League: Odds against Tigers for repeat glory

It's no coincidence that tonight's season-opener pits the 2005 champions Wests Tigers against the star-studded Dragons, the bookies' favourites to win the 2006 title.

The NRL is a very political animal, hence other sweet match-ups, including the two Queensland teams facing off, west Sydney rivals the Bulldogs and Panthers meeting and Souths playing near-neighbours the Roosters.

But no one could have arranged the Eels and Knights match knowing that, in the meantime, the coaches of each team, Brian Smith and Michael Hagan, would be sacked - and replaced by the other.

The NRL squashed the idea it should start late to accommodate the Commonwealth Games and so the Melbourne Storm play their first games away from the city, including Sunday's match against the Warriors at Ericsson Stadium.

Hovering in the background yet already affecting player transfers are new club Gold Coast Titans, with Tigers half Scott Prince their star signing.

Few believe the Tigers can repeat their title success. Brisbane were the last side to achieve successive premierships, in 1997 and 98. There is no doubt the salary cap and its strict enforcement has levelled the talent field and more clubs are in with a chance these days.

Of this year's contenders, the Dragons and Parramatta stand out as having more than their fair share of X-factor players, and the Broncos and Roosters would be not far behind.

It looks clear that Souths and Canberra will struggle because of their lack of regular finals appearances and high-profile coaches - so they have to pay over the odds to attract players, thus reducing their number of top-liners.

But in terms of player talent the field looks reasonably even, with most clubs having to balance the highly paid game-breakers by filling other holes with lesser lights. Depth may be a problem for clubs like the Bulldogs and Manly, who have lots of high earners.

It should not be for the Roosters who, before this week, did not have half Jamie Soward in their top 25. At the last minute they elevated him from reserves to start, the incumbent Brett Finch shifted to hooker.

New halves will be the focus at many clubs, not least the Warriors, without Stacey Jones for the first time in 12 seasons. Can the Eels' young Tim Smith co-ordinate their play so they make the grand final? How will the Roosters go with Braith Anasta at six, and how will the Dogs cope without him? Will Matt Orford lift the Sea Eagles higher and will Adam Dykes see out the season at five-eighth for the Sharks? There are no rule changes but the whistlers have been instructed to clamp down heavily on grapple-tackles, anything around the head and neck, whether the contact is during the tackle or as the players disengage on the ground. The NRL has sent clubs video of tackles likely to draw attention, including those of the "dangerous throw" type.

Coaches also asked the referees to stop gang-tackles earlier when the ball carrier is held upright. There was concern that multiple tacklers could then pick up the ball carrier and drive him to ground, with potential for injury, and the refs have agreed to tighten their interpretation.

Players can now be banned for smoking cannabis, with the NRL adopting the policy of the World Anti-Doping Authority.

A first-time offence results in an automatic one-year ban and a second offence gets two years.

Until now, tests were not usually done for the recreational drug. If they were and a positive found, the player's club was alerted and any punishment left to it.

The fortunes of many teams may come down to the injury toll. The most commonly occurring injury is to shoulders (15 per cent) with knees (11 per cent) and lower leg (10 per cent) next, fair indication of the contact nature of the sport. Head injuries account for just 7 per cent, but a high percentage of those are caused by illegal play, so the league stance on attacking the head is appropriate.

New television deals were signed for the period 2007-2012, with Fox Sports and Channel Nine in Australia paying A$500 million ($566 million) over the six years.

The players will this season seek deals to cut them a bigger slice of the pie. Already there is talk that many players including Dragons captain Trent Barrett will head to England at season's end and the NRL will be anxious to stem the drain of talent.

The Warriors will be the first team in premiership history to start the season with a negative points tally, penalised for overspending the salary cap by $970,000.

Across the Tasman, that means they are given no chance of raising themselves to the playoffs and it's fair to say their season could be gone by round 10 if they do not have at least a 50-50 record by then.

It promises to be a long season if depression sets in early.

The Centrebet agency had them as favourites to take the wooden spoon and paying A$3 with Canberra and Souths next on A$4 ($4.5). The Warriors are paying A$41 ($46) to win the title, ahead of Souths at A$51 ($57) and Canberra at A$61 ($69).


2005

* Bigger crowds than before. Average attendance 16,466
* 39 per cent rise in direct sponsorships to NRL
* 12 per cent rise to clubs.
* More than 3.9 million people watch the game on pay-per-view.