NRL Notepad: Round 11
From now through to October, I’ll look back at my notes from the prior round and highlight an area of each team to keep a close eye on from your couch.
Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers
Eels
Per Fox Sports Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown are the top two players in the NRL in forced dropouts.
Brown took over a lot of the kicking duties in Moses’ absence so his eight forced dropouts for the season isn’t so much of a surprise. However, Moses’ NRL-leading nine forced dropouts in seven games goes a long way to highlighting his impact on the side because, well, the traditional counting stats do not.
Moses has just one try and two try assists this season and is yet to send a single teammate through the defensive line. His 70.7 running metres per game is less than the NRL average for five-eighths and halfbacks, too.
I’ll be taking a closer look at Moses this week, and provided he plays well, will try to point out the little things he does for the Repeat Set on Monday.
Tigers
Focus on the process, not the outcome.
The outcome of playing the worst defensive team in the competition was the Tigers scoring 48 points. That isn’t happening again this week as they face an Eels side conceding less than 12 points per game.
Wests haven’t offered a lot of creativity against good defensive teams up to this point in the season. I’ve talked about it a couple of times and concluded that Benji Marshall needs to be out there to improve that area. With an unopposed training session from Round 10 under him, this is the best opportunity to assess the process Wests have in place for good ball sets, and whether or not the win over a Top 8 side that still eludes them will come soon if it doesn’t this week.
North Queensland Cowboys v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Cowboys
You don’t get anywhere in this business without some self-promotion so I’ll direct you to this piece on the Cowboys and how they can build themselves up without Paul Green.
For the Notepad this week, I’m looking to see if interim coach Josh Hannay makes any noticeable changes to the way North Queensland plays in attack:
“The Cowboys ultimately lacked any sort of punch with a block-heavy attack proving predictable and simple for defences to control. Running with such an attack can work when you have one of the best halfbacks in NRL history pulling the strings by playing both sides of the field. Not so much when he's no longer at the peak of his powers, and worse still, not in the side at all.”
Sea Eagles
“Coen Hess - out of the defensive line”
It’s a note that has come up a little bit too often for me and will no doubt be something Daly Cherry-Evans will be aware of too. Briton Nikora tried it on in Round 7 only for Cherry-Evans to work the ball around and put Jake Trbojevic through a big hole.
I’ve got my eye out for something similar this week.
Brisbane Broncos v Melbourne Storm
Broncos
The term rubbernecking refers to the physical act of craning one's neck, performed in order to get a better view. Rubberneck has been described as a human trait that is associated with morbid curiosity.
Like driving past a car crash, my rubberneck and morbid curiosity of how this dumpster fire Brisbane Broncos team responds to another thrashing has me back for more punishment on Friday night.
They have the worst defence in the NRL, Anthony Milford is playing fullback, and Anthony Seibold is trying to inspire an improvement from Brodie Croft by having him wear a different number on his back.
What are we focusing on for the Broncos this week? Everything.
Storm
The Storm right side put on a masterclass last week.
This simple play:
Soon led to this beautiful play:
And the Titans had no answers.
So much of the focus is on the Broncos right side defence. Most notably, the poor role Brodie Croft is playing within it. Will he swap to the left side following the switch to number six?
He’s in big trouble if he does.
New Zealand Warriors v Sydney Roosters
Warriors
The Warriors have plenty of excuses for sitting 13th on the ladder. A lot of their on-field struggles aren’t a surprise. However, their soft middle is inexcusable.
They’d displayed enough of a weakness in the centre-third to write them off last week even before Braden Hamlin-Uele strolled over from 30 metres out:
If the Warriors are going to do anything more than make up the numbers this season, they need to offer more resistance in the middle of the field. Todd Payten has given Adam Blair a spray during the week. He’s been relegated to the bench with Karl Lawton, Jazz Tevaga, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and Jack Hetherington to start in the middle of the field. It’s not a big name lineup, but it doesn’t take a big name to get in front of an opposing player and force the attack to go around you.
The Roosters will score plenty of points on Saturday afternoon. Making it difficult in the middle can be something the Warriors build on, though.
Roosters
This doesn’t happen often and the Warriors attack might not be the best opposition to measure any improvement against, but we’re looking at the Roosters middle defence after a poor performance last week.
