Take The Two: Round 7
NRL Round 7 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.
Penrith Panthers vs South Sydney Rabbitohs
Since their disappointing performance against Melbourne a few weeks back, South Sydney have posted back-to-back wins and entered Thursday night’s clash with Penrith looking to prove their Top 8 credentials.
But it was the Panthers who stamped their authority and surely ended their run as premiership dark horses, holding out an error-ridden Rabbitohs outfit to claim a 20–12 victory.
Some have been critical of the ‘give it to Kikau’ game plan in recent times, but the Panthers’ left flank attacked with good variation on Thursday night, exposing South Sydney’s Dane Gagai more than once in the first half.
Jarome Luai looks a completely different player when playing alongside Nathan Cleary, and the live-wire half toyed with Souths’ right edge early on, setting Kikau free in yardage sets to either run or pass to great effect:
But the star of the show was undoubtedly Cleary, who shrugged off a bizarre facial infection to perfectly manage the game in the second half and snuff out any chance of an unlikely Souths comeback.
His dummy-and-go in the dying minutes will be replayed over again in the highlight reels, but Cleary’s control and execution in the little moments is what earns him the star playmaker status.
He is one of the best defensive halves in the comp, possessing a great one-on-one tackle technique that shut down more than a few Souths left side raids:
And his vision and ball-playing — particularly when working out their own end — means the Panthers are often working smarter, not harder, in their yardage sets:
But it is Cleary’s ability as a game managing halfback that has been most impressive — and most exciting — for the Penrith Panthers this year:
Game, set, match.
The impact of bench forwards Zane Tetevano and Moses Leota should not be understated for Penrith either — their dynamic running games are maintaining the rage through the middle when starting props James Fisher-Harris and James Tamou come for a spell.
With wins against the Storm, Roosters and Souths, Penrith have now taken three of the big four scalps from last year’s finals series, as well as coming agonisingly close against Parramatta in Round 5.
Is it time to start talking about the Panthers as genuine premiership contenders in 2020?
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Wests Tigers
The Canterbury Bulldogs came into Sunday’s clash with Wests Tigers chasing just their second win of the season, and they would have to do it without instrumental fullback Will Hopoate, who was forced off early with a syndesmosis injury.
From there it was the Tigers’ game to lose.
While their second 30+ haul in as many weeks was impressive enough, coach Michael Maguire would have been most pleased with the Tigers’ defensive effort — albeit against a struggling ‘Dogs offence.
Maguire has been rather public about his desire to change the Wests Tigers’ reputation as an inconsistent team in recent years, and it seems he has the club heading in the right direction.
By tightening up their defence in the last few games, the Tigers have been able to build some pressure and pile on the points.
On-loan hooker Harry Grant has received plenty of praise so far this season, and rightly so. The best hookers of our game make their fellow players look good, and Grant’s ability to bring his forwards onto the ball, or provide crisp service to his halves over the advantage line has brought the best out of the Tigers in 2020.
Grant’s fingerprints are all over this set leading up to Tommy Talau’s spectacular 42nd-minute try.
Off a penalty, the Tigers shift two passes wide to Grant who digs deep into the line to engage Dean Britt and Jack Cogger, before releasing Luke Brooks who takes the extra meters on offer:
A crisp face ball then gets Matt Eisenhuth one-on-one with Adam Elliott, and the big lock forward finds his front and earns a quick play the ball:
With Raymond Faitala-Mariner not square and Dean Britt still retreating, Grant takes off and gets the Tigers into attacking field position:
He then fires a peach of a pass — across three Bulldogs defenders — to the chest of Brooks, who gets outside Cogger’s shoulder to drop Sam McIntyre into a hole, dragging the ‘Dogs defence in field:
Knowing they have the numbers left, Grant finds Brooks with another good pass, and young Talau does the rest:
Good footy.
The challenge, as Michael Maguire has expressed, will be to produce this week in, week out, against the top teams in the comp.
There’s Always Next Week for…
…the Newcastle Knights.
The consistent, grinding Knight’s outfit we’ve all sat back and admired so far this season never showed up in Round 7, as they were blown off the park in the first half by a committed and much-improved North Queensland Cowboys side.
Take nothing away from the ‘Cows — who were unrecognisable from their own first-half shutout last week at the hands of Wests Tigers — but the Newcastle Knights were their own worst enemy on Saturday.
Off the ball, Newcastle’s desperate defensive efforts were nowhere to be seen, as they repeatedly failed to defend their own errors and penalties; four of the Cowboys’ five tries were scored in the set immediately following a Newcastle error.
We often hear coaches bemoan their team making ‘small mistakes’ in the ‘big moments’, and this might seem like a throwaway line.
But many of the Knights’ twelve errors came at crucial points in the game, releasing any pressure they tried to apply:
Coming into the game with a completion rate around 82%, these errors are uncharacteristic of Adam O’Brien’s team this season, and meant the Cowboys were able to play under minimal pressure and fatigue.
But it gets better for Knights’ fans.
When they held onto the pill, Newcastle’s forward pack worked upfield with some clever short passing wide of the ruck, and the points came easily enough:
And the instant Newcastle managed to build some pressure through possession and field position — albeit courtesy of some Cowboys’ ill-discipline — they made it count.
The Knights’ first consecutive completed sets came at the 51-minute mark, where a lucky kick deflection earned Newcastle a fresh attacking set on North Queensland’s line.
From there, it took only four tackles for Kalyn Ponga to find Hunt in the corner:
And when Pearce was tackled late and the Knights gifted consecutive attacking sets again, some second-phase play scrambled the Cowboys’ defensive line before Kurt Mann barged over.
Ultimately, the Knights coughed up too much ball to give themselves a chance.
But if Newcastle can get back to the resilient, high-percentage footy they served up in the first six rounds, we should see a much improved Knights outfit next week.
Special mention must go to Cowboys’ coach Paul Green and his halves for executing a clever game plan with the boot — Jake Clifford continuously found touch with his kicking game and limited Kalyn Ponga to just 86 running meters from the back.
Don’t be surprised to see other teams emulating this tactic against the Knights in the coming weeks.
Originally published at https://rlwriters.substack.com.
