If the beer’s cold and the afternoon’s long enough, we’d be talking footy all day, every day until kickoff on Thursday night. With so much to review each week, let’s break down some of the key plays each week in the NRL.
Cronulla Sharks vs St George Illawarra Dragons
With Matt Dufty and Ben Hunt making the fullback and hooker positions their own in recent weeks, the Dragons have fought themselves back into form to salvage a horror start to the 2020 season.
Many punters gave them a chance on Saturday against an inconsistent Sharks outfit, who have posted some convincing wins so far this year, only to concede big scorelines the following week.
But while the debate will rage around the Sharks’ 28-24 victory, footy fans (maybe not Dragons’ ones) will admit that St George had plenty of chances to win the game in the final minutes, only for poor execution to let them down.
Hunt put through a perfectly weighted grubber for Dufty in the 76th minute, but the enigmatic fullback failed to ground the ball correctly in the in-goal.
And when Corey Norman sent a Hail Mary towards the towering frame of Jason Saab with seconds left on the clock, we liked his chances against the much smaller Bryson Goodwin. But the kick was far too deep and Saab couldn’t get the ball down before the dead ball line.
Two wasted chances from key Dragons’ players, with the game on the line.
In comparison, Sharks’ five-eighth Shaun Johnson showed all the poise and control of an elite NRL playmaker to continue on what must be considered a career-best season for the often maligned star.
After eleven rounds, Johnson is averaging a career-high 8o running meters per game and is on track to smash his previous best 18 try assists in a season, with 16 for the Sharks already this year.
While everyone calls for him to run the ball more, it is the variety with which Johnson is attacking that has the Sharks scoring a telling 53% of their tries (24/45) down the right edge this season:
Johnson’s work in the lead up to Sione Katoa’s try here cannot be understated; he digs so deep into the defensive line that by the time he releases the ball, Tyrell Fuimaono, Adam Clune and Euan Aitken have all been dragged in to leave an overlap on the edge.
The next time Cronulla come down this way, you can see Fuimaono work hard from the inside to put pressure on Johnson, so his outside men can shift more easily in defence and prevent another overlap out wide. But rather than going out the back like before, Johnson hits lead-runner Teig Wilton with a short ball to keep the Dragons guessing.
Wilton plays the ball quickly and the Sharks head to the posts before coming back to their right edge again. It’s fifth tackle, and the Sharks are up flat and look ready for a kick into the in-goal.
Johnson gets the ball at first receiver and Fuimaono chases at him hard from A-defender, expecting the ball to go wide like before. But Johnson punishes Fuimaono for chasing too laterally, putting on a big right foot step and crashing over for a well deserved try.
Anyone unfamiliar with the term ‘conditioning the defence’, take note - Johnson’s work in the lead up to his own try had the Dragons sliding hard from the inside to shut down overlaps on the edges, leaving them vulnerable back through the middle.
And he knew it.
While the 29 year old mightn’t be filling up the weekly highlights reel with solo tries anymore, Johnson’s game awareness has developed tenfold, as evident in his distribution and control in attacking sets.
That said, he did break the ankles of poor Fuimaono here.
You’ve still got it, SJ.
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Newcastle Knights
The Bulldogs defied the bookies - and the weatherman - on Sunday afternoon to hold out a disappointing and injury-hit Knights outfit, somehow completing at an incredible 91% despite the horror conditions in Newcastle.
Few gave the ‘Dogs a hope against a Knights side that many expected to play finals football this year, however season ending injuries to Andrew McCullough and Conor Watson capped off a dreadful night for Adam O’Brien’s team, who fumbled their way to 13 errors and looked disjointed on both sides of the ball.
Kurt Mann continues to be a shining light for the Knights this season, as the tireless utility filled in at hooker but lost none of his impact as Newcastle’s most likely player with the ball in hand, while Mitch Barnett deserves a special mention for a bruising defensive display.
But led by Kieran Foran, who was once again instrumental in anything the Bulldogs produced on Sunday, Canterbury defended their early lead to register just their second win of the season in a sign of confidence for Steve Georgallis as interim coach.
Since Pay’s exit two weeks ago, we’ve looked at the two main changes Georgallis has made to his lineup, with both Nick Meaney and Luke Lewis continuing to justify their inclusions in the top squad.
Meaney is undeniably safer under the high ball at fullback than Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, while his effort areas were on display with a crucial one-on-one tackle and steal on a runaway Bradman Best in the first half:
While he isn’t the game-breaking NRL fullback all footy fans want in their team, Meaney’s high-percentage playing style typified the Bulldogs’ gritty, hard fought win on Sunday.
