“Heads In” – Round 18 Preview

Unpack a scrum of three talking points before every round of the NRL season. This week: Foran finding success, Radley’s ballplaying and Melbourne’s early kick.

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.

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Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre-frame in the rugby league lens this week?

Returning to Manly was the best thing for Kieran Foran at this point in his career. Playing alongside genuine superstars in Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans most weeks, Foran has been allowed to take the back seat at times this season – exactly what you want for a 30 year old half with a horror injury history.

That being said, Foran looked anything but uncomfortable in the lead playmaker’s role last weekend.

Foran is one of the best in the competition at taking the ball into the line and forcing the defence into making a decision. From there he is equally dangerous running himself or passing short or long to a teammate in space. We saw him link with Reuben Garrick consistently down that left edge for Manly last week and it’s an action I’ll be looking out for again in Round 18 with Trbojevic missing again. 

By playing so close to the defensive line Foran forces his opposing backrower into the tackle. As one defender bites so too should another, and usually it’s the half jamming on the lead runner off Foran’s hip – in this case Karl Lawton. Before releasing the pass, the subtleties of Foran’s ball-playing attracts two defenders in the line which affords Garrick a one-on-one situation on the edge. 

Both times Garrick wins the contact and both times Canberra are forced to scramble in defence. 

With the Foran-Garrick combination threatening, Manly continued to search down that corridor. The Raiders were now on the lookout for Garrick sweeping around the back and with that in mind Foran started probing elsewhere. He mightn’t be as quick or agile as he once was, but Foran’s ability to condition the defence one way before hitting them somewhere else is what has made him a class playmaker for over a decade now. 

Attacking Canberra’s line, Manly generate some second phase play through the middle third which disrupts the Raiders’ defensive setup. Sebastian Kris is forced into a tackle near the posts meaning Josh Hodgson fills in on the right edge where Foran has been sending Garrick all night. Hodgson and winger Jordan Rapana rush up to shut Garrick down but this time Foran floats a ball over the top for Brad Parker on the paint. He should’ve scored. 

The next time Foran was in sight of Canberra’s line, he almost got there himself. 

Out the back of a two-pass shift this time, Foran gets himself wide of Sam Williams and with shape on his outside. The Raiders are stripped for numbers and need to shut the play down, but Kris is so concerned about the pass to Parker that he holds off and Foran is unlucky not to plant the ball down. 

Manly finally got a result through Foran in the 70th minute when he sent a charging Moses Suli back against the grain. It looked like a mean trick shot but in reality it was the product of Foran conditioning the defence for 70 minutes and breaking them apart where he knew they’d be vulnerable. 

All night, Foran had carried the ball into the line and played to his outside or challenged the line himself. His opposing back-rower Corey Harawira-Naera spent 70 minutes charging out of the line to pressure Foran’s inside shoulder while his teammates pushed up too, to protect his own inside. Not this time. 

Perhaps expecting Foran to again shift the ball wide, or perhaps simply because he was gassed, Josh Hodgson doesn’t push up with Harawira-Naera here and that’s exactly where Foran sends Suli. 

With the scores at 16-24 and almost 10 minutes remaining, this was a game Manly could have won. Foran had done enough in breaking down the defence to create scoring opportunities for his teammates but the Sea Eagles just weren’t good enough on the night – put Garrick on the left wing and add Josh Schuster and Tom Trbojevic to that edge and you might expect Manly to find a few more points. 

Cherry-Evans is back, however, with Trbojevic still on the sidelines I’ll be looking for more of these involvements from Foran on Friday night. He was developing a lovely combination with Schuster on Manly’s left edge earlier in the season and it’s likely to feature against a St George side missing some key players in Round 18. Ben Hunt has just played 80 of the best for Queensland and if he lines up on his usual right edge on Friday night he is sure to be a target for Foran, Schuster & Co. 

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Right Scrum-Line – Who’s feeling the pressure this week?

It’s been a tough month for the Sydney Roosters. 

In their last four games the Roosters have suffered big losses to heavyweights Melbourne and Penrith while scraping narrow wins over the Titans and Bulldogs. The Roosters’ growing injury toll and increasing reliance on underdeveloped and inexperienced players is starting to take effect, and yet we still seem to expect the Roosters of old whenever they take the field. 

Sydney’s (or Trent Robinson’s) elite attacking structures and principles are still there to be seen, but the Roosters simply don’t have the troops right now to execute things as consistently as the likes of Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Brett Morris or Luke Keary would. 

These actions against the Storm two weeks ago made that painfully clear. 

Three times inside three minutes the Roosters created a scoring opportunity out wide thanks to Sam Walker’s excellent ballplaying and the slick timing of Sydney’s backline players, only for the final pass to miss the mark. You can put some of this down to Melbourne’s defensive pressure but these are all actions you would expect the Roosters to ice more often than not.