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.
Jack Bird, Ben Hunt & the Dragons attack
The Wests Tigers are the punching bag of the NRL right now but the St George-Illawarra Dragons are copping a few hits at the moment, too. Speculation continues around the tenure of Anthony Griffin as Head Coach with the Dragons currently sitting in 12th place on the NRL ladder, six rounds in.
It hasn’t been a great start to the NRL regular season for the Red V, but it hasn’t been an awful one either.
With a new hooker, a rookie fullback, changes in the five-eighth position and an opening draw that included heavy losses to the Broncos and Sharks, the Dragons are tracking fairly to register two wins from five games. It clearly isn’t the start that St George were hoping for, but there are signs of a growing Dragons attack that should at the very least buy Griffin a little more time.
I gave Jack Bird and Jacob Liddle a shout-out a few weeks back as they grow into their new roles, and both had nice involvements again in Round 6. They’re asking questions of the defence in different areas of the field and freeing up Ben Hunt to organise the side in attack.
Bird is a smart footballer. With time spent in the halves and at fullback, he knows how to count numbers or when to target certain defenders in the line. This yardage carry looks fairly regular, but he makes a point of picking out David Fifita defending at four-man on the Titans left edge:
With Fifita dragged into the tackle, the Gold Coast are forced into a reshuffle down the short side which Hunt targets on the very next play:
Some nice deception from Liddle holds up the markers here and allows Hunt to isolate Jaydn Su’a onto the smaller Chris Randall, filling in at Fifita’s defensive position. Su’a wins that match up to play the ball quickly, and Liddle takes his opportunity to run from there.
Another settler around the posts sets things up for tackle five, where Bird again looks to get involved. He sweeps late behind the ruck to be an option on Hunt’s inside, and very nearly creates a try scoring opportunity when he links with Tyrell Sloan back through the middle:
The Titans scramble well to force the error from Sloan here, but it’s evidence of a promising plan with the ball in attack featuring Hunt, Bird and Liddle around the ruck.
In yardage, Bird is also getting involved as a distributor through the middle-third. He’s not engaging the defence quite like a Cam Murray or Isaah Yeo, but he does enough in these actions to suggest it’s worth persisting with:
He helps Talatau Amone pass Ben Murdoch-Masila into a positive match-up on the left edge here, before swinging it back to the right and tipping Francis Molo into a one-on-one situation with David Fifita. Judging by his reaction, Hunt clearly wanted the ball out the back in this instance but Bird didn’t see it. Again, it’s a work in progress with Bird as a distributing middle, but the evidence of a plan with the ball is there to see.
Where Bird brings a point of difference to the lock-forward role is with the variation he can present in attack. This passage late in the game is a perfect example of Bird’s ability to test the line with a variety of involvements and put panic and fatigue into the defence:
Slotting into pivot on the left edge, Bird engages Kruise Leeming in the line before passing Blake Lawrie into half a gap. Lawrie finds his front and quickly plays the ball, leaving Joe Stimson out of play on the following tackle.
With the Titans right edge down a man, Bird swings down the short side in a jockey position to create the overlap:
Philip Sami makes a good read to jam on Zac Lomax when Bird tips the pass along. If Sami doesn’t jam, Lomax is into the backfield here and the Dragons likely score. At the very least, Bird’s involvement again helps St George win a quick play-the-ball, and the wide shot shows the disruption Bird has created in the defensive line:
There was an opportunity down the short side around some retreating Titans denders here if Amone had organised some shape. There’s also a chance on the open-side of the field, where just six Gold Coast players are covering more than half the field. Bird senses that opportunity and begins drifting across the line, looking for a teammate in support:
Bird’s invovlement here should’ve resulted in a Dragons try. He skips across the face of three middle defenders to engage Tannah Boyd’s inside shoulder, opening up a yawning gap between Boyd and Brian Kelly on the edge. He looks for a support runner but finds no one and is forced to take the tackle instead – again evidence of a plan that just hasn’t quite clicked yet.
When it did click, it looked good.
With Bird shuffled to the left edge late in the contest, Hunt found his backrower running a lovely overs line at Toby Sexton’s outside shoulder and wrapped-around to score a clever try.
