"Heads In!" Round 20
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
Farewell games and milestone men fill the preview this week, as the final round of the regular season competition gets underway.
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?
Unfair Farewell?
Take a seat Tigers’ fans, ‘cause this one might get emotional.
Club legends Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence will celebrate their final game in the black and gold strip when the Wests Tigers face the finals bound Parramatta Eels on Saturday night.
With 575 first grade games between them, Marshall and Lawrence have been mainstays at the club for over a decade - Marshall as Wests’ poster-boy for many years, while Lawrence has proved to be one of the great clubmen in the joint venture’s history.
While both men’s best footy might be behind them, Marshall in particular has been mounting a strong case over the last month or so as to why he still has something to offer in the NRL, despite the Tigers not resigning the 35 year old playmaker for next season.
Marshall is probably unlucky that there’s more to his contractual situation than just on-field performances, because his attacking form in the last six weeks has been convincing to say the least - 10 try assists and 8 line break assists in his last six games.
For reference, fellow playmakers Luke Brooks, Josh Reynolds and Billy Walters - who have all been used in the halves alongside (or instead of) Marshall this season - have just nine try assists between them all year.
Even his opposing players are recognising the influence Marshall still has on the Tigers, at this stage in his career. After narrowly holding off Wests in Round 19, Rabbitohs’ hooker Damien Cook had this to say about the off contract halfback:
‘Benji was their main threat…that we came up against on the weekend. We had to stop him, he was the only one that looked…threatening. For a team that’s letting him go, [Wests] still had him in control of the game, and he’s a big reason why that game came down to two points.’ — NRL360, September 15th
He mightn’t be breaking ankles on his way to the try line anymore, but Marshalls’ vision and ball-playing is as slick as ever - not even his own team mate saw this one coming:
That pretty much sums up what must have been a frustrating year for Marshall, who has tried his heart out every week - sometimes too hard - to keep his beloved club in the fight when at times they just didn’t have the cattle to compete with the top teams.
But when they got it right, Marshall is still up there with the best of them:
He digs so far into the line here that I was sure he was going to run himself, before releasing a bullet to winger Asu Kepaoa who would have been told - in no uncertain terms - to learn quickly from his positional blunder against Souths the week before.
Kepaoa will no doubt owe Marshall a few beers in return for his haul of four-pointers this year, as defensive systems failed time and again to shut down this pass to the unmarked winger:
This is an unfortunately rare example of a perfectly executed Tigers’ attacking shift from the 2020 season - unfortunate, because when done right it was great to watch.
Both Lawrence and Luciano Leilua time their runs to perfection and are genuine options as Marshall swings down Wests’ left edge, drifting across from his usual right side position which surely signalled to Melbourne that the ball was coming this way.
But they had no answers.
Matt Eisenhuth (defending out of position at centre) gets a little lost ball watching and is caught out by a good line from Lawrence. Marshall could’ve had hit Lawrence short, but Brenko Lee jams in to close up the gap - although whether he would have stopped Lawrence is another question.
With Lee coming in, Marshall could have also hit Leilua swinging around the back in the jockey position and it would have been simple hands to the corner, but the Tigers didn’t have much room to work with down that sideline and Melbourne were sliding hard to cover.
So Marshall chooses the best (and most difficult) of his three options - an inch perfect spiral cut out pass between his two decoy runners to send Kepaoa over for his second in the corner - all with Jahrome Hughes right in his face applying huge defensive pressure.
Plenty has been said about Marshall’s own defensive lapses and there is some substance to this, however the Wests Tigers have had issues across the park with their defence this season, both individually and as a whole.
Joey ‘BJ’ Leilua, for example, who Marshall spent plenty of time defending next to this year, was not even picked for this weekend’s clash with Parramatta, following a disappointing year by his standards - you could’ve put Cooper Cronk or Andrew Johns in that defensive line at times this season and even they would’ve missed a few tackles.
As Lachlan Lewis confirms for us down in Belmore, you don’t pick NRL halves for their defence, and what Marshall offers in attack more often than not makes up for any individual deficiencies without the ball in hand.
Whether he goes around again next year or not, be sure to tune in on Saturday night for a chance to catch one more piece Benji Marshall magic - in Tigers’ colours, anyway.
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
Effort on Effort
Wingers and fullbacks competition wide, take note.
The bar has been set, and not by some names you’d expect.
NRL Round 19 served up two incredible individual efforts from two players at opposite ends of their careers, and neither will feature in highlight reels or promo packages.
