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.
- Cronulla Sharks v Penrith Panthers
- North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos
- There’s always next week for…Wests Tigers
Cronulla Sharks v Penrith Panthers
Just when I think I’ve run out of things to talk about when wrapping the Penrith Panthers at the moment, they come up with something else. In amongst the 48 points they put on Cronulla on Friday night, a few little less-celebrated moments stood out for me as the competition leaders went about their work.
Nathan Cleary’s influence and involvement on this Panthers side will always be the focal point of just about everything they produce in attack, but Penrith’s ability across the park to make the play – whatever play that might be – is going seriously under appreciated. On Friday night it was the kicking game of not just Cleary but some unlikely teammates that caught my eye. The Panthers forced seven line drop outs against the Sharks, with kicks coming from four different players – Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary and Tyrone May.
In their first set of the second half, the Panthers work upfield with Kurt Capewell who beats Wade Graham’s tackle and gets Penrith into attacking field position. Off his quick play-the-ball, Cleary shifts it immediately to Luai on the left edge and he promptly drops it on the boot and into the in goal for Viliame Kikau.
It’s only fourth tackle and it is also Penriths’ first possession of the second half, but this is anything but a low-percentage play from Luai here. There is no fullback behind the line as Will Kennedy had been forced to wrap up Capewell in the previous tackle, and at worst Luai earns his team a repeat set and immediately puts the pressure back on Cronulla to begin the half.
Not long afterwards, it was Crichton on the right edge producing something from nothing to force yet another line drop out.
Chad Townsend charges at Cleary from marker which cuts off his time to kick out to the left. Cleary does well to beat Townsend and with nothing on he fires a ball out to Crichton at right centre. Crichton arguably has less room to work with than his halfback did yet somehow places an inch perfect grubber in behind the line off his left foot and Connor Tracey is forced to knock the ball dead. What could have been a change of possession turned into another attacking set for the Panthers, and it wasn’t long before Cronulla’s line cracked.
Capewell is an enigma for me. I’m starting to lose count of the amount of times he’s produced an outrageous, unexpected play from nothing whether it be for Queensland last year or the Panthers in their recent run of form. Backrowers simply shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing – skipping across multiple defenders, taking the ball into the line and dropping a grubber into space for a supporting teammate is genuine halfback stuff and is extra difficult to defend when not expected. Capewell had every right to take the tackle here and let his halves play off the back of him, but the confidence Penrith are playing with individually and as a whole is the difference here.
Even with the game in the balance and starting players resting on the bench, Penrith still know how to build pressure and execute plays outside their usual roles.
When Cleary takes a run on fourth tackle, Koroisau still has genuine fifth tackle options on either side with Luai on the right and May filling in on the left edge. Presented with a formed sliding defensive line and some pressure from the inside on fifth tackle here, May calmly steps off his left foot before dropping a grubber back towards the posts. Kennedy had slid hard to his right from A defender and May’s change of direction was enough to beat the fullback and force Kennedy to tap the ball dead.
The luxury of having so many genuine creative attacking options across the field for Penrith has multiple benefits. If Cleary is out of play or swamped with pressure on fifth tackle, the Panthers are never short of a backup option to make the play. Conversely, having those additional threats across the park might even afford Cleary that extra half a second of time, despite the attention he constantly demands from opposition defenders. I was waiting for injuries to derail this squad but they have navigated the absence of Koroisau and Edwards already this season without a hitch.
The Penrith Panthers are a joy to watch again in 2021.
Brisbane Broncos v North Queensland Cowboys
As per FoxSportsLab, the North Queensland Cowboys rank last in the competition for general play passes so far in 2021. They do not move the ball across the park as effectively as their opposition and the Broncos dominated through the middle for most of the game on Saturday night as a result.
But as they chased points in the dying stages of the match the Cowboys suddenly found an ability to move the ball across-field and the Broncos had no answer. Jason Taumalolo’s crucial try in the 74th minute and Valentine Holmes’ match winning field goal are deserved highlight reel moments, but North Queensland’s work in the lead up to both plays was just as impressive.
Three lame hit ups had the Cowboys trapped in their own end with six minutes to go until Jordan McLean slotted into first receiver and dished out the back to Jake Clifford. It’s a little clunky – Shane Wright is out in front of Clifford here and clearly wasn’t expecting it – but neither were the Broncos as Anthony Milford gets turned inside out. Clifford streaks 60+ metres upfield and suddenly North Queensland are in attacking field position, and one settler later it was Taumalolo’s turn in the spotlight.
You can see Jake Granville from dummy-half screaming “right post, right post!” as Holmes plays the ball. Matt Lodge at first marker definitely hears it and perhaps doesn’t follow the ball quite as hard as he should have from the inside. In the defensive line, Jamayne Isaako (A defender) and Ethan Bullemor (B defender) come off the line diagonally – pre-empting Taumalolo’s settler to the right post as his hooker instructed – and the Tongan powerhouse makes them pay with a few big right foot steps.
Brisbane are not the only team in the competition to do it, but this is the risk of putting your fullback at A defender on your own goal line. The advantage of having an additional body in the defensive line is completely negated when a 191cm, 117kg wrecking ball gets free passage at a 90-odd kilogram fullback on his own line, and while Isaako has his share of the blame here he needed more help from Lodge and Bullemor in this instance.
