It has been rumoured for months and finally locked in: Luke Metcalf will leave the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at the end of the 2022 NRL season and take up a deal with the New Zealand Warriors.
It’s a signing that has been met with a lot of excitement among Warriors fans, but for the most part, we know little about the 22-year-old other than a nice-looking highlights package.
He only played six games for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2021 – three of which were stints of less than 20 minutes. He featured 13 times for the Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup, but only three times in the halves and none broadcast on Fox Sports/Kayo.
So, I’ve scoured the internet for as much vision as I can find to get a better idea of what Metcalf might be able to provide the Warriors in 2023 and where he could fit within the current playing group.
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NSW Cup
There isn’t a lot of publicly available vision so we’re going to make-do with what we’ve got. But what we do have is pretty encouraging.
The first thing you notice with Metcalf is his feet. They’re always moving for a start. He has a big step, but most importantly, and somewhat Ryan Papenhuyzen-like, he does it at speed. He’s able to step, swerve and stumble his way through a defensive line – quickly.
But most noticeable is his support play – a good attribute to have as a half.
Metcalf played most of his football in 2021 at fullback and looked good doing it. He pushes up around the ball and has excellent timing on his run. He’s quick but knows how to hold his speed in support and when to fly onto the ball. You can see his initial burst from outside of the frame before he holds his run for the offload and puts his foot down into the backfield.
It didn’t always quite end like that, but Metcalf regularly made himself available to notch up five line breaks in six games at fullback.
He only featured in the halves three times so, again, there isn’t much to go on. You can’t look past this kick, though.
The vision is excellent and the execution is outrageous. He got a bit of luck with the bobbling bounce, but you create your own luck and the pin-point kick over the head of the winger and into the corner is ridiculous. Shaun Johnson’s short kicking game is grossly underrated so another year for Metcalf in reserve grade and 2023 training with Johnson is an exciting thought given Chanel Harris-Tavita hasn’t shown the same development with his boot.
(Harris-Tavita is stronger in areas Metcalf struggles, particularly when it comes to engaging the line – more on that here)
I mean the kick is good but the crowd support is better pic.twitter.com/tbliiukcvh
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) November 17, 2021
Like every young half seems to have in their bag at the moment, Metcalf lofted one over the defence for his winger (Edward Aiono is a name to remember based on that finish) in a rare appearance at five-eighth.
There are issues with these passes becoming too predictable (cc: Matt Dufty) without the ground work being laid first, but it opens up a lot of options when done right. On this occasion, Metcalf gets to the outside of a rushing defender while he sees the opposition winger become interested in the Jets fullback, leaving Aiono with room in the corner.
But it’s a different story in the NRL…
NRL Form
Metcalf looked rushed at times in first grade. It’s not a surprise given his age, and no doubt eager to please and make an impact, he appeared to premeditate that impact.
He knew what he wanted to do early in his Round 22 start against the Wests Tigers. He got onto the ball which is a promising sign. However, he overplayed his hand slightly across the first 15-20 minutes.
This ball always looked like it was going wide and the defence knew it.
Metcalf is quick and can get on the outside shoulder of the defender on these shifts, but if they’re to be effective, he needs to dig into the line and use his back rower. Nobody can blame him for avoiding a driving Luciano Leilua shoulder. However, that gap between Metcalf and the backrower in this case is the difference between Adam Doueihi (circled) holding on Siosifa Talakai (12) and sliding. Seeing the pass go past Talakai, Doueihi is able to slide and cover Will Kennedy which allows Tommy Talau to hold his position and complete the tackle on Connor Tracey.
(We saw him execute this a lot better in the second half and is started with Metcalf hitting Talakai and training the defence into coming short.)
He almost left Toby Rudolf stuck with the ball on 5th-tackle shortly after, too.
Isolating a big body onto the opposition hooker is a good option on paper. It’s the sort of play that can compress the defence, generate a quick play-the-ball and present a numbers advantage out wide. This is 5th-tackle, though. An advantage has been created with Metcalf’s tempoed run across the field which puts Shawn Blore inside the right post – a fairly typical sign that the defence is short out wide.
