Unpack a scrum of three talking points before every round of the NRL season. In his feature this week, Oscar picks out a few players to keep an eye on over the bye round.
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.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre frame in the Rugby League lens this week?
Joey Manu at fullback
In what can be a tricky week for tipping and punting, I’m putting away the tip sheet and zeroing in on a few players to keep an eye on in Round 13. Jason Taumalolo, Dylan Edwards and Josh Schuster are all worth watching this weekend (more on them below) but I’m expecting a big performance from Joseph Manu at fullback for the Roosters on Sunday.
Going as far back as 2019, Manu’s numbers as a starting NRL fullback read like this:
– 9 games
– 6 tries
– 4 try assists
– 7 linebreaks
– 3 linebreak assists
– 61 tackle busts
– 228.8 average running metres
He’s been used as a stop-gap option at the back nine times in his first-grade career so far and has clearly been giving a licence to run on those occasions. His running metres in particular take a huge leap moving from centre to fullback – Manu has a career average of 99.9 run metres per game in the centres but he adds another 128.9 metres per game on average when playing as a fullback.
His physical attributes lend themselves to a ball running #1 and that seems to be the role Trent Robinson has for him in this Roosters side. That being said, four try assists and three linebreak assists are decent returns from such a small sample size and there’s evidence from this season already to suggest Manu can be an effective distributor for the Roosters in Round 13.
Jase picked out this passage last week and it’s one of two ballplaying actions I think we’ll see from Manu on Sunday. He’s got the agility to skip to the outside of his opposite man and his threat as a ball runner forces the edge defence to turn in. From there its a simple pass to James Tedesco into space that sees Nat Butcher stroll over untouched in the corner.
It’s not hard to picture Manu replicating this on Sunday, but feeding to Sam Walker or Luke Keary this time down a short side. We know the Roosters are blind side specialists and it’s an area I expect Manu to target while playing at fullback this week.
The other ballplaying action Manu has had success with in the past is when he drifts across the open-side of the field looking for a teammate in support.
I’d love to see the numbers on the strike rate of this action. There are a few players in the competition who love crabbing sideways and looking for chinks in the defensive line – Tyrone Peachey and Connor Watson come to mind – but no one seems to execute it as well as Manu. He demands so much attention from the defence due to his size and footwork and the timing and weight of his pass is usually spot on.
In this instance Manu easily beats Jamayne Taunoa-Brown for speed to engage Reuben Cotter in the line and holds the ball up just long enough to get them both interested before popping it into space for a charging Radley to score. Playing in a Roosters’ attack that mightn’t work as smoothly this week as we know it can, an opportunistic play like this from Manu could be the scoring action Easts fall back on.
Where I think we’ll see most of Manu’s attacking involvements on Sunday however, is as a ball runner from good field position.
Only Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic are as dangerous in actions and areas like this. The combination of size and agility makes Manu a nightmare to handle one-on-one, particularly if you’re a small fullback defending in the line. Manu picks out Jayden Campbell in this instance and the Titan’s fullback is no chance of bringing his opposite number down in time.
I think Manu is going to do the same with Xavier Savage and Tom Starling this week. If he can get himself one-on-one with either player 10 metres out from the line, expect Manu to put his head down and back himself.
Canberra are without Josh Papali’i and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad on Sunday – two players crucial to how the Raiders work upfield. They’re also missing Jack Wighton’s left boot, which does the bulk of long kicking for this Raiders side. Given they have already struggled in the yardage game this season while the Roosters rank fifth for total run metres in 2022, it’s not hard to picture Easts dominating field position on Sunday.
If they do, Manu will get plenty of opportunities to challenge the line in good ball and the stats suggest he’s a fair chance of dotting down as a fullback in this one.
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.
– Bulldogs backline
– Dylan Edwards on the ball
– Schuster’s chance
– Taumalolo returns
– NSW Origin omissions
Bulldogs backline – Regular readers will know this is the positional change I’ve been wanting for a while now:
“With [Flanagan & Burton] in the halves, I’d love to see Jake Averillo at fullback. He’s dangerous with a run and offers far more in the way of ballplaying than Matt Dufty ever will.” – Me, Bulldogs 2022 Season Preview
It’s taken 12 long weeks and a coach’s sacking, but we finally got there. Corey Allan is a chance at slotting into fullback this week but reports are that Averillo will start at the back with Jacob Kiraz at centre and Allan coming onto the wing.
As I said in that preview, I’m not totally convinced Averillo is ‘the answer’ for Canterbury at fullback, but I am convinced that Matt Dufty isn’t. With Averillo out the back of shape, the Bulldogs will at least have a genuine playmaker who can make a decision with the ball. We can’t expect him to get it right every time, but Averillo’s ballplaying and running game is a far better option right now for a Canterbury side struggling to threaten in attack.
Dylan Edwards – As per the Joey Manu feature above, Edwards is another guy I think will play a leading role for his team in Round 13. With Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary missing, Edwards will take on the bulk of the playmaking duties in good ball – particularly down Penrith’s right edge where he is usually most effective in attack. Edwards’ high work rate, tackle breaking and ballplaying abilities are slowly helping him shed the underrated tag but he’s still regularly overshadowed by his high-profile teammates. That won’t be the case this week.
Josh Schuster – Gets his opportunity in the halves this week and the pressure is on to perform given how vocal his management have been about Schuster’s positional preferences. Coming up against a leaky Warriors’ edge defence is as good a place as any to start, and I like the idea of Schuster getting plenty of touches down Manly’s left edge on Saturday.
