There’s Always Next Week
NRL Round 3 in Review
Whether you’re a footy fanatic who analyses their team under the microscope, or you just love seeing the highlights on repeat – this one’s for you.
Join me as we take a closer look at the key plays and players from your team each week.
Parramatta Eels v Brisbane Broncos
Thursday’s grudge match between recent rivals Brisbane and Parramatta turned out to be another one sided affair, as the Eels ran away with a 34–6 victory.
Our first glimpse of the 6-again penalty saw the Broncos starved of possession throughout the match as the Eels ran riot.
Parramatta halves Mitchel Moses and Dylan Brown showed early the importance of playmakers getting on the ball and playing ‘eyes up footy’ — that is, playing what’s in front of them.
Moses spots Anthony Milford at marker around some tired Broncos forwards, and his willingness to attack that opportunity is a perfect example of how halves will need to play this season.
The advantage of second-phase play was also apparent, as the Eels threw 20 offloads to the Broncos’ five.
Take nothing away from the brilliant work by Maika Sivo in the 27th minute, but it was the two offloads before Evans’ play the ball that disrupted Brisbane’s defensive spacing and led to the try.
Five defenders locked on Kane Evans, and another four in that left channel.
That leaves only four Broncos to defend the other two-thirds of the field.
Goodluck.
Broncos’ fans will be eagerly awaiting the return of Tevita Pangai Jr and David Fifita, who’s mobility and destructive running games will suit the faster style of play this season.
Gold Coast Titans v North Queensland Cowboys
An all QLD affair on Friday night resulted in another disappointing loss for the Titans, who failed to fire against a free-flowing Cowboys side.
Every time the Titans looked like piecing something together, it would just as quickly fall by the wayside.
A break by Dale Copley marched the Gold Coast 60 meters upfield into attacking territory. The ensuing set features four basic hit ups in the middle third of the field, before Nathan Peats throws a shocker to Ash Taylor and the Cowboys are off the hook.
Whilst the dropped ball isn’t Taylor’s fault, his role in this attacking set leaves much to be desired; a single tip-on to Proctor his only involvement.
In contrast, Scott Drinkwater’s authoritative display from 5/8th included a lovely short ball at the line to Justin O’Neill for an easy four-pointer, while more than a few long cut-out passes only just missed their mark.
His growing combination with Valentine Holmes has the Cowboys in good stead this season, combining for 4 try-assists between them on Friday night.
It’s back to the drawing board for Justin Holbrook. Above all else, the Titans need to settle on a halves pairing capable of building pressure with their kicking game (zero forced drop outs this season).
Props Moeaki Fotuaika and Sam Lisone had good contributions, showing what some short passing and second phase play can do to a tired defence.
Ball runners like Philip Sami and Tyrone Peachey could be lethal off the back of momentum like this, and Holbrook must figure out a way to get them into the game.
The Titans are also crying out for some creativity around the ruck, and back up hooker Mitch Rein might be the solution. Peats’ is tireless in defence but the Titans need more attacking options across the park.
South Sydney Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters
A look at the numbers from Friday’s rivalry match has the Roosters and Rabbitohs almost split down the middle in terms of possession (49% / 51%), completion rates (87% / 86), meters gained (1795m / 1697m) and errors (7 / 6).
Executing the game plan in key moments proved to be the difference however, as the Roosters recorded their first win of the 2020 season.
Daniel Tupou’s try in the Roosters’ first attacking set is a good example.
Coach Trent Robinson clearly identified the Tupou-Gagai height mismatch during the week, as well as the new right-edge combination of centre Campbell Graham and Dane Gagai on the wing.
Clinical from the Roosters.
Kyle Flanagan’s 28th minute try was another example of the Roosters’ willingness and ability to promote the ball from anywhere on the park. On fourth tackle near halfway, you could excuse the Roosters for getting to their kick and locking in with their defence.
But Keary and Tedesco had other ideas.
Souths had their chances on Friday night, but just couldn’t execute in the key moments. A line-break from Graham in the second half should have resulted in four points, but fullback Latrell Mitchel was nowhere to be seen in support.
Of all hookers, many in the game have predicted the new rule changes will benefit Damien Cook the most, considering his lethal running game from half. Yet over the weekend it was the crafty- not the speedy- number nines who proved most effective.
St George Illawarra Dragons v New Zealand Warriors
The season has barely restarted, and already they are crying for Coach Paul McGregor’s head…sounding familiar?
The performance of halves Ben Hunt and Corey Norman also attracted plenty of criticism, as the Warriors cruised to a 18–0 victory on Saturday afternoon.
With over 400 first-grade games between them, the excuses are running out for Hunt and Norman. Consistently, the Dragons’ halves failed to build pressure, with poor kicks and fifth tackle options gifting the Warriors easy passage out their own end.
A good break from Hunt down the right should’ve seen the Dragons play some attacking footy.
Instead, Matt Dufty tips to Paul Vaughn for a settler, then Norman produces this on the last:
The Warriors weren’t much better in comparison, forcing only one line drop out in the 77th minute with the game dead and buried. But by holding the ball for a record 46/48 completions, the Warriors were able to build pressure without an effective kicking game.
