If the beers are cold and the afternoon’s long enough we’d be talking NRL all day, every day until kickoff on Thursday night. With so much to review, let’s break down some of the key actions each week.
The Double Fullback Shape
One week after I nerded out over two of the latest attacking trends in the NRL, Round 18 dished us up another; the double fullback shape.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this shape in the NRL.
Corey Oates has been doing it for years at the Broncos and it’s become Isabelle Kelly’s signature move for the Roosters in the NRLW.
Despite this, it hasn’t become a common shape in the NRL until this past weekend, when two clubs threw it together for two perfectly constructed tries.
Nicho Hynes
When the Cronulla Sharks drew a six-again call while attacking St George’s line early in the game, they immediately began building towards a double fullback shape.
Jayden Sullivan and Matthew Feagai defending on the Dragons left edge was their target, and they did everything right in the lead up to execute the shot.
It started with this settler from Matt Moylan.
He’s got shape to his outside but Moylan knows where the Sharks are working towards. He purposefully steps into the space between Jaydn Su’a and Francis Molo here, trying to lay on the left post and isolate Sullivan and Feagai past the right.
Cronulla are now in position to fire the shot but when St George get extra numbers around the posts, they react.
You can see Hynes and Will Kennedy in position here for the double fullback shape out the back of Oregon Kaufusi’s lead line.
Kaufusi is targetting the inside shoulder of Ben Murdoch-Masila while Kennedy sweeps overs towards Jayden Sullivan, who gets up off his line quickly here to shut things down. It’s a good read from Sullivan but the Sharks happily let him have it – the real shot is coming on the next tackle.
With Finucane playing the ball around the posts, St George split the numbers in Cronulla’s favour.
The Sharks fall into the exact same shape, only this time the lead runner – Briton Nikora now – is one channel wider than Kaufusi was on the previous tackle.
Instead of targetting Mudoch-Masila with the lead runner, Nikora is now engaging Sullivan’s inside shoulder:
Sullivan gets up quickly off his line again here, only this time he jams on the lead runner.
He bites on Nikora’s convincing lead decoy while Kennedy’s presence out the back demands attention from Mathew Feagai defending in the centres.
Neither of them sees Hynes coming when he pops out of Moylan’s pocket and pours through the space in between the two Dragons defenders.
The wide angle shows it best:
Hynes is tucked in nice and tight behind Moylan as the Sharks fan out to their right. Sullivan can’t see him from where he stands in the line, and he’s too caught up with Nikora’s lead line to adjust.
Meanwhile, Feagai is in no-man’s land one channel wider. He identifies Kennedy as his man early on and doesn’t react when Hynes adds himself to the equation at the last second.
That’s a very well worked rugby league try.
Scott Drinkwater
The Wests Tigers didn’t offer much defensively against the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday afternoon.
Still, there’s not much they could’ve done to keep Scott Drinkwater from bagging his second try as the Cowboys perfectly executed another double-fullback shape.
Again, the work in the lead up was just as important as the final pass.
Winning possession just inside Tigers territory, the Cowboys immediately sent Jason Taumalolo at Wests right edge.
Taumalolo injects some fatigue into Brandon Wakeham and Isaiah Papali’i in the tackle while also disrupting the Tigers defensive line for the following play.
You can see Tallyn Da Silva retreating down the short side as Taumalolo plays the ball, filling in for Papali’i who’s caught at marker:
It leaves Wests with two smaller bodies defending on that edge when Griffin Naeme takes another settler towards the posts.
Having opened up the left hand side of the field, the Cowboys go back there for the second time in this set:
Chad Townsend straightens smartly on Da Silva to isolate Luciano Leilua onto Wakeham. So too Tom Dearden, who sweeps out the back to drag Starford To’a out of the line.
Wakeham, perhaps mindful of the diminutive Da Silva on his inside, turns inwards to help check the lead runner while To’a – who see’s what looks like a traditional block shape coming towards him – jams on the jockey.
All the while, Drinkwater tucks himself right into Townsend’s pocket, disguising his intentions until the very last second.
