“Heads In!” Round 6
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
The Telstra Premiership ladder is beginning to take shape as we enter Round 6 of the 2020 season. But how the game will look by season’s end — or even this weekend — is still somewhat a mystery.
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?
Roster Management
The NRL was rocked with another scandal this week, as player manager Isaac Moses’ cancelled accreditation hit the headlines as a result of breaches to his contractual obligations back in 2017.
The repercussions of this will no doubt unfold fully in the coming weeks, but at first glance there is one note to take from all of this; retention and recruitment is a high-stakes game.
Kalyn Ponga’s four year contract extension with the Newcastle Knights was announced this week, and is a great sign (and signing) for a club that has shown vast improvement this year under new coach Adam O’Brien.
For so long, we watched on as the Knight’s on-field woes began to spill across the sideline, and the club struggled to sign big name players or attract legitimate off-field commercial support.
So for any club going through a rebuilding phase — there is hope.
Proud Novacastrian’s are now taking in the view through a genuine premiership window, thanks to excellent roster management and recruitment strategies in recent years.
Credit must go to The Wests Group CEO Philip Gardner and his team, who took ownership of the Knights in 2017, and have had the club on an upward trajectory ever since.
The risk in splashing the cash to lure Ponga from the Cowboys back in ‘17 is paying dividends, as the club quickly built itself around their superstar fullback.
It could be argued that big name signings Mitchel Pearce (2018) and David Klemmer (2019) might not have come to the Knights without Ponga’s presence. The same could be said about the expected addition of representative back rower Tyson Frizell in 2021.
The final piece of the puzzle was a Head Coach that could bring it all together, and the early signs are good for Adam O’Brien, who has instilled a resolute defensive mindset into his troops already this season.
“[I like] their ability to hang in there…as Adam says, to be comfortable in the uncomfortable.” — Paul Harragon, NRL360
This Knights outfit is prepared to do the hard yards and earn their right to play some footy. And when they do, they now have the quality across the park to execute.
Young dynamos Jacob & Daniel Saifiti are led by veteran Tim Glasby and representative prop Klemmer — who is still only 26 years old and just entering his prime.
Aiden Guerra has wound back the clock and its easy to forget that Newcastle have been missing both starting back-rowers — Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Mitch Barnett endured years of heartache as the club rebuilt from the ground up, and have emerged as uncompromising genuine first graders as a result.
In the playmaking stocks, Andrew McCullough directs the aforementioned pack up the field, while halfback Pearce has never looked more comfortable leading a side.
Kurt Mann is still learning the 5/8th position, but looks better each week and would do well to try and emulate the simple, aggressive straight running game of Canberra’s Jack Wighton.
Oh yeah, and then there’s that Ponga guy everyone keeps talking about.
Thanks to good recruitment and retention policies, the Newcastle Knights now have one of the deepest first-grade squads in the comp, with a good mix of experience and youth that should see them playing finals footy this year…
Have we said that before?
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
Get in the Bin
Graham Annesley has fired a shot across the bow this week to NRL coaches trying to find a way around the new rules introduced over the COVID break.
The very fact we are talking about this speaks volumes about the NRL as a whole. Of course coaches are going to try and manipulate the rules to their advantage — that’s their job.
Annesley’s efforts to maintain the integrity of the new rules is diligent enough, but there are some sitting on their couches at home, phone in hand, wondering why this whole process is even taking place.
Why implement sudden new rule changes if you’re not prepared to enforce them just as suddenly?
The referees should have been instructed to nip this on the bud from the get go, as teams inevitably began to ‘bend the rules’ — or whatever you want to call it — to negate opposition advantages.
After just two games, coaches were instructing their teams to concede a 6-again penalty early in the tackle count to halt an opponent’s momentum, and to give their own defensive line time to get set.
And with the one referee so focussed on the ruck, we are seeing more leniancy around the policing of the 10-meter onside line as teams try to get up in defence more quickly.
Annesley’s email to club coaches this week states that teams will see the sin-bin used for technically deliberate indiscretions like this, but the jury is still out. Referees have always been tentative to send a player to the bin, considering the impact it can have on a game.
With even more pressure on the whistle-blower this year now they are doing it solo, it is a massive call for Annesley to publicly threaten the sin-bin for players who “push the limits” this week.
