There is a lot to cover after every round in the NRL. Throughout the 2024 season, this is a place where I’ll cover what is most important, a few little things I liked from the round, something to keep an eye on in the next one, and a try I particularly enjoyed.
If you like what you see here and want everything we put together at Rugby League Writers delivered straight to your inbox, you can support our independent NRL analysis with a Premium Membership for only $5 a month.
The Tough Carry: Loving the little things Lachlan is doing
Tackle 1 is often the toughest carry of the set. It can make or break it. Here, it’s my biggest talking point from the round that was.
Benji Marshall set the table for Lachlan Galvin to start the season in the halves way back in February.
“I don’t care how old you are, how experienced you are, if you earn it through the pre-season you’ll more than likely play.”
He didn’t name Galvin specifically, but unlike most coaches who trot that line out during an NRL preseason, Marshall acted on it. He threw the 18-year-old out there and he’s not looked out of place in his first fortnight as a first grader.
At only 18-years-old, Galvin still has a lot to learn. He got a little bit too excited on 3rd tackle on Saturday night and kicked it dead. His last tackle options, in general, require some work as has grows more accustomed to the speed of the game and begins to process what is in front of him faster.
I’m often loathed to heap too much praise onto a young player. Building up expectations too soon sets young players up to fail in the eyes of the general NRL public. We see it all of the time. But like Isaiya Katoa last year, it’s in the little details that we can be confident of a relatively speedy development process.
Nathan Cleary has spoken himself about how ballplaying isn’t something that comes naturally to him. He’s had to work on it throughout his NRL career and continues to do so as a player who plays his best footy with a run-first approach.
Galvin is a big body and has huge potential as a ball runner, but he seems to have picked up his role in the halves naturally. While he might not always execute, it looks as though he knows what he wants to do. He reads cues well and makes simple, smart plays.
In ‘keeping it simple’ halves can fall in love with simply shovelling the ball on and playing more risk-free than simple. This is a nice play here, though.
The simple option here is to tip the pass onto Justin Olam and clock off. The smart play is to spot the third man late out of the tackle, take the easy metres as the defender moves slowly off his line, and generate a quick play-the-ball that ultimately leaves Aidan Sezer with plenty of time to kick it on the last.
Not long after, Galvin was the one doing the kicking. Again after reading what is in front of him and adjusting on the run.
Galvin sweeps into action with Sezer caught in the tackle. He orders the right edge kick chase and demands the ball before putting up an excellent kick into the opposition corner.
It’s simple, but most of all, he’s displaying his smarts.
The speed of the game has tripped him up a handful of times, but Galvin has adjust well at others. The Tigers like to tip the ball on out of yardage. Galvin will take the ball one-off the ruck and play a short pass to a strong ball-carrier to cart it up the middle.
Having done so a few times already in the first 18 minutes, Galvin adjusted to the defence, held the ball, and put Olam through the line here.
More simple and smart footy from the youngster.
Galvin hasn’t piled up the counting stats that typically fuel a rookies hype train. He’s yet to score a try, doesn’t break a lot of tackles, and has an error in him. But that’s not what I’m looking for in a rookie half. It’s actions like this…
Api Koroisau and the Tigers middle do well to create the advantage out wide. By the time the ball gets to Galvin, the four-man in the defensive line is struggling to keep up. Presented with a juicy look on the edge, the young half executes to perfection.
He straighens his run to sit the three-man while using a lead runner to hold up the defender two in. Getting deep into the line before passing, he fires the ball into the chest of Jahream Bula who is too quick, big and strong for a scrambling Sharks defensive line.
Development isn’t linear in the NRL. The halves, in particular, are positions that take more time and experience to master than most. But where we have seen young players rely on their athletisim early on in their career, Galvin is getting by on his effort and footy IQ.
Shane Richardson likens Galvin to John Sutton from his time at Souths. It’s early days and Sutton is an NRL legend, but the playing style matches up. While he might not be the youngster that becomes popular through highlight reel plays, there’s a good chance I’m ciricling little actions like those above as reasons for him winning Rookie of the Year in a few months time.
