Off the Wall

Last night was a fitting end to round one of the premiership!

A last minute win, a great game, and the portents of what lies ahead.

I saw half a dozen games over the weekend...with one exception they were tight and thrilling contests worthy of the most competitive premiership competition in Australian sport.

And it was surely made even better by the wet weather conditions in the matches played in Sydney and Canberra.

I thought the stand out match was the grand final replay...played before a huge crowd at Auckland's Eden Park.

The Sea Eagles and the Warriors are going to be "there or there abouts" come finals time.

Daly Cherry Evans again demonstrated he is right up there among the best players in the game today.

A long and outstanding representative career surely lies ahead.

The Thursday night experiment proved a massive ratings winner for Nine in Sydney - and even in Brisbane where it was a delayed coverage.

Thursday night should not be a regular night for the premiership - but a few well promoted special event matches might be fine...especially during school holidays.

Sadly, a couple of simply inexcusable blunders by referees and "side line" officials intervened.

But what would the premiership be without them?

If we can have more rounds like round one then this will be the best premiership yet.

And that could not be better timed!