“Heads In!" Round 4
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
One week is a long time in rugby league, and coaches now have a better idea of how the new rule changes will effect the game.
How quickly their teams adjust will separate the contenders from the pretenders.
Whether you’re searching for an edge in the workplace tipping comp, or just desperate to talk some footy, you’ve found the place. Join me as we unpack the scrum that is the NRL each week.
Centre-Field Scrum
What’s centre-frame in the Rugby League lens this week?
It Pay’s to take your own look…
Disgruntled Dragons’ fans took just 80 minutes over the weekend to forget how good it was to have the footy back, and instead start crying for coach Paul ‘Mary’ McGregor’s head.
Meanwhile, a Bulldogs side desperately lacking experience and first-grade quality on paper is still winless after three rounds, with reports that the pressure is mounting on coach Dean Pay.
The media firestorm that has erupted over McGregor and Pay this week says a lot about sports reporting today. Many sources have the pair locked in a battle-royale ultimatum over the next few rounds, from which there can only be one survivor.
But if we dig a little deeper, the woes in Canterbury-Bankstown and the Illawarra region are vastly different.
Cast your minds back to late 2017.
Club legend Dean Pay is announced as Head Coach of the club until the end of 2020. He is charged with the role of guiding the self-described “development club” through a rebuilding period, following poor salary cap management under the previous administration.
Club stalwarts James Graham, Aaron Woods, Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye are all forcibly released, and in the same breath CEO Andrew Hill concedes the club will “have limitations on what we can recruit and retain” until 2021.
Fast-forward to the present, and suddenly it’s all Pay’s fault that the ‘Dogs are 0-and-3 and second favourites for the wooden spoon.
The Bulldogs have just six players in their 32-man squad with over 100 first-grade games.
Of these, key spine player Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is new to the club, while Kieran Foran has been plagued with injury over recent seasons.
The result is an inexperienced and unfamiliar spine that struggles to manufacture points.
In comparison, defending Premiers the Sydney Roosters have eleven 100+ gamers in the squad — twelve if you include international Ryan Hall (328 Super League games), and have enjoyed continuity in their playmaking stocks with James Tedesco, Luke Keary and Jake Friend all mainstays in the spine for the last two seasons.
The results are telling.
If you had to pinpoint a weaknesses, it would be fair to say the Bulldogs are missing some creativity and control in the spine, and a dynamic, gamebreaking forward. The inclusions of Foran and Corey Harawira-Naera tick these boxes perfectly, but neither have been available this season.
A strong finish to 2019 saw the ‘Dogs knock off top-8 sides Parramatta, South Sydney and the Broncos in convincing fashion, and not-so-coincidentally coincided with Pay being able to pick his full strength team.
Foran’s inclusion was particularly influential on developing halfback Lachlan Lewis’ game, as the young half was freed up to showcase his rarely seen attacking skills.
Usually recognised for his defensive efforts, Lewis’ vision and execution here is comfortably first-grade quality. Bulldogs’ fans will be hoping the return of Foran this week sparks this attacking form back to life.
Moving forward, the club is expected to enter the player market in preparation for the 2021 season, with a strike forward most definitely on the shopping list. The club is also lacking a genuine dummy-half, with Jeremy Marshall-King’s transition from half to hooker still a work in progress.
The tabloids have Pay’s walls falling in around him. Yet surely any pressure on his coaching position comes primarily from the fact that his contract is up at the end of this season.
All clubs chase success, and while it’s hard to argue with Pay’s winning percentage (35%), he has had a plethora of excuses, and the signs are there that he has his team is moving in the right direction.
The same cannot be said for Paul McGregor and the Dragons, as you can see here.
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
The Man in the Middle
Eight games. Eight referees. No howlers!?
The NRL has survived it’s first test since restarting, with referees garnering support and approval from commentators, players and coaches alike over the weekend.
But the spotlight on them will intensify over the next month or so, as teams adjust to the new rules. Referees will be under more pressure than ever to ensure the ruck speed is maintained, and that teams are not illegally negating this advantage.
