Take the Two: Round 15 Review

If the beer’s cold and the afternoon’s long enough, we’d be talking footy all day, every day until kickoff on Thursday night. With so much to review, let’s break down some of the key plays each week in the NRL.

• Murray masterclass at Suncorp
• Sharks circling Top 8
• There’s always next week for…Parramatta Eels

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Murray masterclass at Suncorp

In Origin One two weeks ago, Cameron Murray played 56 minutes in the back-row and took five carries for just 39 running metres. 

He was virtually unseen in attack, touching the ball just eight times that night despite the Blues racking up a cricket score. What he did do, however, was make 34 textbook tackles on the right edge to completely shut Queensland’s most damaging forward out of the game. David Fifita had 15 carries for 110 metres and just two tackle busts in Origin One. This is a guy who has nine tries, ten line-breaks and an average 8.5 tackle busts per game so far this season in club-land. Playing out of position in that game, Murray did an absolute job on Fifita in defence. Eight days later and in a Souths jersey this time, he reminded us what he can do in attack. 

Murray was involved in six of the eight tries Souths scored against the Broncos in Round 15. 

1 – Attracts four Broncos defenders and wins a quick play-the-ball for Mitchell try
2 – Fills in at halfback for Gagai try
3 – Holds up defence at first-receiver for Graham try
4 – Brings Lodge out of the line and ball-plays for Sele try
5 – Runs the lead line to put Walker and Host into space for Johnston try
6 – No involvement for Johnston’s second
7 – No involvement for Graham’s second
8 – Distributes from first-receiver for Milne try

I already talk about Murray too much at home for the missus’ liking, so rather than look into every little involvement here today I’ve tried to pick the best of the bunch. 

1 – Quick play-the-ball for Mitchell try

This is vintage Murray. He burst onto the scene a few years ago with an ability to bend the line, attract defenders into the tackle and still generate ruck speed for his team to attack on the back of.

In this instance Matt Lodge, Payne Haas and Jake Turpin are all engaged just metres from their own try line while Tesi Niu and TC Robati gravitate around the ruck.

As a general rule, players who have just made a tackle will peel off and slot in at A-defender (closest to the ruck), allowing their teammates to shuffle out. Robati (‘1’ above) can’t react to the shape Souths are forming out wide until Haas (‘5’)and Turpin (‘2’) fill into the defensive line, and by the time they do Murray has already played the ball and Adam Reynolds already has Robati beat on the outside. Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell do the rest, but it was Murray’s work in the lead up that gave them time and space to execute this highlight reel try. 

2. Ball-playing for Graham try

This action is the evolution of the ball-playing lock-forward in the flesh. 

No longer just a simple catch-and-pass link man to his halves out wide, Murray’s ability to take the ball into the line, square up a defender and execute the correct pass is again what allows Reynolds and Mitchell to do their thing on the edge. In this case Murray holds it up almost too long – Keaon Koloamatangi ends up overrunning his line but it’s the right line and Corey Paix bites with his inside shoulder leaving his teammates short on the edge. 

The front-on angle shows it best – Murray doesn’t premeditate the pass to Reynolds, rather he holds the ball out in front and reacts to the defence. He does well to not run in behind Koloamatangi, sees Paix has jammed in and throws a good pass to his halfback. Quick hands sees Campbell Graham dive over in the corner. 

Murray’s ability to fill in at halfback while Reynolds was off for a HIA should be a talking point of the round, but we’ve simply come to expect this kind of performance from him. Murray’s ability to create opportunities with a pass or tackle-busting run is elite, but it’s his worth as a support player that is going seriously undervalued.

3 – Line running for Johnston try 

It mightn’t look like much, but Murray’s involvement here is what creates the space for Walker and Jacob Host to stroll through a few channels wider. 

He mightn’t have the physical presence of a Viliame Kikau coming at you off the back fence, but the timing and precision with which Murray runs this line gives Tyson Gamble no choice but to jam in. Reynolds takes the ball into the defence as he always does and Murray is a genuine short ball option right until the moment his halfback passes out the back. Gamble follows Murray in on the lead line which leaves Alex Glenn all alone with Walker and Host coming at him, and two passes later Johnston scores his first of the night. 

Lines like this are why Wayne Bennet persisted with Murray on the edge for so long last season. 

His timing and angles are mint and if it weren’t for his value in the middle Murray would make for an elite edge back-rower. As it is, Murray’s involvement in almost everything South Sydney do in attack has seen him revert to the middle and for good effect. His combination with Cook, Reynolds and Walker is slick but I’m on the lookout for Murray linking up with Latrell Mitchell through the middle between now and September. Capable of passing at the line or through it, Murray needs to be a magnet for Mitchell when he carts it up and surely it’s only a matter of time before ‘Trell collects a Murray offload, burns the opposing fullback and goes the length. Surely. 

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Cronulla Sharks v North Queensland Cowboys

The Cronulla Sharks winning four in a row for the first time since 2018 is a seriously underappreciated stat to come out of Round 15. It speaks volumes about their inconsistencies as a playing group – something that saw John Morris out the door – that is stacked with talent but doesn’t always put it all together. 

The four wins haven’t been all that convincing, but they’ve been wins nonetheless. Through the class of Shaun Johnson and the unheralded brilliance of Will Kennedy the Sharks are finding ways to win footy games that they weren’t winning twelve months ago and it sees them sneak inside the top eight at time of writing. 

I’m here to give Josh Hannay some credit this week as the Sharks showed signs of strong coaching and footy smarts – in moments – against the Cowboys on Saturday. If the best coaches are the ones who can get the most out of their players, then Connor Tracey and Will Kennedy are wonderful advocates for Hannay as a mentor right now.