The opening round of the 2025 NRL season saw multiple highlights including Nathan Cleary starring in Las Vegas, the Manly Sea Eagles cementing themselves as premiership favourite and a Bulldogs recruit guiding them to victory.
Nathan Cleary impresses in Vegas
The 2025 NRL season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Penrith Panthers as they continued their form after losing Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Sunia Turuva in the off-season as they attempt to obtain a record fifth consecutive premiership and cement themselves as one of the greatest rugby league teams of all time.
Coming off an incredible 2024 Grand Final performance against the Melbourne Storm, Nathan Cleary once again was the star of the show as the club defeated the Cronulla Sharks by six points, 28-22.
Co-captain Isaah Yeo also led on the front foot from the middle of the field and managed to get a four-pointer, while Daine Laurie bagged a double coming off the interchange bench with Izack Tago and Paul Alamoti rounding out the scoring sheet.
Nathan Cleary, cold as ice 🥶#pantherpride 🐾 pic.twitter.com/W8XNPOH1BX
— Penrith Panthers 🐾 (@PenrithPanthers) March 3, 2025
Bulldogs recruit leads them to win over St George
In his first match for his new club, recruit Sitilli Tupouniua played a crucial role in helping guide the Canterbury Bulldogs to victory after a strong showing off the interchange bench. The Tongan international who was signed from the Sydney Roosters was the shining light in the performance alongside Matt Burton and Connor Tracey.
Scoring three tries in the opening half, the Bulldogs were able to hold on by eight points as the Dragons looked to come back through winger Christian Tuipulotu who scored a hat-trick on the wing.
“He’s a real professional. He got himself ready and started training with the team last week. When he jumped into our training, it lifted another level,” coach Cameron Ciraldo said on the forward.
“For him to get on (on Saturday) was awesome. We’re really glad he’s chosen to join our club, and he showed he can help us get better.”
JACOB LIDDLE THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS 💯 #NRLDragonsBulldogs Telstra Moment of the Match. pic.twitter.com/TMEl90pxVf
— NRL (@NRL) March 8, 2025
Manly duo star in dominant win
The Manly Sea Eagles produced an onslaught led by star duo Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans to open up their 2025 campaign and cement themselves as a force to be reckoned with this season.
A magical first-half display of ball dominance laid the groundwork for the Sea Eagles’ 42-12 win as they dominated possession and the game from start to finish against the North Queensland Cowboys.
A catch-and-pass in mid-air by Lehi Hopoate and multiple line-breaks by Tom Trbojevic were among the highlights as they scored three tries – Haumole Olakau’atu, Jason Saab and Ben Trbojevic – in the opening ten minutes of the match.
In a man-of-the-match performance, Tom Trbojevic finished the match with 165 running metres, seven tackle busts, one line-break and four line-break assists and two try assists.
RELENTLESS 👊 #NRLManlyCowboys Telstra Moment of the Match. pic.twitter.com/wuwYDQizfk
— NRL (@NRL) March 8, 2025