NRL in Las Vegas LIVE: Penrith dodge Nathan Cleary scare to beat the Sharks – after footy fans ‘set a beer-drinking record’ in Sin City

Shouting ‘lolly legs’ at a kicker as he prepares to take a difficult shot on goal is one thing, but throwing a bit of rubbish at his feet just before he launches into a conversion attempt is something else entirely.

That’s what happened to Cleary in the first half in Vegas. And as you’ll see below, all the idiotic spectator did was prove that the Penrith star’s mental strength is off the charts.

Nicho Hynes has become a target for angry Sharks fans in the last couple of seasons and today was no different.

The 2022 Dally M winner wasn’t at his best today, having nowhere near the impact of his halves partner Braydon Trindall, and the Cronulla diehards are letting him know all about it…

The No.7 admitted the Riff were rusty this afternoon and trying a little bit too hard in patches.

He certainly didn’t look too rusty himself, displaying his usual pinpoint kicking as he steered the side to an often scrappy win.

Liam Martin was enormous in the big moments, making crucial tackles and the odd break to inspire his side, and Yeo was his usual blend of skill and power as he helped make up for the loss of Luai from the halves.

Kudos to the Sharks for coming back hard in the last 20-odd minutes, but they couldn’t overcome a Penrith side that looked disjointed at times and made some uncharacteristic errors, but still look like they could be the yardstick of the comp.

Liam Martin was enormous for the premiers, ditto Yeo and Cleary.

The short kickoff works for Cronulla as it’s batted back and they’re soon right on Penrith’s line – but Ramien gets wrapped up on the last and it’s a changeover.

Ramien might have had a man open to his right…

That is so typical of Penrith: survive a scare at one end, hit back almost straight away at the other.

Laurie goes over on the left near the corner after the Sharks got caught out badly with their defence, it looks like they didn’t man up at all as they allowed a try Andrew Johns described as ‘too easy’.

Cleary misses his first of the match and the door is open for Cronulla – but only open by a tiny crack with about three minutes left.

A fine set that started with a break manufactured by Mulitalo and Kennedy ends with the Sharks getting caught with the ball. They didn’t do anywhere near enough with that chance, with Nicho Hynes not posing enough questions when he got the ball and allowing Penrith to reorganise.

Penrith are penalised for a head-high shot and Cronulla get another attacking set – and their big buy, Addin Fonua-Blake, smashes his way though Yeo, Scott Sorensen and another Panther to surge over.

What a quality run that was – exactly the sort of thing you want from your big-bucks prop with the game in the ballance.

Trindall kicks true and we have a nail-biting last 10 minutes coming up.

Cronulla cough it up on tackle zero in an effort that would have coach Craig Fitzgibbon in fits.

But Penrith commit a penalty with a ruck infringement to give it back, only for Cameron McInnes to lose the ball.

There’s some debate on Nine about whether Cronulla wanted to use a captain’s challenge but couldn’t get it past the ref.

The end result is an ugly passage of play that sees Penrith in possession before Cleary punts it about 10m short of halfway.

First the Sharks lose it through Jesse Ramien near the touchline, then Daine Laurie coughs it straight back up and it’s another centre-field scrum for Cronulla at about 20m out from the line.

This time it’s Alamoti, who knocked on after playing at a towering Trindall bomb with his legs.

Sharks win the scrum about 20m out from the line.

A Liam Martin error gifted the Sharks field position and they make the most of it courtesy of a beautiful, delayed short ball from Trindall to centre Kayal Iro, which put him neatly into a small gap in the line.

Trindall has been classy and is up there as one of the Sharks’ best, along with Kennedy and Fonua-Blake.

He nails the conversion and the Sharkies have a glimmer of hope, while Penrith will be filthy with themselves for the mistakes that have opened the door to a comeback.

The relentless Penrith pressure takes its toll. They shift it right close to the line, Cleary gives it to Edwards after holding it up, then the fullback flicks it on straight to Paul Alamoti a split second before he’s smashed in a tackle.

