Newcastle Knights vs North Queensland Cowboys – Sunday afternoon – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

I do enjoy the pre-season trials, primarily as an opportunity to see the youngsters coming through on the cusp of first grade football. They should almost never be considered a guide to results in the season proper. As an example, the Cowboys beat the Bulldogs in week one of the trials, and the following week the Bulldogs beat the Knights 28-0. On paper that looks compelling evidence, but the Bulldogs were close to full strength against the Knights, and were far from that against the Cowboys. The Cowboys also racked up 66 points over the Panthers, but once again, the Cowboys were close to full strength and the Panthers weren't. That said, winning is contagious, and as a club you would rather win your trials than lose them, so it's not nothing. Some major changes for the Knights in season 2026, with a new coach (the chronically under-appreciated Justin Holbrook). Almost as importantly, Dylan Brown makes his Knights debut and he'll be under plenty of scrutiny. If anyone can untap his talent, Holbrook can. He was a standout in the Pacific Championships, and maybe he is the playmaker the Knights have needed for a very long time. If it works, the combination of Brown and Ponga will be hard to stop, and they'll be ably supported by Fletcher Sharpe and former Rooster Sandon Smith. Their forward pack looks a little iffy, but they do have some big boppers in the backline (Young, Best, Marzhew) who can lend a hand carting the ball up the park. Less change for the Cowboys, but they have added two new number nines to the list (Mahoney and Luke). They're trying to fill the shoes of a good one though (Robson), and with all the respect in the world to Mahoney and Luke, it looks like a downgrade. As for the game on Sunday, I like the look of all that size in that Knights backline. I think they can trouble the Cowboys out wide. Bradman Best is a generous price in try-scoring markets. He's the sort of footballer that lifts for the big occasions.

Verdict - Knights by 4

Result - Knights 28 defeated Cowboys 18

Canterbury Bulldogs vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Sunday afternoon – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

These sides met in round one last season where the Bulldogs prevailed in a tight contest at the mighty Jubilee Oval/Park/Paddock/Stadium. Fair to say that playing at the AUS$2.5 billion Allegiant Stadium is an upgrade. Not sure if anyone else is curious about ticket sales, but I was curious enough to do a quick count of tickets still available. Back of the envelope mathemagics tells me there are about 3275 tickets unsold as of right now. Mind you, I believe the very top tier of the Death Star won't be open, so I'm not entirely sure where that leaves us when it comes to a tickets sold number. Let's guess 40000+ shall we. Useful Thinker...very useful. As for the game itself, it's been quite some time since the Dragons beat the Bulldogs, and there haven't been enough significant roster shifts for either team to have me thinking that trend will change. Phil Gould will tell anyone who wants to listen that Bailey Hayward has impressed more than anyone else in the off-season, so I'm interested to see how he goes at dummy-half this season. There are rumours that Burton managed to hit the stadium roof with one of his bombs earlier this week, so I'm hoping that's true and I'm hoping he repeats it during the match. He's the sort of guy that could be fielding enquiries from NFL teams if he gets the chance to show off. He might drop a field goal from range too, if only to impress the locals.

Verdict - Bulldogs by 7

Result - Bulldogs 15 defeated Dragons 14

Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels – Thursday night – AAMI Park

With round one of the NRL now spread across 8 days, it's a bit of a nightmare for tipsters like us. At time of writing, we don't have official team lists for this game and the games that follow. Keep your eyes peeled for team changes in the days ahead. For the Storm, we know that they will be missing some very important people. Papenhuyzen (retired), Katoa (recovering), Loiero (suspended) and Coates out with a pre-season achilles injury. Add to the doubtfuls Howarth who is hoping to overcome a groin injury for this game. The Eels have lost Addo-Carr and there has to be some doubts about Longi lining up, and they'll be without Brown for the first time in a long time. A few new recruits of note for the Eels - Pezet is spending a year in transit at Parramatta before heading to Brisbane, and De Belin is a reluctant Eel after the Dragons couldn't find a spot for him in their roster. Helpful inclusions, and the Storm clearly aren't bringing their best line-up, but the Storm have that first round record to hang on to. Given the AFL hasn't grabbed Melbourne in it's usual winter sport chokehold this is a chance for The Storm to get a few headlines in bleak city. As evidence, they played the Eels in round one last season and won 56-18. I'm not expecting that, but I expect the purple will prevail.

Verdict - Storm by 8

​​​​​​​Result - Storm 52 defeated Eels 4

New Zealand Warriors vs Sydney Roosters – Friday afternoon – Go Media Stadium

The Roosters are far too professional to ever have a roster that falls out of contention, but if they are going to win a premiership in the next 3-4 years, this might be the year they do it. It's a red-hot rooster roster this season, but they will have some major line-up changes in the not-too-distant future. Tedesco is 33. Tupou is 34. Cherry-Evans is 37. Crichton and Nawaqanitawase are joining the union. Everyone is replaceable, but they aren't easily replaced. Cherry-Evans is the big name recruit, and the Chooks are hoping to do with him what they did with Cooper Cronk not so long ago. He also gets a year in the system working with the young playmakers in the squad, so there are benefits to his signing that won't be immediately obvious. If I had to pick one team as the team most likely to win the premiership this year this might be the team I'd pick. Given that, I have to tip them here. Khan-Pereira joins the Warriors this season and he's a try-scoring freak. That said, I expect the Chooks will target him with high balls close to the line. With that in mind, Nawaqanitawase is an obvious choice in try-scoring markets.

