Despite a new-look team, several debutants and suffering injuries to key players, the Storm remain undefeated in claiming gutsy wins in both their games on the road under torrential conditions.

After blowing Manly away late in a runaway 38-18 win at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon, the two best pieces of news for Souths fans were the reinvigorated forward pack – which seemed to benefit from the return of George Burgess despite one costly error – and the immediate spark generated between fullback Alex Johnston, five-eighth Cody Walker, halfback Adam Reynolds and dummy-half pair Robbie Farah and Damien Cook. 

Canberra appeared to run out of energy in the second half as the defending premiers piled on five unanswered tries before Jack Wighton pegged one back in the dying stages.

Hunt's heroics were not enough, with the Broncos falling 21-20 to the Cowboys in another exhilarating golden point contest at Suncorp Stadium. 

Despite the loss, there are positive signs for Brisbane and their fans, with Hunt putting in an inspiring 80-minute performance. 

After receiving a lot of criticism during the week about his poor kicking performance in Round 1, Hunt bounced back in a big way and sent a message to his critics. 

It took nine rounds for the Tricolours to register two wins in 2016, but last year's strugglers have already equalled that mark a fortnight into the new season. 

The halves pairing of Luke Keary and Mitchell Pearce picked up from where they left off on the Gold Coast with the duo playing a part in almost all of their side's five tries. 

There were plenty of positive signs for the Bulldogs who started and finished the game on fire despite being ravaged by injuries throughout the contest.  

The Saints are coming 

What a time to be alive for Dragons fans. Saturday's 42-10 win over the Panthers sent shockwaves through the competition and forced rugby league scribes to update their record books. The 32-point win eclipsed their previous biggest wins over Penrith (42-14 in 2001 and 38-10 in 2009), while Gareth Widdop's 22-point haul equalled the club record for most points in a game, tying Amos Roberts's effort from 2000 and Jamie Soward's day out against Canberra in 2007.

Hat-trick heroe

‌But Newcastle believe there were signs in the 26-22 defeat to the Warriors on Sunday which suggest they are a much-improved side this time around.

"I thought we showed that we are certainly a far better football team than last year," coach Nathan Brown said.

Here's our guess at the likely line-ups for all 16 clubs based on off-season player moves and the current injury list.

BRISBANE - JAI ARROW: Former Australian schoolboy representative who only averaged 23 minutes in the 12 matches of his rookie year, but will likely to take on a more senior role following the retirement of Corey Parker.

CANBERRA - CLAY PRIEST: Went from Sydney labourer to one of the real finds for the Raiders in attack during the second half of 2016 before injury cut short his finals hopes.

10. Scott Bolton (Cowboys)