Olivia Kernick appreciation post
In just her third season in the NRLW, Olivia Kernick is mounting a case to be considered the best backrower in the competition.
It’s a tight race, though. Yasmin Clydsdale has been doing the damn thing since 2020 and has a premiership to show for it, while Romy Teitzel, Kezie Apps, Tazmin Gray and Amber Hall are all leading players in their chosen position.
All things considered though, Kernick’s 2023 campaign deserves special mention.
With one try and six assists from eight games played, Kernick has undoubtedly been the most productive edge-forward in the game this year. She runs a great line and is active in yardage to average a career-best 88 running metres per game this season while offering 24 tackles per game with a 92.9% efficiency.
It’s in good-ball where Kernick pulls away from the pack though.
She’s ballplaying like an extra half on that right edge in attack, using her footwork to isolate a specific defender and pass a teammate into a one-on-one situation close to the line.
Some of the actions below are copy-and-paste examples of how Kernick is pulling the defence apart in good-ball this season.
Going way back to Round 1 against Brisbane, the Roosters set up around the posts with shape out on their right edge. Kernick is two passes off the ruck and has Jess Sergis running an unders line off her hip while Corban Baxter swings out the back.
The target here is Mele Hufanga and Kernick nails her assignment.
As soon as she takes possession, Kernick makes a bee-line towards Gayle Broughton’s inside shoulder. Those few quick steps sit Broughton on her heels and put Hufanga in a difficult position one channel wider.
Hufanga has had a superb debut NRLW season with the ball in hand but is still figuring things out in defence. She’s not sure whether to turn in on Sergis here or check Baxter swinging out the back, and Kernick punishes her indecision.
The front-on angle shows best how Kernick isolates Hufanga here:
As soon as she takes possession, Kernick engages Broughton with her footwork to leave Hufanga on an island to her outside. With the ball in two hands, Kernick then shapes to throw out the back by loading up the pass. Hufanga must see this and starts sliding sideways, and the second she turns her hips Kernick reacts and throws short instead.
With only a Broughton arms tackle in front of her, Sergis powers through the line and into the in-goal.
The beauty of this action is how repeatable it is. Kernick rinsed and repeated this shape two weeks later against St George-Illawarra.
It’s Jayme Fressard in for Sergis here but the result is the same:
There’s an extra defender on the Dragons left edge here but Kernick takes them out of the equation. With that familiar shape to her outside, it’s Kernick’s footwork this time that creates the space for Fressard to slice through.
The front-on angle again gives us the best view of Kernick’s pre-pass movements here:
I’ve slowed the clip down to highlight those two subtle steps back in-field, but Kernick changes the tempo by herself here. That miniscule change in direction and speed before she passes is what invites Bobbi Law (4) to jump in towards the ball, creating the space between the centre and five-eighth for Fressard to run through.
Like I said, repeatable.
As the season’s gone on though, the Roosters have added a bit of variety to this shape.
This one against Newcastle last week was the best so far and highlights the development of Kernick this season. It also highlights the importance of combinations and cohesion – this is a more difficult action but one that comes up trumps thanks to the familiarity between Jocellyn Kelleher, Kernick and Baxter.
Again from around the posts, Kelleher takes possession one-off the ruck and swings it to Kernick.
Already, there’s a few difference between this play and the previous two I’ve highlighted.
First of all, Kelleher plays at the line here rather than swinging it early to Kernick is space. That means Kernick takes possession with the defence right in her face, and she doesn’t have the time to isolate a defender or disguise the pass with some deception.
Instead, Kernick fools the defence before she even touches the ball.
The front-on angle is our friend again here:
She’s only just in the frame when Kelleher releases the pass, but you can see Kernick bounce overs as the ball travels through the air. That pre-catch movement gets Kernick at Georgia Roche’s outside shoulder before the Knights five-eighth can get her body in front.
Suddenly under pressure to support her half, Abigail Roache (4) turns in here. She makes good contact on Kernick but can’t wrap up the ball, which is a problem because Jasmin Strange doesn’t follow her centre in.
Strong enough to get her arm free, Kernick pops an offload away into the space created for Baxter who does a wonderful job to get the ball down cleanly from there.
That’s very clever footy from Kernick and the Roosters.
At first glance, these are three very similar tries. Dig a little deeper though, and they highlight the qualities of Kernick as a ballplayer this season.
There’s some footwork to isolate a defender before she passes for one try, there’s some deception to look long but play short for another try, and there’s some pre-catch movement off the ball to set up another.
Kernick had one try assist in 2022 and another one the year before, but has kicked that number up to six assists in eight games this season.
Credit must go to Head Coach John Strange for identifying Kernick’s skillset this year and designing an attack around her, and to Kernick for transforming herself into a strike ballplaying backrower in the best attacking team in the competition.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Emma Tonegato & the double fullback shape
The Cronulla Sharks scored a clever barge-over try in NRLW Round 8 against St George-Illawarra, but it was something on the previous tackle that caught my eye:
Tayla Preston gets on the ball down her right edge here with shape to her outside. Instead though, she cranks off the right foot and looks back in behind the ruck for her five-eighth.
Tonegato has travelled a long way to be an option on the inside here. It was on too; if Preston had turned a little harder back in-field and isolated the retreating marker, Tonegato would’ve been in under the posts.
Cronulla can score with this shape on Sunday afternoon…
Lily Peacock
She was one of my standouts in the U19s State of Origin game earlier this year and performed well in her NRLW debut a few weeks back. So well, in fact, that Peacock has earned her first starting NRLW jumper this week for the North Queensland Cowboys.
I actually think she’ll end up in the middle of the field later in her career but the edge is a good place for a young forward to start. She’s got the footwork and mobility to help her make defensive decisions on the edge and she’ll carry the ball strongly in yardage.
I’m really excited to see Peacock take the next jump in her NRLW development.
Mele Hufanga passing
Maybe it’s nothing, but this action from the Broncos stood out to me in NRLW Round 8:
It’s play three and Brisbane are working from right-to-left in yardage. They’re halfway up the field and by no means in attacking field position.
And yet, there’s Mele Hufanga, a long way in from her left centre position, taking possession one-off the ruck and quickly turning and passing to Chelsea Lenarduzzi.
The way Hufanga catches and passes suggests to me this was premeditated. Are Brisbane trying to use Hufanga’s gravity with the ball in hand to compress the defence in yardage? I’m looking out for more this week.