If Blake Green can produce more grubbers like this, then the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Scheck (7 dummy half runs, 6 tackle breaks, 285 total meters) can expend more energy attacking the line, and less taking the tough carries… if someone can convince him to.
Cronulla Sharks v Wests Tigers
Boom rookie suspended, star playmaker managing injuries, talismanic forward leaders missing.
The Cronulla Sharks had it stacked against them this weekend, and captain Wade Graham would have to stand tall against a full strength Tigers squad.
How tall?
Showing off the skills of a veteran half, Graham served up two tries for Josh Dugan, one with a perfectly weighted grubber and the next with a crisp cut-out ball.
The Sharks dominated the first half with over 200 more running meters while making 50 less tackles, yet the Tigers showed great resilience and tough goal-line defence to enter the sheds only down 16–10.
Debutant hooker Harry Grant’s ability to hold up the markers gave his halves extra time to ball play, while his incisive runs from dummy half often set up a fellow player in the following play. See below.
Benji Marshall’s touch football instincts are on full display here, rolling the Shark’s big forwards over with fast, direct rucking and then scooting when the markers are out of position. Expect to see plenty more of this from Grant and Marshall this year.
Special mention to Billy Walters who was equally dangerous from dummy half in his short stint.
For the Sharks, coach John Morris will be hoping star forward Andrew Fifita is not sidelined for long, with the forward pack lacking leadership.
With Matt Prior and Paul Gallen departed, the Sharks must replace almost 160 minutes of consistent, quality work in the middle of the park.
Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders
For so long we have watched Cameron Smith control the game from dummy half, while superstars like Cameron Munster are left free to break open the game at will.
Yet on Saturday, the tables turned on the Melbourne Storm, as Josh Hodgson and George Williams stole the show — and the two points on offer — for the Canberra Raiders.
While an uncharacteristically poor completion rate (68%) certainly hampered Melbourne’s chances, there was no stopping the Raiders on their way to convincing 22–6 win.
From their opening set, the Raiders looked ominous, marching upfield courtesy of a 6-again penalty, before Jack Wighton grubbered into the in-goal for a repeat set.
A probing attacking set followed, capped off brilliantly by Jarrod Croker and returning winger Jordan Rapana.
A contender for Pass-of-the-Season from Williams soon sent Nick Cotric over on the other flank, and left Craig Bellamy rueing his team’s inability to defend their line early.
But the Raiders weren’t done there.
Hodgson’s role in this scintillating Raiders’ try may go unnoticed to some. He holds up both markers by first shaping left, then engages both Kenny Bromwich and Brandon Smith at A and B defender respectively.
This allows Williams to slip outside Smith’s shoulder, and the Raiders are in again.
The subtle art of dummy half play will be more crucial now than ever before as the game speeds up through the middle of the field.
Keep an eye on Cam Smith and Melbourne in the coming weeks, as he and the Storm adjust their attack to suit the new rules.
Newcastle Knights v Penrith Panthers
With key attacking personnel missing from both teams, this was always going to be a grinding sort of affair.
The Knights also had to navigate the loss of Mitchel Pearce (HIA) and Connor Watson (ankle) early, relying on debutant rookies Chris Randall and Tex Hoy to take leading roles in a brave draw result.
Some brilliant line defence in the opening half kept Newcastle in the fight; promising signs for Adam O’Brien, who would have been pleased with his side’s effort to concede only 14 points.
For Penrith, Apisai Koriasau’s creative work through the middle somewhat offset the loss of halfback Nathan Cleary, with the crafty hooker consistently putting his forwards into space.
The addition of Cleary and regular fullback Dylan Edwards will go some way to improving Penrith’s stunted attack; on Sunday they had almost 40 plays inside Newcastle’s 20 meter line for only two tries.
For Newcastle, the signs are good. Their ability to weather the storm in defence, then march upfield and take their opportunities was impressive, considering they were missing 3-out-of-4 regular spine players.
Kurt Mann must improve his kicking game if he is to play in the halves, while rookie Tex Hoy will be applying selection pressure after a solid debut.
Canterbury Bulldogs v Manly Sea Eagles
It was the Tom Trobjevic show on the Central Coast, with the superstar fullback combining beautifully with his brother Jake and captain Daly Cherry-Evans in a Sunday afternoon blowout.
After a frantic opening 20 minutes, Manly found their rhythm and the Bulldogs had no reply.
Some beautiful ball playing from Jake Trobjevic put his brother over for his first try in as classy a set piece as we’ve seen this year.
Not to be outdone, Tom continued on his way to 200 running meters, two tries and three try assists in a blistering performance.
A crunching try saving tackle on Christian Crichton in the dying minutes was his best effort of the night.
For the Bulldogs, a lack of creativity from halves Jack Cogger and Lachlan Lewis netted just 1 try assist between them, with no line breaks or line break assists leaving coach Dean Pay wondering where the points will come from.
Lewis is a fantastic defender and decent kicker of the ball, but his ball playing and running game is still developing. The return of Kieran Foran cannot come quickly enough.
Keep an eye on our home page for anything you might’ve missed, including Jason NRL’s Round 3 wrap-up.
Cheers!
