NRL Notepad: Round 17 (Saturday)
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.
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Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Gold Coast Titans
Bulldogs
The Bulldogs attack is bad.
We’ve been here before, though.
While putting 20 points on the Raiders looks good, the reality is that they were pretty lucky to get there. Lachlan Lewis threw a beautiful pass for Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. Give that one a tick. The other three?
Raymond Faitala-Mariner’s try has been consistently called an obstruction this year.
While Kieran Foran’s kick landed on the spot for Josh Jackson’s try, it came more as a last resort.
Kerrod Holland’s try will be a contender for Try of the Year, but it’s not one they’re going to be able to draw up and recreate on Saturday.
For the most part, the Bulldogs attack remained as predictable as it has been all season. The Raiders knew exactly what was coming and were able to defend any Bulldogs shift with relative ease by the end of the game.
Let’s be honest, there isn’t much the Bulldogs can do at this point. It’s all Foran or nothing. Lewis offered some encouraging plays in Round 16, though. A few more of those on Saturday will provide some hope for next season.
Titans
Seeing Oscar highlight this play, with a similar action leading to the Titans match-winning try later on, reminded me to scroll up to my Round 15 notes on their loss to the Raiders. One thing that stood out is how often their middle forwards looked to move the ball.
Jarrod Wallace put AJ Brimson through a hole on the first tackle in this set:
Three tackles later, Jaimin Jolliffe tried to do the same for Moeaki Fotuaika:
Wallace then got involved again. While he needed to dig further into the line for that pass to be more effective, it’s in a spot where we’re more accustomed to seeing Wallace plod up for a settler:
Fotuaika threw a wide pass off a kickoff in the same game. Jolliffe was active as a ball-player in good ball sets in Round 16. We’re on the lookout for anything similar from the Titans middlemen this week.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v Wests Tigers
Sea Eagles
It was never going to be easy coming up against Justin Olam and the Storm, but Albert Hopoate struggled on debut.
Olam had his way with Hopoate early:
Ryan Papenhuyzen’s speed then caught the 19-year-old out as the Storm fullback skipped past before sending Josh Addo-Carr down the outside:
Having seen Hopoate struggle with the speed earlier on, Cameron Smith is quick to shift this ball out to Addo-Carr who is standing further infield than usual. Addo-Carr breaks the arms tackle with relative ease:
Hopoate getting back to make tackles on Papenhuyzen and Addo-Carr in the above plays is encouraging. He’s not at his quickest following a second ACL injury. However, we’re on the lookout for a significant improvement in his overall defence this week against a Tigers left edge he should be able to handle.
Tigers
All eyes have to be on Benji Marshall, don’t they?
He’s been given his marching orders for 2021. It’s the right call by the club but poorly handled. Marshall shouldn’t have found out through the media. Ideally, it’s a conversation they had in private with Marshall ‘choosing’ to retire from the NRL and given a genuine send-off. Anyway, how he responds and whether or not the decision sparks some vintage Benji will determine how Wests finish the season.
Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters
Raiders
Tom Starling has been named in the 14 jersey again, but surely he’s out there for kickoff…SURELY!
Despite spending 10 minutes in the naughty chair against the Bulldogs last week, Starling still made the Stats Insider Team of the Week (along with Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine).
He scored a double, ran for 68 metres, and really just caused the Bulldogs defence headaches with the ball in hand. He’s crafty around the ruck, but it’s when he crabs across the field and finds a hole-runner that he’s troubling the defence most. He’s been doing it somewhat regularly since cracking first-grade in Round 10. The Sydney Roosters will have seen that, though.
First of all, will Starling still be able to set players up in the same way?
Second, can he still have a significant impact on the game if the Roosters shut that play down? You know Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will be lining him up…
Roosters
You know what else the Roosters will have talked about this week?
How the Raiders carved up their middle defence the last time they met in Round 10.
In fact, it’s the first time we saw Starling start to crab across the field before hitting a teammate in the middle.
Expect the Roosters to be a much tougher nut to crack in the middle of the field on Saturday night.
Oh, and Sonny Bill Williams is probably worth keeping an eye on too.
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