A Jack Wighton linebreak stretched them before Dunamis Lui scored under the posts in this one:
The middle caved in to open up space for Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to put in a grubber for this one:
They couldn’t stop a big George Williams step here:
And simply fell apart for Josh Papalii to score the match-winner:
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks v St George-Illawarra Dragons
Sharks
It turns out we’re spending a lot of time focused on middle defence this week…
Add the Sharks to the list.
Perhaps I’m being a little picky, but a big reason I’ve been eager to see Toby Rudolf spend more time in the middle for the Sharks is to see if his speed and footwork can help improve what is often a lazy defence.
But one of his first involvements off the bench In Round 10 was to fly out from A, get beaten, and for the Sharks to concede two quick play-the-balls as a result.
I like the way Rudolf plays. He showed great intent in trying to shut down the Warriors set as they worked out of their own end. I’m looking for better execution on Saturday.
Dragons
So, Cameron McInnes at lock and Ben Hunt at hooker looks here to stay.
Everybody, including Hunt, seems pretty happy with the setup:
“I am liking the forward pack we have got at the moment. Moving Cam to lock is a massive bonus for us.”
Now we’re keeping an eye on how it develops and beginning to picture what it can become. McInnes as a ball-player, in particular. There is potential for this Dragons attack with McInnes and Matt Dufty both capable of getting involved in the ball-playing throughout good ball sets. A lot of Hunt’s issues appeared to stem from an overreliance on him in attack. While he’s now in at dummy half, having five ball-players able to share the load is an exciting prospect. The forward pack is certainly good enough to get the team up the field.
Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Raiders
The hooker rotation is back on the agenda this week.
Siliva Havili’s service worried me at times last week. As a guy that isn’t going to beat defences with his feet, his service needs to be better.
Tom Starling, on the other hand, really impressed in his 48 minutes to run for 61 metres and hand out a ripper try assist to Josh Papalii.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for how Ricky Stuart uses the duo and whether or not Starling’s performance forces any changes.
Rabbitohs
Like last week, we’re on debutant watch. Only this time it’s the nephew of an immortal.
Newcastle Knights v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Knights
The Knights should thrash the Bulldogs.
Should…
They had the rabbit on a plate last week and almost dropped it by falling asleep and allowing the Rabbitohs to get a sniff of a comeback win.
Elite teams don’t take their foot off the gas until the job is done. It’s something Adam O’Brien will be drilling into his group this week ahead of a Bulldogs side known for their toughness.
It’s simple and a tired cliche, but seeing the Knights play a full 80 and putting the bottom-placed Bulldogs to the sword will help their transition from good team to a great one.
Bulldogs
Everybody knows the Bulldogs defence could do with some work, but I was still surprised to see that their left edge is the worst defensive area of all 16 teams in the competition.
Jake Averillo is an excellent attacking prospect. Readers here know that I want to see the Bulldogs provide him with some more early ball so he can use his speed and footwork with a little more room to move. But this week, it’s on the defensive side that he needs to thrive.
Kalyn Ponga has been spending more time searching down the Knights right side and will almost certainly have a target on the Bulldogs left defence.
Gold Coast Titans v Penrith Panthers
Titans
The focus for the Titans has effectively been covered in the Storm segment of this piece. Their left side was torn to shreds last week with both Ash Taylor and Brian Kelly both getting caught out by Cameron Smith.
Meanwhile, Keegan Hipgrave missed 12 tackles as Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran rings round him on the Titans right side.
The Titans edge defence has long been a target for this weekly column and attacking plans of their opposition. This week, they play the top of the table team who have thrived behind their play on the edges.
Panthers
Mitch Kenny has the impossible task of replacing Api Koroisau this week.
Kenny isn’t going to be able to emulate the dynamic Koroisau as he crafts a career-best year with the Panthers attack thriving behind it. So, who is going to make up the difference?
Will the Titans target Nathan Cleary knowing they aren’t as exposed to conceding metres and line breaks through the middle out of dummy half?
Will the Panthers go with what works and hammer their left edge attack more than usual?
In a game where the result feels like a foregone conclusion, we still have a couple of interesting wrinkles to keep an eye on.
READ: Heads In! - Round 11 Preview
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