THIS Saturday, Rugby League rolls into Allegiant Stadium for Las Vegas’ biggest show since Elvis donned rhinestones.
While Wigan’s date with Warrington and England’s women’s international against Australia gives UK fans plenty to look forward to, Aussies will be locked into the NRL season openers involving four clubs with big plans for 2025.
Canberra Raiders v New Zealand Warriors
AUSTRALIANS love a British back-rower: Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis, Adrian Morley, John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead, the list goes on.
Whitehead’s move to Catalans this season left room in Canberra’s forward pack for Matty Nicholson, who’ll make his NRL debut against the Warriors in Vegas.
The 21-year-old England international makes the move from Warrington to team up with fellow Halifax product Morgan Smithies in a youthful Canberra line-up that will be eyeing a return to the finals this year.
Nicholson is one of many relative rookies Ricky Stuart will rely upon this season, particularly in the back line, which will feature Kaeo Weekes and Ethan Strange in the spine with 19-year-old Chevy Stewart snapping at their heels.
The young Englishman will have plenty of experience alongside him in the pack, though, thanks to the likes of Joseph Tapine and Josh Papali’i.
It sets up a mouth-watering battle of the big men against the Warriors, who’ll be led by new recruit James Fisher-Harris.
Fisher-Harris brings four NRL premiership rings to Auckland having laid the physical foundation for Penrith’s recent dominance.
And he’ll need every ounce of that experience to fill the void left by reigning Dally M prop of the year Addin Fonua-Blake, who’s joined Cronulla, and workhorse Tohu Harris, who’s succumbed to a chronic wrist injury.
The other gap in Andrew Webster’s team sheet is the playmaking vacancy left by retired talisman Shaun Johnson.
Two of Luke Metcalf, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Te Maire Martin and Tanah Boyd will fill the halves positions.
The Warriors’ hopes of rebounding from a lacklustre 2024 rests on their ability to cook up a combination in those key posts.
Penrith Panthers v Cronulla Sharks
IN THE spirit of the American experiment, the heavyweight clash between Penrith and Cronulla shapes as a showdown between two elite quarterbacks: Nathan Cleary and Nicho Hynes.
Fresh off claiming his fourth straight NRL crown, you might think Cleary has very little still to prove.
But with long-time halves partner Jarome Luai joining the Tigers in 2025, Batman has to prove he can be the hero without Robin by his side.
Highly-fancied 19-year-old Parramatta recruit Blaize Talagi and recent deputy Jack Cole are the main candidates vying for Luai’s number-six jumper.
And it’s not the only hole coach Ivan Cleary needs to plug, with Fisher-Harris and winger Sunia Turuva also leaving.
Penrith’s quest for a historic fifth straight premiership begins on the other side of the Pacific Ocean against a Cronulla side desperate to shake their reputation as flat-track bullies.
The Sharks have finished second, sixth and fourth in their three campaigns under Craig Fitzgibbon so far, winning just one of their six play-off games in that period — including their preliminary final defeat to the eventual premiers six months ago.
This is a side in Hynes’ image. The ex-Storm man was Fitzgibbon’s key recruit, immediately installed as captain and collecting the Dally M Medal in his first season in southern Sydney.
But Hynes’ inconsistencies mirror his team’s, becoming one of the NRL’s most maligned figures.
And the 28-year-old has a perfect opportunity to silence his doubters with a round-one assignment against the competition’s benchmark.
Fonua-Blake is a massive addition to Fitzgibbon’s forward pack, and will guarantee Hynes a better platform to launch from.