NRL Notepad: Round 21

The Notepad identifies one key player, stat, trend or talking point for every team, every round of the 2021 NRL season.

---

Saturday

Warriors

Chanel Harris-Tavita has had his detractors this season. For some reason, the scrutiny around him increased when Reece Walsh arrived as though there can only be one promising youngster in the team at once…

Nonetheless, his stocks went up while he sat on the sidelines as the Warriors produced a handful of dire performances in attack as Kodi Nikorima, Chad Townsend and Sean O’Sullivan rotated through the halves with little success.

I want to rehash a Twitter thread from a couple of weeks ago where I highlighted a few parts of Harris-Tavita’s game that I think have gone unnoticed, perhaps due to his relatively slow development as he struggles to stay on the field.

The best halves in the game are changing the tempo of their runs to get across the field and engage defenders. It’s a must-have for halves these days and Harris-Tavita is slowly developing in this area.

There was this in Round 15 last season:

It looks like a poor pass to the ground, but you’ll notice the subtle tempo change in his run and the deception of dummying to Eli Katoa cutting back inside. Encouraging.

We saw him nail that change in tempo to put Bunty Afoa through half a gap in Round 1 of this season:

“The young half sees Fa’asuamaleaui hunched over with his hands on his knees and heads straight for him. With the ball out in front, Harris-Tavita takes three or four quick steps and bang – Fa’asuamaleaui is on his heels and going backwards.

David Fifita does well to cover his inside shoulder and drag Bunty Afoa to the ground. But his diving effort can’t stop Afoa from releasing a pass to Nikorima backing up.” – NRL Notepad: Round 2

Fast-forward to Round 9 and there is Harris-Tavita at it again:

“It went largely unnoticed because it was Walsh who ended up scoring the try, but it’s Harris-Tavita’s work that creates the opportunity. Like the play above, he uses those quick feet straight at the line to sit Josh Schuster on his heels which allows Tohu Harris to get enough of his body free to release an offload.” – Player Appreciation Post: Chanel Harris-Tavita

Harris-Tavita’s kicking game needs a lot of work and he could take the line on himself a little bit more. However, he is still only 22-years-old and playing in a position that takes years to develop.

Having taken on more of the organising duties this season out of necessity, I’m excited to see how Harris-Tavita changes his game at five-eighth this week. I’ve said it a few times, but he should be watching all of the Kieran Foran tape he can. That’s the style of player he can become with some consistent time on the field in a #6 jersey.

Sharks

The Sharks middle defence has been a regular topic since the inception of Rugby League Writers ahead of the 2020 NRL season.

And here it is again…

Andrew Fifita is a consistent culprit when this issue comes up and is again here. So too is Aiden Tolman and Jack Williams who both over-commit and follow the play without keeping their place in the line.

All three have been named to play the Warriors this week.

All three will be a target for a Warriors middle that has started to find some success with Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake both on the field.

Roosters

Joseph Manu is in career-best form at the moment. He is being talked about as the NRL’s next million dollar man and for the most part, looks like he would be worth every penny.

He filled in on the wing last week but clearly had a license to roam. Here he is in the first half stalking the ball like a second fullback. Manu comes into the frame after Daniel Tupou takes his charge and remains there for the full set:

It’s not uncommon for wingers to hang around the ruck like this for two or three tackles, but Manu kept at it until Sam Walker sent up a bomb on 5th tackle.

Remarkably, it was Manu there to apply pressure on Clint Gutherson. But it all came at a cost. With the 24-year-old off his wing, Parramatta looked left and picked up easy metres to start their kick return set.

Manu is back in the centres this week, but I’m curious to see whether or not he continues to come infield and look for work. Tom Trbojevic knew how to pick his moments at centre in State of Origin. It’s a role Trent Robinson may hand to Manu given his individual form and Sydney’s need for a bit more creativity across the park given their injury issues.

Panthers

This segment has changed once already with Stephen Crichton rubbed out and could change again if Nathan Cleary is named to make his return. Regardless, Charlie Staines is a focus.

The 20-year-old finished up with 15 running metres on four runs while making three errors last week – a horrorshow.

He needs to offer more to this side than falling over the line in the corner. Poor in yardage with only 86 metres per game and an average finisher in the corner when the defence applies pressure, it’s important that Staines finds a point of difference.

Perhaps the Panthers can make better use of his speed by getting him down the sideline in exit sets similar to Jason Saab at Manly?

Whatever they do, how Staines responds to a poor performance in Round 20 will be something to keep an eye on.

Sea Eagles

Josh Schuster is a great talent.

I have massive hopes for him whether he stays in the back row or ends up in the halves.

He is an excellent ball player for somebody his size, but it’s his size I’d like to see him use more.

I’m being picky here, but it’s one of the better examples of Schuster always looking to pass until the pass is no longer an option.

Sione Katoa is defending for the pass as soon as Schuster takes possession. Garrick is Katoa’s focus and the Sharks winger is hoping his inside defence tracks across quick enough to close it down. With Braydon Trindall in front of him, I’d have liked to see Schuster put his head down and attack the line. We’ve all seen how he can make a late pass at the line. That skill will become even more valuable if he starts to consistently bring three defenders into the tackle.

Storm

I think we’re going to start to see the best of Ryan Papenhuyzen again this week.

He is being eased back into the side and hasn’t really looked like himself over the last fortnight. However, this run last week made me think “here he is.”

The speed at which he attacks the line.

The in and away on a bigger defender.

The spiders on him as he breaks through tackles with relative ease.

Saturday looks like it could mark the real return of Ryan Papenhuyzen.

---

Sunday

Bulldogs

“Bailey Biondi-Odo needs to play more next week” – Me in my head on Monday night

I’ve loved what the 19-year-old has done in limited minutes so far in his five-game NRL career.

His two tries, a try assist and three forced dropouts all appeal from a numbers point of view, but it’s the eye-test that really has me excited for this one.