NRL Repeat Set: Round 20

Recap the latest round of NRL action with the Repeat Set: Talking points, highlights, lowlights and the Play of the Round.

Here’s your Repeat Set for Round 20 of the 2021 NRL season:

• A Tale of Two Halves
• South Sydney’s Sizzling Attack
• A round to remember for…Newcastle Knights
• A round to forget for…Wests Tigers
• Play of the Round: Sydney Roosters
• NRLW – An Opportunity

---

A Tale of Two Halves

I circled Kyle Flanagan as one to watch this week. Not because I thought he would play particularly well, but because I was curious to see what his ‘natural game’ looked like after Trent Barrett requested he show it in this one.

I still don’t know what it is…

Flanagan’s game isn’t to engage the line or throw any doubt into the defence. It isn’t all his fault, but the Bulldogs offered nothing down the right side all night.

Jake Averillo managed to make something out of nothing to end this shift and threaten the line.

However, Flanagan and the Bulldogs ran the same shape in the same lethargic manner again and again down that right channel.

By not engaging the line and throwing a pass both Flanagan and the defensive line premeditate, the Bulldogs outside backs aren’t finding themselves in any space to attack. The defensive line simply slides across and ushers them towards the sideline.

This here is a prime example again. The first lead line holds up Kevin Proctor and puts Flanagan on his outside. He should be able to either engage Proctor and isolate Adam Elliott onto Toby Sexton or, straighten to hold Sexton from sliding before playing out the back to Corey Allan with the three-on-two opportunity. Instead, he stops two metres short of the defensive line and leaves little doubt that he is passing long, once again allowing the defensive to slide and cover the shift with ease.

With his team struggling and in need of somebody to take control, Flanagan recorded just 15 touches of the football in the second half according to Champion Data. Chalk this game up as another opportunity wasted for Flanagan.

Ash Taylor, on the other hand, is playing himself into another NRL contract at the moment.

He isn’t the $1 million man his contract says he should be. The expectations became too much and the 26-year-old has struggled through the last two years of his career. However, with footy now the focus and his pay packet soon to be a relative non-factor in how he is viewed, Taylor is displaying promising signs.

In a somewhat similar situation to Flanagan as a footballer playing for his future, Taylor is putting his body on the line and finding success in the little things.

It doesn’t eventuate to anything on this occasion, but Taylor taking on the line and using Tino Fa’asuamaleaui as a decoy on his inside shoulder is encouraging.

Taylor has never lost his ability to throw a lethal long ball and a threatening running game opens up options to fire one wide. Likewise, playing short at the line forces the defence into a decision that can be trained in favour of one of those long passes later in the game.

Having set up Brian Kelly to score with his typically top-draw kicking game, Taylor later scored one himself. Spying an opportunity to dart from dummy half with a defender left on the ground, Taylor took the space and passed AJ Brimson through a huge gap between the B and C defenders.

Unsigned beyond this year, somebody is signing a quality player still with a lot of upside. The Titans could do worse than extending Taylor for another two years.

---

South Sydney’s Sizzling Attack

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won eight games in a row since being thrashed 56-12 by the Penrith Panthers in Round 11. They have scored an outrageous 43 points per game throughout the winning streak.

Even while a large chunk of influential players missed games throughout the State of Origin period, Souths continued to pile up points both on the field and on the NRL ladder. Now, they’re fit, firing, and winding up towards September.

Questions still remain over their ability to defend at a premiership-winning level. Overall, South Sydney’s 20.1 points conceded per game puts them fifth in the competition. That isn’t good enough historically with 14 of the last 15 premiers finishing the season inside the top three defensively. Although, their 16.2 points conceded throughout the eight-game winning streak is encouraging. Particularly when you consider the points they’ve conceded after building a lead and taking their foot off the gas.

While the defence continues to improve, we’re starting to see an attack that can score on any team in the competition.

Delete your tweets and take back your doubts around Latrell Mitchell as a fullback. He is one of the best in the world at the position and is the perfect player for this Rabbitohs attack. Likewise, Cody Walker.

The two have been building towards a dual-fullback style in recent weeks. I recapped Walker’s incredible Round 17 against the Cowboys in the Repeat Set. Now, with Mitchell back and the finals approaching, they are combining to great effect.

Floating over to the right edge isn’t anything new for Walker. He started to spend a lot of time on that side of the field towards the end of last season after Mitchell was ruled out for the year. The 31-year-old has continued to develop a lethal combination with Adam Reynolds down that side of the field. Again, he was superb in Round 17.

With Mitchell back and in excellent form, the Rabbitohs left edge is destroying opposition defences. Unlike other attacks in the NRL, South Sydney’s dominance down one side of the field isn’t predictable. They’ve scored 58% of their tries down that side of the field, but the variation they throw at the opposition continues to bamboozle defenders.

They have an array of shapes and actions to throw at the defence. However, it’s the variation of players – Walker and Mitchell, in particular – that is making defending Souths so difficult.

Providing Mitchell with room to move out the back of shape is a consistent part of the attacking game plan. Dropping Keaon Koloamatangi off back into the middle is an option for Walker here. That holds up Tyrell Fuimaono ever so slightly, and with Talatau Amone forced to react to Dane Gagai as a short option, Walker hits Mitchell who has the time and space to wind up and charge at the line.

Not long after, Mitchell is over on the right side. It’s a typical option for Souths in this part of the field. Reynolds plays to Mitchell on second tackle and the right edge attack throws a punch. The Dragons are able to wear this one and stop Mitchell from scoring or setting up a teammate.

Setting up on the right post and with Jai Arrow earning a quick play-the-ball, the Souths left edge knows that is a sign for the ball coming their way. They swing into action and run the same shape as five minutes earlier. Koloamatangi is back underneath, Gagai runs a hard line at the gap between the two-in and three-in defender, and the Rabbitohs are in again. Although, it’s Walker running the Mitchell line on this occasion.

Souths are playing with Roosters and Storm-like structure at the moment. The good kind of structure. They know where to be and when, and with Walker popping up on both sides of the field and running as a second fullback at times, they can run a lot of their best shape regardless of who is involved.

Walker and Mitchell don’t even need to touch the football to influence the outcome. The defence will spend all week plotting ways to shut down the duo which gives Souths the option to use them as a decoy.

The gravity of Mitchell out the back here has Corey Norman in all sorts defending in the centres. As if Walker needs the clear signal to play short at the best of times, Jaydn Su’A is always the first option with Norman turned out and tracking backwards as he is on this occasion.

We saw the Bulldogs get off their line – not always legally – exceptionally fast in Round 18. They had a clear game plan to rush out at the Rabbitohs left edge and shut it down as soon as possible. Mitchell, simply being in position to take a pass, dragged Will Hopoate out of the line to create a two-on-one scenario on the outside for this one.

Melbourne putting together a historic season with the ball has overshadowed an excellent Rabbitohs attack at times throughout the year. Concerns over their defence have them parked firmly at third in the list of potential premiers too. Still, anything is possible in September if Souths continue to improve in attack. I’m not quite ready to hand Melbourne the premiership just yet.

---

A round to remember for…

I talked a bit about the Newcastle Knights left edge attack in the Notepad this week, and boy, did they come up with the goods.

If that is a sign of things to come for the rest of this season, the Knights may yet extend their campaign beyond Round 25.