Talking Points, Round 3, Dylan Edwards vs James Tedesco, Roosters vs Panthers, Reece Walsh, Storm vs Broncos, Kalyn Ponga, Knights vs Warriors

Dylan Edwards is set for an epic showdown with James Tedesco when the Roosters host the Panthers, with an Origin Blues jersey on the line.

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ answer to the Michael Maguire pressure pile-on has been revealed ahead of the Grand Final rematch with the Storm.

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And Kalyn Ponga’s value has been called into question amid damning stats about the games he has missed due to injury during his Knights career.

Read on for the key Talking Points ahead of Round 3.

PRESSURE ON BULLDOGS HALVES DUO TO MAKE IT WORK AMID ROSTER UNREST

Raiders vs Bulldogs Thursday 19th of March @ 8pm

The pressure on Matt Burton and Lachlan Galvin to make their halves partnership work will follow them until they get some consistent results.

The Bulldogs come into Round 3 off the bye, after they scraped home in a golden point thriller against the Dragons, but plenty has happened over their week off.

Bronson Xerri has been dropped for Enari Tuala with his future at the club now in doubt.

After training all off-season with Galvin and Burton in the halves, Cameron Ciraldo is unlikely to bow to public pressure and shake up his halves this early in the season, but pressure will only grow if they can’t click against the Raiders at GIO Stadium.

Bulldogs legend Braith Anasta feels the Xerri decision may be a move by Ciraldo to shift Burton to centre, Galvin to five-eighth and bring in specialist No.7 Sean O’Sullivan, should their attack continues to struggle.

“I think this gives them that opportunity,” Anasta said of Xerri being dropped.

“It gives them the freedom to make that call if they need to and not feel like they’re stepping on someone’s toes.”

It begs the question why the Bulldogs didn’t pull the trigger on a Burton centre move in the off-season, but Anasta believes Ciraldo will give his halves combination every chance to shine over the short term.

“If they’d moved Burton there to start the year, it would have been a big deal,” Anasta said.

“It would have been huge and he would have been taking someone else’s spot, which is Bronson Xerri’s and they wouldn’t have been sticking with the halves partnership they wanted last year to take them forward this year.

“I think they still stick with Burton and Galvin and back them for the next month, but if Xerri moves on, they’ve got the option to move Burton in the centres.”

However, The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read warned the Bulldogs can’t afford to have two million dollar centres in skipper Stephen Crichton and Burton if they want to contend for the title.

“You can’t have two million-dollar centres,” Read said on NRL 360.

“In the long term there’s no way they could have Matt Burton and Stephen Crichton in the centres because your cap is completely out of whack if you’ve got two guys on seven figures in the centres.”

Read noted the Bears are watching the Burton situation with interest and if he doesn’t get the terms for an extension he is after then he will likely leave to a rival club, with no shortage of teams willing to pay him big money.

Anasta agreed saying: “It’s looking that way, you’ve just got to join the dots in this situation, without overplaying it, but it’s going to be interesting to see what they do with Burton.”

The Bulldogs are planning for young gun Mitchell Woods to be their halfback in the future and while Galvin can fill a void in the position in the short-term, he is unlikely to be the long-term solution.

EDWARDS VS TEDESCO IN ORIGIN SHOOTOUT

Roosters vs Panthers Friday 20th of March @ 6pm

It is never too early for an Origin selection shootout and incumbent Blues fullback Dylan Edwards and reigning Dally M Medallist James Tedesco face off when the Roosters host the Panthers in Round 3.

On their form last year Tedesco is the favourite to earn a recall to the NSW side, with Edwards struggling with his form and fitness at times last season.

Edwards lost his Kangaroos jersey to Reece Walsh and Tedesco’s sparkling form could have seen him earn an Australian recall were it not for his brother’s wedding and the Broncos star’s stunning run to the title.

However, Edwards has bounced back into form and started 2026 with a bang in the Panthers’ back-to-back comprehensive victories over the Broncos and the Sharks.