If you’ve got ruck speed and momentum, you’re going to have a lot of joy. On the flip side, if you’re defending you’ve gotta try and…slow it down — Michael Maguire, NRL 360
And after, what we saw this weekend, the Wests Tigers’ coach is spot on.
Teams like Canberra, Wests and Parramatta all dominated the middle third in Round 3, allowing their halves to play an attacking brand football over the advantage line.
I think there’s going to be a lot more joy in and around and behind the ruck…halves attacking on the front foot, playing flat and fast — Benji Marshall, NRL 360
So how will defending teams try to counter this?
The Roosters did an exceptional job of containing South Sydney’s Damien Cook on Friday night, when many were expecting the hooker to thrive amidst the faster ruck speeds.
The Roosters primarily did two things to minimise Cook’s impact; they split the markers, giving Cook less room to move, and their line speed was excellent, cutting off Cook’s decision making time:
Here, Sam Verrills cuts off Cook’s angle back infield, while Nat Butcher slides left to stop the hooker running down the short side.
The Roosters’ A and B defenders rush up quickly on either side of the ruck, and Cook is forced to concede the tackle for minimal gain.
While the Roosters might be lucky to escape a ‘markers-not-square’ penalty in this instance, credit must go to Trent Robinson and his troops for implementing and executing what was a clear game plan in defence.
With more than a few teams expected to use this tactic in the coming weeks, referees will be under increasing pressure to ensure the new rules are implemented effectively.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
Big Vic a Big In
After notching their first win of the season, the Sydney Roosters look to continue their form against an injury ravaged Broncos side this Thursday night.
The tri-colours received a huge boost earlier this week, with star lock forward Victor Radley found not guilty of a dangerous throw on South Sydney’s Dane Gagai:
Right.
Nevertheless, Radley’s inclusion is a massive in for coach Trent Robinson, who has moved quickly to offset the loss of Cooper Cronk in the halves.
Rookie recruit Kyle Flanagan has the pedigree and junior-grade form to be a long term NRL halfback, but there is a lot of pressure on his young shoulders to steer a squad chasing the first NRL ‘three-peat’ of the modern-era.
The incorporation of Radley into the Roosters’ attack this year will go some ways to alleviating that pressure and giving Flanagan time to adjust.
A quick look at Radley’s numbers from last season to now highlights an interesting trend. He averaged 6.6 passes from 18.6 receipts across the Rooster’s three-game finals series in 2019; fairly standard numbers for a lock forward in todays game.
But in the first three games of the 2020 season, Radley has averaged 15.6 passes from 26.6 receipts. Over the offseason, he has tripled his passes per game, while greatly increasing his involvement on the ball to become one of the Rooster’s most valuable attacking players.
Robinson’s fingerprints are all over this. The two-time premiership winning mentor is fast building his reputation as a top-tier NRL coach, and this is just another example.
Radley’s ability to ball play takes pressure off Flanagan and Keary during sets, while he can also fill in at pivot for backline shifts.
His role at first receiver on fifth tackle allows Flanagan to create the extra man out wide in this shift. Manly centre Brad Parker has to decide whether to hit Flanagan or Tedesco wrapping around the back — an unenviable task.
Radley had three key involvements in this attacking set, and only a brilliant effort from Tom Trobjevic stopped the Roosters from going over in the corner.
With the game speeding up around the ruck, and ball playing through the middle-third more important than ever, Radley is primed to become an integral part of the Roosters’ dual-premiership defence in 2020.
Round 4, begin!
The revamped 2020 NRL draw has served us up some crackers this weekend, with Parramatta Eels vs Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday likely to be the best of the bunch.
Brad Arthur’s game plan for last week’s match against Brisbane was perfect in hindsight, considering how well the Eels were complimented by the faster speed of the ruck. They will face a much sterner test this week against Manly and the Trobjevic brothers though, who were on fire last week.
Good luck to your teams, your tips and your punts!
Glory Glory.