The onus is now on the referees to interpret Annesley’s instructions on the field this week, just as they were left to interpret the new rules on the run three rounds ago…
The pressure will also inevitably mount in the coaches box this weekend as yet another line is drawn in the sand by Annesley and the NRL, and teams are forced to re-learn what they can — and can’t — get away with.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
Play On. Fair Game.
The first thing I heard on the radio this morning was news that James Graham has sought an immediate release from the St George Illawarra Dragons to return to the UK and finish his career in the Super League.
Pretty rough way to start the day.
While his release is pending on the Dragons finding a suitable replacement, and any other contractual legalities that remain to be finalised, the club’s announcement of the news doesn’t bode well for Dragons’ and Graham fans alike.
After an incredible career (so far) spanning over 400 games across both UK and Australian first-grade competitions, the tributes will surely come thick and fast for the man they call “Jammer”.
So I figured I’d try and get in first.
My earliest memory of Graham is sitting on the couch with Dad, watching 26 players run around on a TV without knowing much about rugby league.
But Dad used to rave about this crazy-eyed Englishman, who made a career — in one of the toughest sports on the planet — out of being the toughest bloke on the field.
Living in a red-and-green household, it would’ve been easy for Dad (and me) to despise the man often at the heart of the Rabbitohs’ and the Bulldogs’ fierce rivalry. But a begrudging respect ultimately grew for Graham and his live-by-the-sword, die-by-the-sword attitude.
James Graham was a player who played to his own rules.
And by that, I mean that for everything he dished out, Graham was fully prepared for it — no, he was asking for it — to be sent right back his way.
Play on. Fair game.
Sam Burgess’ recount of the 2014 Grand Final is, for me, the most fitting way to remember Graham as a player and a man.
After his face was shattered by Graham in the opening tackle of the game, the pair find themselves packing in a scrum a few minutes later, and Burgess recalls Graham approaching him:
“That scrum in the second minute there…he looked at me genuinely and he said; ‘mate, Sammy, your face is a mess, you’ve gotta go off’, and he was as genuine and caring to me as he’s ever been.” — Sam Burgess, Fox Theatre: 2014 Grand Final
In the heat of battle, in the biggest game of the year, Graham saw past the premiership glory and showed real concern and remorse for his fellow man and player. Burgess’ face was horrifically damaged, and there was genuine risk of further injury.
But when Burgess brushed off his regards and declared he was playing on, that was all Graham needed to flick the switch and roll those wild eyes again.
Play on. Fair game.
If Burgess wanted to be out on that field, then he was going to get the same treatment as any other man out there. And a treatment from James Graham was as bruising as they came.
Graham never took a backwards step on the field, and often relished taking on opposition forward packs all by himself. The bigger the challenge, the higher Graham rose, to garner a reputation as one of the NRL’s toughest ever English imports.
His leg drive and strength in the tackle often saw him carry two, three or four defenders through the line, and he was an excellent support player through the middle — no surprise, considering this is an effort area, and Graham was as consistent as they come.
In defence, Graham did have a brilliant tackle technique that saw him tirelessly plug holes in the defensive line where less-mobile forwards were found out.
But the big Englishman was undeniably at his best charging out of the line like a wild bull and meeting his opponent head on —sometimes literally.
While his highlights reel mightn’t be as exciting as some, the passion he showed with every tireless hit-up and every crunching tackle will forever stand out to rugby league fans.
Off the field, teammates have praised Graham throughout his career for his work ethic and approach to training, as well as his leadership skills and the way he has always driven strong club culture.
Whether at lock, prop or off the bench, Graham played every minute like it was his last, and NRL fans across the game will be hoping last weekend’s win against Cronulla wasn’t.
If for some bizarre reason you are reading this, then play on and fair game to you, Jammer. Thanks for the memories.
Round 6, begin!
The unofficial game of the season kicks off on Saturday night, as the undefeated Parramatta Eels match up against defending premiers the Sydney Roosters.
Despite Origin being at season’s end this year, talk has already begun about player selections and team makeup. For the Blues, all eyes will be on Mitchel Moses and Luke Keary, the two playmakers expected to battle it out for James Maloney’s vacant Blue’s jumper.
Keary in particular has been a top-tier half for years now and the question will soon be asked; what more does he have to do to earn that #6 spot?
Elsewhere, the Newcastle Knight’s look to be building towards something, which could unfortunately be at the Broncos’ expense on Thursday night.
Goodluck to your teams, your tips and your punts!
Glory Glory.