Tedesco like his team struggled in a loss to the Warriors, but was back to his brilliant best in a win over the Rabbitohs.

Laurie Daley can’t really go wrong with whoever he picks out of the world class pair, but it is arguably one of the closest battles in the Blues selection race this year.

Michael Ennis noted that Edwards seems to have had a big pre-season and looks fresher and fitter after not having to play for the Kangaroos last year, after the Panthers fell short of a fifth straight grand final.

“They’re both elite fullbacks,” Ennis told foxsports.com.au.

“No doubt Laurie Daley could sit there and be really pleased with how he’s seen Dylan start the year.

“He certainly looks like he’s a bit fresher. They played a lot of footy the Penrith boys, both at representative level and then obviously club level (with the) World Club Challenges and pre-season challenges.

“There’s a lot that goes into the season these days and he just looks a little fresher.

“I’m not sure how he’s managed himself over the pre-season or whether he had injuries at the back end of last year that he’s recovered from but he looks back to his really energetic self.”

However, Ennis conceded that Tedesco’s consistency and class will make it very difficult for Daley to ignore when he reads out his team for game one.

“Teddy’s just world class and has been for over a decade,” Ennis said.

“No doubt they’ll both be front and centre of Origin table selections with the selectors come that time of year.”

Meanwhile, former Panthers star Josh Mansour has labelled Edwards the fittest man in rugby league and even put him forward for a shock boxing bout, given his hidden talent with the gloves.

Edwards and Tedesco are two of the nicest guys in rugby league and it is hard to see them getting into a fight on the field, but Mansour warned if anyone ever did take on the Penrith No.1, it would be at their own peril.

“Dylan Edwards is the fittest man on planet earth and pound for pound he is just unbelievable,” Mansour said on The Hello Sport Podcast.

“He is so strong and fit in the gym. He is a freak and he can throw them.

“I am putting this out there if George Rose is watching, I would love to get Edwards and Jack Wighton to tear each other to pieces in the ring.

“Both of them are ultra competitive and both very nice, but you get on the wrong side of them and they are fully tapped.”

With the Blues’ fullback selection battle so close, it could ultimately come down to who gets the points in their match-up this Friday night and the form of both the Roosters and the Panthers heading into the Origin period, so there is plenty to play for on both fronts.

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KEY TO TURNING AROUND BRONCOS AMID ABSURD MADGE CRITICISM

Storm vs Broncos Friday 20th of March @ 8pm

The Broncos have been one of the most disappointing teams so far this season as their premiership defence faces slipping into an 0-3 hole.

The Broncos were thrashed 26-0 by the Panthers in Round 1, before surrendering 20-6 lead to lose to the Eels 40-32.

The horror start to the year doesn’t get any easier with a Grand Final rematch against the red hot Storm minus injured skipper Adam Reynolds at AAMI Park, where they have a woeful record.

Despite the title win last year, Michael Maguire is already under pressure this season and while Matty Johns thinks that is laughable, he warned it may be having an effect on the Broncos playing group.

“I think it’s absurd with Madge that people continue to say he’s under pressure,” Johns said on Matty and Cronk.

“I mean, he was under pressure before a ball was kicked last year and before a ball was kicked this year, which is unfair.

“But I don’t know whether all this talk is bleeding into the player group. It’s basically whether it’s distracting them or handing them an excuse.

“But attitude comes out in your defensive effort and their defensive effort against the Eels was so poor.”

Cooper Cronk defended Maguire’s ruthless style as a coach, which has seen him drop Gehamat Shibasaki to the bench this week, but warned unless the players fix their fundamentals, they can’t expect to defend their title this season.

“Madge is a premiership winning coach,” Cronk said.

“He is a good coach and he knows what to do. But everyone says that, oh, look what the Broncos did at the back end of last year.