That one comes off the back of an outstanding set in defence and even though there’s more than 25 minutes left, it’s going to be very tough for the Sharks to come back from here if the Riff keep up this level of effort.

High degree of difficulty on this conversion for Cleary but he makes it look simple.

There was a bit of doubt about obstuction there as Daine Laurie crossed in the corner, but Ashley Klein didn’t deem it enough to even refer it to the video ref.

Typical Penrith try – sustained pressure followed by a switft shift to get around the defence… followed by a great conversion by Cleary.

The Penrith superstar took a hard shot to the ribs and stayed down – and when Nine’s cameras got to him he looked very unwell.

‘Thing about Nathan, he’s as tough as they come,’ says Andrew Johns, as the No.7 returns to the line and gets invloved in the play as Penrith press their attack.

He’s running and moving OK but that was a scary passage for Panthers fans.

Braden Hamlin-Uele is ruled to have knocked that on as he skidded towards the in-goal with a few Panthers draped all over him, and the video ref has got it right.

It’s Hamlin-Uele’s second impact play in this half after making a charging run in the middle of the field a few minutes ago.

Penrith cart it up to get us going.

Andrew Johns is mightily impressed with Penrith prop Lindsay Smith, who has clocked up 33 tackles in the first half – and came within inches of scoring a try.

That wasn’t the best half of footy, due to errors doing little for the flow of play, but it was bloody close.

There’s bugger-all between the sides in terms of possession, runs, line breaks. The Sharks have double the Riff’s offloads (six to three), and Penrith have missed a few more tackles, but made up for that by committing fewer errors – with that kick out on the full proving a killer as it set up Tago’s try.

The Penrith half went for the two-point field goal just before the siren and distance was anything but a problem. Even though he barely had a run-up before striking the ball, it absolutely soared – but was just off the mark to the left.

First they kicked off on the full to help set up Tago’s try, now Nicho Hynes has knocked on from Penrith’s kickoff.

The Sharks go for a short kickoff and it works, with Ronaldo Mulitalo somehow batting it back into the field of play when he was airborne about two metres over the sideline.

Braydon Trindall creates this one, straigtening and almost simultaneously putting through a well-weighted grubber for Briton Nikora to score.

That was helped along by a six-again call about 10 metres into Penrith’s half. The Sharks needed to get one back on the Riff with halftime just minutes away.

Trindall makes no mistake with the extras.

The NRL’s second footy fest in Sin City has attracted 45,209 to Allegiant Stadium. That’s almost 5000 more punters than last year.

And just like that, normal service is resumed as Penrith start to dominate.

Nathan Cleary put in a centimetre-perfect chip over the top for Izack Tago to score after seeing fullback Will Kennedy defending up in the line.

Give these Panthers the slightest chance and they’ll slip the knife in.

Cleary makes the conversion.

Isaah Yeo is in under the posts, getting through Fonua-Blake after he wrong-footed the big prop with a nice change of direction just as he ran onto the ball from dummy-half.

Cleary nails the conversion.

Lindsay Smith has the ball punched out as he goes to plant it down underneath the post. It’s a perfect bit of timing from Kennedy, who was one of the Sharks’ standounts last year.

Andrew Johns believes it should’ve been a try to Nathan Cleary, who grounded the ball after it came loose, but the bunker rules that Smith knocked that on.

Luke Garner and Daine Laurie have formed a combination on the left of the Penrith defence and the Sharks are trying to exploit it, with some decent results. That’s where their first try came from, and that’s where Sam Stonestreet made a break a few minutes ago.

It took a miraculous take from Dylan Edwards to snuff out a promising set from the Sharks, who are giving Penrith everything they can handle at the minute. Mulitalo got a piece of a bomb on the line and the Panthers No.1 somehow managed to hang on to the ball as it richocheted.

