Unpack a scrum of three talking points before every round of the NRL season. This week: Completing homework on Mybe/Brooks, replacing George Williams, and eyes out for Manly’s trick shot.
Whether you’re searching for an edge in the workplace tipping comp or just desperate to talk some footy, you’ve found the place. Join me as we unpack the scrum that is the NRL each week.
Right Scrum-Line – Who’s feeling the pressure this week?
It still feels like only a matter of time before Adam Doueihi is moved back into the halves for the Wests Tigers this season. He was arguably their best player when given control of the side a few weeks back, only to be shifted to the centres soon after while Moses Mbye and Luke Brooks partnered up in the halves. One good game against the Knights hardly filled me with confidence, and last week’s loss to the Warriors confirmed that.
This is not a Mbye-bashing piece, let’s make that clear now. He had some nice involvements on the left edge early in the game, including this lovely short ball for Luke Garner’s second of the night as the Tigers made the most of some good ruck speed.
Jacob Liddle sends the markers infield before hitting a hard running Joe Ofahengaue on the right. Ofahengaue beats Wayde Egan’s tackle to find his front and play the ball quickly, and the Tigers are good enough to react. Luke Brooks takes the ball into the line with James Tamou before dishing out the back to Mbye. Kodi Nikorima does his best to shut down the play but Mbye pops a pass to Garner hitting short and Wests go over. The thing I liked most about this was Brooks and Mbye produced it on just the second tackle. The Tigers have not been playing with confidence in attack and it was promising to see them pull the trigger early when the play was on.
That killer instinct all but disappeared as the game went on. Kicking for goal to go two points ahead when the Warriors were down to 12 men late in the piece screamed to me that Wests don’t trust themselves in attack at the moment. The next time they got into attacking field position explained why.
When Eli Katoa was sent for a lifting tackle on Luciano Leilua in the 65th minute, it should have been the game. The Warriors had barely survived ten minutes with Ben Murdoch-Masila in the bin, and now Katoa was joining him. Wests were already up 20-18, and now had a fresh set attacking New Zealand’s line.
It starts off nicely enough. A strong carry from Tamou bends the line before the Tigers shift through Ofahengaue to Alex Twal on the left edge. The short pass is enough to get Twal at Nikorima in the defensive line and the big prop wins the tackle and gets a decent play-the-ball. The Tigers have numbers stretched out to the right and look to come back that way through Brooks and Mbye but Mbye throws a forward pass – under no pressure at all – to Shaun Blore and New Zealand are off the hook.
In the following set, the Tigers gave away a penalty, the Warriors marched 80 metres upfield and Egan scored under the posts on the last. Talk about a coach killer.
Wests have a very winnable game in Round 12 against St George Illawarra who have more than their share of injuries and suspensions to navigate. That means the pressure is on Mbye and Brooks to produce in the halves and take control of the game. I’ll be watching Mbye particularly on Friday night to gauge his involvement and influence on this Tigers side at five-eighth. He’s managed roughly the same receipts per game as Doueihi had playing in the halves, but what will be telling is the timing of those receipts. Doueihi was the one making the plays on fifth tackle when he was at #6, but with Mbye in the halves it looks like Brooks is once again the main man. My homework for this week is to try and figure out what Michael Maguire sees in a Mbye-Brooks halves pairing that I haven’t yet.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre-frame in the rugby league lens this week?
No one was more disappointed at the news of George Williams’ immediate release this week than we here at RLW. Jase was a fan before Williams had even arrived in the NRL and I was quick to jump on the bandwagon soon after. The tough little halfback arguably never reached his peak in just 31 games for Canberra but still finished 2020 as surely the most underrated half in the competition. This is what I had to say about him earlier in the year:
“I’m still getting my head around how far under the radar halfback George Williams flew in his debut NRL season. A glance at his stats from last year quickly silences any doubts about William’s status as a top tier halfback.
| George Williams stats (2020) | Rank among halves (2020) | |
| Tries | 7 | =2nd |
| Try assists | 17 | =3rd |
| Forced drop-outs | 19 | =3rd |
| Line breaks | 7 | =2nd |
| Tackle breaks | 37 | 4th |
| Tackle efficiency | 88% | 1st |
Playing a full 22 games in his first season in the NRL, Williams sits comfortably inside the top five for halfbacks in key stat areas around attacking output and building pressure. What is also impressive is his 88% tackle efficiency – comfortably the best among halves who played more than 20 games. Not only is he dangerous with the ball in hand but Williams can be trusted to hold his own in defence.” – Canberra Raiders Season Preview
While his form in 2021 hasn’t been quite up to last year’s standards neither have the Raiders as a whole, and Williams’ immediate departure this week is unlikely to fix that.
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