He’s actually on Townsend’s inside shoulder when his halfback shapes to pass, exploding onto the ball as it hangs in the air and pouring untouched through the space between Wakeham and To’a.
The corner angle best shows how well disguised Drinkwater’s involvement here was:
Wakeham and To’a don’t even see Drinkwater coming until he’s on the ball and through the hole.
The double fullback shape, ladies and gentlemen.
There’s Always Next Week For…
… the One NZ Warriors
In the latest installment of the RLWriters Cup, I took the bragging rights over Jase in NRL Round 18.
The Rabbitohs needed to bring a defensive focus into this game and the conditions favoured them perfectly. In the pouring rain, Souths were able to compress their line, pressure from the inside and invite the Warriors to go around them.
It was a perfect storm for the Rabbitohs to recapture their form.
A conservative yardage approach (92% completions) and a dominant kicking display (300+ more kick metres) helped South Sydney to 56% of possession and the lions share of attacking field position. Some Cody Walker magic kept the score ticking over from there.
Beaten by the conditions and a better side on the day, this isn’t a performance to judge the Warriors by.
Their expansive approach to yardage and good-ball attack didn’t translate well in the wet and they were on the wrong end of a few contentious refereeing decisions, too.
This loss shouldn’t alter the Wahs current trajectory towards a finals appearance in 2023.
They’ve got a winnable game against a Mitchell-Moses-and-Clint-Gutherson-less Parramatta side this week followed by the Sharks and Raiders, but it gets easier after that.
I’m still holding out for another installment of the RLWriters Cup in this year’s finals series…
NRL Round 18 Shout-Outs
Sam Verrills
Injuries have restricted Verrills to just six NRL games this season but in his four games since returning, he has posted an impressive three try assists.
Noticing a trend here?
Verrills is making a habit of picking out Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in good-ball. The big unit runs a great line and both players are choosing their moments smartly and waiting to play off quick play-the-balls.
Notice the game clock in the three examples, too:
- 78th minute v Rabbitohs
- 57th minute v Tigers
- 78th minute v Raiders
These actions are coming late in the game, when fatigue levels are high.
Is this a planned move for the Titans attack?
Or is Big Tino the only one offering Verrills a genuine option when the Titans are gassed?
How often Verrills looks for a teammate in these areas on Sunday – when Fa’asuamaleaui is in Origin camp – might give us a better idea.
Tom Dearden
Scott Drinkwater stole the show with a ridiculous two try, five assist haul in NRL Round 18, but the work of his five-eighth also deserves a mention.
Three linebreaks, one try and two assists doesn’t make for bad reading either, but it was the fashion in which Dearden made those involvements that impressed.
With 73 NRL games under his belt, Dearden is learning what works for him. He knows how to put himself into certain areas on the park to have positive involvements.
Skipping across the line, selling dummy’s and straightening with a big step is one of those areas.
So too, swinging late down short sides and playing over the ad-line.
He also supported well through the middle and picked the right pass – short, out the back or over the top – when chiming into the second layer of a shift.
He’s a wonderfully well rounded player and a crucial cog in the Cowboys 2023 finals push.
Nathan Brown & Adam Elliott
Two wonderful and recent examples of why stats don’t mean everything in rugby league.
Brown and Elliott combined for a total 77 minutes in NRL Round 18, producing 170 running metres and making 50 tackles between them… numbers Isaah Yeo puts up by himself most weeks.
They’re bit-part role players in their respective sides, but that role is an important one.
Both Brown and Elliott offer a nice point of difference as the Knights and Roosters work in yardage.
They’ve got good leg speed and offer a genuine pre-line pass option around the ruck when rolling upfield. Both are run first players, but they can also promote changes of direction, little tip ons or turns back in against the grain.
In NRL Round 18, Elliott and Brown threw five and nine passes from 14 receipts, respectively.
Most of those came in the opening quarter of the match in yardage, but it won’t be long before one of these two throws a linebreak or try assist pass in good-ball.