Verdict - Roosters by 4

​​​​​​​Result - Warriors 42 defeated Roosters 18

Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

The last time these sides met was at this venue in a preliminary final, and it was quite the afternoon. I've heard some pretty loud crowds at Lang Park over the years, but the last ten minutes of that game was the loudest. For those that wish to reminisce, you can watch the highlights here. We got a fair look at the Broncos in the World Club Challenge, and for the third time in a row the Poms have knocked us off. The Broncos may have taken a while to thaw out, but by the the time they got going it was too late. They've made a habit of finishing late in recent games, and it's not the easiest way to win a game of football. Still, it tells you how fit they are, which is no surprise given the coach. They'll need to back up from the trip across the world and back, and conditions in Brisbane in early March will be a lot different to the North of England, but they're fit, and the memories of their last game against Penrith will linger long. I'll leap to the conclusion that the Bris Vegas crowd will match the Las Vegas crowd for attendance...at least. That doesn't hurt the home side either.

Verdict - Broncos by 4

​​​​​​​Result - Panthers 26 defeated Broncos 0

Cronulla Sharks vs Gold Coast Titans – Saturday afternoon – Ocean Protect Stadium

Could it be that the Titans are finally going to emerge from what has been an almighty slumber? Their trial form has been excellent and in recent weeks they've managed to extend the contracts of some key players (Fa'asuamaleaui, Campbell, Bai). Perhaps the new coach is the key to unlocking all that potential in the Gold Coast region. Josh Hannay will certainly know a fair bit about their opponents in round one, which can only help. While I'm expecting improvement, I can't expect miracles, and I need to remind myself that these sides met twice last year. The Sharks won by 32 the first time and by 44 the second time. I expect the Titans will be more competitive this time, but will likely fall short.

Verdict - Sharks by 7

​​​​​​​Result - Sharks 50 defeated Titans 10

Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday night – 4 Pines Park

Put me in coach. I'm ready to play today. Fogarty makes his debut for the Sea Eagles against his former club. He's got big shoes to fill, and Fogarty would be the first person to tell you that he's no Cherry-Evans. What he is though, is a thoroughly decent playmaker, goalkicker and human being. Ticks a lot of boxes and he will get the job done. Manly do have a young prospect coming through in Joey Walsh, who may get a run off the bench on Saturday night. As for the Raiders, just about everyone seems to have forgotten how good the minor premiers were last season. Granted they were knocked out of the finals in straight sets, but their finals loss to the Broncos might have brought their finals campaign undone. I've never seen a team celebrate victory three times in one game...and lose. I'm not likely to ever see it again. The Raiders will have a pair of Ethans playing in the halves, and they have another Ethan (Alaia) coming through the ranks who plays fullback. I'm crossing my fingers that all three get named in the spine for a game so I can call them the 'Threethans'. Brookvale on a Saturday night is an awful place to play for visiting teams, but I'm tipping the Raiders in an upset. 

Verdict - Raiders by 2

​​​​​​​Result - Raiders 29 defeated Sea Eagles 28

Redcliffe Dolphins vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Sunday afternoon – Suncorp Stadium

The 2026 Dolphins backline should be hanging in The Louvre. The team that scored more tries than any other team last year (but still missed the top eight). With Katoa and Nikorima scheming around the middle and outside backs that look like they're running downhill, I'll admit that I'm a little bit excited about what they might be able to do on a Sunday afternoon at Suncorp. It might take them a little while to really hit their straps, but when they do this team will be compulsory viewing. Cobbo is looking fit and engaged and Farnworth is back from injury. And let's all cross our everythings and hope that Flegler gets through the game unscatched. The player, and the club, deserve that if only as a reward for their perserverance. The crusty old coach from Redfern is too good at this caper for his team to be ignored, and I expect his team to perform much better this season. If anyone can turn Fifita into an unstoppable force, it's Wayne Bennett. I'm with the Dolphins though - there's some older legs in that Bunnies backline and I think the Dolphins will be too slick and too quick.

Verdict - Dolphins by 10

​​​​​​​Result - Rabbitohs 40 defeated Dolphins 30

Wally Lewis - round one selections (in bold)

Note: tips from Wally will be published on Wednesday night or Thursday morning

• Knights vs COWBOYS
• BULLDOGS vs Dragons
• STORM vs Eels
• Warriors vs ROOSTERS
• BRONCOS vs Panthers
• SHARKS vs Titans
• SEA EAGLES vs Raiders
• DOLPHINS vs Rabbitohs