"Heads In!" Round 10
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
The proud pack of Bulldogs has been reduced to a rabble, while the Rabbitohs prepare to repel a left-side attacking onslaught from Newcastle this weekend.
Whether you’re searching for an edge in the workplace tipping comp, or just desperate to talk some footy, you’ve found the place. Join me as we unpack the scrum that is the NRL each week.
Centre-Field Scrum
What’s centre-frame in the Rugby League lens this week?
‘The Right Environment’
We’ve made a point with Rugby League Writers this year to focus specifically on the on-field footy, as our media space is over flooded with the drama and speculation that fuels the NRL soap-opera.
But the departure of Dean Pay as Head Coach of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs this week was too damning to ignore, as the ‘Dogs became the second struggling NRL club this year to crucify their coach despite a raft of other problems strangling the club.
No prizes for spotting the Pay sympathiser.
After last week’s disappointing showing against the Brisbane Broncos, the whispers grew louder regarding Pay’s tenure at the helm, and a few days later he was walking out the door.
It could just be coincidence, but the reinstatement of suspended duo Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor in the same week as Pay’s exit seems telling, as Pay had been vocal at the time about the importance of building a strong club culture - something the disgraced pair put into disrepute.
‘A strong finish to 2019 saw the ‘Dogs knock off top-8 sides Parramatta, South Sydney and the Broncos in convincing fashion, and not-so-coincidentally coincided with Pay being able to pick his full strength team.’ - Heads In, Round 4
Off-field dramas aside, the closest Pay has come to fielding a competitive first-grade roster since his appointment as coach was late last year, when the likes of Harawira-Naera, William Hopoate and Adam Elliott helped the Bulldogs finish the season strongly.
All of whom have been crucial to an otherwise stagnant Bulldogs’ offence in the last few seasons.
And all of whom have been - at no fault of Pay’s - unavailable for extended periods of time, including last week’s shocker against the Broncos.
When defending the club’s current position this week, Bulldogs’ CEO Andrew Hill even had the audacity to reference last year’s late run of form, reminding us that ‘we [all] saw last year…that given the right environment…we did have some victories over quality teams.’
The ‘right environment’.
You’ll be forgiven for assuming the ‘environment’ Hill is referring to is the winning one Pay created, deep into a long-since dead season, when he finally got his best 17 on the park.
But rather than try and facilitate the right environment for Pay moving forward, Hill instead referred to that late run of form under Pay as a sign of the club’s ability, while in the same breath stating that Pay isn’t the man for the job anymore.
Go figure.
The trending solution to reviving the Bulldogs’ attack is Penrith assistant coach Trent Barrett, who some have credited for Penrith’s comprehensive offensive form this season.
This is a Penrith offence that is now spearheaded by one of the most creative and deceptive hookers in the game this year in Apisai Koroisau.
A Penrith offence that is now playing behind a reshuffled forward pack ranking fourth in the competition for running and post-contact meters, and completing at an NRL high 82%, up from their last placed 73% last season.
Barrett may have a hand in these changes, but there are plenty of other factors contributing to Penrith’s revival in attack this season.
And so while uncertainty continues to cloud Canterbury’s future in the head office, Bulldogs’ fans will be anxiously wondering what sort of effort their team will produce on the field this weekend, in Pay’s absence.
‘The one thing the Bulldogs can look [to], is the fact that with the talent they provided Dean Pay, he had them trying. They were playing to the best of their ability.’ - Paul Kent, NRL360, 14/7/20
Interim coach Steve Georgallis has made two notable changes to his squad for Saturday’s clash with St George Illawarra - Lachlan Lewis returns at halfback to replace Brandon Wakeham, while Nick Meaney and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak switch between wing and fullback, respectively.
On face value, both these changes are reasonably justified.
Wakeham has failed to impress in the halves alongside Kieran Foran, and his two weakest attributes - defence and kicking - are arguably Lewis’ greatest strengths.
With a forward pack that isn’t expected to win the yardage battle each week, it is more important than ever for Foran and Lewis to find the grass with their kicks and finish their sets well against the Dragons on Saturday.
Out the back, young Meaney is safer under the high ball than Watene-Zelezniak, who’s dynamic running game can be better utilised from the wing. DWZ has an NRL-high 17 errors so far this season, and should benefit from a simplified role on the edge.
But until that $3 million war-chest we keep hearing about is opened and the Bulldogs build a more competitive roster, the Canterbury faithful will just be hoping some of the resilience and effort Pay fought so hard to instil in this team will show through on Saturday night.
Not that he’ll be there to see it.
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
Rabbits Must Get It Right
Approaching their Round 10 clash with the Newcastle Knights, the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ right side will have plenty of homework to get through in preparation for an offensive onslaught courtesy of the Knight’s left edge.