With the Cowboys on the ascendency and Brisbane out on their feet, the kick-off set North Queensland produced when play resumed was as good as anything South Sydney or Penrith have put on when setting up for a field goal in recent memory.
A strong carry by McLean straight through the middle gets Taumalolo running at a sliding defensive line and he takes the space on offer to avoid heavy contact from Tevita Pangai Jnr and run straight into Tyson Gamble. Taumalolo wins the tackle as expected and offloads to Holmes which sends the Cowboys a further 20 metres upfield.
Coen Hess emulates Taumalolo in a great run targeting Anthony Milford in the defensive line to win the tackle before McLean backs it up with another settler back towards the posts. Although they were in field position here to take the kick early, the Cowboys showed good patience and awareness to identify that McLean had lost the tackle and wasn’t going to get a quick play-the-ball, and that Brisbane’s defensive line was already set. Instead, the Cowboys opt for one more hitup and a field-goal attempt on fifth tackle.
Hess’ quick play-the-ball is key. In his second involvement this set, the big front rower puts on a bit of footwork to get himself one-on-one with an exhausted Matt Lodge and the ruck speed he generates buys Clifford that extra second to ice the play – or to regather the ball when he fumbles it. Clifford begins to search sideways before stopping in his tracks and throwing it back in-field through Scott Drinkwater to Holmes who goes BANG.
It wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t perfect, but the footy smarts the Cowboys showed in these clutch moments on Saturday night is evidence for me that Todd Payten is starting to make his presence felt in North Queensland. McLean stringing a pass to Clifford to get out of their own end was as simple as it was clever. Likewise with Taumalolo and Hess using some footwork to target Gamble and Milford in the defensive line to win the tackles and generate ruck speed. Or Clifford’s awareness to keep the ball in the middle third of the field once his field goal attempt was shut down instead of shifting wide for a hail mary play.
I made the bold call over the offseason of naming North Queensland as my top-eight smokey for 2021 and while I’m still very much prepared to have egg on my face come finals time, these little moments from Round 9 have me daring to feel just a little hopeful. ‘Carn the Cows!
There’s Always Next Week For…
…the Wests Tigers.
This segment is tailor made for the Tigers in Round 9.
Another disappointing loss to a beatable Gold Coast Titans side on Saturday night had Michael Maguire delivering yet another post-match spray in the change rooms, but for me there’s a different feel about this Tigers side moving forward.
It started last week when Tigers captain James Tamou declared five-eighth Adam Doueihi had been handed the keys to the team over maligned halfback Luke Brooks. I didn’t give it much thought then, but Doueihi’s performance in Round 9 certainly has me thinking now.
In a losing side on Saturday Doueihi had one try, two try assists, two line break assists, five offloads, 160 run metres and 354 kicking metres as well as four from five conversions off the tee. Doueihi’s receipts per game are more or less the same as they were to begin the season, but what has changed significantly is the timing of those receipts. Doueihi is getting his hands on the ball more often in key moments – on fifth tackle or in set attacking plays – and Wests are looking all the better for it.
Afforded an attacking scrum in the first half, its Luke Brooks feeding the ball with Doueihi out wide to make the play. Doueihi is quick enough to beat Kevin Proctor chasing from the scrum and big enough to worry Jamal Fogarty in the line as he takes the ball towards the defense. Fogarty sits on his heels and offers Beau Fermor no help in stopping Joey Leilua that close to the line – good luck.
Doueihi was unlucky not to create another four pointer later in the game as he showed wonderfully soft hands to put Luke Garner into a hole down that same edge.
Again it’s Brooks in the middle and Doueihi making the play out wide, and if not for a fumble in the tackle by Garner the Tigers would’ve been in again. It was the second of two almost involving Garner and fullback Daine Laurie in Round 9 as the pair form a likely combination down Wests’ left edge, and it’s definitely something to watch for in the coming weeks. For now, though, it’s all about Doueihi for me.
Playing on both sides of the ruck and clearly given attacking control of the team, Doueihi showcased all the skills of a veteran halfback with his vision and ball-playing leading to David Nofoaluma’s try in the 70th minute. Doueihi spotted Brian Kelly going down injured earlier in this set and worked things beautifully to isolate Kelly one-on-one with Nofoaluma out wide.
Doueihi takes the ball into the defence with Luciano Leilua and Moses Mbye running genuine lines outside him which forces Philip Sami to come in, before releasing a slick long ball to get Nofoaluma outside Kelly and into the in goal. Note the tackle count – it’s Doueihi not Brooks making the play here on fifth tackle, and he wasn’t done there.
I loved this action from Doueihi as the game came to an end.
At 191cm and 95kgs Doueihi is always going to be a running threat and it was pleasing to see him play to his strengths here all while taking on the chief playmaking duties. With the clock winding down and Wests desperate for points, Doueihi backed himself not once but twice to make the play. He arguably would have scored if not for a stray David Fifita arm in the first attempt, but not to be discouraged he put the same move on in the very next play and crashed over the line.
There’s still plenty of work to be done before the Tigers can be considered genuine finals contenders, but with Doueihi at the helm Wests already look like they’ve taken steps in the right direction. I may have just picked him up in my Fantasy team, but that’s not the only reason I’ll be watching Doueihi closely for the Tigers in the coming weeks as he grows more accustomed to the lead playmaker role.