“You can’t replicate performances like that. It’s wishful thinking. Like, oh, let’s just get down by 10 and Reece will come up with a play or Ezra or whatever. It just does not happen.

“If you go and look at what they did in those moments to get back and win that comp in the last four to six weeks, I guarantee you their completion rate was pretty solid. I guarantee you they saved tries defensively and I guarantee you they were winning the field position battle in terms of knocking them back a little bit, kick by kick.

“They are the things that you must do, whether you’re the best team or the worst team and at the moment, the Broncos aren’t doing that for 80 minutes.”

Cronk feels the Broncos need to work out how to be a better starting team and avoid falling into the trap of having to chase games with their brilliant players.

“There was a period where they started against the Eels and it was like, OK, Reece scores, they’re back,” Cronk said.

“They’re doing the little things. They’re competing in every play. The kick chase is violent like it normally is.

“But then they started making errors, defensively missing tackles and then all of a sudden, they find themselves in that washing machine of trying to get back in the game.

“So they are a good team. They are talented, but it doesn’t matter how much talent you have got. If you’re not willing to do the fundamentals of our game, you will get beaten and the pressure from externals will come to that team.”

One of the biggest parts about the Broncos’ success last year was their supreme fitness and Johns revealed an anecdote from Nathan Cleary, whose Panthers were knocked out by Brisbane in the preliminary final as proof Madge’s style works.

“The Madge regime comes under the spotlight all the time,” Johns said.

“I was talking to someone the other day who Nathan Cleary spoke to them and said, when they came up against the Broncos last year in their semi-final, it’s the first time he’s come up against a side that he believed were fitter than they were, so proof is in the pudding there.”

However, beating the in form Storm at a ground that has been a graveyard for the Broncos and most other teams will be a tall order, according to Cronk, particularly when you consider the form Melbourne are in.

“I think Melbourne is playing at a different level,” Cronk said.

“We talk about them doing the fundamentals. Craig Bellamy has built a coaching record doing those things better than the opposition.

“But then you’ve got Munster, Hughes, Grant, Sua Fa’alogo, that take Sua of that conversation, there’s three of the best players in the key positions that have a point of prove. “They haven’t won the last two grand finals. There’s something that those three guys in particular have started this season.”

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KNIGHTS EXTEND RECORD NUMBER OF SPINE COMBOS AMID DOUBLE BLOW

Knights vs Warriors Saturday 21st of March @ 3pm

The Knights’ impressive start to the season has hit a massive hurdle with their two highest paid stars sidelined for the next four to eight weeks.

Kalyn Ponga will miss the next six to eight weeks with a hamstring injury, while Dylan Brown is out for a month with a knee injury.

It means the Knights will field their NRL record 70th different spine since 2020, as Justin Holbrook aims to keep their resurgent season on track.

The issue that haunted predecessor Adam O’Brien was his constant revolving door of halves and spine combinations, which saw the side struggle for consistency, especially in attack as they failed to give Ponga support.

The next closest number of spine combinations a team has used since 2020 is the Tigers with 59, while for context the team to use the least number of spine combinations are the Sharks with 24.

Meanwhile, the Knights have a horror record without Ponga, having lost their last 10 games without their captain dating back to last year’s 25-6 win over an Origin depleted Panthers side in Bathurst.

Since 2023 the Knights have won just nine of 26 games without Ponga (35 per cent) compared to 26 of 51 (51 per cent) with him in the team.

Braith Anasta rates the Knights as one of the form teams in the NRL, but warned winning without their two biggest stars won’t be easy.

“As good as the Knights have been and they’ve been amazing the first two weeks, the most impressive team and the big improvers of this year,” Anasta said on NRL 360.

“But a lot of that has been because of Ponga and Brown. Against Manly they were awesome without them. But it’s going to be hard for eight weeks without Ponga and four weeks without Brown.”

However, Gorden Tallis noted the Knights didn’t have Brown or Ponga for much of the win over Manly and still performed well.