If this Hunt try had ended up as the match winner, are we still having the same conversations about Griffin’s tenure as an NRL Head Coach this week? I’m not sure.
The Dragons are five games into a new-look spine and a new plan with the ball. They haven’t been perfect but there’s clear evidence of improvement and intent in how they want to use the footy.
Liddle, Hunt and Bird give the Dragons three players they can build an attack around. I’d be giving them a little more time before throwing the baby out with the bath water and starting again, as Hunt alluded to last week.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad ballplaying – It’s an area of his game that he’s still developing, but Nicoll-Klokstad put on a move Shaun Johnson would be proud of when he passed Jackson Ford into a try last week.
Playing at speed, Nicoll-Klokstad gets on the outside of Tyson Frizell here to pick out Pheonix Crossland in the line. A slight swerve towards Crossland’s inside shoulder and a double-pump to the outside gets the halfback to turn in, creating the space for Ford to pour through virtually untouched.
With Te Maire Martin out for an extended period, the Warriors need another ballplayer to support Johnson in attack and Nicoll-Klokstad might’ve just volunteered himself for the role.
Luke Brooks – I’m hardly a Brooks believer but this pass to put Asu Kepaoa down the left edge last week was a beauty:
The skill of this pass cannot be understated. Kepaoa is lining up on Will Penisini’s inside shoulder but Brooks actually throws the ball into the space on Penisini’s outside. Kepaoa moves with the pass to beat his man before he even takes possession, and the Tigers score a lovely try two passes later. More of this please, Luke.
Raymond Faitala-Mariner – The silver lining in Viliame Kikau’s pectoral injury is that we should get to see Faitala-Mariner revert to his preferred left backrow position. He’s been hampered by injuries over the last few years but rewind the clock and Faitala-Mariner was one of Canterbury’s best when playing on an edge outside Kieran Foran between 2018-20. He doesn’t have the X-factor of Kikau but Faitala-Mariner runs a killer line off his half and can help straighten up the Bulldogs attack down the left edge. Unless Cameron Ciraldo pulls a swifty on us this week, I’m looking forward to seeing Faitala-Mariner and Matt Burton link up out wide.
RLW Percentage Play – NRL Round 7
While RLW content is the kind of gear you’re likely to discuss over a schooner at the pub, our premium subscribers see it for what it can really be – an edge. Not every action we notice eventuates in a winning bet slip, but with enough work we can at the very least take an educated guess – an informed punt, if you will – at where the value is each week in the NRL.
Melbourne Storm v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Friday)
Jase played a blinder last week when he broke down how the Panthers pulled apart Manly’s left edge in attack. I won’t repeat him here, but in summary Nathan Cleary targeted the Kaeo Weekes – Kelma Tuilagi combination all game and came up with four scoring actions by full-time.
He engaged Tuilagi to create space for Dylan Edwards to cut back inside:
And he consistently got at Weekes’ inside shoulder to create the offload opportunity through the line:
I’m expecting more of the same from Jahrome Hughes and the Melbourne Storm on Friday.
Hughes is one of the best halfbacks in the NRL at using his speed to create panic in the defence. He can skip to the outside of the opposing backrower with ease and either break the tackle himself, get an offload away or pass his own backrower into space, one channel wider.
It’s easy to picture Hughes executing this action that Jonah Pezet and Eli Katoa had success with in Round 4:
With Cooper Johns the new face on Manly’s left edge this week and Tuilagi circled as a target, I’m expecting Hughes and Katoa to feature heavily for the Storm on Friday night. Katoa in particular has had a whale of a season so far but is yet to cross the line, six games in.
With Cameron Munster given a license to roam at fullback this week, I think we’ll see him pop up around Hughes and Katoa often on Melbourne’s right edge. He’s a great support player who can turn a half-break into a full one if Katoa doesn’t pour through the line and score one himself.
RLW Round 7 Percentage Plays:
Eli Katoa anytime try scorer @ $4.80 (Neds)
Cameron Munster anytime try scorer @ $2.70 (Neds)