Jayden Brailey is used to roaming the family at Southern Cross Group Stadium and jammed in at one end of ANZ Stadium when the Sharks won the grand final, but the hot seat he has now landed in won't be given up without a fight.

NRL clubs' handling of concussed players is set to come into sharp focus again after Brisbane delayed taking Alex Glenn off the field in their season-opening win over premiers Cronulla.

Wayne Bennett doesn't do the talking, his teams do. And after joking pre-match he was searching under the grandstand for his supposed lost "aura", he delivered a pointed message for his pre-season critics from Sydney. Or Brisbane. Wherever they are.

Valentine Holmes has officially been ruled out of Thursday night's NRL season-opener against Brisbane.

The Sharks skipper is expected to retire at the end of his 17th season in the NRL. Don't bet.

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan could not care less about his side being written off. In fact, he expected it.

Cronulla's top fullback candidate Valentine Holmes has been ruled out of Thursday's NRL season opener against Brisbane due to injury.

The Brisbane forward says Cronulla will be highly competitive but are about to find out why no team has been able to complete the double since the early 1990s.

That there has not been a back-to-back NRL champion since Brisbane nearly a quarter of a century ago is not by accident.

They've been sworn enemies for more than a decade, but Paul Gallen and Cameron Smith will put aside a long-standing rivalry to launch the 2017 NRL season on Thursday.

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A Joe Burgess hat-trick has helped Wigan claim a first World Club Challenge success since 1994 with a 22-6 win over Cronulla at the DW Stadium.

Cronulla forward Sam Tagataese will return to Sydney this week without a world championship medal - but with Faith.

An impassioned team address from Clive Churchill Medallist Luke Lewis has put paid to any fears of complacency for Cronulla going into the World Club Challenge.

Andrew Fifita's demeanour has not changed as a result of his recent travails, which include being stood down from the Four Nations over his support of killer Kieran Loveridge.

Valentine Holmes will base his game on Billy Slater and Brett Stewart after finally getting a crack at a coveted fullback spot.

Had things worked out differently for Daniel Mortimer he'd have spent last Sunday playing in front of a thousand-strong crowd instead of preparing for Cronulla's World Club Series decider against Wigan,

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan says he has the players to handle Wigan if the Super League champions' emotional build-up gets the better of them in Sunday's World Club Challenge.

The World Club Challenge concept was revived after 11 years in mothballs when current Wigan coach Shaun Wane played in a tumultuous, tryless 8-2 win over Manly at a packed Central Park in 1987.

With 17 days remaining until the start of the 2017 NRL season, Michael Chammas looks at pre-season form and the big questions confronting your club.