“It is a big loss, but the way they covered it in the second half was impressive,” Tallis said on NRL 360.

“Kalyn Ponga went off before halftime. Brown didn’t come back from halftime.

“I thought Fletcher Hunt was brilliant stepping up and the way they went about their business at Brookvale.

“But there would be concerns because Ponga and Brown really lit it up and had they stayed on, it could have been anything.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read noted the return of Fletcher Sharpe will help offset the double injury blow to a degree for the Knights.

“It is a big blow but they also get Fletcher Sharpe back, so he’ll obviously come into the halves with Sandon Smith and Fletcher Hunt looked great at fullback,” Read said.

“We saw Sharpe in Vegas for the opening 20 minutes or so and he was unbelievable, so that’s huge for them.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie agreed Sharpe is one of the most natural footballers he has seen.

“He’s absolutely outstanding,” Ritchie said.

“He’s just a natural player, isn’t he? He’s one of the most natural players I think I’ve seen in all my years of covering rugby league.”

However, Ritchie questioned if the Knights are getting bang for their buck from Ponga, who is being paid $1.4 million a season and has missed a third of his games since 2018.

“I want to put this question out there and it’s not having a dead set dig at Kalyn, but since 2018, Kalyn has played 139 games and provided he misses these eight weeks, which is what the Knights have suggested, that’s 64 games he will have missed,” Ritchie said.

“That’s a 31 per cent rate that he misses games. The facts are facts. It’s one in three games Kalyn misses. I know it’s not his fault and injuries happen in rugby league.

“However, you could mount an argument to question whether $1.4 million a year is being worthwhile in terms of the Knights’ salary cap for a bloke that misses one in every three games.”

However, Read countered that injuries are unlucky and the Knights are a better team with Ponga in it and warned if Newcastle didn’t pay him that money he would just get it at another club.

“It’s dumb luck, isn’t it?” Read said.

“But when he plays, they’re an infinitely better team. When he plays and he’s at his best, he’s an elite footballer.

“I mean, we did our ratings last week and I had him in the top five players in the comp when he’s fit and healthy.

“And the fact he’s got injured, I acknowledge that he’s had some injury problems in the last few years, but you can’t cater for that.

“And if he goes on the open market right now, I’d argue that Kalyn would still get that amount of money.”

ENFORCER UPS GAME IN BID TO ADD STEEL TO DOLPHINS SPARKLING ATTACK

Sharks vs Dolphins Saturday 21st of March @ 5.30pm

There have been a handful of bright lights for the Dolphins in what has been a mixed start to the season.

No player has impressed more though than back rower Kulikefu Finefeuaki, who is set to have a monster year.

The 22-year-old has taken his game to a new level this in 2026.

He had a career best game against the Gold Coast last Sunday night, running for 170 metres and scoring a try.

In fact, he has two tries this season which has already doubled last year’s meagre total of 1.

While he’s always been a very explosive, the knock on him in the past has been that he can sometimes float in and out of games but so far this season, he’s done anything but, averaging 145 metres, three tackle busts, a try and 29 tackles.

Importantly, his conditioning has improved sharply, with Finefeuaki playing all 80 minutes in both games this season.

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf praised Finefeuaki and his entire forward pack after the Titans win, firing a warning shot to the rest of the comp that the best is still yet to come.

“Both our backrowers have been good. Kuli is certainly putting his hand up and getting us forward. He’s been great the last two weeks with how he’s done that,” Woolf said.

“You see the potential there. You see we’re going to do something there when we put it

Finefeuaki, who started at the Cowboys before joining the Dolphins in 2025, was highly spruiked very early on.

He has steadily improved all aspects of his game in his four years in the league, and now, has a grasp on just how devastating he can be in attack and defence.

His combination with star half Isaiya Katoa has also proved a handful

“Me and Kuli get along really well. He’s actually really annoying off the field.