But you can be certain that Brett Morris and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad earned the praises of their respective coaches and team mates in this week’s video sessions, as the pair of tireless outside backs embodied the relentless and professional standards expected at their clubs in their gritty wins last weekend.
It’s no surprise that Morris and Nicoll-Klokstad play for last year’s grand finalist teams, the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders.
Teams who have built their success around resilient defensive structures and a never-say-die attitude.
Nicoll-Klokstad burst onto the scene in Canberra last year, and while his ball playing is still a work in progress, the young fullbacks’ positional play and effort areas have never been questioned.
After a horror start against the Warriors last week the Raiders dragged themselves back into the fight courtesy of some Elliott Whitehead magic, to start the second half ahead by just two points.
When Roger Tuivasa-Sheck makes a break coming out his own end, Nicoll-Klokstad positions himself beautifully to make a textbook one-on-one legs tackle on a man with the fanciest feet in our game:
Tuivasa-Sheck fights for the quick play the ball but Nicoll-Klokstad is quicker.
He jumps to his feet to chase hard from marker, putting pressure on Kodi Nikorima before sprinting back to his fullback position when Nikorima shifts it wide:
When Adam Pompey makes half a break and puts a tricky grubber kick in behind the line Nicoll-Klokstad is there to clean up the scraps, stopping what were potentially two try scoring chances by the Warriors.
But the veteran might just edge out the youngster in this matchup, as Roosters’ winger Brett Morris continues to defy Father Time himself to enjoy arguably a career-best season for the defending premiers in 2020.
As you’ll see below, he still has the pace to match it with the speedsters of our game, while his work ethic and game awareness is second to none.
With just two minutes on the clock before halftime and the Roosters leading the Sharks 24-6, Sione Katoa makes a break on the far side of the field and races towards the try line:
Morris - despite giving Katoa a 20 meter and twelve-year head start - chases the young winger down from the right wing, forcing Katoa to offload to Will Kennedy before herding the fullback into the corner.
Anyone else would switch off here, their job done, and you wouldn’t begrudge them.
Not Morris though.
You can see him work to get onside before sprinting across field - back to his usual right wing position - where he knows Cronulla will look to capitalise on the numbers advantage.
He doesn’t get there in time to catch the early cross-field kick, but when try scoring sensation Ronaldo Mulitalo steps back infield, who is there to stop him on the try line but the 34-year old Morris, who has covered over 100 meters at full speed and made two tackles inside 30 seconds.
The ultimate professional.
Morris was outstanding on the wing in last year’s grand final, particularly under the high ball where he was faultless and with his defensive reads and positional play.
Not even considering the work he gets through with the ball in hand, Brett Morris - and his brother Josh - shape as crucial members to a Roosters’ squad gunning for that allusive “threepeat”.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
Milestone Man
It’s been another season to forget for the Bulldogs, but their win over South Sydney last weekend was a special moment not only for the club but for club legend Josh Jackson, who notched 200 first grade games for Canterbury since his debut in 2012.
Jackson is tough as nails - just three games missed through injury in his eight year playing career - all while playing a brutal, uncompromising brand of footy in the forward pack each week.
But the workhorse back rower had a rare highlight moment in Round 19, donning his playmaking hat in this slick kick-off set play from the Bulldogs:
With Adam Reynolds kicking off and Jaydn Su’a on the sideline for 10 minutes, Souths’ right edge defensive unit is disrupted and unorganised, and the Bulldogs quickly move to attack there.
Jackson stands in the prop position for the kick off, taking the ball right up to the defence before bouncing off his right foot and putting Jayden Okunbor down the sideline with a beautiful long ball.
A few plays later, Jake Averillo finds himself in position to put up an attacking kick, and Okunbor again produces the goods:
There’s no denying that Souths were off their game last weekend, but credit to the Bulldogs for taking it to them and attacking with some much needed variety.
Okunbor proved to be a handy aerial threat for the Bulldogs when attacking close to the line, while Averillo had some nice touches playing in the halves. We’ll be looking to see this pair combine in a similar fashion this weekend, when Okunbor will be matched against the diminutive Brian To’o.
Without Kieran Foran in the side, Canterbury had to find other ways to score points, and getting Jackson involved on a trick play was a classy touch for his milestone game.
Jackson is set to line up in the middle of the field at lock this week, in what I think is a good change from interim coach Steve Georgallis.
While he has been an out-and-out back rower for the past eight years, Jackson’s mobility and lateral defence has been an issue at times this season. In the middle third, his effort areas, both on and off the ball, as well as his willingness to get his body in front should shore up the ‘Dogs’ pack and get them going forward alongside Luke Thompson, who is only just beginning to show us what he can do.