Take the Two: Round 17
NRL Round 17 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.
Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers
Cashing in on their twelfth win on the trot against the embattled Brisbane Broncos on Thursday, it’s often been a case of ‘take your pick’ when highlighting key plays or players from the Penrith Panthers this season.
Nathan Cleary and Apisai Koroisau continue to impress as arguably the competitions’ form players in their respective positions, while the likes of Jarome Luai, Dylan Edwards and James Fisher-Harris are enjoying career-best seasons.
Yet it was two less likely names that filled my notebook on Thursday night, as bench forwards Zane Tetevano and Spencer Leniu made impressions in their stints from the pine:
Where some teams are losing momentum when their starting forwards are taken for a spell, Penrith’s bench is maintaining the rage and allowing their opposition no respite defence.
Alongside starting middles Moses Leota (110m) and Fisher-Harris (257m), Penrith powered their way to 2108 running meters on Thursday - almost 700 more than Brisbane’s 1271. And as we’ve seen in recent weeks, earning momentum through the middle created space for strike players on the edges.
A barnstorming carry from Leota attracts four Broncos defenders through the middle third of the field, which compresses Brisbane’s defensive line:
From dummy-half, Koroisau knows Penrith now have the numbers down their right edge, and he goes to work:
He skips across the face of one Bronco, before straightening to attract another.
A strong decoy line from James Tamou gets David Fifita interested too, and all of a sudden the crafty hooker has held up three defenders to create a five-on-four overlap for Brian To’o to ice in the corner.
Credit where it’s due to Koroisau here, but he can thank his middle forwards for the momentum they’re earning in yardage sets, and in the lead up to attacking shifts.
Whether it’s Penrith’s starting forwards, or their impact players off the bench, Ivan Cleary has a pack that is constantly making inroads and allowing their playmakers to attack on the front foot and with momentum.
It’s no surprise that the Panthers’ only loss in 2020 - against Parramatta back in Round 5 - was also the only game this year in which Penrith lost the yardage battle. While this is hardly a groundbreaking correlation, it does highlight the influence that Penrith’s middle third rotation is having on their team’s results this season.
Melbourne Storm vs South Sydney Rabbitohs
Another frustrating loss to a top four team for South Sydney, who let slip an early lead to go down 22-16 to the Melbourne Storm on Friday night.
There were big question marks over how Souths would attack without the presence and ball playing abilities of Latrell Mitchell at fullback, and while Corey Allan is a serviceable footballer, there were a number of half-chances the rookie couldn’t quite clinch, as we’ve seen ‘Trell do so many times this year.
That being said, the game was Souths to lose after a solid first half, and lose it they did.
Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds were again impressive, linking up for a first half try and orchestrating Souths’ attack on their way to a 14-8 lead. Yet with just over a minute before the break and working out of their end, Jaydn Su’a throws an unnecessary offload which Liam Knight fumbles, and Melbourne are suddenly on the attack.
Just three tackles later, Ryan Papenhuyzen screams down a Melbourne left-edge shift to find Justin Olam in the corner, and suddenly it’s 14-10.
Jason - as much as I didn’t like to admit it at the time - was right.
South Sydney came out in the second half to complete just 10 of 18 sets, throwing in eight errors and four penalties to give themselves no chance against a Melbourne Storm team that played to their strengths and took their chances with the ball in hand.
Melbourne’s two second half tries came off the back of the same key principle; manipulating markers and working back in behind the ruck, something that Cameron Smith has forged a stellar career out of from dummy-half:
The debate will rage over whether this pass was flat or forward but in truth, an inch or two either way wouldn’t have made a difference - Smith wasn’t ever passing to anyone but big Tino Fa'asuamaleaui here and the Rabbitohs should’ve seen it coming - or better yet, stopped it.
The Rabbitohs’ ruck defence was then found out again when Cameron Munster crashed over for what would ultimately be the match winning try.
A strong carry from bench forward Chris Lewis in the lead up had Souths’ defensive line retreating as he found some space in behind the markers:
On the next play, Munster skips across field and pokes his head through a disorganised Rabbitohs right edge, earning a quick play the ball before Smith chimes in again:
With Su’a out of play on the ground, Smith holds up Tom Burgess as the lone marker before putting Papenhuyzen into space behind the ruck. Munster pushes up in support to crash over the line virtually unchallenged.
In a game where South Sydney were still quite clearly learning how to attack without Mitchell at fullback, the Melbourne Storm showed they know their identity as a team, particularly with the ball in hand.
Wayne Bennett stated that he plans to keep Allan at fullback moving forward, but its worth taking anything the supercoach says in his pressers with a grain of salt. How South Sydney change their attack in the coming weeks, particularly if Alex Johnston spends some time at fullback (please, Wayne) will be something to watch out for.
There’s Always Next Week For…
… the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The Dragons let slip another match on Sunday night much to the frustration of interim coach Dean Young, who lamented his team’s inability to close out tight games.
Despite running for more meters, making less tackles and breaking the line six times to the Cowboys’ three, St George Illawarra failed to come away with the two points as a Valentine Holmes field goal in extra time awarded North Queensland their fourth win of the season.
The Dragons bombed more than a few tries across the 80 minutes, as halves Adam Clune and Corey Norman combined effectively to break North Queensland’s line, only for the final pass to miss the mark or a poor decision made with the ball in hand:
Norman probably should’ve gone for the try line himself here, while his support runners couldn’t finish off yet another line break in the second half when he combined with Billy Brittain down a short side:
The ease with which St George broke the Cowboys’ line is pleasing enough, as is the fact that it was the Dragons’ key spine players - Norman, Clune or Brittain in this instance - combining effectively.
But St George’s inability to convert these chances into points was in stark contrast to the Cowboys, who banked four tries from just 13 tackles inside their opposition’s 20 meter zone in a much improved attacking display.
Halves Scott Drinkwater (two try assists) and Jake Clifford (two forced drop outs) looked comfortable back in the halves together, getting the job done after we wrapped them here at Rugby League Writers last week.
While far from perfect, the young playmaking duo built pressure effectively and took - for the most part - the right options in attack. It may have been a little clunky, but the Cowboys showed good patience in their field goal set to get into position for Holmes, when either half could have taken a riskier shot earlier in the set.
A lesson that 200+ gamer Corey Norman would do well to learn, after he fired a shot at goal from more than 40 meters out in the Dragons’ opening set of extra time.
Rather than kick to the corner and put the pressure back on the Cowboys, Norman went for the all-or-nothing play, and while it could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been the match winner, Norman’s botched attempt sums up a frustrating game - and season - for the St George Illawarra Dragons.
A lack of control and execution in the big moments has proved costly for a side that has some decisions to make in the near future regarding the composition of their spine, given the big names and big contracts currently on the roster.
They aren’t far off, but there’s still some work to do for whoever is announced the next head coach of St George Illawarra in the coming weeks.