2024 NRL: Round 1 Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 1 of the National Rugby League competition.

Final Scores

RAIDERS 28 d KNIGHTS 12

SHARKS 16 d WARRIORS 12

STORM 8 d PANTHERS 0

EELS 26 d BULLDOGS 8

DRAGONS 28 d TITANS 4

COWBOYS 43 d DOLPHINS 18

BYE: TIGERS

Related: Round 1 Review (Las Vegas)

Current Ladder

North Queensland Cowboys 2 pts (25),  St George-Illawarra Dragons 2 pts (24),  Parramatta Eels 2 pts (18),  Canberra Raiders 2 pts (16),  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2 pts (12),  Sydney Roosters 2 pts (10),  Melbourne Storm 2 pts (8),  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2 pts (4),  Wests Tigers 2 pts (),  New Zealand Warriors 0 pts (-4),  Penrith Panthers 0 pts (-8),  Brisbane Broncos 0 pts (-10),  South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 pts (-12),  Newcastle Knights 0 pts (-16),  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 0 pts (-18),  Gold Coast Titans 0 pts (-24),  Dolphins 0 pts (-25).

Total round 1 points: 293 (+11 on 2023)
Avg round 1 margin: 14.63 (+5.88 on 2023)
Teams kept scoreless in round 1: Penrith (0-8 vs Storm, AAMI Park, 8/3/24)
Highest aggregate score in round 1: 61 (Cowboys 43, Dolphins 18, Suncorp Stadium, 10/3/24)
Hat-tricks in round 1: Tyrell Sloan (3, Dragons vs Titans, CBUS Super Stadium, 9/3/24)
Most points in a game in round 1: Reuben Garrick (16 – 1T, 6G; Sea Eagles vs Rabbitohs, 3/3/24)

Review

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North Queensland are top of the ladder at the end of round 1.

The Cowboys closed the extended opening round with a big win over The Dolphins at Lang Park. In an entertaining clash, the Cowboys scored seven tries to The Dolphins’ three. The most contentious try was the Cowboys’ last: Zac Laybutt was awarded a penalty try after being tackled off the ball by Jack Bostock while chasing a Chad Townsend kick.

The Dragons are in second place after a massive win at Cbus Super Stadium. The Dragons built on a 6-4 half-time lead, with Tyrell Sloan completing a hat-trick in the second half.

Parramatta had a comfortable win at CommBank Stadium. The Eels led 20-0 early in the second half, with a double to Bryce Cartwright. The Bulldogs got within 12 in the final minutes, but Bailey Simonsson sealed the win for the Eels.

Canberra opened the second half of round 1 with an upset win at Newcastle. The Milk built on an 8-6 half-time lead with tries to Danny Levi, Xavier Savage, Jordan Rapana, and Hudson Young. Not even a late try to Jackson Hastings – cutting the margin to 10 – flustered the Raiders (who’ve had a nasty habit of letting big leads go).

Melbourne extended their amazing round 1 record to 22 years. Over 20,000 filled AAMI Park (the Storm was the only team in town as the AFL took their Opening Round games to New South Wales and Queensland) with Reimis Smith scoring the game’s only try in the 49th minute. Soni Luke scored for Penrith a few minutes earlier, but it was called back with Jahrome Hughes obstructed in the lead-up. It was the first time Penrith were held scoreless since Round 22, 2022 (also against Melbourne).

Cronulla had an important win Mt Smart Stadium. The Warriors raced to a 12-0 lead early, but the Sharks dominated from there, outscoring the Wahs 12-0 in the second half (tries to Ronaldo Mulitalo and Siosifa Talakai) and held onto a four-point lead for the last 23 minutes. With the Sharks criticised for failing to beat top eight teams, could this win finally turn that hoodoo around?

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Key Stats

• Melbourne Storm continue their unbeaten round 1 record which now stretches to 22 matches.
• Melbourne Storm’s victory over Penrith Panthers by 8-0 was the lowest aggregate round 1 score in a decade. The previous lowest was 10 points (Bulldogs 6-4 vs Cowboys, QLD Country Bank Stadium, 13/3/22; Eels 8-2 vs Bulldogs, CommBank Stadium 12/3/20)
• St George-Illawarra Dragons ended their losing streak away from home after 559 days with victory over the Gold Coast Titans.
• Tyrell Sloan scored his first career hat-trick and became the first player to score a hat-trick in the 2024 NRL season.
• North Queensland Cowboys posted their highest score in the NRL at Suncorp Stadium, breaking their previous best (38 pts vs Broncos), set on March 27, 2022 (714 days earlier).

Upcoming Scoring Milestones

• Valentine Holmes is 12 points way from 1,000 career points
• Reuben Garrick is 22 points away from 1,000 career points
• Alex Johnston is 12 tries away from 200 career tries
• Latrell Mitchell is one away from 100 career tries
• Ryan Papenhuyzen and Xavier Coates are one try away from 50 career tries
• Jesse Ramien is 2 tries away from 50 career tries