All the best Twitter chat from Round 3 of the 2017 NRL season

March 20, 2017 3:13 pm.by Todd Davey

NRL twitter

IT’S fair to say it was a mammoth weekend of Rugby League action.

The Tigers again suffered a huge defeat and finally took action, Billy Slater returned to the field on Thursday night and the Panthers and the Roosters played out an absolute epic that was tainted by some contentious refereeing calls.

Rather than tell you how it is, we let the users of Twitter tell the story.

Heavy Raiders loss seals Tigers’ coach fate

After back-to-back heavy losses the Tigers have decided to axe coach Jason Taylor.

The decision came on the back of a heavy 40 point loss to the Raiders, after going down by 34 the week prior.

In the last 160 minutes, the Tigers have only scored one try. And it was an intercept one. #NRLRaidersTigers

— Taking Guard Blog (@sportdeopinion) March 19, 2017

If a tweet could ever sum up the emotions of the coach, the team and the fans then this would be it.

I feel the expression on Jason Taylor’s face #NRLRaidersTigers pic.twitter.com/Uh51H9PtBR

— Aaron Thomas (@azsportza) March 19, 2017

News leaked on Monday that Taylor would be fired, and while some fans are overjoyed…

i’m so excited that jason taylor is leeaving the tigers 🙂 https://t.co/52SrnmIcYD

— Deon Tsang (@deon_tsang12) March 20, 2017

The call to remove him has not been unanimously popular.

News reporting Jason Taylor again to blame for Tigers loss. When they win, well done players…Lose and hang the coach. It’s ridiculous…

— Damian Hedges (@dhedges75) March 19, 2017

One user was quick to point out that Tigers legend Robbie Farah could have waited less than a month and he would have made his way back into the starting team rather than being forced out of the club.

Billy Slater makes his return to the field

After spending over a year on the sidelines, superstar fullback Billy Slater made his 2017 debut for the Melbourne Storm in Thursday’s narrow win over the Broncos.

It was fair to the collective Rugby League community were on board the Billy Slater train on Thursday night.

@billyslater I’m a manly fan so no allegiances here.Billy, it’s great to have you playing again.It was a real joy. Congrats & good luck.

— Kim Jobson (@kimwjobson) March 19, 2017

@billyslater Welcome back Billy..So awesome 2 C u play again.. Never stopped believing! Congrats 2 U and ur beautiful fam for not giving up

— A Beliebers Mum (@michellejsutton) March 19, 2017

One Twitter user believes the return of Slater could swing the premiership pendulum the Storm’s way.

Sea Eagles must sort Cherry-Evans mess, while Billy Slater return could take Storm all the way

— Araceli Gebhard (@AraceliGebhard) March 19, 2017

While we would not go as far as this tweeter, we were damn happy to see the Queensland superstar back on the park.

Billy Slater is the only real reason to watch Football.

— ♡ a l e x ♡ (@alexMYCS) March 19, 2017

Moylan magic lights up Twitter in painful Panther loss

His Penrith Panthers may have went down on Saturday night, but Matt Moylan provided the pass of the season so far to add to his already impressive highlight reel.

Moylan to Peachey!#NRLPanthersRoosters #NRL pic.twitter.com/iZaAvi3HMA

— NRL (@NRL) March 18, 2017

One Twitter user thought the pass earned the young fullback a no questions asked Blues guernsey for the next ten years.

Matt Moylan just got picked in every NSW team for the rest of the decade#NRLPanthersRoosters

— Chris Chard (@Vic_Arious) March 18, 2017

After leading early in the match, the Roosters stormed back to claim the win, but the refereeing in the match drew the ire of Twitter after a forward pass was allowed to stand.

Say what you want, Roosters only won due to a forward pass. #NRLPanthersRoosters

— Pantha189 (@pantha189) March 18, 2017

One Twitter user even went as far to suggest that the referees need to be held accountable for their poor calls in a similar fashion to the players.

There have been some absolutely shocking refereeing decision in this game – maybe a referring judiciary is needed #NRLPanthersRoosters

— Adam Davies (@adam_davies2) March 18, 2017

Despite the bitter loss, Moylan drew praise for the manner in which he took the loss.

Both Anthony Griffin and Matt Moylan refused to criticise referees and their decisions tonight. Took it like men #class

— Nathan Taylor (@NateTaylor87) March 18, 2017