"Heads In!" Round 17
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
A superstar forward returns just in time to get in on the fun, as the big boys of our game keep scoring and setting up tries of late. Meanwhile, a promising rookie halves pairing gets another shot for North Queensland.
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?
Sonny Bill’s Back
I had to double check it was really Round 17.
Just four rounds of regular season football to go.
The Penrith Panthers are flying - twelve wins on the trot and showing no signs of slowing down - although they likely won’t until they do.
Melbourne, Canberra, Souths and Cronulla to some extent have found form and are fighting to carry that momentum through to the end of the season, while Parramatta and Newcastle have hit a few hurdles and will be using the next four games to get things right in time for finals.
And then there’s the Sydney Roosters.
Positioned in fourth place, neither red-lining their way around the final bend, nor pulling in for a quick pit-stop because the wheels feel like they’re falling off.
Just cruising along.
And as they patiently wait for finals to arrive and a couple of injured stars to return, the tri-colours will also this week welcome into their squad dual-international, premiership winning forward Sonny Bill Williams.
How and where SBW plays is still an unknown, although most expect him to interchange with Isaac Liu in the lock forward position, where his combination of size and skill should make for a perfect fit in today’s game.
In recent weeks we’ve seen some unlikely names in the try assists column, as middle forwards continue to take on more of a ball-playing role in attacking sets. Considering the soft hands SBW possesses, it won’t surprise to see him have a similar impact through the middle of the field for the tri-colours.
Some good homework by Cronulla last week identified Coen Hess’ poor lateral movement in defence and his tendency to get the blinkers on for opposition runners.
Slotting in at first receiver, Aaron Woods attracts Hess with what looks like a regular hit-up before putting Scott Sorensen into a yawning hole:
And then just a few sets later Woods found Braden Hamlin-Uele close to the line in almost the exact same fashion:
Big Martin Taupau donned his ball-playing hat for Manly last week too, as Des Hasler looks for new ways to take some pressure of Daly Cherry-Evans as his team’s primary playmaker. Taupau threw just one pass in his 42-minute stint last week; this beauty to his prop partner Addin Fonua-Blake short of the line:
But the pick of the bunch for me came from the defending premiers, who are arguably the best in the business at long-distance tries, courtesy of ball-playing forwards who can attract defenders in yardage sets then quickly shift it quickly to the Roosters’ strike men on the edges.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves slots in at first receiver down Sydney’s right edge, running in shape with Liu which gets the attention of Sean O’Sullivan.
As O’Sullivan and the Broncos’ left edge compresses, Waerea-Hargreaves quickly shifts it out the back to Kyle Flanagan, who gives Sitili Tupouniua early ball against a now sliding, retreating defensive line.
Good luck.
Bell-ringing shots and barnstorming carries aside, we’ll be watching closely for how Sonny Bill Williams’ sleight of hand through the middle third can create space and opportunities for the Roosters’ outside backs in the coming weeks.
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
Confused Cowboys
We talked them up months ago following a big win against the Newcastle Knights, when after seven rounds of footy Scott Drinkwater and Jake Clifford were sitting pretty alongside some of the competition’s best halves pairings:
But since then, the duo have failed to fire, with form and injuries preventing them from linking up in the halves again - until now.
Clifford was dropped in Round 13 for the returning Michael Morgan who, apart from a strong showing against South Sydney the following week, has hardly offered any more than Clifford in the #7 jersey this season.
Morgan’s recent calf injury sees Clifford recalled at halfback this week, something Jason also touched on here.
Drinkwater’s injury-forced layoff saw him miss Rounds 10-13, but since his return he has played at fullback with mixed results - strange, considering the specialist number 1’s that North Queensland have on their roster currently.
Particularly strange, considering his move from five-eighth has seen the ‘Cows name anyone from 19-year-old rookie centre Daejarn Asi to edge-forward utility Mitchell Dunn in the halves since.
Interim Coach Josh Hannay’s latest playmaking experiment - utility Ben Hampton - seems to be finally over, meaning Clifford and Drinkwater will enter the pressure cooker again as halves partners for the first time since Round 7.
This pretty much sums up North Queensland’s 2020 season for me; too much chopping and changing to a lineup that has led fans (and me) to believe that the Cowboys don’t really know what their best side really looks like.
The rise and fall of Reece Robson says it all.
Starting the year on the bench, Robson displaced incumbent hooker Jake Granville as the starting dummy-half after just four games and went on to play a starring 80-minute role at hooker for the next five weeks. Then all of a sudden, Robson himself begins to lose game time to another rookie rake in youngster Reuben Cotter, until he is ruled out altogether with a hamstring injury.
Far too much disruption to an inexperienced spine playing behind a desperately one-dimensional forward pack - and no, I’m not just talking about Jason Taumalolo.
While the inspirational lock forward is - and always will be - a crucial cog in the Cowboys’ engine room, Taumalolo’s use almost exclusively as a battering ram through the middle third means that North Queensland are practically playing with three running props in the pack each week.
In a season where ball-playing locks continue to dominate our articles here at Rugby League Writers most weeks, the lack of a ball-playing threat from the likes of Taumalolo, Josh McGuire and Jordan McLean means that the Cowboys’ forwards are far too predictable in the way they go about their work.
Adding to the frustration is the fact that utility forward John Asiata - a more than capable ball-player in his own right - has started all his games this year from the bench, watching on as the Cowboys cry out for some variation and creativity in attack.
While the backline continues to be shuffled and an inexperienced spine is asked to combine on the run, North Queensland’s forward pack could do worse than try and move the ball around between them a little more this weekend.
At the very least it might take some defensive pressure off Drinkwater and Clifford and give them a decent chance to hold onto those starting jerseys for a little longer this time.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
Back Row Comeback
Cronulla’s Briton Nikora returned to the first-grade last week with little fanfare, as he was named in the back row for the first time in over a month only to remind Sharks’ fans just what they’ve been missing out on:
He combined beautifully with rookie halfback Braydon Trindall - who we wrapped earlier in the week - down Cronulla’s right edge, the pair finishing with a try and two try assists between them in a convincing offensive display.
His first highlight was some brilliant hole running off his halfback in attacking territory. Poor Coen Hess barely sees him coming as Nikora starts almost 20 meters deep to be at close to full speed when he receives the ball at the line:
Daejarn Asi thinks Nikora is running at his outside shoulder and positions himself accordingly, but some late footwork sees Nikora hit the ‘unders line’ off Trindall’s hip to stroll over virtually untouched.
Luke Lewis would’ve liked that one.
Nikora then played a supporting role in Siosifa Talakai’s second-half try, running another good line to collect a Trindall offload before quickly shifting the ball on to his outside men:
And then late in the match he skipped across field looking for tired defenders, and linked up brilliantly with fullback William Kennedy, who found Connor Tracey in support:
After a stellar season last year which saw him picked for representative honours, Nikora’s 2020 campaign has been somewhat underwhelming. This performance against the Cowboys is a reminder of the influence the back-rower can have.
If Nikora and Shaun Johnson can begin to combine offensively like they did last year, the Sharks will have yet another weapon to add to what is already the fifth-best attack in the NRL.