“He’s my bodyguard when we’re on the field. I just have to make sure I keep talking to him defensively because when he’s on defensively, honestly he just runs over blokes and he does it for fun.

“As a halfback I’ve got to make sure I get him either one and ones or put him into space because when he’s running, he’s pretty hard to stop

altogether so we have to work hard to put it altogether.”

Finefeuaki and the Dolphins’ engine room will need to continue their early season form this weekend when they take on Cronulla’s talented pack, which could be bolstered by the return of Teig Wilton.

FORGOTTEN SOUTHS EDGE SET TO SHINE AS KEY PLAYMAKER RETURNS

Rabbitohs vs Tigers Saturday 21st of March @ 7.35pm

South Sydney’s firing attack has been one of the hot topics of the 2026 season, and will be a key point to consider as they look to infiltrate the defence of a fast-starting Tigers outfit.

The Rabbitohs are yet to field their best attacking side this season, but will do so at Gosford on Saturday with Jamie Humphreys returning to halfback following a two-game suspension that ruled him out for the Bunnies’ opening matches.

With Jye Gray now calling the shots from fullback, and Latrell Mitchell completing what many are calling the ‘most potent’ left edge in the league from centre, Souths are going to be a handful – and that’s before factoring their right-side attacking arsenal.

For NRL 360 host Braith Anasta, the Rabbitohs’ right combination has equal ability to give rival coaches headaches in defence.

“Because there’s such a threat on the left side, I see this right side with so much potential,” Anasta said.

“Campbell Graham and Jack Wighton are a powerful combination on the right side.”

Campbell Graham agrees. According to the Rabbitohs winger, Souths now have what he considers the best attacking squad available on the park – with Latrell at centre and Gray at fullback.

“There wasn’t much resistance in that move,” he revealed to NRL 360.

“Latrell’s a leader in our group and the way he has gone about handling that positional change is a credit to him. We want to play the best players that we have in the club, and Jye Gray is one of those players.

“We believe that, for our team, his best position is fullback, and Trell is probably the best centre in the world so it’s not too much of a headache to have him playing out there.”

The Wests Tigers will need to be at their best defensively. Benji Marshall’s men were strong in their opening match against the Cowboys last week, though did endure some nervous moments during a brief three-try blitz from North Queensland.

YOUNG GUNS SHINE AS EELS FIND PERFECT BALANCE

Eels vs Dragons Sunday 22nd of March @ 4.05pm

The Eels were one of the most disappointing teams in Round 1 after being thrashed by the Storm 52-4, but bounced back with a 40-32 comeback win over the Broncos thanks to a starring display from two young guns and a key fix.

Isaiah Iongi has gone from a great buy for the Eels to one of the game’s best fullbacks and had 163 run metres, seven tackle busts, two linebreaks and two tries against the Broncos.

Meanwhile, star recruit Jonah Pezet had two linebreak assists, four try assists and a try to guide the Eels to a comeback victory for the ages.

Eels veteran Junior Paulo lauded the influence of the star young guns in the victory over Brisbane, ahead of their clash with the Dragons.

“Iongi’s been consistently one of our best performers week in week out and Pezet is quite the character and plays with a lot of confidence, but also a lot of resilience as well, so he’s been a great addition to us,” Paulo said on NRL 360.

“I think he’ll be the one to say that there’s definitely areas to improve on for next week, but I’m sure he’ll be taking a lot of confidence on the back of that.”

Paulo noted how the work Jason Ryles did with the team in his first year at the helm in 2025, will hold the players in good stead this season.

“Last year was a bit of a learning year for us with Ryles coming in and guys learning new systems and I think heading into this year we hit the ground rolling,” Paulo said.

“We probably don’t have an excuses now as to why we can’t be able to put together those performances that we knew that we had in us.

“Trying to find that balance between consistency every week is probably going to be the challenge for us now.”

Braith Anasta noted how much the Eels pack has changed in terms of physique since the six-again rule changes have made the game so much faster.