With the likes of Bradman Best and Kalyn Ponga posing attack threats on Newcastle’s left flank this season, the Knights have scored 58% (19/33) of their tries down that side of the field in 2020, and with good variety.
Edrick Lee was an obvious aerial target before his injury two weeks ago, Best has quickly announced himself as one of the most damaging outside backs in the comp, while Ponga continues to be one of the elite ball-playing fullbacks of our game.
Not to mention Kurt Mann, who under new coach Adam O’Brien has been in fine touch, ranking second for five-eighths in total run meters and third for tackle breaks so far this season.
The Rabbitohs’ new-look right edge should expect plenty of traffic to come their way this weekend, after the Knights looked likely down their left side against the Parramatta Eels in Round 9:
With suspensions and injuries omitting Campbell Graham and Latrell Mitchell, Dane Gagai moves to centre while a new wing pairing of Corey Allan and debutant Jaxson Paulo come onto the flanks.
If his game time last year is any indication, Allan will line up on the right wing outside Jaydn Su’a, Adam Reynolds and James Roberts - hardly the most defence-oriented edge going around at the moment.
Allan made some good defensive plays in his short stint on the flank last year, and may have to do so again if Reynolds and Roberts in particular don’t get their combinations right without the ball.
Reynolds is a tough-as-nails halfback but has never been noted for his defensive abilities, while Roberts is guilty of getting the blinkers on for opposing players and making poor reads in defence. Both deficiencies were exploited last time the Rabbitohs rolled out this defensive combination in Round 23 last year:
Reynolds does well to get his body in front of a charging David Fifita here, but Roberts flies out of the line at Darius Boyd and leaves his little halfback with no hope against a much bigger man.
Expect the Knights to venture heavily down this side of the field on Saturday, trying to pitch Lachlan Fitzgibbon or Best one-on-one against Reynolds or Roberts, close to the line.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
The Big Show
The jury’s still out on whether ‘the little guy’ has really been brought back into the game this year, with a raft of rule changes designed to speed up the ruck and provide more ad-lib attacking opportunities for the ballplayers and speedsters of our game.
While some expected to see more action through the middle of the field courtesy of zippy hookers like Damien Cook, the reality is a little different.
As the ruck speeds up, defensive lines tighten up in response - the old adage ‘make them go around us’ comes to mind - defenders will compress around the ruck when they sense the attacking team is gaining momentum. This means there is more space now than ever on the edges, if playmakers are good enough to get the ball out there.
Tyrone May’s long ball to Charlie Staines on the paint last weekend was poetry in motion, while Adam Reynolds helped Jimmy ‘The Jet’ Roberts take off for his first try of the season with this bullet left-to-right pass wide of the ruck against Wests:
But my left-field selection for Play of the Round last weekend does not feature the little guy - at all - and is an example of what big men with momentum can do when defensive lines don’t tighten up around the middle.
We’ve been keeping a close eye on the Sydney Roosters since Victor Radley’s season ending injury, with a keen interest in how Trent Robinson will tweak his team’s attack in the absence of Radley’s ball-playing abilities.
Between Nat Butcher and Isaac Liu, the defending premiers are flush with lock-forward talent, but it is prop-forward Siasiua Taukeiaho who has taken a leading role in the Roosters pack of late and who gets the limelight this week:
In the tired minutes before halftime, Taukeiaho takes a carry 35-meters out from the Cowboys line, with Sitili Tupouniua running a strong decoy line in support.
Kyle Flanagan floating out the back attracts Scott Drinkwater, who recognises this shape as one the Roosters have used for so many mid-range tries this season - a middle forward at first receiver distributing to his half out the back:
Taukeiaho sees this and holds the pass, choosing instead to isolate Coen Hess who now has the unenviable task of stopping Taukeiaho or a rampaging Tupouniua one-on one.
He chooses the latter and Taukeiaho takes the space on offer, brushing off a poor attempt from Reece Robson before squaring up Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow at fullback.
With both big men moving at close to top speed, Tupouniua does extraordinarily well to reload on his run and get onside in support again, while Taukeiaho’s flick-pass offload was straight out of Joey Manu’s bag of tricks.
The most daunting thing about this passage of play is that if Drinkwater hadn’t flown out of the line to shut down Flanagan, the Roosters’ backline had a 4-on-2 overlap on the right-edge and were in shape, ready to strike.
It was up to big prop-forward Taukeiaho to react to the defence and pick the right play, and he nailed it.
Round 10, begin!
Everyone is talking about the Grand Final rematch between Canberra Raiders and Sydney Roosters tonight, but not everyone is happy about it.
Limited preparation, additional travel, accomodation issues and injuries have all threaten to derail Ricky Stuart’s Green Machine this week, while Trent Robinson claims he is excited by the opportunities that arise from the disruption.
Nothing like a few mind games from the mentors before a big match.
Goodluck to your teams, your tips and your punts!
Glory Glory.