It looked like Penrith were building to a try there after getting a six-again call close to the Cronulla line, but Lindsay Smith tried a very risky offload on the second tackle and it didn’t come off.

Casey McLean has shown concussion symptoms and won’t be back this afternoon. Brad Schneider will step up as a result.

McLean’s head collided with Will Kennedy’s leg in an accidental clash.

Jesse Ramien scoots over on the right, skipping through a tackle after getting a nice ball from Nicho Hynes, who stood up the defence by double-pumping there.

That came off the back of an offside penalty against the Panthers and a strong run from Fonua-Blake.

Braydon Trindall can’t land the conversion.

The Sharks just got a relieving penalty close to their own line and couldn’t find touch. What a coach killer.

The defensive intensity from Penrith is sky-high straight away, just like it’s been for long stretches of the last five years, dating back to when they lost the 2020 grand final to Melbourne.

Casey McLean is off for a HIA so Daine Laurie comes on.

Oregon Kaufusi takes the first hit-up and the Sharks narrowly avoid disaster when Briton Nikora loses it, setting them back several metres before Nicho Hynes booms a huge kick to Dylan Edwards on the last.

The Sharks take the field first, followed by the four-times-straight premiers.

The size of the win has left fans and experts split, with many saying the immense gulf between the countries was an embarrassment that won’t get Americans interested in footy.

However, others are praising the Aussies for their amazing display…

Two big questions in this match: How will Nathan Cleary go without his longtime halves partner Jarome Luai, and how will Addin Fonua-Blake add to a Sharks side many are tipping as title contenders this year?

The Panthers will also be without James Fisher-Harris, who played for the Warriors early today, but their uncanny talent production line has been filling in holes in the line-up for the last five years now.

Take a bow, Georgia Roche. She threw a great dummy there followed by a never-say-die effort in the tackle before she planted the ball.

If you catch a replay, check out the reaction from Tamika Upton, who was absolutely filthy with herself over letting that one in.

Mercifully for the Poms, that’s the end of the drubbing.

Kezie Apps, take a bow for that work, skittling the opposition down the gust before finding Keilee Joseph with a well timed ball to put her in under the posts.

They need two tries, one converted, in less than three minutes for the century.

Aiken is involved once again as Sergis scores her third.

Conversion successful. There’s not much left to say about what a clinic this has been. Has the divide between Australia and England ever been this big in the men’s game? Reckon not.

If the below tweet is on the money, Aussies can’t take all the credit, thanks to the sizeable English contingent on hand to watch Wigan, Warrington and their women’s team.

But this is the sort of news a lot of NRL fans will take pride in…

Sergis storms over again after Upton once again created havoc off the back of a smart Aiken pass.

That try came seven minutes after the last four-pointer – the longest gap between meat pies in the match so far, which is just ridiculous dominance by the Aussies.

Conversion to Aiken from close to directly in front.

Can they hit the century mark with about 17 minutes left? You wouldn’t bet against the Jillaroos in this form. They are absolutely merciless as Whitfield crosses to ensure the entire Aussie backline has a try.

Aiken narrowly misses the conversion.

The size of the margin here is leaving fans divided, with some branding the scenes ’embarrassing’ and others lapping up this astonishing display from the Aussies.

Your correspondent is getting RSI from writing up all these tries.

Sergis crosses after collecting a lovely ball from Aiken and just slicing through with ease. Aiken takes care of the extras and the gulf between the two sides looks about as wide as the Great Australian Bight.

Just plain embarrassing for England now. Some very weak arm-tackling from the Poms there as Julia Robinson cut them to ribbons after running onto a pass from Jess Sergis. It almost looked like the Aussies were playing against a bunch of cardboard cut-outs there, it was that easy.

That’s five for Upton now as she strolls in next to the posts.

Simaima Taufa makes the line break through some flimsy defence and Upton is there in support in the middle of the field with an easy path to the line.

