Join Oscar Pannifex as he takes RLWriters lens to the 2023 NRLW competition.
Introducing Losana Lutu
The Wests Tigers began life in the NRLW on Sunday with a commanding 36-8 win over last year’s grand finalists, Parramatta.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Tigers though, who struggled to put the pieces together in attack until 19 year old playmaking sensation Losana Lutu finally took the field in the 52nd minute.
When the fulltime siren sounded 18 minutes later the Tigers had added 26 points to their tally, with Lutu playing a leading role in a number of scoring actions.
The 52 minutes Wests endured before Lutu entered the contest was frustrating.
The Tigers dominated in yardgae (1719m v 1056m) thanks largely to the contributions of Sarah Togatuki (240 running metres), Christian Pio (171m) and Ebony Prior (116m) around the ruck.
They poured into good field position with ease and had some early joy testing the Eels right edge to score through Bo Vette-Welsh, but the attack through halfback Emily Curtain was mostly clunky and mistimed.
They were creating the overlaps and running the right shapes, but Curtain’s timing and pass selection was off with Vette-Welsh and backrower Kezzie Apps.
That all changed when Lutu subbed in for Curtain midway through the second half.
This was her second touch of the game:
In possession for a grand total of one second, Lutu completely pulls apart the Eels right edge here.
A fake underneath sits the ruck defence on their heels and buys Lutu time to dig into the line. She gets to the outside of the four-in defender to create the overlap, where she slows her feet to bring her lead runner (11, Kezzie Apps) onto the ball.
The front-on angle best shows how Lutu bamboozles the Eels defence here:
Lutu’s change of tempo on App’s decoy invites the two- and three-in defenders to bite, leaving Vette-Welsh in a three-on-one situation out wide where Leianne Tufunga is the beneficiary.
Try time.
And she wasn’t done there.
Every time Lutu was on the ball, it was clear she was playing at a different level.
Her pre-pass movements consistently manipulated the defensive line, creating space for her teammates out wide. In yardage it led to easy metres and in good-ball it led to points.
In the Tigers next attacking set, they searched again through Lutu and Vette-Welsh on the left edge:
Realising she hasn’t engaged the right defender, Lutu stutters on her run here. Repositioning herself in the backline, Lutu eventually throws it wide to her fullback.
It’s poor defence from Parramatta but lovely deception from Vette-Welsh, who finds Jakiya Whitfield cutting back inside at the last second to score. The space Whitfield eventually runs through is the space that Lutu managed to create earlier by holding up the pass to Vette-Welsh.
The Tigers pair saved their best for last, though.
A pinpoint cross-field kick from Lutu generated another fresh set on the Eels line soon after, in another vote of confidence for the 19 year old half:
General play kicking and kick defence is undoubtedly a part of the women’s game that is still developing. Lutu’s control and accuracy here though suggests that she’s once again ahead of the curve.
Two tackles later and Lutu was back in the box seat, orchestrating the same shape as for Tufunga’s first try and coming up with the same result, too.
The target here is Shannon Muru as the three-in defender.
Lutu plays fast to get over the advantage line and put pressure on the defence to make a decision. With Apps charging at her inside shoulder, Muru decides to turn in – which is exactly what Lutu is waiting for.
Slowing her feet at the line, Lutu’s change of tempo gives her time to swivel and pass out the back to Vette-Welsh.
When Tufunga cuts back inside to score, she finds the space left by Muru who can’t recover in the line after turning in on Lutu and Apps.
18 minutes.
Three try involvments.
Losana Lutu, ladies and gentlemen.
I’ll be very surprised (and frustrated) if she isn’t in the starting side next week.
Always Next Week For…
… the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Melbourne Storm, Cronulla Sharks & Canberra Raiders
What the hell happened in NRL Round 21?
The Rabbitohs mid-season capitulation continued with a disappointing showing against the Broncos on Friday night. With just 66% of completions and a shocking 35 missed tackles (and 25 ineffective), the Rabbitohs once again made things too hard for themselves, despite Brisbane playing with 12 men for 20 minutes.
The Storm also blew the two points on offer with a horrid performance against an inspired Newcastle Knights outfit. The Knights did what South Sydney couldn’t, capitalising on a Tariq Sims sinbin to score three times against a 12-man defensive line.
And the Sharks and Raiders fell short in painfully close losses to the Sea Eagles and Warriors, respectively. Both mounted late comebacks but couldn’t get themselves over the line in the dying stages.
It makes the race to the Top Four even more interesting with six rounds left to play.
The Bunnies, Storm and Raiders do have the next few weeks to respond, but time is running out for Cronulla to solidify their spot in the 2023 finals series…
NRL Round 21 Shout-Outs
Zac Lomax
Shane Flanagan’s impending arrival at St George has triggered an immediate improvement from Dragons centre Zac Lomax. He’s played his best two games in the last fortnight, running for a total 478 metres, scoring three tries and setting up another two.
This was ridiculous:
Joey Manu is just about the only other centre in the NRL capable of reproducing this.
Great to see Lomax back to his best.
Kotoni Staggs
- Two tries
- One assist
- 171 running metres
- Three linebreaks
- Nine tackles busts
When Staggs is in a mood like this, he’s awfully difficult to handle. Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh brought him into the game smartly and Staggs had his way from there.
It was a bad night to be a South Sydney Rabbitoh.
Tigers switch play
The Wests Tigers moved the ball more than anybody to begin the NRL regular season, but not always to good effect.
Against the Dragons on Thursday though, the Tigers threw together this clever switch-play from behind the ruck:
The way Daine Laurie positions himself directly behind the ruck suggests this was a premeditated shot. He’s got Tommy Talau and Junior Tupou nice and wide to his outside, where quick hands beats the jamming defence to send Tupou over in the corner.
Good footy from the Tigers.
Roosters short sides
Jase and I have spoken ad nauseam about the Roosters attacking down short sides this year.
It’s undoubtedly where they’re at their best. Jake Turpin or Brandon Smith trigger the actions smartly while Luke Keary and James Tedesco are well equipped to challenge retreating defensive units.
Against the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, Easts scored twice while playing down the short side in yardage.
Brandon Smith held up the markers to get Tedesco and Egan Butcher into space on the left edge:
And then did the same for Sandon Smith and Tedesco on the right edge:
It’s an uphill battle into the Top Eight but the Roosters make anything possible when attacking like this.