Take the Two: Round 8 Review

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, let’s break down some of the key plays each week in the NRL.

• Brisbane Broncos v Gold Coast Titans
• Newcastle Knights v Sydney Roosters
• There’s always next week for…St. George Illawarra Dragons

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Brisbane Broncos v Gold Coast Titans

‘Shape’ and ‘combinations’ aren’t words I’ve used when talking about the Broncos for a while now, but they’re two words that popped up quite a few times in my notes on Friday night. 

Staring down the barrel of a 0-22 deficit barely a quarter of the way through the contest, Brisbane’s spine suddenly started taking the right options with the ball in hand and as the passes began to stick, the scoreboard started ticking over. Perhaps due to the fact they were chasing points, the Broncos showed an ability to attack from anywhere on the field and at any time during the set, making for some wonderfully entertaining footy. 

Anthony Milford and Tyson Gamble combined nicely in good ball to set up a number of well-worked tries. You can see Milford starts this sweeping run from the left hand side of the field so late that Gold Coast can’t react in time as he chimes in on the right. Both Brisbane’s halves dig deep into the line, the passes are all out in front and the shift is done at speed – qualities we have not afforded the Broncos’ attack for the best part of two years. 

Gamble’s influence on Brisbane was palpable on Friday. Coincidence is a rare thing in rugby league, and Brisbane pulled shape and executed their passes better with Gamble at halfback in Round 8 than we’ve seen from them all season.

This action for Jesse Arthars’ try in the second half was as good a team try as we saw all weekend. Milford takes a carry and goes down on the left post for tackle four. With one half out of action, most teams would settle for a forward hit-up before setting up for a fifth tackle shift or kick. Instead, Gamble organises his forwards into shape and the ball goes through Tom Flegler, Matt Lodge, Gamble and Isaako before Arthars strolls over untouched out wide. 

It’s only one game, but Gamble brought exactly what Brisbane needed to the halfback role in Round 8. He made good decisions with the ball in attack, kicked well and was a defensive presence alongside Tevita Pangai Jnr on what has been a very leaky right edge in Brisbane for some time now. On the back of these improvements, the Broncos began creating half chances for themselves, and a few individuals finally got their chance to impress.

The jury is still out on Isaako as a first-grade fullback. Commentators were calling for him to be punted earlier in the game after a number of positional errors at the back saw Gold Coast pile on the points. Isaako is undoubtedly still learning the position, and his flaws have been exposed on a number of occasions already this season playing behind a beaten Broncos side most weeks. This has also meant Isaako has had limited chances to showcase his strengths as a ball runner out the back. 

Not so on Friday night. Isaako finished what was arguably his best game at fullback for the Broncos with nine tackle busts, two line-breaks, two tries and two try assists in a commanding 20-point performance. 

As I watched from the couch, I accused the Broncos of being too conservative in this set with Gold Coast down to 12 men. Jake Turpin used up three tackles working through the middle corridor and it looked for a moment like Brisbane had reverted back to their directionless, one-out habits. Then suddenly on fourth tackle Gamble gets the ball with a five-on-three situation on the right edge and pulls the trigger. The short ball to Pangai Jnr holds up Brian Kelly on the edge which sees Xavier Coates streak down the touchline, before some great hands from Arthars, Pangai Jnr and Isaako in support sees Brisbane level up just before halftime.

With Gamble pulling the strings Brisbane got the best out of Isaako on Friday night. Milford hardly lit up the stats sheet but he looked confident combining with Gamble in the halves too. There was plenty to like about how the Broncos went about their footy in but the reality is we’ve been here before. A strong showing against Penrith two weeks ago turned into a no-show against Parramatta last week. I need to see the Broncos back this up against North Queensland next weekend before I get too excited about a 24-year-old, four-game rookie changing the fortunes at Red Hill. 

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Newcastle Knights vs Sydney Roosters

While I’m happy to wait a few weeks before putting all my chips behind a rookie playmaker in Brisbane, the same cannot be said for Sam Walker at the Sydney Roosters in 2021. Five games into his NRL career and Walker is looking every bit the prodigious talent we’ve been hearing about for a few years now. 

The Roosters had every member of their Round 1 spine sitting on the sidelines on Saturday. They were also still missing skipper Boyd Cordner. Despite this, Trent Robinson’s men put 38 points on a Top 8 team from last year while leaking just four of their own. The Roosters’ ability to stay within their playing structures and consistently get the job done no matter the personnel speaks volumes of Robinson as a head coach. It also says a lot about the five-game rookie pulling the strings at halfback. 

Of the seven tries the Roosters scored against Newcastle on Saturday, Walker had a hand in every single one.