Tamika Upton’s fourth started with a no-look pass from Brigginshaw, then Roche got it to the fullback in heavy traffic. Upton carried three over the line and had to twist around in the tackle to get the ball down

Conversion successful and the stampede to the tryline continues for the Jillaroos.

England make an error, just dropping it cold, and Clydsdale picks it up at close to top pace before giving it to Isabelle Kelly for a simple four-pointer.

Aiken is back with the conversion and she lands this one.

Sarah Togatuki has been sidelined after that intense head collision to begin the second half while Vicky Whitfield is still stretched out on the turf as she receives treatment.

Whitfield is now being placed on the spinal injury stretcher with her arms crossed over her chest and a neck brace fitted. Here’s hoping it’s just a precaution and she’s OK.

Sarah Togatuki has absolutely hammered Vicky Whitfield as the England star ran it back on the kickoff, and she’s receiving treatment from the trainers.

The stats make for grim reading…

Aussies have 64 per cent of possession, 1117 metres run to the Poms’ 438, 10 line breaks to 0, 26 tackle breaks to 8, and just 8 missed tackles to England’s 26.

Some brutal defence saw England cough it up in their own 20, then Aiken does it again, breaking through an arm tackle to sent a great cut-out ball to Robinson, who still had to take a catch at full stretch to snag the ball with the line wide open.

Brigginshaw takes over the conversion duties but can’t land the two from a difficult angle.

Tarryn Aiken, take a bow – that was a beautifully held up, no-look short ball to Isabelle Kelly, who beat one defender with pace and swerve.

The Aussies are several classes above the opposition and this is getting downright embarrassing for England.

Aiken narrowly misses the extras.

That was pretty much all Julia Robinson, who fielded England’s attacking kick near her tryline, pierced the defence and raced upfield before giving it to Upton, who must be on the verge of setting some records in this one.

Aiken has a bad miss with the conversion but that’s about the only blemish on the Aussies’ play this afternoon.

It looked like the Jillaroos would streak away again but Whitfield lost the ball in a strong tackle and fullback Georgie Dagger capitalised, racing down the field to give her side a badly needed attacking set.

Half Georgia Roche grubbers on the last but it’s cleaned up by Upton, who has woman of the match written all over her at this stage.

It’s a second try to Tamika Upton, who capitalises on some great work between Aiken and Isabelle Kelly, who throws a lovely inside ball to the fullback before she steps past the defence.

A great offload from Clydsdale close to the line finds Aiken, who fires off another great grubber for prop Shannon Mato to get a meat pie.

Aiken converts and England are falling off a cliff with just under 20 minutes left in the half.

Tamika Upton runs on to a great Aiken grubber to score easily. That was set up by a beautiful 20-metre spiral pass to the halfback and England aren’t just on the back foot here, they’re getting buried early.

Huge gulf between the teams in just about every department – strength, speed, skill, organisation, desperation.

This could get ugly in a hurry for the Poms.

Tiana Penitani barrels through a defender to score easily after Kezie Apps set that up with a monster run through the middle.

The Jillaroos are looking a class above their opponents already. Apps went almost untouched through the ruck there, then showed great pace for a prop once she was through the line.

Yasmin Clydsdale lost it and England are on the attack after a scrum about 20m out from the Aussie line.

Julia Robinson has a clear run to the line after the Jillaroos shift it to the left with skill, Tamika Upton holding the ball up like the champion she his to help make that space.

The set started with Upton putting Jakiya Whitfield into space on the kick return before a penalty put the Aussies in an attacking position.

Tarryn Aiken misses the conversion.

Australia take the first hit-up through Shannon Mato and we’re underway.

Isabelle Kelly smashes her way into the line on the next tackle as the Jillaroos turn in a great first set.

England and the Jillaroos are marching onto the field and it’s immediately apparent that a lot of the spectators have left their seats to have a break.

Not a good look on the TV coverage after the strong crowd that was visible and vocal in the Raiders vs Warriors clash.

