Sea Eagles fail to fire in NRL season opener

But if there was a team in the opening round of the premiership last weekend who dished up a wooden spoon-type performance, it was the Sea Eagles.

There were some worrying signs of a competition divide between the best and the rest last weekend and Des Hasler's men were well and truly on the side of the latter and at the bottom of that barrel.

They were awful against the Sydney Roosters and, for mine, were the major disappoints of the opening round.

Yes, they are missing Tom Trbojevic but a team with the likes of Daly Cherry-Evans, Kieran Foran, Dylan Walker and Marty Taupau in its ranks, among others, should not be dishing up a performance like that in the opening round.

They were made to look third rate by star Roosters' Luke Keary, James Tedesco and co.

Dessie is going to have to work a miracle to fix their defensive issues if they are to turn things around quickly.

His only saving grace is that it's early days.

Of the others, the much-hyped Rabbitohs were a real disappointment in the first half against a very good Melbourne team but did show what they may become this season if they manage to hang onto the ball, while the Titans may have been guilty of reading their own press before coming up with a monotonous effort in losing to the Warriors.

But now to the remaining games in round two following the Eels clash against the Storm at Bankwest Stadium on Thursday night.

This one shapes up as a battle of the two forward packs and if the Knights can reproduce the same sort of effort and commitment from their big men that they got against the Bulldogs, I can see them sneaking home in a tight one in Gosford.

The two Saifitis, big Dave Klemmer and Friz (Tyson Frizell) were really strong first up and that allowed Mitchell Pearce to direct his troops really well.

In Nathan Brown's first game as coach, the Warriors were powerful and really controlled in everything they did, led up front by Addin Fonua-Blake, against the Titans.

It was an impressive start for them and they will be highly competitive in this one.

The Titans failed miserably last week and need a lot more out of their halves but I'm expecting the Warriors loss to be the kick in the backside they need and they will just get home in this one.

For 40 minutes, the Broncos looked the goods against the Eels but they looked much more like the 2020 version of themselves when the pressure built after the break.

Kevvie Walters still has plenty of work to do.

I can't see anything but a Panthers victory here.

They were guilty of being in too big of a hurry in the first half against the Cowboys last weekend but got into their groove at the business end after the break and never looked like losing.

The Dogs, on the other hand, were only so-so against Newcastle first-up under Trent Barrett and will need to find a huge amount of improvement in the space of a week to stretch Penrith here.

The potential for a wet track at Brookvale might keep this game a little closer than people might think but provided the Bunnies respect the footy more than they did last week in going down to the Storm, they will have too much firepower for Manly.

I can imagine Wayne Bennett would have been talking about one thing and one thing only all week - clean up the errors.

Coach Todd Payten's message to his Cowboys players could not have been any louder after he openly criticised his highest profile and best player in Jason Taumalolo last weekend.

The coach was basically saying, 'cut corners and I don't care who you are, you will be called out on it'.

You can bet your life there will be a reaction at home in this one.

The Dragons competed hard against the Sharks but just didn't do it for 80 minutes.

I like the home side here.

There's no Friend and no Crighton but it's hard to see the Roosters getting beaten in this one after they showed last weekend they are going to be a real force again.

The Tigers were resilient against the Raiders and I thought there were some good signs from their defence but you won't beat the top sides if you keep shooting yourself in the foot when you have the footy.

Canberra was too frantic for its own good in the first half against the Tigers but like Penrith, their superiority shone out when they settled down and turned the screws in the second 40.

I'm expecting them to get even better as the season progresses.

The Sharks had their moments in beating the Dragons.

However, just like last season, are they capable of beating one of the top sides?

They need a big scalp and here is a chance for them to show they have actually progressed from last season.