Take the Two: Round 14
NRL Round 14 under the microscope
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.
Melbourne Storm vs Sydney Roosters
While we were treated to quite possibly the game of the season back in Round 8 when these sides last met, injuries to key personnel in both squads somewhat tempered the hype of this rematch.
The Roosters were missing troops across their pack and backline, but had key on-field generals Luke Keary and James Tedesco to lead the way against a Storm outfit missing their playmaking stars - Cameron’s Smith and Munster.
It was obvious that Melbourne would have to rely heavily on Jahrome Hughes to steer them around the park, but few expected the fullback-cum-halfback to excel as he did in his new role.
With Brandon Smith and Ryan Papenhuyzen primarily running threats from their hooker and fullback positions, Hughes took on the responsibility of chief ball player and distributor, tallying 62 receipts on Thursday night - almost double his usual receipts per game (avg. 37 touches in last four games playing with Smith and Munster).
Yet it was the quality - not the quantity - of Hughes’ involvement on Thursday night that has me raving about him here.
He displayed some very Munster-like footwork and speed in the second half when presented with an uncharacteristically scattered Roosters’ defensive line:
It’s first tackle, and when Luke Keary and Sitili Tupouniua rush out to shut down a Felise Kaufusi hit up, Hughes spots Isaac Liu has not slid in cover at B-defender and punishes the mistake. Liu can’t make the tackle, and Hughes does well to draw Tedesco from fullback and put Kaufusi over untouched.
He then displayed some very Smith-like vision and positioning when defending his try line, reading the Roosters’ attack and dropping back to clean up this Jake Friend grubber:
We have watched Smith nullify attacking kicks with defensive reads like this so often that it’s almost become under-appreciated as a spectator.
Friend takes just two strides out of dummy half before Hughes reads the play, dropping back to clean up the kick before beating two tackles and getting a further 10 meters out of trouble.
Papenhuyzen was moving into position to collect Friend’s kick from fullback, but most likely would have been tackled into the in-goal and Melbourne would have been forced to defend their line again. Instead, Storm start their set 12 meters out and against a retreating defensive line.
But Hughes’ highlight moment was this solo effort early in the first half, beating four Roosters’ defenders on his way to the try line:
With Suliasi Vunivalu earning a quick play the ball in the corner, Liu and Friend rush off their line at Hughes too laterally. The wily halfback burns them with two big left foot steps before targeting back around the ruck area where Keary and Josh Morris are recovering from the previous tackle.
From there, it’s all Hughes - great strength, footwork and balance to push through the attempted tackles and reach out to plant the ball in the in-goal.
It’s easy to forget it wasn’t long ago that Hughes was battling Brodie Croft for the number seven jersey down in Melbourne. Given the pair’s respective form this season, it’s fair to say the Storm got it right.
Does Craig Bellamy ever back the wrong horse?
North Queensland Cowboys vs South Sydney Rabbitohs
I’ll be the first Rabbitohs fan to admit this result was far from a convincing one, but considering the winnable games South Sydney have let slip so far this year, these were an invaluable two points for the Redfern based club at this point in the season.
Finishing the match with 44% possession and just 24/35 completed sets, Souths’ poor handling and ill-discipline threatened to prove the difference against a much improved Cowboys side, who ran for more meters and built more pressure with their kicking game.
But in a season where poor execution has crippled South Sydney’s offensive form, the Rabbitohs were able to find points when they needed them despite limited attacking chances - Souths had just 13 tackles inside the opposition 20, compared to the Cowboys’ 24.
The continued development of South Sydney’s spine combinations was pleasing, as Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Adam Reynolds and Damien Cook were directly involved in all of Souths’ tries on Saturday night.
Yet amidst chatter that the Rabbitohs’ forward pack would be found wanting this year, it was the likes of Tom Burgess, Tevita Tatola and rookie Keaon Koloamatangi who stood tall against an all-representative Cowboys’ front-row to get Reynolds - and Souths - into a position to win the game.
