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 Oscar Pannifex as he unpacks the scrum each week in the NRL.
Melbourne in the little moments
The Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm dished us up an instant classic in NRL Round 11.
It was a throwback to some of the best heavyweight contender match ups of the last decade; think Roosters v Souths, Penrith v Parramatta or Raiders v Storm. It had niggles and banter, all-in scuffles and sinbins galore as the intensity of this contest red-lined from kick-off to fulltime.
At the end of it all, Melbourne took the two points but Broncos fans should be emboldened by their team’s performance.
To keep in touch with the Storm, in this sort of contest, at AAMI park and without Adam Reynolds seriously impressed.
Brisbane looked better in this loss than they have in a few of their wins so far this NRL season. Their defensive steel and resilience under pressure – all without their halfback to call the shots – went a long way to reaffirming their position as NRL ladder leaders at time of writing.
Contests like this are won in the little moments.
It’s a game of inches – or millimetres in some cases – when both sides embrace the grind and wait for their opposition to make a mistake. It’s how the Cameron Smith-led Melbourne Storm played for the best part of a decade, and it’s how the Cameron Munster & Harry Grant-led Melbourne Storm won this one.
The first little moment came 10 minutes into the game.
Both sides were 5/5 completions until Trent Loiero flew out of the line on fifth tackle to shut down a Reynolds yardage kick.
Reece Walsh ends up dying with the ball near halfway, gifting Melbourne first opportunity in attacking field position.
From there, Munster capitalised on that little moment to score under the posts.
It looks like some individual brilliance from Munster but there were a couple of factors that led to this try.
The first is Christian Welch tying Jordan Riki up in the tackle. With Riki at marker, Tom Flegler fills up the short side and leaves Brisbane one big-man short through the middle of the field.
The second factor is the fatigue of Kurt Capewell. Re-roll the tape and you’ll see that Capewell was caught up in multiple tackles in the lead up to this try:
After his second defensive effort of this set, you can see Capewell in the earlier gif trying to switch with Billy Walters and return to his position on the left edge. Walters sends him back to the middle but it’s all too late when Munster bursts to life and takes advantage of that little moment Loiero won in the previous set.
The next pivotal moment was that try saving effort on Justin Olam from Walsh.
With Reynolds off the field and Pat Carrigan defending at right 4-man, Munster did a good job of testing Carrigan’s defence on the edge. He created the overlap for Olam in the corner who scores this 9 times out of 10, only for a huge (and subsequently illegal) defensive play from Walsh to deny him.
A few minutes later and Walsh injected himself again – only this time in attack.
Spotting Tui Kamikamica at A-defender on the short side, Walsh used his speed to fold the edge defenders in before lofting a pass over the top to Arthars.
Just like that, two big plays in little moments from Walsh and suddenly the Broncos are back in it.
The next moment was less pleasant viewing for Brisbane fans. The Broncos soaked up a mountain of pressure while defending their line but couldn’t hold on once Herbie Farnworth was sent to the sinbin.
Melbourne again wasted no time taking advantage of a 12-man defensive line. They fired two shots in three tackles at Brisbane’s left edge once Farnworth left the field, with the second producing points for Will Warbrick in the corner.
Too often we see attacking teams fail to make the most of a sinbinning by not testing the spaces around the binned player. Not Melbourne though. They got the little things right in this game and took full advantage of the chances presented to them.
With the scores locked up, Ezra Mam was the next Bronco to produce a big play in a little moment.
This action doesn’t need any analysis. Just a guy refusing to give up on the play and being rewarded for effort.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, ill-discipline continued to undo their positive actions on either side of the ball. Pat Carrigan’s hip-drop sinbinning – despite unfortunately not being a sin-binnable offence – ended up a key moment in this one. Melbourne kicked themselves two points clear on the back of that penalty to get both the scoreboard and game clock on their side.
Desperate to swing back momentum, Walsh attempted a strip on Warbrick shortly afterwards.
