By BILLY GRIMSHAW
THE opening Friday night NRL games of 2017 showcased two stylistically differing contests that were captivating for very different reasons. Firstly, at ANZ Stadium  Wests Tigers raced clear of South Sydney to upset the odds and start their season with a 34-18 victory achieved due to an attacking style too hot to handle for the Bunnies.
The game began at a ferocious pace and some big hits were exchanged  before the Rabbitohs opened the scoring through Bryson Goodwin after good work by Greg Inglis. Winger Goodwin could not convert his own try from out wide.
The game quickly turned sour for Souths however, and it proved an unhappy reunion for former Tigers stalwart Robbie Farah on his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs. His error provided Ava Seumanufagai the platform to score the Tigers’ first points of 2017 after good hands from skipper Aaron Woods and debutant Moses Suli. The successful conversion by Mitchell Moses pushed the Tigers into a two point lead.
James Tedesco picked up where he left off in 2016 with a piece of magic when skipping past four Rabbitohs defenders on his way to a remarkable try on 19 minutes. Wests were quickly in South Sydney territory again from the kick off and Tedesco turned provider three minutes later as he supplied Chris Lawrence for the Tigers’ second try.
South Sydney looked shell shocked but on the stroke of half time Greg Inglis, who had picked up a knock earlier in the game, capitalised on a fortuitous bounce from a Cody Walker kick to limp to the line unopposed and touch down in the corner to reduce the half time deficit to just 10 points.
Any hopes of a South Sydney revival were extinguished minutes into the second half as the Tigers went the length of the field courtesy of a Suli break. Support from Tedesco led to him feeding Moses to race 60 metres to touch down under the sticks. Moses added the extras for his own try and the gap was 16 once more.
Ten minutes later, man of the match Tedesco was again instrumental in a Tigers try. Another half-break from the full back resulted in him finding Suli who fed Luke Brooks with a simple pass to extend the lead to 22 points.
Suli iced the cake of his debut with a try of his own on 57 minutes. The Tigers were threatening to run riot, but the Bunnies regrouped and scored the final two tries with 10 minutes remaining to head into double figures, with Goodwin scoring twice to bag a hat-trick on the left wing.(continued below)
A wet and wild Belmore Sports Ground is not a place many NRL coaches would choose to begin their season. However, Craig Bellamy will be delighted that his Melbourne Storm eventually overcame Canterbury Bulldogs 12-6 in an attritional contest.
A six minute burst proved enough for the Storm as they caught Canterbury cold with a blistering start. Their try scoring for the night was finished before ten minutes had elapsed, with Cheyse Blair touching down off the back of a Josh Addo-Carr break in just the third minute followed quickly by Suliasi Vunivalu leaping for a Cooper Cronk bomb to score in the sixth minute. Cameron Smith was off target with his first conversion attempt but made no mistake with his second and the Storm were 10-0 up.
After its whirlwind beginning, the game settled down into the arm wrestle many predicted due to conditions. Smith knew points would be at a premium and opted to kick a penalty goal on 24 minutes to create a 12-0 advantage for the visitors.
The Bulldogs had more possession throughout the opening 40 minutes but could not convert into points until on 29 minutes Josh Reynolds crossed the whitewash after Brenko Lee found him with a delightful inside ball. Tensions had been bubbling throughout the first half and punches thrown saw Will Chambers and Sam Kasiano head to the sin bin.
The Bulldogs looked to continue their momentum in the second half, but a further downpour played into the Storms’ hands. Canterbury continually forced passes and made errors in the torrential rain, while Melbourne ground out their sets and defended any pressure on their line resolutely. The second half ended scoreless and the Storm headed home with the victory.
