Unpack a scrum of three talking points before every round of the NRL season. This week: The Roosters reshuffle, Josh Schuster breaking out, and a first-class Herbie Farnworth.
Whether you’re searching for an edge in the workplace tipping comp or just desperate to talk some footy, you’ve found the place. Join me as we unpack the scrum that is the NRL each week.
Left Scrum-Line – My left-field thought on the NRL this week.
The embattled Brisbane Broncos have had a difficult start to the season, managing their first win against the struggling Bulldogs in Round 3. While Kevvie Walters continues to search for a winning halves combination, Brisbane’s media coverage will continue to focus on Anthony Milford, Brodie Croft and Tom Dearden – and rightly so. But in the background, young centre Herbie Farnworth is quietly enjoying a breakout season for the Broncos so far in 2021.
With star outside back Kotoni Staggs sitting on the sidelines and Milford commanding more of the ball in Broncos’ attacking sets, it’s not so surprising that Farnworth has increased his involvement to begin the season. What has surprised me is the way he has taken to the challenge.
In three games Farnworth has averaged 176 running metres, busted nine tackles and made three line breaks on his way to two try assists. He’s also made 36 tackles for just two misses – good numbers for a centre and encouraging given the defensive pressure Brisbane have put themselves under in games so far this season. After being used as an outside back utility last year, Farnworth has cemented his spot in the centres moving forward and is actually unlucky to not have even more attacking numbers on the stats sheet.
We’ve seen Farnworth race away for half or full-breaks a number of times this season, only to find no Broncos’ teammates in support to ice the opportunity. Take this one against the Bulldogs last week, for example.
Off the back of a Milford offload, Brisbane immediately look to pass the ball out to Farnworth on the left edge. With plenty of room to move, Farnworth gets Will Hopoate moving sideways before putting on some fast footwork to burn him on the inside. Farnworth has wonderful balance and turn of pace for a big man, and he squeezes through the closing gap to break into the backfield but dies with the ball when he can’t find a Broncos teammate in support. To make matters worse, Tom Flegler dropped the ball cold just two tackles later to ruin any attacking opportunity Farnworth created.
Farnworth lines up against Reimis Smith on Melbourne’s new-look right edge on Friday night, and he should fancy his chances considering the way Smith and wing partner George Jennings have started the season.
The Storm aren’t going to present gaping holes in the defensive line like the Bulldogs did last weekend, but Farnworth has shown he has the speed and strength to stand up defenders one-on-one and I’ll be looking for Milford to feed him early ball on Friday night. Barring that, Jennings has shown a tendency to fly in off his wing in defence and if Farnworth is commanding plenty of attention as a running threat down that edge, Broncos’ winger David Mead might find some space on the touchline.
I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Farnworth so far this year and if he can keep this form up, we could be talking about him as a first-class centre by the end of the season.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre-frame in the rugby league lens this week?
We won’t rule anything out until they take the field against the New Zealand Warriors this Sunday, but in my eyes, there are only two viable spine combinations for Trent Robinson to experiment with following extended lay-offs to Luke Keary, Jake Friend, Sam Verrills and Lachlan Lam.
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Right Scrum-Line – Who’s feeling the pressure this week?
We’ve been very vocal here at RLW about Tom Trbojevic’s influence on the Sea Eagles in the past, and unfortunately for Manly fans, that has been painfully reinforced over the opening three rounds of the NRL season.
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