As for the halves, Lewis can take credit for the Bulldog’s first try - putting in an early kick down the short side for Watene-Zelezniak who did well to keep the ball alive:
The Bulldogs’ last placed offence this season can be attributed somewhat to their underdeveloped roster, but also to the lack of variety their halves attack with. And while this wasn’t the prettiest of grubbers from Lewis, the early kick scrambled Newcastle’s defensive line and led to Aiden Tolman scoring his first try since 2017:
Lewis plays nice and direct here, taking the ball to the line to engage Mann before putting Tolman through the non-existent defence.
It mightn’t be the slickest playmaking going around, but along with his 542-kick meters, Lewis offered much more than his replacement Brandon Wakeham, who’s poor kicking game late in the match allowed the Dragons to come within one try of a miracle comeback.
“With a forward pack that isn’t expected to win the yardage battle each week, it is more important than ever for Foran and Lewis to find the grass with their kicks and finish their sets well against the Dragons on Saturday.” Heads In, Round 10
After being locked in by some aggressive and desperate Newcastle defence, Wakeham tried kicking his team upfield, only for one kick to be charged down and another sent out on the full, gifting the Knights field position and almost costing Canterbury the game.
It will be interesting to see how - or if - Georgallis uses Wakeham next week, with Foran at five-eighth to be the only guaranteed selection in the Bulldogs spine for the foreseeable future.
His combination with centre Jake Averillo will be one to watch out for in the coming weeks, with the pair linking nicely on Saturday for what should have been a double, only for Averillo to fumble the put down in slippery conditions.
They should have plenty more attacking chances if the Bulldogs’ pack can continue completing their sets at such a high rate and Lewis can win good field position with his kicking game.
There’s Always Next Week for…
… the Wests Tigers.
There was plenty of hype leading into Thursday’s clash between Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels, particularly around the form of new recruits Ryan Matterson and Luciano Leilua on their respective edges.
We highlighted Leilua’s tackle-busting abilities as a go-to attacking weapon for the Tigers this year, and he came out on top in the head-to-head match up with Matterson, crashing over his opposite number for a powerful barge over try early in the match.
Coach Michael Maguire’s campaign to turn the historically inconsistent Tigers into a battle-hardened, effort-based team was always going to be a long one, but their resilience and energy across 80-minutes on Thursday night should have been enough to convince even the most pessimistic Tigers’ fans that ‘Madge’ is the man for the job.
With HIA injuries ruling out Michael Chee-Kam, Adam Doueihi and Sam McIntyre for varying periods throughout the match, the ninth-placed Tigers were in the fight right until the siren sounded, against a team sitting comfortably near the top of the premiership ladder.
Since returning to the first-grade squad in Round 9, Benji Marshall has continued to be the Tigers’ most likely player with the ball in hand, aside perhaps Harry Grant.
Marshall was everywhere in the last 15 minutes, putting in clever early kicks or creating the numbers for his outside men, who just couldn’t capitalise on the half-chances:
Luke Brooks also had some promising involvements in his 39 minute stint - particularly when he ran the ball - but his execution wasn’t inch perfect when it needed to be. If this pass was out in front of Moses Mbye, the Tigers might have taken advantage of their overlap down the short side:
But it was the efforts of winger David Nofoaluma that personified the Tigers’ performance on Thursday night, and sums up why Wests’ fans should look forward to next week with some assurance.
Nofoaluma is a statistical trail blazer among wingers this season, ranking highly for run meters (1st - 1932), line breaks (4th - 10), tackle busts (1st - 60) and tries (2nd - 10) after just eleven rounds.
He racks up these attacking stats thanks not only to his dynamic - if not unorthodox - running game, but also his high work-rate and willingness to take carries in the Tigers’ yardage sets.
With his team down on troops and chasing points late in the game, Nofoaluma went in-field looking for work, taking some tough - and effective - hit-ups through the middle of the field and getting the Tigers into good attacking position.
But off the back of these carries, Wests twice found overlaps down their right edge only for the opportunity to be missed because Nofoaluma was out of position, having just taken a hit-up through the middle third.
A rare instance of a player being punished for effort.
If Thursday night’s performance is any indication, then Maguire seems to have his troops competing to his liking. He will now have to coach them to get the balance right between working hard, and working smart.
Special mention must go to Wests Tigers’ debutant Shawn Blore, who won a few new fans (me included) in his encouraging 46-minute stint, which included a running battle with Eels’ enforcer Nathan Brown.
The pair locked horns more than once in the second half, with the rookie more than holding his own against one of the more confrontational forwards in the NRL, all while controlling his aggression with a professionalism beyond his years.
Looking forward to seeing more of this kid.