It’s not a case of people coming back late to their seats after getting a drink and some food or going to the bathroom, either, as the pews remain empty long after play has started.

Sure, it’s not quite the Leichhardt Oval hill on a Friday night, but this fan experience at Allegiant Stadium looks alright…

The Aussies are the No.1 women’s Test side in the world, the Poms are No.3. We’re about 10 minutes away from what will arguably be the most high-profile game of women’s international rugby league ever.

A comprehensive victory for the Raiders, who started winning the arm wrestle right from the get-go and just kept turning the screws in impressive fashion.

They out-gained, out-tackled, out-thought and out-executed a poor Warriors outfit right across the park.

About four minutes left now and the Warriors’ body language reflects the scoreline as they watch Fogarty slot this one over.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck goes over in the left-hand corner with two Raiders clinging to him as Tapine’s sin-binning finally leaves the Green Machine short-handed.

However, Metcalf can’t land the conversion.

Desperate tackling by 12-man Canberra reefs the ball out of the prop’s grasp as he tries to ground it, and another attacking raid comes to nought for New Zealand.

The Raiders have been great on both sides of the ball, missing just 14 tackles to NZ’s 38.

‘Their defence is as good as I’ve seen,’ says Johns.

‘There’s no direction, they’re unorganised,’ the former Dogs, Roosters and Tigers star says as a promising attacking set ends with a poor kick to the in-goal.

Hard to argue with Amazing Braith there – the Wahs’ attack has been disjointed all game and halfback Luke Metcalf has failed to have any real impact as the team has been thoroughly out-played and out-enthused.

Joseph Tapine has just shoulder-charged Mitch Barnett, dropping him to the ground in a huge hit.

He’s off for 10, opening the door to a very unlikely Warriors comeback – and Fox’s Braith Anasta reckons he’ll be up on a charge for that shot.

Xavier Savage played a big role in setting up Matthew Timoko’s long break, which he finished off with a fine run.

That was a worrying lapse on the edge for New Zealand, who are starting to look a bit ragged in defence.

Fogarty lands the extras.

The NRL boss was asked by Fox’s Braith Anasta about rugby league being on the world stage today – and replied by revealing he isn’t a fan of the hip-hop music that took centre stage at halftime of the Raiders vs Warriors clash, and mentioned the long jump for reasons we’ll never be able to figure out.

Matthew Timoko crashed over from short range but an obstruction call pings Hosking for impeding Chanel-Harris in the lead-up and that’s a no-try ruling from the video ref.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck came so, so close to getting his hands to a grubber in the in-goal, but was rightly denied by the video ref.

The Wahs have just under half an hour to pull this one out and Matty Johns is adamant they need to start spreading the ball because they’re too reliant on powering up the middle.

Hudson Young ran straight through Nikoll-Klokstad, who sank down to field a bomb instead of going up to gather the ball – a very strange decision. He was falling backwards as Young went right at him, spilled it, then Sebastian Kris snatched it up to score under the posts.

The Warriors fullback has nobody to blame but himself for that one – he allowed himself to get frozen and gave himself no room to come at the ball and get some air time.

Fogarty lands the easiest of conversions.

The Warriors need to fix their defence and win the contest up front to get back into this.

Her bloke just proposed as they sat in the crowd at Allegiant Stadium… and she said yes while shedding a tear.

The Raiders and Warriors aren’t separated by too much in terms of possession, run metres, and hit-ups.

But the difference is stark when it comes to line breaks (Canberra 4, Wahs 1), tackle busts (Canberra 31, Wahs 13) and offloads (Canberra 13, Wahs 3).

Nine star and AFL figurehead Eddie McGuire’s son Joe (pictured below) is giving his thoughts on the first half on Fox Sports, which is a bit of a head-scratcher as he’s not known for being an NRL fan.

However, he does know his gridiron after starring as a punter for top college team Ohio State over the past season, so he’s there to give a bit of NFL flavour.

