NRL Notepad: Round 8 (Sunday)
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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Manly Warringah-Sea Eagles v Newcastle Knights
Sea Eagles
The Sea Eagles need to find a long-term partner for Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves.
Lachlan Croker starts in the position this week after playing the full 80 minutes in Round 7. Handy enough for his 108 running metres, it still feels like a matter of time before Croker is switched out.
For me, Cade Cust is the future. He scored four tries and handed out six try assists in his seven games last season. That’s some effort for a then-20-year-old. Now another year older, with Walker injured and Croker not doing enough to guarantee himself the six jersey at the moment, it’s Cust’s time to shine.
Des only gave Cust 20 minutes off the bench last week. It will be interesting to see if he bumps that up on Sunday.
Knights
Welp, the Knights made me look silly last week.
Appointing them as a sure-fire finals side, the Knights travelled to North Queensland and returned embarrassed by the 32-20 scoreline.
As Oscar mentioned on Monday, “the instant Newcastle managed to build some pressure through possession and field position - albeit courtesy of some Cowboys’ ill-discipline - they made it count. The Knights’ first consecutive completed sets came at the 51-minute mark, where a lucky kick deflection earned Newcastle a fresh attacking set on North Queensland’s line.”
How the Knights respond this week will tell us a lot about them. A week ago, they were talked about as being a different team to those that have struggled to capitalise in recent years. Now, we’re not so sure.
READ: Heads In! Round 8
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Bulldogs
If Kieran Foran isn’t inspiring something in attack, the Bulldogs don’t have one.
There is no creativity, no risk assessment, and they rank 12th in line engaged runs at 14.3 per game. Instead, the Dogs are dumping it off on the 4th tackle:
Brandon Wakeham needs to have a dig there. Use Josh Jackson to attract Luciano Leilua, but keep the ball and run it.
Try something. Anything!
Rabbitohs
Can he do it?
Can Jaydn Su’A use his 188cm and 100kg frame and impressive footwork to become a good first-grade back rower?
With 116 running metres, three tackle breaks and two offloads, he looked dangerous last week. I’d like to see him do it again before getting too excited, though.