There is a lot to cover after every round in the NRL. Throughout the 2024 season, this is a place where I’ll cover what is most important, a few little things I liked from the round, something to keep an eye on in the next one, and a try I particularly enjoyed.
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What you’ll get in this NRL Round 18 Review:
- A quick play-the-ball & spacings around the ruck
- An Eels shape
- State of Origin notes
- Knights shaping up on both sides
- A game-winning field goal set
The Tough Carry: A quick play-the-ball & spacings around the ruck
Tackle 1 is often the toughest carry of the set. It can make or break it. Here, it’s my biggest talking point from the round that was.
Oscar put together a video, ‘How Penrith controls and wins the ruck,’ for our YouTube channel last week. Every team is looking to slow down the play-the-ball and win the ruck, but the Panthers consistently pull it off more than most. It’s the main ingredient to their defence being so good over the last four seasons.
So, with that in mind, I wanted to highlight the importance of winning the ruck and how it influences the rest of the defence – particularly line organisation. The set leading up to Keenan Palasia’s try does a good job of showing how teams line up when winning the ruck and how it can all go wrong when they don’t.
You can see here that Siosifa Talakai uses all 100 kg of his weight and a well-placed elbow to the sternum to slow down the ruck and give his defensive line time to set. Note the spacings on either side of the ruck, and those a spot further outside them.
The Titans play short on the next carry. My guess is they wanted to bring Will Kennedy into the tackle before shifting the ball wide. Worst case, they have a big forward running at a small fullback with a chance to score. Again, Talakai is involved and does well to add weight to the tackle while, importantly, allowing Kennedy to get out and set the line.
Still, the spacings are what the Sharks want them to be with a set line.
The Titans shift the ball but are met with a sliding Sharks defence which forces Beau Fermor back in-field. The effects of Kennedy being involved in the prior tackle can be seen in Tuku Hau Tapuha checking the lead runner directed at Kennedy. That allowed Kieran Foran to get at the four-man and he perhaps should have played to Jacob Alick-Wiencke. Nonetheless, Fermor does enough with his carry to create the try-scoring play.
Talakai’s low legs tackle and Fermor’s fight is the difference. He is able to beat Talakai back to the line for the backrower to be holding Kennedy’s hand around the ruck. He’s not had time to take a step or two out. Those outside Talakai won’t move until he does, leaving three sizeable gaps in the middle of the field.
Tom Hazelton is caught between a rock and a hard place with two lead runners inside him and and overlap outside. Sam Verrills sees the space and makes the right pass for Palasia to score.
But it comes back to the previous ruck; one the Sharks couldn’t slow down. One second turned what had looked like a comfortable defensive set for the Sharks into one where they conceded points. It’s those minor details the good teams get right and those towards the bottom of the NRL ladder, often the younger squads, struggle to replicate across the full 80 minutes.
Keep this all in mind when you scroll down further to Dane Gagai’s try and look out for Elliott Whitehead.
Quick play-the-ball: Eels attack & State of Origin
We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.
An Eels Shape
I’m not sure if it’s by design or the benefit of some slightly fluffed timing, but the Eels scored a nice-looking try that might be the first of many.
It looks as though they’re set up to run a double lead inside and outside the two-man. They’re flat when the ball finds Mitchell Moses on the right edge.
However, as Bryce Cartwright (12) drops under, Will Penisini targets Taane Milne’s inside shoulder. Alex Johnston responds by jamming in, but Clint Gutherson and Blaize Talagi are deep enough to make the final pass to score.
Have they disguised the drop, or is it all a messy-but-effective coincidence? It’s something I’m looking out for now.
Quick State of Origin Notes
I don’t spend a huge amount of time thinking about State of Origin this far from kickoff, so I’ve got the lists in front of me and jotting down notes for as long as the GIF’s above take to upload.
- Bradman Best deserves the call into the Blues squad. He has been magnificent this year. He’s always dangerous with the ball but has made massive improvements defensively.
- Mitchell Barnett was the obvious choice to join the bench. Before Game 1…
- Jake Trbojevic still seems like the odd man out, but Michael Maguire has already shown that starter + captain doesn’t = big minutes.
- Where is David Fifita? On the bench, at least, surely.
- He’s not on the bench…?
- How is Fifita not in this squad?
- There is at least one scrum play the Blues can draw up for Game 3.
- NSW to win 24-16
Setting up for a shot: Knights shaping up
Teams play to points with the following tackle in mind. Here, I’m touching on something to watch next week as we try to keep ahead of things happening on the field.
Every NRL season there is one team I tend to cover a lot more than most. This year, it seems to be the Newcastle Knights.
In just the last two rounds I’ve introduced Will Pryce and considered how he might link up with Jackson Hastings and Kalyn Ponga.
Pryce wasn’t perfect in Round 18 but he continued to display positive signs as a first grade half. Importantly, you could see how the trio could start to pull teams apart across the field.
Ponga isn’t happy the ball went away from him here, but being in shape on both sides causes havoc for the defence. Particularly when Ponga is one of the three at first receiver down a left edge short side. For a defence, he’s an indicator, and the line is set accordingly with the shortside taking priority on this occasion.
So, when the Raiders fail to get Leo Thompson to the ground and Elliott Whitehead is late back, the Knights are able to shift the ball wide.
Canberra is scrambling from the inside all the way, and Gagai is always going to be tough to beat from there.
But what we really want to keep an eye on moving forward is how the Knights shape up across the field and how they move the ball. Jackson Hastings averaged 60 touches per game heading into Round 18. He recorded 89 on Sunday while spending a period at hooker, so the number is inflated.
My expectation is he averages more than 60 per game from here while Ponga and Pryce spend the majority of their time down the left and right edges.
Try Field Goal Time:
Sometimes, it’s a piece of magic. Other times, it’s a basic move made to look easy. Whatever it is, all great sets end in points, so we’re doing the same here.
In a round of footy that will be defined by missed field goals, after we touched on them last week, Daly Cherry-Evans and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles showed us exactly how to pull it off.
Nathan Brown’s involvement is crucial.
“The controlled offload is a regular component of field goal sets starting deep in yardage.” – Round 17 Review
He gets the Sea Eagles up the field with an offload and backs it up with another carry straight after. Jeremiah Nanai’s tackle selection isn’t ideal going low. With it, Brown generates the quick play-the-ball the Sea Eagles need to roll forward.
Cherry-Evans is the field goal master, and I’d bet Jake Trbojevic accounts for most of the play-the-balls in the lead-up. If he’s not getting to his elbows and knees and bouncing up, Trbojevic is standing in the tackle for his hooker to get a quick and clean pass away.
You can’t give Daly a second bite at the cherry.