Is there any sweeter smell?

All the league fans out there know what I'm talking about.

Take a deep breath and you'll smell the sweet sweet smell of footy season.

And isn't it great.

When the Super 14 kicked off a few weeks back there was no question – it was still summer.

But now the sun is cooling down, there's a bit more rain in the air and the NRL has kicked off.

And what a way to start if you're a New Zealand based NRL fan.

The Warriors versus Parramatta was, from my point of view, the game of the round.

The game marked Steve Price's 300th match and also the first in-season match since Sonny Fai disappeared, presumed drowned, at Bethell's Beach.

If Price's run on to the field didn't lift the emotional charge around the ground, the minute's silence to remember Fai certainly did.

If you've followed my blogs you'll know I'm picking these two teams to be battling it out in the Grand Final.

There's obviously plenty of water to go under the bridge before that.

But you have to put your cards on the table early in this game.

And here's how I saw things play out on Saturday night.

What a start to get things underway for Warriors fans.

First new boy Joel Moon went over, followed soon after by young-blood Russell Packer – who I can tell you is destined for a Kiwis jersey this year.

Eric Grothe got one back for the Eels.

But it wasn't long before home crowd favourite Lance Hohaia came off the bench and just as quickly went over.

With Denan Kemp and Luke Burt collecting their full share of extras respectively the Warriors went in to the halftime break ahead 18-6.

And, if his first wasn't impressive enough, Hohaia's second try - early in the second spell - got the crowd at Mt Smart really revved up.

If there's one player the Warriors can always rely on its Hohaia.

There aren't too many professional players out there who you could honestly say don't mind where they play as long as they're playing. But Hohaia is one of them.

The early performance would have had Warriors coach Ivan Cleary feeling happy, not over the moon and counting the points but at least happy.

Almost every time they had a chance they converted it into points or at the very least made the Parramatta side tackle constantly.

But that happiness would have faded a little when Parramatta's superstar in the making Jarryd Hayne pegged the gap back with a decent piece of power play close to the Warriors line.

And that ignited the Eels' attack.

Coach Daniel Anderson would have been unimpressed with what he'd seen from his side until that point.

They had offered plenty on paper but looked to be a bit shell-shocked and when their forwards called on the likes of Hayne and Brett Finch to fire the backline they couldn't seem to find the trigger.

With Hayne getting more involved the Eels' started to show some of their slippery skills.

And it wasn't long before Krisnan Inu went over - again on the back of some powerful running - to bring the gap back to just eight after Burt knocked another successful goal over.

With 10 minutes to go things looked to be getting a bit scrappy.

The ball control and in fact temper control from both sides was starting to slide.

The biggest shot of the game came with a little under four minutes to run when Parramatta's Fui Fui Moi Moi got himself on report for a high shot on Micheal Luck.

The shot left Luck looking well worse for wear but didn't provide any more sparks to the end of the game with both sides still coughing up good ball as the clock wound down.

The Warriors ran out the match deserved winners 26-18 to put the icing on Price's cake and kick start what is going to be a scorcher of a season.

And just for the record, in my opinion having two referees on the field is a waste of time.

The performance of the two officials during this match was no better than I've seen at any game controlled by just one whistle blower.

In fact it appeared sometimes as if they were waiting for the other to make a decision.

Let me know what you thought.