Oscar has pinched Jason’s pen and paper to bring you the NRL Preview Notepad each week in 2024. Here’s everything you need to know heading into NRL Round 12.
Thursday Night Members Preview
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs impressed to make the most of a friendly opening draw but hit a speedbump in NRL Round 11 against a middling Canberra Raiders outfit.
It’s the sort of grinding game they’ve made a habit of winning to begin the year but despite enjoying 36 tackles in good-ball and a period with two defenders in the bin, Canterbury’s attack came up short.
Olakau’atu passing
Whether or not this pass was forward is irrelevent now.
The fact that Manly-Warringah are setting up for a 196cm, 113kg forward to ballplay at the line is what we really need to talk about.
Last week I touched on Haumole Olakau’atu linking with Tolu Koula at fullback and this tip option for Reuben Garrick is a nice little variation of something we’ve seen from the Sea Eagles attack before.
Daly Cherry-Evans has consistently passed his backrower into positive running involvements this season but now edge defenders need to seriously consider the possibility of Olakau’atu passing too. The way he slows his feet and holds the ball out in front before tipping to Garrick is no fluke. Olakau’atu clearly has this pass in him and it’s clearly something Manly have practised for during the week.
Olakau’atu registered 10 try assists across the first four years of his NRL career. He’s already posted three in nine games this season.
There’s a bit of David Fifita about how Olakau’atu is building his game and I’m looking out for more of him as a distributor on Friday night.
Blaize Talagi
Young fullback Blaize Talagi has battled through a challenging start to life in the NRL but the Parramatta Eels have a good one on their hands here.
His NRL player profile tells us all we need to know about Talagi’s introduction into first-grade:
Spotting up in three different positions (four if you include an interchange role) and up against some of the form teams in the competition, Talagi’s been shown no favours across six NRL games to date.
He’s shown us a few things himself, though.
In two 80-minute performances at fullback against two of the best sides in the NRL, Talagi was directly involved in four of Parramatta’s total five tries scored.
He looks good chiming into the second- or third-layer of a shift and I think we might see a bit more of Talagi up against South Sydney’s record-worst defence in the NRL this weekend…
ICYMI: Shifting in exit sets
Earlier this week I highlighted a few different routes clubs are taking while working out of yardage this season.
Moving the ball from deep inside your own half isn’t always as risky as it appears. The better teams identify and practise setting up for these actions to work smarter rather than harder in exit sets.
It’s not always an open-side shift to the far edge, either; Jase has noticed Greg Marzhew and Bradman Best linking up down short sides on kick returns in recent weeks.
If you’ve noticed any new attacking trends or have any content questions / ideas, drop us a comment on the socials and we’ll get to them as the season progresses
Te Maire Martin Appreciation Post
As one of the original settlers on Te Maire Martin Island, it was vindicating to see him orchestrate a brave New Zealand Warriors win in NRL’s Magic Round.
Playing a more traditional halfback role last week, Martin’s ability to dig really deep into the line and engage multiple defenders before passing directly led to all four Warriors tries against the Panthers:
Confident in the same areas we’re used to seeing Shaun Johnson play on the ball, Martin doesn’t have the output of Luke Metcalf at five-eighth but can perform this distributing role nicely until his star halfback returns.
Genuine depth in key positions was a positive for New Zealand heading into the 2024 NRL regular season and we saw those dividends pay in Magic Round; plugging the experience of Dylan Walker and Martin in for the likes of Tohu Harris and Johnson isn’t a luxury many rival clubs have.
It allowed them to clinch the two points – against the best defensive team in the NRL – in a somewhat familiar fashion despite key playmakers missing; flood the ruck, fold the line and hit the edges with shape.
Even with Wayde Egan ruled out again this week, Martin will play behind one of the more consistently dominant forward packs in yardage (NRL high avg. running metres per game this season) to enjoy more than enough time in his opponents red-zone.
Yet to enjoy their first bye and with some key names still to return, I’m not sleeping on the Wahs just yet.