Had he released the ball to Braydon Trindall out the back, the Sharks half either has an advatage in numbers out wide, or worst case, the option to put Jesse Ramien – who led all centres in tackle breaks with 5.9 per game (5th overall) – one-on-one with his defender. Instead, Rudolf was forced to release a late offload which Kennedy scrambled into a repeat set.
Again, Metcalf’s activity and eagerness is encouraging but his mind already looked made up on both of these plays.
Everything changed once he started to find success with his running game.
Metcalf’s best moments came when using his feet. He’s destined to be critiqued in a Shaun Johnson-like “needs to run the ball” sort of way the moment he has a quiet game, but we will get to that when it happens. Nonetheless, when he does tuck the ball and put his head down, Metcalf is very, very dangerous.
He’d just isolated Siosifa Talakai onto Adam Doueihi in the set prior. Unlike the first example above, he dug a little deeper into the line and Talakai ran a nice overs line to Doueihi’s outside shoulder but the Tigers half managed to strip the ball free as Talakai made a half-break. This time Metcalf shapes to drop Talakai back underneath which holds up Doueihi’s slide just enough to open up a gap between the two and three-in defenders – Metcalf’s speed off the mark does the rest.
His pass to put Ronaldo Mulitalo over five minutes later is the most attractive part of the try, but it’s the way he straightens the attack just before releasing it that allows the Sharks left edge to make the most of the advantage Blayke Brailey’s work out of dummy half created.
By straightening, Metcalf keeps holding Doueihi and Tommy Talau is in no-man’s land. He doesn’t know whether to jam in on Talakai or hold on Connor Tracey. That forces a poor decision out of David Nofoaluma on the wing and an excellent floating ball out to Mulitalo does the trick.
The pass is nice, but it’s made more effective by his footwork in straightening the line.
It took a while for Metcalf to grow into this game. It all changed once he started to get down hill and force the defence to consider him as a ball-runner. Early carries are likely to be something that feature prominently in his best games in the coming years as he learns to pull defences apart in other ways. Depending on the half beside him, relying on a running game isn’t always a bad thing.
Outlook
What happens with Chanel Harris-Tavita remains to be seen. He’s not signed beyond 2022 just yet but the Warriors have reportedly offered him an extension for the 2023 and 2024 NRL seasons.
Here’s hoping Harris-Tavita puts pen to paper soon because in Johnson (#7), Metcalf (#6/#1) Harris-Tavita (#6/#7) and Reece Walsh (#1/#6) the Warriors have the three playmaking positions covered with room for injury in 2023.
Johnson is signed through to the end of 2023 in which Harris-Tavita and Metcalf can take over in the halves. He’s built differently and may not look to extend his career if he’s not starting, but Johnson has a mighty fine career path laid out for him by the recently retired Benji Marshall if he wants to take it. Harris-Tavita and Metcalf starting in 2024 with Johnson offering some experience off the bench in #14 is an appealing thought. It feels like the ideal scenario for the Warriors at this stage, provided Walsh exercises his player option for 2024 and doesn’t sign elsewhere before we even see this new-look 6, 7 and 1 in action. Should Walsh leave, Metcalf becomes an option at the back.
On Metcalf himself in 2022, Warriors fans will be keeping a close eye on him should he feature for the Sharks throughout the year. Now that he’s on his way out, the coaching staff may think twice about giving him too many opportunities next season. Particularly with Matt Moylan also signed and capable of filling a similar role with the added value of experience.
Should he play, his decision-making will be the focus. He has the physical tools, clearly. His only struggles so far look to be in premeditating passes or plays which is hardly a surprise for a young half. Being able to impact matches in other ways outside of his running game would be nice but, again, not a huge cause for concern if he isn’t managing the side at only 22-years old. Nathan Cleary does it every week but halves producing inconsistent and seemingly absent performances isn’t uncommon – Cleary is the exception, not the rule.
It was strange to see the Warriors demand they see six games from Harris-Tavita before re-signing him yet committing to another youngster at a different club on “big money” a year early. They’ve played a bit of a risky game with Harris-Tavita. Still, if they can lock down both of them and Metcalf continues to develop in 2022, the Warriors are going to play with an exciting young spine from 2023 onward.
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