Brisbane Broncos building
The Brisbane Broncos are two-and-three heading into NRLW Round 6, following a comeback win to the Newcastle Knights on Sunday afternoon.
For the winningest club in NRLW history, the Broncos are in new territory to sit in sixth place after five rounds played this season – but it’s not panic stations just yet.
Brisbane are navigating a considerable roster overhaul in 2023 and have been expectedly slow out of the gates this year. With the most experienced half in the competition and an improving forward pack though, the Broncos should be there or thereabouts come finals time.
Some of the footy they played in patches against heavyweights Newcastle in NRLW Round 5 reaffirm this.
Brisbane rank a middling sixth in the NRLW for total run metres but adopted a new approach to yardage in Round 5. They’re blessed with capable ball carriers but by adding a pass option as they worked upfield, the Broncos worked smarter not harder in yardage to consistently punch holes in the Knights defence.
It was clear early on that this was something Brisbane had practised during the week.
With forwards running in pairs, the pass option either got Brisbane wide of the ruck at smaller defenders or prevented Newcastle from getting numbers in the tackle:
With a support runner to her outside here, Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala isolates a defender in the line and wins the two-man tackle to play the ball quickly.
With the ruck speed created, Ali Brigginshaw has time to get a brilliant kick away and Brisbane get a little win in the yardage battle.
Brisbane repeatedly made Jesse Southwell a target with these actions. She’s a solid defender but the threat of Mele Hufanga to her outside prevented Southwell from tightening up and getting involved in these tackles.
And so Brisbane made a concerted effort to test her inside shoulder.
Chelsea Lenarduzzi’s development has been pleasing to watch and she appears to have added a pass to her game this season. Her gravity as a ball carrier demands attention from the defence and if she can consistently get this pass away she’ll immediately become one of the best attacking front-rowers in the NRLW.
She sends Mariah Denman into the backfield here and it’s only a special read from Tamika Upton that denies Brisbane a second try.
Just a few tackles later though and the Broncos attack produced the goods.
Playing to Hufanga from a mid-field scrum is almost always going to be a net-positive action and she scrambles the defensive line on play one here:
The Broncos immediately aim back towards the posts through Lenarduzzi, who gets to her feet quickly to play the ball before the markers are set.
Without a genuine defender in front of ruck, watch how Newcastle’s defensive line folds in as Destiny Brill moves from dummy-half:
The three- and four-in defenders both turn in and have to turn and chase when Brigginshaw takes possession to their outside. That overcorrection leaves a space back on the inside that Brigginshaw finds with some footwork and a show of strength.
There’s a blueprint for Broncos success in this passage.
A mix of hard running and pass options in yardage followed by a good fifth tackle kick should see Brisbane win their share – or more – of field position. From there, the threat of Hufanga and the smarts of Brigginshaw should be enough to consistently manufacture points.
The improving combinations between Gayle Broughton, Hayley Maddick and Hufanga on the Broncos left edge will be the final piece of the puzzle.
They’ve linked nicely – and not so nicely – over the first five weeks but can take plenty of pressure off Brigginshaw in attack if they get it right more often than not.
This shape is one Brisbane used three or four times on Sunday, in yardage and in good-ball.
Broughton is still developing as a half but she’s got all the attributes to nail this role. With Tazmin Gray a daunting prospect off her hip, Broughton compresses the defence towards the ball before throwing to Maddick in space.
Maddick doesn’t play to Hufanga here but she doesn’t always need to. The movements of Knights right centre Shanice Parker highlight Hufanga’s ability to disrupt the defence without even touching the ball.
On potential, these three girls can make for the best attacking left edge in the NRLW. How well they develop that combination will go a long way to deciding Brisbane’s prospects this season.
Ultimately though, defence wins premierships and the Broncos displayed some real resilience when defending their line in NRLW Round 5.
Midway through the second half, Newcastle enjoyed three consecutive sets on Brisbane’s line but failed to come away with points:
On both edges and through the middle, the Broncos got numbers in the tackle and repeatedly turned away a threatening Knights attack.
When they finally won back possession, Brisbane’s four hit-ups into an exit kick were straight out of the textbook:
That’s how you cap off defending three full sets on your own line.
Brigginshaw has been one of the best players in the NRLW for years now and she’s still elite today. Playing behind an improving forward pack and with promising combinations developing on the edges though, Brigginshaw doesn’t have to be everything in this Broncos side anymore.
With Brigginshaw pulling the strings b
There’s Always Next Week For…
… the Parramatta Eels
Head Coach Dean Widders has an uphill battle ahead of him but would have enjoyed the Eels spirit in NRLW Round 5.
Parramatta are without their two best forwards – Elsie Albert (injured) and Kennedy Cherrington (suspension) – and have been struggling in yardage as a result.
Just two Eels forwards clocked more than 100 running metres in NRLW Round 5, highlighting a poor yardage game that ranks comfortably last in the NRLW for an average 1,189 running metres per game – almost 200m less than the ninth ranked NQ Cowboys.
One number jumps out from their NRLW Round 5 loss to the Canberra Raiders though – an 84% completion rate.
The Eels are struggling with the ball right now but they’re worse without it. By completing high and dominating in possession though, Parramatta can make things a little easier for themselves.
The control of halfback Rachael Pearson is key to this. She’s one of the most experienced halves in the NRLW and knows the right options and when to take them.
The return of Cherrington and Albert will help put Pearson into the areas on the park to have positive involvements and hopefully improve a stagnant Eels attack.
NRLW Round 5 Shout-Outs
Monalisa Soliola
The young backrower is one of my favourite players in the NRLW but I didn’t know she had this pass in her game:
Asheligh Quinlan’s speed is too much for Rachael Pearson, who gets caught up on the lead runner here and can’t recover when Soliola pops it back to a wrapping Quinlan.
Some lovely ball movement finishes things off from there, but that wrap-around is what makes the try to Maddison Bartlett.
We’re seeing new set pieces every other week in the NRLW and this is the latest example.
The reverse-block
The Parramatta Eels attack has been poor to start the year but five-eighth Pihuka Berryman-Duff and Abbi Church combined for a lovely trick shot in NRLW Round 5.
You can see backrower Mahalia Murphy (12) and Church (1) in position for a regulation block-shape here, but at the last second Murphy bounces out while Church straightens at the line.
Murphy’s movement drags Zahara Temara sideways and opens up a space for Church to power through.
Usually we’d see the lead runner hitting Temara’s inside shoulder while the jocker sweeps out the back, but this is lovely variation from the Eels.
Georgia Hale Watch
I mentioned her last week and will be keeping a running tally until Hale’s defensive numbers slow down… if they ever do.
The Titans lock-forward punched out another big stint in NRLW Round 5, playing 63 minutes in the middle against a rampant Sydney Roosters outfit.
She contributed 37 tackles for one miss – just her second miss of the entire season.
With a total 247 tackles for two misses across the opening five rounds, Hale continues to put up impossible defensive numbers every week.