Still a strange choice given his close ties to the AFL, however, and it didn’t go unnoticed by footy fans (below), with one asking why Aussie Super Bowl winner and Philadelphia Eagles star Jordan Mailata didn’t get the gig.

Hudson Young pulled off a great one-on-one steal as the Warriors made their first hit-up after scoring, but both sides fumbled possession away in a wild 10 seconds of play that ended with the Warriors getting the Steeden back.

A chip and chase is defused by the Warriors and that’s it for the first 40.

An attacking raid came to nothing for the Wahs but Canberra made an error on the fifth, gifting them a repeat set – and they wasted no time, with Pompey slamming into the line and getting an offload away to Kurt Capewell, who plants the ball.

Talk about a desperately needed break. You got the sense the Warriors were on the ropes before that, and Sticky Stuart will be ropeable that his side couldn’t keep a clean sheet with just over a minute left in the half.

Metcalf sends the conversion wide to the right.

The NZ team have missed 30 tackles, the Raiders just eight.

Xavier Savage goes over again as he sprints about 95 metres after intercepting a Luke Metcalf pass that looked like it was about to create a try for the Wahs.

Matty Johns calls it a ‘ball player’s nightmare’ – Metcalf saw the opportunity and took it, but didn’t pick up on Savage creeping up in the line.

Fogarty makes no mistake with the extras.

The winger has been pulled up for crashing into the leg of Warriors kicker Chanel Harris-Tavita. Not what you’d call a dirty hit by any means but the NRL has little to no tolerance for that sort of contact.

Tom Starling carved through some very, very sloppy marker defence and missed a wide-open Ata Mariota on his left as he charged downfield. No matter – the Raiders shift it to their right wing and Xavier Savage goes over.

Warriors will be filthy with themselves for that awful lapse in defence.

Fogarty misses the conversion.

Despite a couple of errors in their own half, the Green Machine have had 64 per cent of possession, running for 376 metres to NZ’s 207.

Most worryingly for the Kiwis, they’ve made 17 tackle busts to the Warriors’ 5.

Canberra have made nine offloads, the Warriors none. The second-phase play looks like a premeditated tactic and it’s helping them break down the Warriors’ line.

Grant Atkins has got Starling for obstruction after he put through a grubber that would’ve resulted in a certain four-pointer. Obstruction calls are often highly controversial but no issues with this one.

Corey Horsburgh has been penalised for smashing Nikoll-Klokstad in the air as he fielded a kick.

Replays reveal the Wahs fullback initiated the contact by striking Horsburgh in the shoulder with his boot, and the challenge from Canberra is successfu. They’re on the attack about 10m out.

The Wahs enforcer goes close as the Kiwi team try to capitalise on an error from Corey Horsburgh that put them in attacking field position.

They come up short on the last tackle, then the Raiders come up with another mistake through Tom Starling and the Warriors are building serious pressure.

The video ref – who is in Sydney – rightly decides Sebastian Kris has just got the ball onto the stripe as he reached out at full stretch.

Hooker Tom Starling did good work in the lead-up, ditto Ethan Strange, but Kris had a fair bit of work to do there, beating two men to get across by the barest of margins.

Jamal Fogarty lands the conversion.

Joseph Tapine appeared to drop that cold, the Raiders appealed for six again, saying the ball was played at by the Wahs, but the ref ignores them and play continues.

Some good, willing defence from both teams so far, with Canberra holding a bit of an edge overall.

And as I write that, the Wahs drive a Raiders player back about 10 metres.

Adam Pompey gets us going and Papalii is gang-tackled by four Warriors stars as he takes the first hit-up of the season.

The Warriors are the first team on the field, with Fisher-Harris leading them out just after Johns told Fox Sports that the way to win on the truncated Allegiant Stadium field is to shift the ball sideline to sideline, which the Wigan team just did to great effect in their win over Warrington.

NFL star Tyler Manoa has just blown the Viking horn, the fans are doing the Viking clap as Canberra leave the tunnel.

