The new season is just two rounds in but already clubs are feeling the heat with a number of coaches making key positional changes in pursuit of points.
A change at halfback for the Rabbitohs didn’t exactly pay dividends, with Jason Demetriou’s side smashed by rivals the Roosters on Friday night.
Although it did for the Tigers on Saturday night, with Aidan Sezer guiding his side to an upset win over the Sharks during his first start at halfback for Benji Marshall’s side.
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Knights survive Storm scare to pick up first win
It may not have been an entirely convincing performance, but Newcastle have their first points on the board this season.
After a strong first half, the Knights were up 14-0 heading into the sheds.
Kalyn Ponga was particularly impressive, finding Enari Tuala with a bullet-like cutout pass for their second try.
NRL Round 3 results and live updates: Knights hold on against Storm for first win of 2024
“It’s a good lesson for us … we were quite clunky and gave away a number of penalties and made some errors and put some pressure on ourselves,” Manly coach Anthony Seibold said.
Api Koroisau stars as Benji Marshall secures first Tigers win
Wests Tigers were caught cold last week in their season opener against Canberra, with Benji Marshall declaring pre-match that he expected a response against Cronulla.
Yet his demands appeared to have fallen on deaf ears when Tom Hazelton barged over after 14 minutes to give the Sharks the lead.
But that was as good as it got for Craig Fitzgibbon’s men, as the young Tigers responded in spectacular fashion to post 30 unanswered points.
Api Koroisau was at the heart of the turnaround with his tenacious nature lifting not only his teammates but also the crowd at a boisterous Leichhardt Oval.
