Having lost to a side expected to battle it out for this year's wooden spoon, Canterbury coach Kevin Moore claims a meeting with NRL premiership contender St George Illawarra is just the tonic for his ailing side.

Rejuvenated bad boy Todd Carney says he will not let a successful NRL return overshadow the enormity he faces in getting his life and career back on track.

Brisbane Broncos hooker PJ Marsh has been forced into retirement with a serious back injury.

Wests Tigers winger Beau Ryan has successfully downgraded his charge relating to a "crusher" tackle during Monday's 26-22 win over Manly.

Not long since his dreams of remaining a one-club man looked in grave doubt, Parramatta veteran Luke Burt has now set his sights on the realistic goal of finishing his career with the Eels.

Wests Tigers winger Beau Ryan will face the NRL judiciary tonight to contest the grading of dangerous tackle charge.

Manly full-back Brett Stewart will be out for up to five months with a knee injury.

Queensland chairman of selectors Des Morris believes Lote Tuqiri's eye-catching NRL comeback for Wests Tigers will have left Maroons coach Mal Meninga feeling all "warm and fuzzy".

There will not be any demons haunting Brisbane's Ivan Henjak when he returns to the scene of the most embarrassing moment of his brief NRL coaching career.

A pair of hookers who have seen little action in recent times will be thrown to the wolves on Friday night with Canterbury and St George Illawarra putting their depth to the test in their NRL grudge match.

Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis will miss Friday night's clash with St George Illawarra after entering an early guilty plea to a grade two careless high tackle charge.

Gareth Ellis rates the Wests Tigers' mental toughness as more pleasing than spectacularly breaking his try drought for the NRL club with Monday night's match-winner.

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright says South Sydney will be keen to make amends for last weekend's big loss, when the Rabbitohs and Titans clash on Friday night in Sydney.

Lote Tuqiri scored from his first touch of the ball, as the Wests Tigers triumphed 26-22 over Manly in a thrilling round one encounter at Sydney Football Stadium on Monday night.

St George Illawarra has moved to consolidate its engine room with New South Wales prop Michael Weyman re-signing for a further three years.

Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis is in danger of missing Friday night's clash with St George Illawarra after being charged with a careless high tackle by the NRL match review committee.

Parramatta players are devastated that recruit Shane Shackleton has been ruled out for the rest of the NRL season after he underwent surgery to repair a serious hamstring injury.

Sydney Roosters coach Brian Smith likened Todd Carney's freakish ability to that of Greg Inglis and Billy Slater, after the former Canberra bad boy returned from a 16-month hiatus to lead the Roosters to a 36-10 win over South Sydney.

Salvage expert Johnathan Thurston launched the rescue mission, then bagged himself for not finishing the job properly in his post-mortem to the Cowboys' gripping 30-24 loss to Brisbane on Friday night.

Melbourne captain Cameron Smith concedes he has not done enough on the training paddock to help compensate for the loss of half-back Cooper Cronk.

A fresh-faced Sydney Roosters have put last season's wooden spoon behind them with an emphatic 36-10 thrashing of a much-hyped South Sydney side at Sydney's Olympic stadium.

An error-riddled Gold Coast Titans have somehow come from 18-6 down to beat the New Zealand Warriors 24-18 in their opening round NRL clash at Skilled Park.

New Canterbury winger Steve Turner has thrown his support behind centre Jamal Idris who appeared to bomb the potential match-winning try in the dying stages of Saturday's 20-16 NRL loss to Newcastle at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

Defending premier Melbourne has hung on for a narrow 14-10 over a battling Cronulla side in their round one NRL encounter at Shark Park.