James Fisher-Harris is arguably the world’s best prop and his switch to Auckland couldn’t have come at a better time for the Warriors given they lost Addin Fonua-Blake to the Sharks.

A leader on and off the field, the club is looking to JFH to be their main man over the next few years. Coach Andrew Webster just said, ‘When he talks, everyone stops and listens.’

His first hit-up today should be something else.

The seats are filling up fast, with Fox’s footage showing most of the lower deck now occupied. Here’s how it looked near the end of the Super League match…

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Savelio Tamale 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Corey Horsburgh 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine (c) 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 16. Josh Papalii. Interchange: 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 17. Ata Mariota

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Taine Tuaupiki 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Luke Metcalf 8. James Fisher-Harris (c) 9. Wayde Egan 15. Jackson Ford 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Marata Niukore 10. Mitch Barnett. Interchange: 13. Erin Clarke 14. Dylan Walker 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Leka Halasima

An intercept try as Matt Ashton latches onto a Bevan French pass and goes about 90 metres there despite losing a boot in an attempted tackle.

Ashton slowed down and sped up twice there as he seemed unable to make up his mind about whether to head straight to the line or cut inside and try to pick up some support.

Another immaculate conversion and that’s the game done. What a way to finish a historic day for Super League footy.

Liam Marshall goes over right on the sideline on the end of a set play from a scrum to cap off a fine game from the winger.

Keighran cannot miss today. Great work with the boot from him.

Matt Dufty crosses about two metres in from the sideline after using some great footwork to beat three Wigan defenders. Outstanding individual effort there.

The conversion kicking from both teams has been deluxe so far…

James Harrison plants it over the line. He had little to do after Ben Currie stood in a tackle and delivered the ball about two metres out, looking like a basketball player as he held the pill aloft in one hand while looking for a runner.

George Williams grubbers one through to the in-goal and it looks too big but Arron Lindop never gives up and grounds it with about 2cm to spare. Conversion successful.

Ricky Stuart has put Josh Papalii into the starting side, meaning Morgan Smithies – who was involved in the lift fight that made headlines earlier in the week – drops back to the bench.

Now the left-side defence for the Wolves gets victimised by French, who cuts through with a brilliant step and gets an inside ball to Wardle, who throws another inside to prop and former Bulldogs star Luke Thompson.

Easy conversion follows and the Wigan fans are ecstatic.

Yes, Warrington’s defence has been horrid, but the Warriors’ finishing has been nothing short of first class.

Bevan French takes advantage of some woeful ruck defence to open the Wolves up straight down the guts before Jai Field bamboozles would-be tacklers with some amazing footwork and

fires a stunning pass over to Wigan’s left wing to put Jake Wardle over.

That was stunning stuff from Wigan, who are absolutely on song in Vegas.

Keighran slots home his sixth conversion.

Another attacking raid down Warrington’s right wing produces a clean line break but the Warriors can’t capitalise on Marshall’s bust.

That side of the Wolves defence has been ruthlessly targeted to great effect and should’ve yielded another try in the first half when Marshall failed to ground the ball.

That took all of about 10 seconds after Warrington’s attacking raid petered out.

Field throws a great cutout to Liam Marshall to put him away down the left wing and he throws it back inside to Jai Field to score.

Awful organisation in defence from the Wolves there but you have to hand it to Wigan for the surgical way they took advantage of it.

Keighran has a shot about 10m in from touch and nails it.

Warrington forced a line-dropout and have good field position for this set.

However, Wigan aim up in defence with some powerful hits and Nsemba takes a crossfield bomb to get his team out of trouble.

Wigan get us rolling and Junior Nsemba has just smashed through Ben Currie to continue his outstanding display this morning. It’s the sort of play that will put him on the radar of NRL clubs – a great blend of power, athleticism and skill.

