NRL Repeat Set: Round 6

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 6 of the 2021 NRL season:

• Brian To’o is too good
• Thank you, Warriors
• A round to remember for…Brisbane Broncos
• A round to forget for…Jack Hetherington
• Play of the Round: South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Graham Annesley’s Briefing Summary

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To’o is too good

The Brisbane Broncos went into their Round 5 clash against the Penrith Panthers with a plan to limit the damage Brian To’o could do to their defensive line. They’ve seen what he is capable of on second and third tackle to disrupt the defensive line so peppered him with kicks all night.

Their intention would be to keep a lid on him with their kick-chase and limit his yardage which they were able to execute well a handful of times.

However, such is his work rate, To’o still touched the ball 32 times throughout the match to pile up 272 running metres and 15 tackle breaks. That isn’t to say the Broncos plan didn’t work overall, though.

To’o does a lot of his best work on second and third tackle. He gets on the outside of the right edge backrower and runs directly at the opposition half. He will do this on 1st-tackle off a scrum at times too. Having the opposition half being the one to make contact over the ball either starts breaking up the defensive line, or promotes a quick play-the-ball for the following ball carrier. Viliame Kikau has been the one to take that next carry a few times this season to great effect.

Kevin Walters and the Broncos will have seen what To’o did to Hudson Young and George Williams last week with Brodie Croft and Tevita Pangai Jr in mind. He repeatedly used his fast feet to get on the outside of Young before hitting Williams straight on. Williams’ job here is to act as a speed bump before Young recovers and completes the tackle. However, To’o is able to release the offload not once:

But twice with this one here highlighting how much the Panthers search for To’o in these spots regardless of where on the field the set starts:

While it doesn’t look like the Broncos limited To’o on Thursday night, they reduced the impact of the second and third carries in Panthers exit sets. Charlie Staines is a slight figure and doesn’t bend the line like To’o. Nor does Matt Burton. Forcing them into tougher carries helped the Broncos keep the Panthers to 1,830 running metres for the match – their second-lowest mark of the season.

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Thank you, Warriors

Ask and you shall receive.

Sometimes…

That was the case this week with the New Zealand Warriors, anyway. I asked to see something different after digging into their lack of structure last week, and the Warriors looked a lot better against the St. George-Illawarra Dragons on Sunday afternoon. Unsurprisingly, Tohu Harris was a large part of it.

I particularly like this diamond shape they’re running with Harris on the inside. He’s able to shrug off a sliding defender here to earn a quick play-the-ball and allow Kodi Nikorima to get downhill on 5th-tackle.