The Telstra Premiership NRL 2023 season draw is here and with it comes the prospect of a new opportunity for clubs to surge to a title, the chance to witness the emergence of fresh, young talent and importantly for one-eyed rugby league fans, revenge.
While there are plenty of storied rivalries in the game and some huge one-on-one match ups between players to look forward to, below are five "revenge games" to look forward to in season 2023.
Parramatta Eels v Penrith Panthers - Round 4 at CommBank Stadium
Fans don’t have to wait too long to see a rematch of last year’s grand final which saw Penrith Panthers earn back-to-back titles after comprehensively outplaying the Eels at Accor Stadium.
Over as a contest at halftime after the boys in black raced out to an 18-0 lead at the break, Parramatta will be keen for this match to roll around to try and put some salve on the hurt that no doubt still burns.
After they buried their semi-final hoodoo with a huge win in Week 2 of the finals against Canberra, belief had started to grow that the Eels would be able to end the competition’s longest premiership drought as well.
However, it wasn’t to be and Parramatta fans will be hoping their side can go one further this season, while Penrith fans will be keen to see their team add another win against the Eels to their tally.
Match Highlights: Panthers v Eels
Roosters v Rabbitohs - Round 3 at Allianz Stadium
Sure, it’s on the list every year, but there is no denying the fact the rivalry between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs is so big, it sucks in other fans from other clubs who might not have a care either way about the two teams during their day-to-day lives. There have been some epic match-ups in the past, but rugby league lovers don’t even need to look past what happened between the teams during the 2022 season which wrote another chapter in their long and bitter history.
The two teams faced off three times last season with South Sydney comfortably winning their Round 3 encounter, but it was their back-to-back meetings in Round 25 and Finals Week 1 that didn’t just add fuel to the fire, but engulfed the competition as well. While their final round match saw two players sin-binned with Nat Butcher (Roosters) and Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs) told to cool their heels, in the following week, a record seven players were sent to the sin bin (including both Tane Milne and Victor Radley twice) in a fiery elimination final. When the two sides face off for the first time next season in Round 3 – here’s hoping for the same level of passion, but a higher level of player discipline.
Sharks v Cowboys - Round 9 at PointsBet Stadium
It took 93 minutes to decide the winner between Cronulla Sharks and North Queensland Cowboys in their opening weekend finals match match last year, with the big boot of Valentine Holmes finally breaking the deadlock with a rare two-point field goal. Following that epic encounter, the Sharks were thrust into an elimination final against the Rabbitohs and were blown off the park early, trailing 18-0 at the halftime break.
Cronulla, who were guided into the post-season by a Dally M-winning season from star recruit Nicho Hynes, had their chances to win the Finals Week 1 encounter, but the Cowboys kept pegging them back, holding the Sharks to 18-18 at halftime and 30-30 at fulltime, and again at 30-30 after 10 minutes of extra time.
The two sides also have an interesting subplot during finals matches, with the Cowboys left dejected after a tackle count error saw Beau Ryan score a crucial try in the seventh minute from a seventh tackle in their 2013 elimination final.
While North Queensland won their final last year against the Sharks, they will also be keen to face off against their preliminary finals opponents the Eels who claimed victory in Townsville. That match courted controversy after NRL Executive General Manager – Elite Football Graham Annesley conceded that a try was scored following a forward pass from Mitchell Moses to Isaiah Papali'i, and should have been denied, which may have made a difference to the final 24-20 result in Parramatta’s favour. The Eels host the Cowboys in Round 13.
Melbourne v Raiders – Round 24 at AAMI Park
While some considered Canberra Raiders, who finished eighth on the ladder, defeating Melbourne Storm, who finished fifth, somewhat of an upset in Finals Week 1 this past season, the 28-20 result was simply part of a recent pattern that has emerged between the two clubs. For some inexplicable reason that players, coaching staff and fans would no doubt love to get to the bottom of, it seems neither side can beat the other at their own home venue.
Heading into the elimination final at AAMI Park, the Raiders had won four straight matches at AAMI Park, including their most recent visit in Round 18. The Storm on the other hand had won on all four occasions when travelling to GIO Stadium since 2017. Melbourne also claimed a win in Wagga Wagga at the Raiders ‘home away from home’ in Round 5.
In finals, they have a similar history. Prior to this year, the last time the sides met in the opening weekend of the finals was in 2019 which saw the fourth-placed Canberra travel to AAMI Park and upset the top-ranked Storm 12-10, while in 2020, Melbourne got one back, beating the Raiders 30-10 in the preliminary final to deny them a place in the decider which the Storm went on to win.
Overall, the Raiders and Storm have played each other 52 times, with the Storm winning 36 of those meetings.
Dolphins draw examined for debut season
Dolphins v Broncos - Round 4 at Suncorp Stadium
The Dolphins may not have kicked a ball in anger just yet, but there is no doubt the club were waiting with bated breath to see when they’d get a crack at upsetting ‘big brother’ the Brisbane Broncos.
Forget the headlines about the two clubs fighting for players and for corporate dollars, the main contest will be staged on the field, at a home ground they will share this season in Suncorp Stadium.
“It’ll be two Brisbane clubs together, will be a bit like Manchester City and Manchester United and some of those competitions around the world that have that type of situation. I hope it is [like that] — I want it to be that way as there’s great interest,” Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said about the rivalry at his new club’s press conference on their first official day of pre-season.
Both sides will be hoping to create a rivalry like the one formed between the Broncos and Cowboys in recent years which has produced some epic encounters.
With a number of players such as Anthony Milford, Brenko Lee, Jarrod Wallace, Herman Ese'ese, Jamayne Isaako, Kodi Nikorima, Sean O'Sullivan and of course, coach Bennett, having featured for the Broncos in the past, there's plenty of history already between them and the Dolphins.
The Dolphins will also have a friendly rivalry with Gold Coast Titans, having denied them the chance to claim the marine mammal moniker, and also, with three players headed over from the club in Ese'se, Isaako and Wallace, the players will have fun facing off as well.