Quick play-the-ball: Teddy again, Sea Eagles in yardage & Ben Hunt is sick
We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.
Tedesco has definetly still got it
I mentioned it in Round 1 that he is still a premier fullback in the NRL.
“James Tedesco has somehow become a polarizing figure in the NRL recently. The Kangaroos and New South Wales Blues captain isn’t churning out the performances he did at his peak as consistently, but he’s still one of the best fullbacks in the competition despite a disappointing 2023 season.”
He proved as much again in Round 3 as he dismantled the South Sydney Rabbitohs and put up monster individual numbers.
- 2 tries
- 23 runs for 170 metres
- 1 linebreak
- 2 linebreak assists
- 1 try assist
- 7 tackle breaks
Tedesco is at his best when he’s busy. You’d struggle to find a sequence he wasn’t in the frame on TV when the Roosters had the ball. In stark contrast to Latrell Mitchell who is best when injecting himself into the game, Tedesco thrives on adding the icing to a cake baked by others.
Joey Manu’s lead shrunk the defence for Tedesco to use his quick hands and feed Dom Young his first try. The first of his late double – a supurb putdown just inside the field of play – came courtosy of a pin-point Young grubber. The second, again a result of his constant activity, came on the back of a Brandon Smith bullett pass.
If those around Tedesco are going their job, he’s there to turn a good play into an elite one.
Remember: You can sign up for our free newsletter
Same Sea Eagles
Oscar put together a video on how the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have changed things up in attack this year. They’re not so dependant on Tom Trbojevic at the moment. That’s not to say they’ve removed themselves completely from their attacking style of old, though.
Dominant throughout the best-forgotten six-again season, the Sea Eagles thrived on shifting the ball early and often. They did so early on against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, too.
The best defensive teams prepare well and can close down these shifts, but with the new-found focus on attack, these wide shifts could once again be an effective part of the Sea Eagles yardage sets not that they’re not so common.
Ben Hunt
It’s difficult to take too many positives out of a game where you give up 46 points, but Ben Hunt is a pleasure to watch.
The Dragons no doubt planned for the jam on the edge. We see the North Queensland Cowboys edge defence shoot out of the line somewhat often. Still, to see it and execute it while making everything look so easy…
Setting up for a shot: Trbojevic’s linking up
Teams play to points with the following tackle in mind. Here, I’m touching on something to watch next week as we try to keep ahead of things happening on the field.
I’m not sure exactly what the Trbojevic brothers are trying to do here, but I’m curious.
It looks planned for Tom to follow Ben back underneath Luke Brooks’ drop.
If the four-man overchases and either inside defender switches off, Tom can pop up on either of Ben’s shoulders. Parramatta does a good job of covering here. It’s one to keep an eye on, though. Perhaps putting some fatigue into a particular defender throughout a set and working towards that player being forced to cover inside on this play is what they’re working towards?
Watch this space.
Try Time: A scrum try on debut
Sometimes, it will be a piece of magic. Others, it’s a basic move made to look easy. Whatever it is, all great sets end in points, so we’re doing the same here.
Long-timer readers here at RLW will know that two things never fail to make me happy: Players scoring on debut and tries off scrums.
We hit the jackpot on Sunday as Blaize Talagi scored off an Eels scrum in his first NRL game on Sunday.
It’s a beauty, too.
Teams are taking different approaches to defending scrums. The Sea Eagles opt for the 3/3 split for scrums in the middle. It leaves them short a number on one side, but covers a late flip. The 3/3 split relies on the players in the scrum breaking hard and covering the space inside the three-man, in this case, Daly Cherry-Evans.
You can see where it’s gone wrong for the Sea Eagles on the reverse angle.
Dylan Brown is too quick and takes a nice flat pass. In trying to buy time for his inside defence, Cherry-Evans starts to backpedal. His outside defender responds by turning in on the lead and the winger jams as a result.
Talagi still had plenty of work to do, too. In the end, it’s a well-worked try and an effort the young fella will remember forever.