{"id":494438,"date":"2026-03-09T18:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=494438"},"modified":"2026-03-09T23:22:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:22:51","slug":"slaters-theory-for-two-ugly-round-one-thrashings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=494438","title":{"rendered":"Slater's theory for two ugly round one thrashings"},"content":{"rendered":"

B\ufeffilly Slater<\/a> has questioned whether NRL<\/a> pre-season standouts Parramatta<\/a> and Gold Coast<\/a> became "complacent" before their round one losses.<\/p>\n

During the two-week trial period, the Eels and Titans finished atop the standings after winning both of their respective matches, giving them momentum before the season.<\/p>\n

But things took an ugly turn when the 2026 campaign officially kicked off, with both sides on the receiving end of brutal defeats to the Storm and Sharks respectively.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Left-field contenders emerge for star's inevitable NRL return<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Lawsuit threat arises after Opetaia stripped of world title<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Vegas carnage forces change as cavalry arrives for Dolphins<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffParramatta lost 52-4 at the hands of Melbourne<\/a>, adding a further layer to the messy Zac Lomax<\/a> contract saga, while the Titans were flogged 50-10 on the road against Cronulla.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While few would have expected Josh Hannay<\/a>'s \ufeffmen to beat a quality Sharks outfit this early in their rebuild, the scoreline was certainly a concern.<\/p>\n

As for the Eels, it was a complete shocker after a \ufeffstrong end to last year and the fact Melbourne had lost some key players over the off-season.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Nine's Billy Slater Podcast<\/em><\/a>, the former Storm fullback and current Maroons coach admitted it was a "reality check" for both clubs early in the year.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"I wouldn't say trial form means nothing, but you've got to take it with a grain of salt and you can't get over-excited about trial form," Slater said.<\/p>\n

"The other thing is, if you trial well, the confidence that can flow into complacency off the back of trialing … do you think you're going better than you actually are?<\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/the-billy-slater-podcast\/round-1-mirror-moments-and-the-bellamy-masterclass\/embed?in_playlist=podcast&media=Audio&size=Square<\/a><\/p>\n

"You look at the Titans and Parramatta, they were the two form teams of the trials and they both got beaten by 50 points and were disappointing round one performers.<\/p>\n

"Who knows, we might see a bounce back and it might have been one of those things where they got a little bit excited and too far ahead of themselves.<\/p>\n

"They just need a bit of a reality check of where they're at."<\/p>\n

Jason Ryles' men will take on reigning premiers Brisbane in round two, who were also left to lick their wounds after being outgunned 26-0 by the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Gold Coast will meet the Dolphins on Sunday night as they look to get on the board.<\/p>\n

Hannay took over as Titans head coach at the end of 2025 after the premature \ufeffexit of Des Hasler, while this season marks Ryles' second in charge of the Eels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

B\ufeffilly Slater has questioned whether NRL pre-season standouts Parramatta and Gold Coast became "complacent" before their round one losses. During the two-week trial period, the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":494440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=494438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494441,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494438\/revisions\/494441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/494440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=494438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=494438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=494438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}