Wednesday 7 February 2018 08:08, UK
Sky Sports' Brian Carney reviews the opening six games of Super League XXIII.
Who caught his eye? Who needs to improve? And what can we glean from the opening weekend? Find out below...
The season got up and running at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last Thursday, with Leeds coming to town. I really don't think there was a great deal of attention or focus on Leeds, the reigning champions. Certainly not as much focus as there was on the Wolves.
Leeds at Old Trafford last October showed us that you don't need to worry about them. Forget about whatever start they have to the season, they're generally going to finish it strongly.
So the focus, from the neutral's point of view, was more on Warrington and how they would perform under their coach Steve Price, having parted ways with Tony Smith who brought huge success to the club.
Well, we heard the coaches speak afterwards about the clunky nature of the attack, and how both sides will get better as the season progresses. But I think you could probably put that game in round 23, and not see huge differences.
So I'm not sure how much emphasis I would put on the early-season rustiness tag. What I will say is that I saw great defensive efforts from both sides.
Some real hunger on the try line from both teams - Leeds in particular. If there's anything a coach would be most pleased about, it would be having a hunger in his defence so early in the season.
Leeds came out on top. Warrington will be looking for a win under Price as soon as they possibly can. And you have to wonder whether they are still under the shadow of last season's middle 8s.
A word of note too for Leeds' Richie Myler, who looks a different player. It is Myler against Danny McGuire on Thursday, as the grandmaster takes on his replacement, live on Sky Sports Arena.
On the same night Leeds ground out a win over the Wolves, Huddersfield made the trip to the KCOM Stadium.
The Giants rescued themselves from what was almost a hopeless position last year, so they would have gone out this year with a fair degree of belief.
At half-time at the KCOM, that belief would have been pretty strong and growing, but in the second half, Hull gave an indication that this year they are going to - as they've promised - take their game to a new level and target Old Trafford. Not just to be a top-four side but to be the top side.
Hull were massively impressive in the second half. Fetuli Talanoa's hat-trick was super, and Jake Connor is a player I'm going to be watching closely this season. He's incredibly talented and certainly has the skills to be one of the standout players of the competition.
Hull get on a plane to Australia next, but what about the team that will be going down to play them?
Wigan went to Salford on Friday and were very good in dispatching with the Red Devils.
You talk about season hangovers, well what must Salford have from last year? The capitulation from them in the second half of last season has gone straight into this year with a big scoreline against them in Round 1.
Wigan did a thoroughly professional job, marking themselves out as a side that were hurt by how they ended the season last year.
With Salford, again it is early days, but they look to have a mountain to climb, and losing Manu Vatuvei won't have helped that.
Rustiness was not in evidence over at the Totally Wicked Stadium. Saints gave an indication as to why they might be early-season favourites.
And remember the side that they demolished on Friday night was, I believe - notwithstanding the fact they lost the Grand Final - the best team of 2017: Cas Tigers.
In their last two matches, Castleford have been beaten, and beaten soundly. And didn't look to have answers.
They've got so much credit in the bank, that you're not going to judge Cas on that performance alone.
Are you going to judge St Helens on that performance alone? No. But just remember, they were a couple of Mark Perceival missed goalkicks away from getting to the Old Traofford Grand Final. So they have picked up where the left off from last year.
Saints look sharp. It was a very, very good day for Eamonn McManus and the club.
At the same time on Friday, we saw Hull KR host Wakefield. It's great to see Rovers back. I'm a fan of what Rob Crossland and Neil Hudgell are doing as prudent owners.
They started to build and recruit last year - something that gets overlooked sometimes - before the season had finished. They still have a bit of recruitment to do, there's no doubt about that.
The squad is looking a little skinny, and they've had some injuries already in the shape of Danny Addy and Nick Scruton. They can't afford that, and face a tough trip to Leeds on Thursday.
But, if they want to see a blueprint for prudence off the field and performance on it, they were playing against it on Friday in Wakefield.
Where can Trinity go? That's the big question. They got fifth last year - a remarkable achievement.
Such is the nature of the competition, fifth means you don't make the semis or a Grand Final obviously, and to an extent the season is not quite a failure, but you can't say you've won anything.
But a fifth-placed finish really was huge for Wakefield, and they are another team which has rolled into 2018 with the form of last year.
Tom Johnstone is back and scoring spectacular tries. He's a phenomenal finisher. There could be some good times ahead. They've beefed out their squad and are now probably a set-up that could ride a few injuries and deal with it.
Widnes are a side who had similar accusations of a lack of jaw-dropping signings - itself a criticism directed at James Rule and Denis Betts.
The Vikings headed into the season with, more or less, the same team as last year, with the additions of a couple of players, without wholesale changes. Well I tell you what, didn't they destroy the Dragons?
St Helens beating Cas by so many points is eye catching, but I really do think Widnes' performance against Catalans was a big statement.
These two had that tussle in the Super 8s last year. The loser was to go into the Million Pound Game, and there was nothing in it! It was a real scrap.
And yet on Sunday, Widnes blew them apart. It's arguably the result of the round.
Castleford conceding so many was surprising, but I would say the performance of the round goes to Widnes.
Catalans Dragons' penalty count is something they will have to address and address quickly. It's troubling for any side to concede so many points but they weren't alone this weekend.
They have St Helens on Saturday at their place. We will see if they do, or indeed can do, anything in six days to fix up discipline. Otherwise, life will be made very difficult in Super League.
It's all set up for Hull v Wigan Down Under then, as Wollongong gets to see two Super League powerhouses, and two sides who will tell you - and shown evidence for the fact - they are Old Trafford contenders this year.
There's been much spoken about off the field, with comings and goings and talk of restructuring the governance of the game, but I think all fans will be delighted that sure enough, once it kicked off, the old reliable rugby league delivered yet again.
