Take the Two: Round 21 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.

• Parramatta Eels v South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Sydney Roosters v Penrith Panthers
• There’s always next week for…Brisbane Broncos

---

Parramatta Eels v South Sydney Rabbitohs

I make a conscious effort not to talk too much about my beloved Bunnies here at RLW, but some of the footy they dished up in Round 21 was too good to ignore. Most pleasing to me personally was the effort to concede just two tries, but what was most pleasing to the eye was the attacking brilliance of Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell. 

Jase wrote a cracking piece last week about the variation South Sydney are playing with at the moment. Walker and Mitchell in particular are key to this – they rotate seamlessly through positions across the backline which makes it so difficult for defenders to predict what shape is coming their way. Souths don’t present you with attacking patterns to learn from and while you’re sitting on your heels trying to react to what’s in front, they’ve already beaten you on the edge. 

Just ask Hayze Dunster. 

Walker and Mitchell toyed with Dunster for 80 minutes on Friday night and the rookie winger is lucky Josh Mansour has lost a few yards of pace or Parramatta might’ve leaked a few more. In yardage sets the Rabbitohs found easy metres on Dunsters’ outside and in good ball they found points. It ended with Walker’s superb vision and ballplaying abilities, but Mansour’s first of the night was as good a team try as I’ve seen in 2021.

It starts with a penalty that piggybacks Souths out of their own end.

In the commentary, Cooper Cronk makes a comment about the Rabbitohs’ ability to attack from set-starts, and he was on the money. Adam Reynolds kicks for touch and from the tap South Sydney go to work. Mark Nicholls wears the first shot before Cameron Murray at pivot tips Tom Burgess into the three and four-defenders on Parramatta’s right edge. The difference is an extra five metres in post-contact and it allows Souths to load up back to the right for a third tackle shift.

Take note of the shape South Sydney form up with in this action.

Four players in a very tight diamond near the ruck forces Parramatta’s defence to compress, and also makes it difficult for Mitch Moses to pick a target to rush out wide. With both Walker and Mitchell genuine options out the back for Reynolds in this action Moses has to make a decision, and the extra split-second it takes him to jam gives Walker just enough time to tip on to his fullback. Mitchell takes the yards on offer and looks for all money like being pushed into touch before somehow stopping on a dime and going to ground. For every silky touch Mitchell has provided out the back of shape this season he’s produced efforts of brute strength and power to match, and this was all class from ‘Trell. 

With one punch already thrown in this set, the Rabbitohs head back infield before immediately striking again on the other edge. 

Keaon Koloamatangi settles towards the middle and with a quick play-the-ball Souths’ left edge comes to life. Cameron Murray’s value as a ballplayer cannot be understated here. It’s the same action as when he tipped to Burgess earlier in the set, but this time Souths are over the ad line and Murray knows to play out the back. The shift loses none of its potency with Murray at pivot and with the passes all out in front Walker puts Mansour on the outside of Dunster for the third time already in this match. 

South Sydney have now gone from coast-to-coast in this set and still have one tackle up their sleeve. They have Reynolds and Mitchell pulling shape out to the right for one last crack, but Walker has other ideas. 

Parramatta are scrambling in defence. They’ve just followed the ball back and forth across-field three times now and as they rush desperately off their own goal-line on tackle five it’s all a little too sideways. Clint Gutherson pushes his teammates back infield and sprints across in cover himself, leaving the Eels’ right edge sorely undermanned. In a split second Walker stops in his tracks, bounces back to that short side and quick hands sees Mansour score in the corner.

It’s only a little effort, but watch Mansour’s reaction when Walker comes back to the left. The veteran winger is absolutely gassed and has hands on knees after playing the ball one tackle earlier, but does his job to reload onside and finish an excellent team try.  Nice one, Sauce. 

---

Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters

I’m one of a few punters guilty of underestimating the Penrith Panthers this weekend. 

The Roosters have an outrageous portion of their salary cap in the casualty ward but have forged on without excuses all season while the Panthers are dealing with their first serious injury crisis in the best part of two years. With James Fisher-Harris, Nathan Cleary, Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o and Tyrone May all unavailable this week – along with new recruit Tevita Pangai Jnr – the Panthers needed someone to step up, and that someone turned out to be Matt Burton. 

The stats sheet says it all. Burton scored 16 of Penrith’s 20 points in Round 21 – two tries, two conversions and two penalty goals – along with 212 running metres, three linebreaks, six tackle busts, 15 tackles and 339 kick metres in a superb showing at five-eighth. 

What I liked most about Burton’s game on Saturday is that it wasn’t a controlled 80-minute playmaking performance in the likeness of his injured halfback. Playing to his strengths as a ball runner rather than trying to emulate Cleary’s own game, Burton found ways to positively influence the result.