With five to go on the clock and Souths trailing by six points, Burgess and Koloamatangi force an error from Jake Granville in the tackle and the Rabbitohs take possession near the half way. Four tackles later, Mitchell finds Alex Johnston in the corner and South Sydney score.
From the ensuing kick off, Souths - through Burgess and Tatola among others - go 70 meters upfield before earning a penalty within kicking range for Reynolds, who slots it to tie things up.
Receiving the kick off again, the Rabbitohs march 60 meters upfield, with Burgess, Tatola and Koloamatangi all bending the line and earning quick play-the-balls.
On fourth tackle, Tatola takes his second carry of the set before offloading to Koloamatangi, who produces this:
Forty-seven minutes into his longest stint in first grade so far, the five-game rookie fights Coen Hess and John Asiata for an extra 15 meters before finding an offload that sends Cook and Tatola deep inside the Cowboys’ 20 meter line and within field goal range:
Clutch.
We can’t expect these efforts from youngsters like Koloamatangi every week, but alongside the career best form of Tom Burgess (avg 149 running meters per game) and Tevita Tatola (avg 120 running meters), as well as the tireless Cameron Murray, the Rabbitohs’ undervalued forward pack is for the most part holding their own.
How they fair in the finals series - should they make it there - against fellow top eight teams is still an unknown.
There’s Always Next Week For…
… the Canterbury Bulldogs.
It’s proving to be a long season for the Bulldogs, who fought back after a poor start against Wests Tigers to be in front with just minutes to go, only for the match to slip through their fingers.
Short of sounding like a broken record, the Bulldogs simply lacked big players in the big moments to secure the result, with halfback Jack Cogger missing two kickable field goal attempts late in the game while Kieran Foran was off injured.
Both blunders proved extra costly, as the Tigers marched quickly upfield after Cogger’s first miss for Joey Leilua to bust his way over the try line and level things up.
And after Cogger missed his second attempt, Wests used the ensuing seven-tackle set to get within field goal range for Brooks who nailed his shot and sealed the result for the Tigers.
Foran’s injury late in the game, as well as the limited involvement of Raymond Faitala-Mariner due to illness, meant that the Bulldogs were missing two crucial attacking players when the game was on the line.
But while Cogger - the club’s third halfback choice so far this season - couldn’t execute in the big moments, the performance of utility Jeremy Marshall-King is one that the Bulldogs can look to for the future.
Capable of playing at hooker or in the halves, Marshall-King had big plays from both positions on Sunday as the Bulldogs looked to stage a late comeback:
With an out of position Elijah Taylor leaving Josh Reynolds as the lone marker, Marshall-King sends him right with a big dummy before charging through a gaping hole behind the ruck. He brushes off Adam Doueihi’s attempted tackle to gift Aiden Tolman his second try of the year and level the scores at 22-22.
With Foran going off injured shortly after, Marshall-King then moved to five-eighth and showed excellent vision and footwork to isolate a fatigued Russel Packer, who was slow to come off his line here:
Marshall-King beats Packer on the inside, shows great strength to stand in the tackle of Luke Garner before releasing a miracle offload to a supporting Kerrod Holland who dives over the line.
Two big individual plays by Marshall-King, with the match on the line, that should have sealed the win for his team.
Given the inclusion of hooker Sione Katoa in Steve Georgallis’ squad in recent weeks, it will be interesting to see how Marshall-King is used for the remainder of the season, especially considering the Bulldogs’ halfback struggles so far in 2020.
another one eyed site.........with all the journo's watching and scrutinizing each game every week, maybe one just one might have made comment on the Luai stamp on Nikorimas head. instead we have to listen to the farcical bite saga, or the media breaches. one day, one journo will wake up and say there are 8 games with 16 teams and today we will treat them equally, unfortunately, today is not that day