His first contact is superb to almost force the ball loose, but Mam gets involved just as Walsh rips the ball free which gives Melbourne free passage out of their half. Like I said at the top, this was a game of millimetres and Melbourne got more of those little moments right than Brisbane did in this one.
Sure enough, the Storm went the length with their next possession to score through Olam and ice the game.
It’s an ugly try but it’s also an example of two things Melbourne did slightly better than Brisbane in this one: they stuck to their gameplan and they made sure to punish any Broncos errors or ill-discipline.
This was the last of multiple attacking kicks Hughes sent Coates’ way on Thursday night. Trusting the process, Melbourne’s plan finally produced points in this action to seal the result.
It ended up a bitter pill to swallow for Brisbane, but there’s plenty for both sides to take away from this one.
Walsh and Mam were oustanding for the Broncos. They stepped up when Reynolds left the field and ran Brisbane’s attack by themselves while Kevvie Walters played most of the game with an extra forward on the field.
With fatigue mounting and the game on the line, the two 20-year olds couldn’t match it with three of the best spine players in the NRL. We can’t expect much more from Walsh and Mam at this point in their careers, but it’s promising signs for the Broncos and the direction they’re headed.
We know they’ve got attacking talent in the backline and go-forward in the pack.
It was their resilience under pressure and ability to adapt when faced with adversity that impressed in Round 11.
They’ve got another tough task with the Penrith Panthers this weekend but they don’t need to win that one to remain genuine premiership contenders. If they can stay in the fight like they did with Melbourne, the Broncos can still consider themselves a genuine Top 4 team in 2023.
There’s Always Next Week For…
…the Sydney Roosters
We’re back again.
I’m still not prepared to rule them out of the 2023 NRL season, but its not getting any easier for the Sydney Roosters.
They were awful in all key effort areas to concede 48 points to the Penrith Panthers on Friday night. Their kick chase, inside pressure, steal in the tackle and push supports were all a farcry from where they needed to be. It’s uncharacteristic for a Trent Robinson coached side that usually backs their effort areas to defend mistakes and win the little contests throughout a match.
Jake Turpin starting at dummy-half in this one is a positive. The Roosters need an intelligent, creative hooker to point them around the field and Brandon Smith – for all his qualities – is not it. He can still have a positive influence from behind the ruck in shorter stints, but I like the balance of Turpin at #9 and Smith rotating through the middle.
How much longer are we willing to wait for the Roosters to respond? We’re getting closer to finding out.
NRL Round 11 Shout-Outs
Jackson Hastings – He mightn’t have the ceiling or the skillset of the premiere halfbacks in the NRL, but Hastings’ decision making and composure under pressure is elite. He makes the right play more often than not and is providing Newcastle with wonderful direction in how they use the ball.
His assist for Dom Young on Sunday though was as skillful as you like.
This is not an area of the field Hastings would have found himself in very often. Despite this, he sums things up in an instant to produce the one winning play available to him. A chip in behind the defence – onto a very small patch of grass – lands in the lap of Young who only needs to fall over once taking possession to touch down in the in-goal.
If that kick comes down even a few inches off the mark here or hangs in the air half a second longer or shorter, Young doesn’t score.
Kalyn Ponga – Not to be outdone by his halves partner, Ponga put in his best performance of the 2023 NRL season against the Titans on Sunday. Jase has already covered his involvements in-depth here, but I had to give him a shout out too.
In a round where Reece Walsh produced some moments of magic and some moments he’d like back, Ponga was solid across the board. Are you watching, Billy Slater?
Heilum Luki – He’s only a few games back from an ACL injury but Luki is showing the kind of form that had him rated above Jeremiah Nanai at the Cowboys before a ball was kicked in 2022. I’m going to do a bit on his second try for Heads In! later this week, but for now I’m happy to sit back and enjoy the footwork, speed and power on display for his first.
He beats Max Feagai way too easily to break the line and is too quick and strong for the cover defence to handle from there. North Queensland have been looking for a gamebreaker to begin the NRL regular season and Luki is putting his hand up.