McGregor, Berry and the Dragons attack
The St George-Illawarra Dragons have struggled this season after ongoing the largest roster overhaul in the NRLW over the summer. Just five players from their 2022 campaign stayed on for Head Coach Jamie Soward’s second year at the helm, meaning combinations and cohesions in this current squad took a few weeks to develop.
One of those combinations has potential to be one of the best we’ve ever seen in the NRLW; halfback Raecene McGregor and fullback Teagan Berry. They couldn’t get the job done against a desperate Cronulla Sharks outfit on Thursday night, but I’m still very high on this pair moving forward.
McGregor is just 25 years of age but is already a seasoned veteran and one of the more classy playmakers in the NRLW. Her vision and ballplaying is some of the best I’ve seen and she’s a got a wonderful understanding of and feel for the game. Whatever McGregor lacks in top-line speed or agility, she makes up for in skill and guile.
Berry is a little different.
At just 21 years old, Berry already holds the record for most tries in NRLW history. Since debuting as a teenager in 2020, Berry has crossed for 20 tries in 22 games to be one of the most exciting attacking players in the competition. Where McGregor has vision and ball-skills, Berry oozes speed and agility. She doesn’t have the footy IQ of her halfback, but Berry has a knack for finding spaces and her positional play is elite.
Put them both together and the Dragons have a very difficult attacking combination to defend against.
They’ve linked nicely (as shown further below) at times this year but are also finding ways to play on the back of each other without necessarily combining on a play.
Watch how Berry’s effort on the kick return last week was the catalyst for McGregor to orchestrate points down the other end of the field:
Using her speed to find the spaces, Berry burns the Cowboys left edge on her return until Francesca Goldthorpe brings her down in a superb one-on-one tackle.
Berry goes down hurt after playing the ball here, so the Dragons truck it up twice through the middle before McGregor injects herself into the attack.
Playing her backrower onto a smaller defender, McGregor generates some ruckspeed here and prepares to double up down the left edge. Her hooker Renee Targett thinks otherwise though and sends another forward right in behind the ruck to create some second-phase play.
The Cowboys defensive line is completely disrupted when that offload is released. They’d already stacked numbers down their right edge to defend McGregor, and now put way too many bodies around the posts to contain the second phase.
Their left edge is decimated as a result, and Mcgregor sees it. You can see her flashing across the screen before the ball is played, and when the camera pans out she’s suddenly on the far side of the field:
McGregor’s late sweep allows the Dragons right edge to shift one channel wider, and guess where they score? Yep – in the corner just outside the Cowboys left winger. That’s an overlap the Dragons don’t enjoy without McGregor’s vision and late involvement.
It’s worth noting Berry wasn’t involved in this scoring action, but it was her kick return that got St George on the front foot and allowed McGregor to pull the strings late in the set.
A try to Maddison Mulhall not long afterwards better highlights the combination of McGregor and Berry in attack.
From a mid-field play-the-ball just out from North Queensland’s line, the Dragons search right:
McGregor has Berry and a handful of Dragons teammates in space on the edge. They’ve already got the numbers advantage but McGregor stays patient and lays a forward between the three- and four-in defenders.
It’s not that she hadn’t seen the overlap, it’s just that McGregor is playing one tackle ahead.
With Kirra Dibb caught up at marker, the Cowboys fill up the short side with hooker Emma Manzelmann. Defending in an unfamiliar position, Manzelmann is quick off her line here but is disconnected to the players around her.
When the ref calls out Dibb for leaving early from marker, McGregor suddenly has a very ugly defensive line in front of her on fifth tackle:
Manzellman is on an island at A-defender while left centre Shellie Long is still retreating when McGregor takes possession.
Shaping to kick, McGregor identifies that Dibb is out of play and quickly cuts in at Manzelmann’s inside shoulder. The threat of Berry sweeping out the back keeps Long wide of the ball, opening up the space for Mulhall to pour through and score.
That’s lovely footy from St George. They’ve got shape organised for one action but all react when the defence offers them a different look.
The beauty of McGregor and Berry as an attacking combination is how effective and repeatable even the most basic shapes become. Taylor Mapusua’s second try was the result of a simple block shape that both Dragons players made look too easy:
A slight change in tempo and the ball out in front is enough to get the attention of three Cowboys defenders here, and the speed of Berry does the rest.
It’s this last try that has me so excited about the combination of McGregor and Berry though.
The Dragons halfback employs one of the better short kicking games in the NRLW and she’s used her boot to link with Berry a few times already this year.
This one is extremely difficult to defend:
Running overs and shaping to kick off the outside of her boot, McGregor gets the Cowboys fullback on her bike. Goldthorpe does everything right here; she’s quick off her mark and tracks the ball across the line but can’t cover her inside when McGregor changes angles.
A lovely touch off the inside of her boot finds Berry pushing through in support and the Dragons are in again.
Finals is all but out of reach for St George-Illawarra this season but there’s more for Jamie Soward to focus on than just chasing a Top Four finish.
The McGregor-Berry combination is one the Dragons can build their NRLW squad around for next season, and identifying changes in this current roster that will help support this pair in attack needs to be first on the agenda.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Kirra Dibb & scrum tries
I’ve not leant into the North Queensland Cowboys much with the feature above but I do want to give Kirra Dibb a wrap.
She’s the most experienced playmaker at the club and is probably being asked to do a little more than what she’s done in previous seasons, but she’s been fair this year. She’s a good runner of the ball and will come up with the special play if given enough chances.
This try from a midfield scrum was mint.
With a tight block shape off her hip, Dibb double-pumps to draw the edge defenders in before looping one over the top. Krystal Blackwell only just gets to the line here and almost certainly wouldn’t have scored without Dibb’s deception on the ball.
Caitlan Johnston ballplaying
For the second week in a row, one of the most destructive front rowers in the NRLW has thrown one of the better try assist passes of the round.
Last week Caitlan Johnston put Yasmin Clydesdale over close to the line and in NRLW Round 7 it was her five-eighth Georgia Roche:
With Clydesdale off her hip, Johnston makes a mockery of the Raiders defence here. No less than four defenders turn in towards the ball which opens up a space for Roche to crash through for her first NRLW try.
Johnston was one of my favourite players in the NRLW and that was before she started throwing these assist passes…
Jocellyn Kelleher & the reverse block
I said after NRLW Round 1 that Jocellyn Kelleher didn’t need to do heaps in this Roosters side despite the number on her back. She’s the halfback in this squad but is doing a wonderful job allowing Tarryn Aiken and Keely Davis to control the Roosters attack while playing a simple role in the halves.
Her main role is to provide the general play kicking, but if she can produce a pass like this every now and then the Roosters will be almost unbeatable:
It’s a reverse-block shape. Usually, Olivia Kernick would cut in next to Kelleher while Jess Sergis sweeps out the back, but Easts switch it up here.
Kelleher’s pre-pass movements are crucial – that little step back inside just before she passes is what draws one defender towards the ball, while a convincing overs line from Kernick drags the next defender sideways.
Both those movements creates a hole in the defensive line for Sergis, who flies onto the ball to score the best try across the NRL or NRLW last weekend.