“The game is faster, you’ve got to be more mobile and you have dropped a lot of weight that’s been well noted over the past couple of years and you got it right on the weekend,” Anasta said.

“If you control the footy you’ve got a really talented forward pack. Lots of ball playing and you can strike from anywhere on the field.

“First week you didn’t get it right. Second week you did. Is it just about finding that balance?”

Paulo agreed, the Eels have the strike players to do damage, but the key is setting the platform up front and controlling completions and possession.

“For us it was about putting in an 80 minute performance that we knew we were training hard for throughout the pre-season, so the disappointing thing in Round 1 was not completing it a certain standard that we wanted to,” Paulo said.

“Heading into that game against Broncos. I think that was more so our focus heading into that week was completing high and giving ourselves a chance.

“As cliche as it sounds you’ve got to be able to complete high in order to give yourselves the opportunity to win a game.

“Unfortunately, in that Round 1 game we didn’t complete high. The amount of possession we gave Melbourne and you give any other team in the competition that amount of possession you’re probably going to be on the wrong end of the stick.

“We set ourselves a standard of completing high against Broncos. It wasn’t about the result, it was about completing high and giving ourselves a chance.”

SOMETHING ON COWBOYS

Cowboys vs Titans Sunday 22nd of March @ 6.15pm

The Cowboys sit on the edge of disaster coming into Round 3.

They were resoundingly beaten by the Tigers in their last outing and head coach Todd Payten is under mounting pressure to keep his job.

North Queensland’s playing group have lacked the desire and will to fight for a full 80 minutes, and according to league legend Cooper Cronk, there’s big issues at the club.

“We’re not NRL360 here Matthew… (but) there is something not right,” Cronk said on the Matty and Cronk podcast.

“They played the Penrith Panthers in a game where Penrith sent their reserve grade team and the Cowboys were great.

“I was like ‘okay, they’ve changed their tune a little bit’. They go to Vegas, just lost the moments.

“And then Todd Payten knows what Leichhardt, knows what the Tigers are trying to do, and would have steeled his team for this onslaught that was coming.

“He knew this was coming, and for them to just fall over the way they did. At no stage did they get consistency, their completion rate, whatever.

“Last year their best football was good, their worst football was really bad. There’s no doubt they are under pressure.”

The Tigers ticked off a host of milestones in their Round 1 triumph, including recording their biggest ever win to start a campaign.

Their previous best was a 16-point win over the Rabbitohs in 2017, while their victory was also their first opening match win since 2020.

The merger club also enjoyed their biggest win against any opponent since their 66-18 defeat of the Cowboys in Round 12 of the 2023 season.

It’s fair to say those stats are damning for Payten, who is comfortably the NRL’s most under-siege mentor.

In conceding 44 points, defence is clearly a major issue — as illustrated by the Cowboys missing more than 50 tackles, for the fifth time since the start of the 2025 season.

It’s a sobering reality considering North Queensland conceded the second most points of any team last season, behind only the Titans.

So what was Payten’s reason for their latest ugly loss?

“I like the way the game was refereed in Vegas, it was a bit different to this game today. But it’s bringing fatigue into the game and the game is fast enough,” Payten said.

“The referees are just more willing to blow those ruck infringements. You’re not really sure what they’re for.

“I would prefer that if it’s not a full-blown penalty, don’t give it a ruck infringement. But we’ve opened it up and this is the game and we’ve got to move forward and handle ourselves better.”

Clearly, he took umbrage with the NRL’s willingness to give repeat sets away, which has created generally faster contests to start the 2026 season.

But The Australian’s Brent Read wasn’t buying it.

“It’s easy for Todd to sit there and complain, his side needs to show some resilience. Some of these tries on the weekend, their defence was pathetic,” he said on NRL360.

And this weekend shapes as a huge test for the Cowboys, who will be desperate to secure their first win of the season against the Titans.

A loss could shape as a final nail in the coffin, while a win could kickstart their campaign.