“Heads In!” Round 9
Unpacking the scrum each week in the NRL
We’ve all heard what Addin Fonua-Blake said last weekend, but no one has given much thought to how it will effect Manly on-field in the coming games.
Elsewhere, the Green Machine is missing some crucial cogs, while Parramatta are reaping the rewards of good roster management in recent years.
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?
Addin to the Problem
Most of us haven’t been able to scroll our newsfeeds or flick on the tele this week without hearing about Addin Fonua-Blake and the fallout of his post-match spray to referee Grant Atkins last weekend.
What he did was wrong, and there is nothing more I would add to the conversation, even if I wanted to.
But while debate rages across the airways, there’s barely been a mention of how this will effect the Manly Sea Eagles on-field over the next few weeks.
Since the footy resumed in May, Fonua-Blake has been one of the most consistently damaging front-rowers in the competition, and is a big reason for Manly’s strong start to the year.
The stats say it all:
With household names like Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans demanding the spotlight most weeks, the work Fonua-Blake gets through in the middle third barely gets the plaudits it deserves. He has a good motor and excellent footwork for a man of his size, is strong through tackles and has a handy offload through the line.
But it is Fonua-Blake’s passion — rugby league’s buzzword of the week — and ability to stand up and lead from the front that Manly will miss the most.
His round six performance against the Canberra Raiders was one of the most destructive individual displays from a front-rower in recent memory, and is a perfect example of this.
Already without Martin Tapau and Moses Suli, Manly would lose Tom Trbojevic to injury early in what looked to be ominous signs for the Sea Eagles.
But led by Fonua-Blake, who ran for a frankly absurd 95 post-contact meters from 22 carries, Manly were able to hold on in the second half and defend their early lead.
Des Hasler and his coaching staff will have spent timeless hair-pulling hours this week trying to figure out how to replace this kind of work rate and impact while Fonua-Blake is on the sidelines.
Youngsters Sean Keppie and Taniela Paseka are averaging just under 30 minutes per game in 2020, and have put in promising performances at stages this season. They will both be required to increase that output over the next few weeks.
More than a few good judges have already questioned the depth of Manly’s squad this season, and the doubters will grow louder if the Sea Eagles can’t knock off the Dragons this weekend.
But with a mad scientist in the coaches box, and one of — if not the best — back row in the competition, it’s far too early to count Manly out just yet.
Right Scrum-Line
Who is feeling the pressure this week?
Maintaining the Machine
The Canberra Raiders have been hit hard with injuries of late, particularly in the engine room where the Green Machine has been so sturdy and reliable in recent seasons.
Long term injuries to Sia Soliola, Emre Guler, Corey Horsburgh and John Bateman has left the Raiders light on forwards, resulting in an exciting debut for youngster Kai O’Donnell this weekend.
With 2019 Grand Final bench prop Dunamis Lui recalled and an expected increase in minutes for experienced utility forward Siliva Havili, the Raiders are in a better position than some to cope with the missing cogs in their usually well-oiled machine.
But while Canberra fans will be looking to the likes of Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton to emulate their 2019 heroics and dominate from week to week, perhaps they should direct their ‘ Up the Milk! ‘ cries elsewhere.
In the absence of Bateman’s individual brilliance on the left-edge this year, back rower Elliott Whitehead is fast becoming a favourite for Canberra and NRL fans alike.
He mightn’t have Bateman’s attacking flair, but Whitehead’s high energy involvements makes him one of Canberra’s most important players on both sides of the ball.
He has a strong carry and a tireless work rate, while his left-edge defensive combination with five-eighth Wighton and centre Jarrod Croker is the third safest in the competition, with just five tries conceded down that edge so far in 2020.
But whenever the Raider’s have needed something this year, Whitehead has been the man to provide it more often than not.
Often a key players in Canberra’s left side backline shifts, Whitehead can use his size and speed to push through the line and offload, or use hands that his fullback would be proud of to get the ball quickly to his outside men:
But his effort to tie the match up against Parramatta in Round 6 is the clearest sign yet that Whitehead has embraced his leading offensive role this season, and why he should at least be considered among the form back rowers in the competition.
77 minutes into what would ultimately be a 90-minute stint, Whitehead gets the ball on his own 30 meter line.
