NRL Notepad: Round 6 (Saturday/Sunday)
From now through to October, I’ll look back at my notes from the prior round and highlight an area of each team to keep a close eye on from your couch.
Thursday and Friday night footy have come and gone.
Now we look toward five games across Saturday and Sunday, including the biggest game of the season so far when the defending premier Roosters take on the 5–0 Eels.
Saturday
Gold Coast Titans
- Corey Thompson
- Anthony Don
- Brian Kelly
- Young Tonumaipea
- Phillip Sami
- Ash Taylor
- Jamal Fogerty
You know, it’s not an elite backline. The Titans are still without a genuine superstar they can look towards when getting desperate. This group is serviceable, though.
Kelly and Tonumaipea make for a strong centre pairing while Don and Sami know how to find the line. With Taylor improving, Fogarty getting more comfortable and Thompson an effort player that will create chances, the Titans have a good opportunity against a poor defence to build some cohesion.
Gold Coast Titans: Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Via Stats Insider
St George-Illawarra Dragons
Me, last week, before Matt Dufty recorded a try, two try assists, 10 tackle breaks and 197 running metres in a Man of the Match performance:
Surprisingly, this tweet wasn’t met with the usual “you were saying?” or “this aged well.”
Perhaps it’s because everybody knows we’ve seen all of this before?
Dufty comes out against a poor team, dominates, earns a spot in the side unquestioned for a month, but his form subsides and he ends up on the bench again.
While detractors can still call on a poor opposition if he does play well again this week, Dufty has a prime opportunity to start developing some consistency. Given that the Dragons play the Roosters, Raiders and Sea Eagles in the next three weeks, the Dufty selection cycle may well continue without a good game here.
Wests Tigers
The Tigers defended well last week to keep the Raiders to just 14 points. It’s an area the Tigers have struggled to dominate consistently, but the sight of the scramble defence in Round 5 suggests they’re at least buying into Michael Maguire’s tough mentality.
We need to see some creativity in attack, though. There was too much of this last week:
Nothing…
No plan, to structure to the set, just passing it and hoping somebody creates something themselves.
Josh Reynolds may have replaced the more creative Benji Marshall, but it’s Luke Brooks that needs to fill the void. Direct traffic, put players in positions, and execute plays.
North Queensland Cowboys
It’s Hamiso time.
He has been named to start at fullback after showing some promising signs at the back last week. Lightning quick, he barely put his foot down to get on the outside of his defender to send Justin O’Neill over in the corner.
Given the frailties we have seen in the Tigers edge defence this season, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow can run rampant out wide. The Leilua brothers, in particular, will be tested on both sides.
Sydney Roosters
After referencing the Roosters’ ability to be in shape at all times last week, they provided us with the best example yet.
The first shift is shut down by a good read from Lachlan Lewis, but watch Joey Manu and Angus Crichton. Manu calls for the ball to come right straight away and runs a line directly at where Lewis should be. Crichton, meanwhile, doesn’t stop running until he’s putting the ball down over the line untouched.
They’re always prepared and executed this one to perfection.
Ignore the recent attacks on “shape” and “structure” by old heads desperate for rugby league to return to the 80’s. Appreciate what it looks like when mastered instead.
Parramatta Eels
We’re more or less looking at the Eels overall this week.
They’ve had a fairly handy schedule and needed an element of luck to win in Round 4 and a five-minute flurry of points to win in Round 5. While very good, relying on luck or three tries in five minutes isn’t going to end well against the Roosters.
Getting into the grind and being patient as against the Panthers last week is a good start, but executing and taking the limited opportunities the Roosters give up is paramount.
If they’re going to force the Roosters into mistakes, the Eels want to send plenty of ball to Dylan Brown and their left edge. Kyle Flanagan is Sydney’s weakest link in defence. Brown’s footwork and Shaun Lane’s size will cause him all sorts of trouble and most likely be Parramatta’s best source of points.
Sunday
Canberra Raiders
It’s a big week for Curtis Scott.
While not terrible, he’s not stood out in an otherwise decent Raiders right side so far this season. The 113 running metres and three tackle-breaks make for good numbers, but his seven errors in five games take a fair bit away from that. So too do the 12 missed tackles in what is typically an excellent Raiders defence.
Once hailed as one of the best young players in the game, it’s been a long time since the 22-year-old garnered that sort of hype. If he can recapture some form, this Raiders right edge will be lethal when John Bateman returns.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Sea Eagles will need to pack some serious punch through the middle if they’re to make up for the loss of Marty Taupau. But if they can get up the field, they’ve been dangerous enough in good ball sets to cause a fairly big upset here.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Tom Trbojevic effect in attack. He’s helped Daly Cherry-Evans over the line without even touching the ball in this one:
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
I’ll be looking at two things:
- Andrew Fifita and Aaron Woods defending around the ruck
- Shaun Johnson sweeping to the left side
I dive into both a lot more for Stats Insider.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
For all the good Kieran Foran can bring to the Bulldogs attack, Lachlan Lewis and the Bulldogs left edge defence threatens to undo it all.
Albeit pulled apart by the back-to-back premiers and favourites for a third in the Roosters last week, the Bulldogs were awful on that side of the field defensively.
The Bulldogs try hard. We see hope in the side every few weeks before a top team puts the broom through them and piles up the points. If they’re to become anything more than a 12th or 13th placed side, clogging up the left edge defence is where they need to start making significant improvements.