The dressing room cameras just showed the former Souths firebrand addressing his men – and completely opposite to Daily Mail Australia’s prediction, he was cool, calm and collected as he made his point after that shocker of a first half.

No yelling, no swearing – just calm instructions to his men.

Reminiscent of his former coach at the Bunnies, Wayne Bennett, who’s not one for histrionics in the sheds.

You’d think he had superglue on his hands with this level of ball control under extreme pressure from former St George star Matt Dufty…

The Wolves tried to break their duck with a strong attacking set but the grubber kick from George Williams is about 10cm too big and it dribbles out of the in-goal.

Some bad work in the ruck from the Wolves gifts Wigan a quick play the ball, Bevan French cuts them apart down the short side, then delivers a nice inside ball to halfback Harry Smith, who strolls over and plants it under the black dot.

Another easy conversion and Burgess’s men will need a stunning turnaround in the second half to pull this out of the fire.

And not just because of the scoreline…

Matt Dufty just blew a golden chance to set up a try with a lofted pass that fell at his winger’s feet.

Had that gone to hand, the Wolves were in for all money. The camera switches to Burgess in the coaching booth and let’s just say his halftime speech might just feature some top-volume swearing, judging by the looks of his reaction.

Former Parramatta star Bevan French – who was named Super League’s Man of Steel as the comp’s best player in 2023 – crosses the stripe with ease after Junior Nsemba broke down the Wolves’ right-side defence.

Video ref checks to make sure a fumble by Wigan went backwards and it gets the all clear. Good to see the refs in Australia aren’t the only ones who feel the need to check obvious decisions with the third eye to cover themselves – that one was blindingly obvious.

An easy conversion and this is turning into a bit of a rout with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Wigan are easily the most impressive of the two sides so far and they go further ahead thanks to Abbas Miski, who somehow manages to plant the ball despite a crashing tackle from Matt Dufty, who smashed him in midair as he flew over the corner post.

The video ref ruled that he never lost control of the ball with his right hand but it was bloody close. Outstanding effort from Miski – and Keighran, who lands the conversion from the sideline.

Here’s a shot of the scenes outside the ground just before kickoff today.

Warriors coach Matt Peet told Fox this morning that his men were the last to arrive in Vegas and he wants them to be the last to leave the party. Judging by this photo, the fans are on board…

Tyler Dupree grounded it over the line after Warrington’s Jordy Crowther spilled a bomb just in front of their tryline.

Easy conversion for Adam Keighran and the Warriors draw first blood…

Junior Nsemba fielded a crossfield bomb on the last, then got a pass off to Liam Marshall, who flew through the air and looked to have grounded it while about three feet off the ground with his feet over the sideline – only to lose control of the ball just before hit hit the turf. That would have been a special meat pie.

Just moments after they were lucky not to let in a try, Warrington have gone desperately close to scoring one of their own.

Toby King thought he’d scored after reefing the ball away from a Wigan back who fielded a bomb near to his tryline, only to have the video ref rule that the Warriors player was tackled before he lost control.

The Warriors had the right-hand defence of the Wolves in all sorts there, breaking through without a hand being laid on them before the last pass went straight over the sideline with a try beckoning. Coach Matt Peet might need a chill pill already.

Wigan have just kicked off and it’s a typical bash-up on the first set as coach Sam Burgess’s charges try to bring it off their own line while the English fans launch into song.

We’re just minutes away from the first kickoff in Vegas. Here’s how the footy fest will run today (all times AEDT)

8.30am: Wigan vs Warrington

11am: Canberra vs New Zealand

1pm: Jillaroos vs England

3.30pm: Penrith vs Cronulla

The NRL are hoping for a crowd of more than 50,000 – and here’s how the turnout looked just minutes before Wigan take on Super League rivals Warrington in the first of the four matches today.

The day footy fans have been hanging out for since the grand final has finally arrived as the 2025 NRL season begins with four games from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Stay with Daily Mail Australia as we bring you all the latest scores, updates, headlines and reaction from Sin City.