It’s third tackle, there’s not long left on the clock, and his team is down by six.
Whitehead, as a fatigued edge forward, should be taking a weary hit up for his team, not ball-playing on the end of a backline shift:
But when he spots Ryan Matterson has come out of the line, Whitehead somehow finds the energy to burn his opposite number for pace, before finding Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in support back on the inside.
Clutch.
The Green Machine might be missing a few moving parts at the moment, but with Whitehead in career best form and the spine combinations improving each week, they are still well and truely finals contenders in 2020.
Left Scrum-Line
My left-field thought on the NRL this week
‘Parradise
The Parramatta Eels are flying high this season, and they want us all to know about it.
Haunted by seasons past where the blue-and-gold faithful have dared to hope for premiership glory only for the wheels to fall off somewhere along the way, it seems this year they might be onto something.
Head Coach Brad Arthur has faced heavy scrutiny since his appointment in 2013, but in the last few years he has remade Parramatta from inconsistent underachievers into genuine premiership threats.
While the reasons for this turnaround are open for discussion, a look at Parramatta’s roster management paints a very pretty picture and offers some insight into their current form revival.
Entering the 2020 season, Parramatta’s starting team consists of just two players who have been at the club five years or more — centre Michael Jennings (2016) and captain Clint Gutherson (2016) are the Eels’ longest serving members in the current starting side.
Outside this, club stalwarts David Gower (2014), Brad Takairangi (2015) and Daniel Alvaro (2015) provide genuine depth and experience across a squad that is made up entirely of recent recruits:
Since 2017, Arthur and the Eels’ have gone on a non-stop shopping spree, targeting specific players identified by the coaching staff until they assembled the roster they wanted.
Junior Paulo’s return to the club, for example, was identified as a crucial signing because Parramatta needed more size in the front row.
Blake Ferguson was brought in to emulate the dynamic kick returns of the departing Semi Radradra, while Shaun Lane ‘s lanky frame was added as a point-of-difference to their forward pack.
None of these names necessarily stood out individually as star-signings at the time, but collectively they form a genuine, well balanced first-grade list.
For me, there are two key things to take away from all this:
- Patience is a virtue.
I have spoken before about the importance of combinations in the NRL, with the basic belief that players who play more together, play better together.
Some NRL clubs have enjoyed sustained success over long periods of time, thanks largely to consistencies in the playing group — take the Storm’s Big Three, for example.
But Parramatta’s recent success goes against this trend, with a relatively unfamiliar playing group combining excellently in recent seasons. What has been consistent, however, is the presence of Brad Arthur as Head Coach.
Now in his eighth season at the helm, Arthur has been given the time to fashion the club how he sees fit, and now ‘Parra are reaping the rewards.
If the club had been less patient with Arthur when the Eels languished down the bottom of the ladder, he would never have had the time to build the club’s culture and roster into what it is today.
As Arthur’s tenure goes on, and the combinations within the current squad continue to grow, it won’t surprise to see Parramatta maintain their lofty new position as competition heavyweights for some time.
2. Brisbane Broncos, are you listening?
I wrote a few weeks back about the importance of roster management and squad balance, in reference to David Fifita’s ongoing contractual dramas with the Broncos. The young back-rower is without a doubt one of the most exciting prospects in rugby league, and his exorbitant price tag is justified — for the most part.
But with so much of Brisbane’s cap invested in young talent, some (like me) are questioning whether splashing the cash to keep Fifita at Red Hill is a smart business decision.
With big money forwards Payne Haas and Tevita Pangai Jnr already on the books, and so many issues at the Broncos being blamed on youth and inexperience this year, perhaps Fifita’s cash would be better spent elsewhere.
Considering Gold Coast’s outrageous counter-offer this week, though, it might already be out of Brisbane’s hands.
Round 9, begin!
Benji Marshall gets his long awaited return to first grade this week when the Tigers meet the Rabbitohs on Friday night. Souths have been up and down for form this year, but have showed signs improvement lately, while Michael Maguire will be demanding more discipline from his team after last week’s meltdown.
Goodluck to your teams, your tips and your punts!
Glory Glory.
Originally published at https://rlwriters.substack.com.
