Matt Russell's Rd2 Toyota Cup preview

Round 2 of the Toyota Cup competition will see the Fox Sports cameras in New Zealand and Parramatta. Commentator Matt Russell looks at the National Youth Competition as the Warriors look to improve on their first round disappointment and the Eels play for back to back wins.<br><br><b>Stepping up..</b><br><br>Each day of Round 1 showed why watching the Toyota Cup is like looking into the future. Toyota Cup graduates starred every day. <br><br>On Friday, Brisbane fullback Corey Norman stopped tries and set them up in a man-of-the-match performance against North Queensland.<br><br>Lachlan Coote scored two tries in Penrith's win against Canberra on Saturday.<br><br>Sunday started with Kevin Gordon's speed saving Gold Coast against the Warriors.<br><br>It finished with Robert Lui and Kieran Foran head to head in the Tigers' Monday thriller against Manly.<br><br>Who will it be this weekend?<br><br><b>Case for the defence..</b><br><br>The 2009 Toyota Cup averaged 55 points per game with plenty of blowout scores.<br><br>As a result, North Queensland's 14-12 win against Brisbane must have forced a few "double takes" by readers.<br><br>It was one of six games decides by eight points or less.<br><br>The average scoreline in Round 1 was 29-21 compared with 35-18 last year.<br><br><b>Put a Penny on top..</b><br><br>Penrith was the only team to pass 40 points in Round 1, too good for first year premiers Canberra 46-26.<br><br>The Panthers raced in eight tries and Ali Beale landed seven from eight with the boot.<br><br>Kurtley's relative might be the ingredient to help Penrith improve on last year's 13th place.<br><br><b>Nerves of steel..</b><br><br>The bravest Toyota Cup act came from a punter who invested $50,000 on Manly to beat 2009 Grand Finalists Wests Tigers on Monday night.<br><br>He got the Sea Eagles at $2 and collected his $100,000... but only after sweating through a tight contest, which Manly sealed 20-12 with a try in the 77th minute.<br><br>It was TAB Sportsbet's biggest Toyota Cup wager ever.<br><br>Will he be back this weekend when Manly travels to play Parramatta?<br><br>The Sea Eagles took the minor premiership last year but slipped straight out the back door with consecutive losses in the finals.<br><br>Coach David Penna would love to start 2010 with consecutive wins!<br><br>Join myself and Brett Kimmorley for all the action on Fox Sports 2 from 11.30am EDT on Sunday. <br><br><b>Young Guns..</b><br><br>After each game this season, my co-commentator will name their Young Gun and we had two strong winners in Round 1.<br><br>On Saturday, Stuart Raper opted for Newcastle pivot Tyrone Roberts, who scored two tries, kicked well and built on his promising pre-season. He helped the Knights score 28 unanswered points to come from 24-4 down to win 32-24.<br><br>On Sunday, Scott Sattler couldn't go past Gold Coast back-rower Ryan James, who looks every inch a future first grader. James scored three tries as the Titans scored a major upset against the Warriors 32-26. A late New Zealand try made that result look closer than it was.<br><br><b>Don't blink..</b><br><br>Newcastle's win featured a try to Matt Herman after 14 seconds!<br><br>It is surely the fastest try in Toyota Cup history but not rugby league.<br><br>Last year Albert Kelly raced over in 10 seconds for Wentworthville against Newtown at Henson Park last year... and finished with five for the game!<br><br>It's worth a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiF8Zo3S8f8<br><br>Kelly played Toyota Cup for Parramatta last year and is now on the NRL bench for Cronulla.<br><br><b>Who'd be a coach..</b><br><br>Bulldogs mentor Andy Patmore was looking forward to having power forward Paki Afu in his ranks for Round 1.<br><br>Instead the Tonga international was a late scratching.<br><br>He broke his knuckle in an "incident" unrelated to footy!<br><br><b>Standout stats..</b><br><br>James Stosic is a name already known in rugby league circles. Now there's another one.<br><br>He was a busy boy for the Tigers against Manly, leading the game's tackle count on 57, heading the Tigers' hitups with 14 and running 141 metres, equal best for the Tigers.<br><br>The original James Stosic is playing for Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup.<br><b><br>Wobbly Warriors..</b><br><br>The Warriors were deserved $1.45 favourites against Gold Coast on Sunday but let their supporters down badly.<br><br>The Gold Coast played an up-tempo game, matched the Warriors physically and earned a 32-26 victory.<br><br>Some of the first half hits were outstanding but the Warriors' egos copped the worst bruising.<br><br>They have six players in their third year of Toyota Cup, skill at the scrumbase and power up front. Having made the finals for the first two years of the competition they should do so again but will need to cut their mistakes and win in Australia consistently.<br><br>Expect them to bounce back against the Sharks this week.<br><br>You can catch all the action on Fox Sports 2 from 3.15pm EDT on Saturday.