Unpack a scrum of three talking points before every round of the NRL season. In his feature this week, Oscar takes a look at South Sydney’s resurgent left edge.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre frame in the Rugby League lens this week?
Campbell Graham Stepping Up
In a month where Alex Johnston has scored eight tries in four games to be crowned South Sydney’s greatest ever try scorer, it’d be rude not to talk about the Rabbitohs’ much improved left edge in attack.
The departure of Dane Gagai, the absence of Latrell Mitchell and a switch to the right edge for Keaon Koloamatangi has slowed what was not so long ago the most dangerous edge in the competition, but 14 rounds in and Jason Demetriou is starting to work things out. Cody Walker is playing better (albeit well below his ceiling) while Lachlan Ilias continues his development, but it was a move for Campbell Graham to left centre in Round 10 that has seen the Rabbitohs score 11 tries in four games down that edge to recapture some of their prior form.
Graham is an extremely well-rounded NRL player.
With 146 average run metres per game (third best among full-time centres as per FoxSports Lab), Graham is ultra reliable working the ball out of Souths’ own end. He also ranks third across the competition for tackle efficiency among centres while his 38 one-on-one tackles is the second most from a centre in 2022 per FoxSports Lab.
Safe under the high ball, a good defender and sound attacking player on either edge, Graham is one of the more reliable and versatile players in the competition. And when asked to step up from ‘reliable and well rounded’ to become a focal point of the Rabbitohs attack in 2022, Graham has not disappointed.
It’s no coincidence that Johnston’s recent try scoring feats have coincided with Graham’s move to the left edge. Likewise with Walker and his try assists numbers this year. Johnston scored six tries from his opening 9 games this year but has crossed eight times in the four he’s played beside Graham the last month. Walker, meanwhile, has five assists in the past month after registering none across the opening five weeks of the season. With a variety of quick hands, line running and most importantly, offloading, Graham has quickly become the spear tip of Souths’ left edge and they all look better for it.
We’ll start with this one given it’s how South Sydney scored so many tries in 2021.
Last year it was Mitchell providing those lovely soft hands but in his absence Demetriou has adjusted their shapes to get Graham into these areas on the field. Graham’s positioning and timing is excellent and the opposing winger can’t jam in time as Graham collects the pass and flicks it away to Johnston into space. As good as that pass was, we need to also give credit to Johnston here for holding Jamayne Isaako up in cover with a subtle swerve before making a beeline for the corner. Not all wingers would’ve scored that one.
Graham has shown he has a similar sense for spacing out on that edge, as evident by the timing of passes like this:
Souths set up for this one beautifully with Walker and two decoy runners in tight formation around Ilias as the halfback takes possession at pivot. In unison, Ilias straightens on his run while the support runners fan out around him and suddenly Walker is running at a retreating edge defence. Graham receives the ball in space and smartly sums up the situation to engage Starford To’a just long enough to leave Johnston with space to score in the corner. It’s simple catch-and-pass footy but again, not every centre gets those right.
Where Graham brings a real point-of-difference to the centre position though, is in his line running and offloading ability.
South Sydney have Graham listed at 197cm and 95kgs but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a little heavier than that. His sheer size demands attention from the defence and his line running provides the anchor Souths need to run their left edge shifts, à la Gagai in 2021.
An awful defensive effort from the Titans here only accentuates the impact Graham can have as a decoy. Patrick Herbert is loaded up on his inside shoulder waiting to jam Graham, so much so that he doesn’t even push off his opposite man as the ball goes wide for Johnston to score. Particularly in good field position, Graham’s ability to compress the defence with a genuine decoy line will help Johnston to a few more tries in 2022.
But it’s the offloading that I really want to talk about.
Across his first 94 NRL games, Graham threw just 27 offloads. That’s seriously low numbers for an outside back in a good attacking side, not to mention one who clearly has the physical attributes required to promote the footy.
I noticed it after Souths beat the Roosters in Round 4 and the Rabbitohs coaching staff must have, too.
In the nine games since, Graham has thrown 12 offloads – almost half what he managed in almost 100 games prior – and they are already translating into four points for his teammates.
Back in Round 5 against the Dragons and still on the right edge, this offload pass for Mitchell is one Graham looks purpose built for. A big left hand fend keeps Moses Suli at bay and gives Graham room to bring that long right arm around as he looks for support. Even if Suli had managed to close the space, you’d like Graham’s chances to reach around him and flick the ball back inside for Mitchell to score.
Graham is so big and rangy that bringing him down and wrapping up the ball that close to the line is too much for one defender to manage – and sometimes even two or three.
This will be remembered as the try that earned Johnston the top try scorer’s gong, but Graham’s effort here is just as newsworthy. Ilias does a nice job to straighten the attack and create the space for Graham on the edge, before passing his big centre straight between To’a and Asu Kepaoa. Both Tigers get plenty of purchase on Graham but he stands tall in the tackle to get the ball above the defence and pop it out for an unmarked Johnston. Try time.
Graham’s versatility and reliability has translated into a highly active attacking role in this Rabbitohs side. It’s a credit to Demetriou and the coaching staff for unlocking that offload and for switching Graham to the left edge. It’s a better balance than having Graham and Koloamatangi locking down either edge, and as either a crash runner, decoy or link man, Graham is helping get the most out of Walker and Johnston in attack.
It’s probably the bias in me but I think it’s a crime Graham isn’t closer to an Origin call up than he appears to be. For now though, I’m happy to watch him go to work on Souths’ revived left edge again this week.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Nothing rattles footy fans (and players) more than when the head noise kicks in. To avoid this as best we can, I’m writing down anything ringing around my head each week and hopefully we can figure a few things out along the way.
– Cowboys chasers
– Poor Parra
– Averillo’s elevation
Cowboys chasers – I’ve spent more time talking about the Cowboys than any other team in 2022 but I couldn’t not mention this defensive effort last week. A try-saving intercept by Jonathon Reuben on his own line just seconds before saw the big winger streak upfield and looking to score in his NRL debut. He only had the cover defence to beat, which is all well and good unless the cover defence looks like this:
No less than seven North Queensland defenders quickly swarm around Reuben as he races down the touchline. Another few appear at the top of screen when Reuben cuts back infield, and by the time he plays the ball eleven Cowboys players are already onside and ready to defend the next tackle. Notably, it was three of North Queensland’s middle forwards who were first to get back and herd Reuben infield. Notably still, it was Valentine Holmes – the Cowboys’ left centre – who ends up making the tackle on the Dragons’ left winger.
Across the park the Cowboys are nailing their own jobs right now and are actively looking to help teammates do theirs, too. Incredible.
