Recap the latest round of NRL action with the Repeat Set: Talking points, highlights, lowlights and the Play of the Round.
Here’s your Repeat Set for Round 2 of the 2022 NRL season:
- Breaking down the Sharks game-winner
- Reynolds’ Influence
- It was a round to remember for…Close games
- It was round to forget for…Tigers
- I can’t stop thinking about…
- Play of the Round: Storm setting up the win
Breaking down the Sharks game-winner
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Teig Wilton crashed over the line in the 79th minute on Saturday evening.
Nicho Hynes impressed as he continues to grow into the halfback role and played a significant part in how the Sharks moved around the field with the ball in hand. He still had a handful of clunky moments but that isn’t unexpected from somebody working through the early stages of halfback development.
Hynes touched the ball 33.5 times per game for the Melbourne Storm last year. His 70 touches in Round 2 pulled his 2022 average up to 60.5 touches per game – the third most of all non-hookers in the NRL. He is touching the ball more than he ever has done before so it’s no surprise to see him struggle to process what is in front of him a couple of times per game right now.
However, when Hynes and the Sharks get it right, they’re proving to be dangerous.
The Sharks attack has always presented as one of the most interesting to follow in the NRL this season. In Hynes, Matt Moylan and Will Kennedy, they have three strong ball-carriers and capable ball-players spread across the field. It doesn’t sound ideal on paper. Many people have questioned where the Sharks will get their direction with the ball and who will steer the team around the field. While far from perfect, Hynes appears to have picked up that role with open arms while also inserting himself into the attack when the Sharks go wide.
He is able to move in and out of the traditional #7 role because of how interchangeable the three players are within the attack and how quickly they can reload when one is caught up in the previous play.
The setup to Connor Tracey’s try in the second half started with the Sharks spine linking up to get Jesse Ramien in space down the right edge. The threat of all three being able to put their head down and take the line on themselves puts the brakes on the defence from sliding across.
Hynes is a touch overeager on the following play and produces one of those clunky moments, but the Sharks shape up on the following tackle for Tracey to score in the corner.
This shape is very similar to what Jake and Tom Trbojevic run and while it isn’t perfect on this occasion, there is enough of a gap there for Hynes to pull in the defence before flicking the ball out wide.
What it also does is highlight an area for the Sharks to target moving forward. They began to look left a lot more as the game goes on. Hynes put himself in behind Moylan on the left edge and played nice and tight with Teig Wilton before sending the ball out to Kennedy who played short to Siosifa Talakai. The Eels defended this one well.
Eight minutes later and Toby Rudolf’s strong carry sets the Sharks up for another shift.
He makes half a break and scrambles the defensive line. The Eels are left with three players bunched on the short side, the open A defender is also slow after initially reloading down the short side, and Reed Mahoney is slow to peel out of the tackle and not back in the line. Hynes sees the space and quickly gets himself out to the left side – notably, it’s 5th tackle.
He again plays tight with Wilton but having used Kennedy out the back the last time the Sharks ran this way, he skips his fullback and Talakai is able to streak down the edge. A genuine centre probably finishes the play there but the Sharks aren’t done.
It’s 5th tackle with the game on the line. Braden Hamlin-Uele settles to the middle and the Sharks once again load up on the left edge.
The players are in different spots but the approach remains the same. Moylan gets across his man and Wilton once again gets in tight. Hynes is filling in out the back which keeps Will Penisini from turning in on Wilton leaving Mahoney one-on-one with the big backrower. Mahoney or Moses, it doesn’t matter. The Sharks wanted their big man isolated onto the little man and the result is what you would expect.
The Sharks can attack any area on either side of the field with how quickly their spine falls into place. They ran the same play three times in a matter of minutes with Hynes, Moylan and Kennedy all filling different spots and forcing the defence into different decisions.
It’s all a touch inconsistent at the moment. There is a little bit of the Eels about them in how side-to-side the attack becomes at times. However, for a side only two games into playing together, they look well-drilled and dangerous when at their best. With Cameron McInnes now part of the rotation and capable of filling in at pivot when the Sharks look wide, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
It’s all looking up, up for the Sharks with the ball in 2022.
Reynolds’ Influence
There is only so much Adam Reynolds can do for this Brisbane Broncos side at the moment.
He can’t stop them from dropping the ball while working out of yardage or from throwing poor offloads inside the opposition 20-metre line. He can, however, guide the team around the field, kick well and create opportunities for an impressive backline to score.
It didn’t take long to see exactly what Reynolds can offer when Kotoni Staggs flew down the sideline in the 8th minute.
It doesn’t look like much at first, but it’s the simple shape and engaging of the line that creates the space for Staggs on the outside. Reynold’s takes the ball with Payne Haas and Jordan Riki either side of him and Tesi Niu out the back. Heading straight for Corey Waddell on the edge, Reynolds puts him on his heels which forces Matt Burton into making a decision. Riki runs a great line to engage Burton and Niu is now on the outside of Burton as he sweeps around.
Staggs only touched the ball three times in the first half. He only added another six touches in the second half including his fumble over the line. Again it was Reynolds setting it all up for the Broncos centre out wide.
You can see him directing traffic here. He instructs Patrick Carrigan to send Kobe Hetherington to the middle before Reynolds himself plays Riki onto Burton and Brent Naden. Picking those two out isn’t an accident.
He’s taken out the Bulldogs left edge and they’ve failed to fill the line before Riki plays the ball. Naden and Burton peel out of the tackle but neither moves wide which keeps Josh Addo-Carr closer to the ruck than he should be.
A little bit of deception from Reynolds at dummy half and an incredible pass to the chest of Staggs should have resulted in one of the best tries of the 2022 NRL season. Still, it’s a clear indication of how Reynolds will influence this side moving forward.
So too is the fact Staggs only touched the ball nine times to Herbie Farnworth’s 19 on the left edge.
The Broncos spotted an area of opportunity in the Bulldogs right edge defence. Neither Braidon Burns nor Jayden Okunbor are particularly mobile in their lateral defence. Both are there to be beaten with speed and Farnworth has plenty of it. He scored a double and ran for 262 metres as the Broncos peppered the Bulldogs right edge over and over again.
Reynolds has two top tier attacking centres to work with this season. It’s an area the Broncos have always been rather effective despite the disappointing recent seasons. However, unlike before, they have the game manager to make the most of them.
He finished with only 22 running metres, no try or line break assists, two missed tackles and three ineffective tackles. It’s not an impressive 80 minutes on paper but it’s clear what Reynolds can do for this side.
A round to remember for…
Close games might finally be back in the NRL.
It’s early days and we’re not going to see games this close all season, but the reintroduction of penalties appears to be helping remove blowouts from occurring multiple times every week.
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