The Notepad identifies one key player, stat, trend or talking point for every team, every round of the 2022 NRL season.
Saturday
Titans
Titans fans have been calling his name for weeks and finally, Paul Turner will make his club debut.
Having seen every minute he has played for the Tweed Seagulls in the Hostplus Cup this year, I’m confident he can add value to the side. However, his best games have come at fullback.
He’s a dangerous runner of the ball and will fill similar spots to what AJ Brimson has in recent weeks. The Titans play with an interesting attack that has seen Jayden Campbell play a five-eighth-like role at times with Brimson out the back of shape down the left edge. I’d expect the Titans to keep things the same to provide Turner with time and space to apply some footwork out wide.
Turner did struggle defensively in the halves when playing for the Warriors but has a lot more football under his belt since then. Within what is a poor Titans defence already, it’s unlikely that any lingering deficiencies in that area stand out more than anybody else’s in the side.
If the Titans can keep Turner’s focus on running the ball and provide him with space to do so, he will have a positive influence on the side. More specifically, a scheming Turner run into Brimson short side raid is one action I’d like to see them work towards on Saturday.
Rabbitohs
How real are those 44 points from Round 12?
They were scored a fortnight ago now and against one of the worst defensive teams in the NRL. We’ve seen the Rabbitohs pile up a few points before struggling to score for extended periods a couple of times already this season, too.
Up against the second-worst defensive team in the competition conceding 25.5 points per game in this one, we really need to see the Bunnies start to develop some consistency with the ball.
They’re still trying to find the right combination out wide. Playing Alex Johnston and Campbell Graham on the same side at least gives them one competent edge. I expected more from Isaiah Tass in his limited opportunities and still think there is a chance he features again this season. This week though, it’s Taane Milne and Jaxson Paulo filling the right side.
The Rabbitohs attack is the area of focus overall, but how the right edge performs will be particularly telling.
Roosters
Luke Keary continued to pile up the touches to finish with 67 in Round 13. Unfortunately, the Roosters didn’t look all that good despite his regular involvements. The balance between Keary and Sam Walker still needs a lot of work.
Walker has touched the ball 30 times and 27 times over the last two games. Of the 28 matches in which he has played the full 80 minutes, he’s only recorded fewer than 27 touches once.
Has Trent Robinson and the Roosters gone too far the other way and put too much on Keary?
Keary playing on the ball like he is doesn’t seem to be working. While they might persist with it again this week, especially if James Tedesco isn’t available, I don’t think it will be long before we see another adjustment to how the touches are distributed through the spine.
Storm
Nelson Asofa-Solomona is back and will provide a huge boost to the Storm pack this week.
His offload ability regularly generates attacking opportunities for others. Jahrome Hughes has the best footwork of any halfback in the NRL, but it’s the influence Asofa-Solomona has on the defensive line and offload to boot that provides Hughes with the gaps to skip through here.
Asofa-Solomona’s offload in good ball is lethal. You can run him a touch wider and pitch him onto smaller defenders to promote a kick play-the-ball ahead of a short side raid or 5th-tackle kick. He can ball-play well enough to tip a pass onto a fellow forward in yardage, too.
He’s one of the best middle forwards in the game and I think his influence on the Storm might be more clear this week having seen them somewhat struggle without him in recent weeks.
Broncos
Kotoni Staggs has become an underrated defender this year. Where missed tackles stats skew his effectiveness at jamming in and closing down a shift, the Broncos right edge has conceded just 14 tries all season. Only the Cowboys and Panthers – the two best defensive teams in the NRL – have conceded fewer on that side.
Named but nursing a shoulder injury he sustained during State of Origin I, Staggs will either play this one busted or not at all. Against a left-side dominant Raiders attack (41% of tries scored on the left, 26% on the right), we might see just how much Staggs impacts the Broncos right edge defence in this one.
Raiders
There have been some polarising opinions on Jamal Fogarty since making his Raiders debut a fortnight ago.
Understandably underdone in his first game back, an improved performance in Round 13 still generated a lot of discussion around his place in the side and whether or not Brad Schneider should be in there ahead of him.
Fogarty isn’t a flashy player that will put the team on his back and drag them to victory, but that isn’t his role in this Raiders outfit. He is there to play out Ricky Stuart’s game plan and direct the team to spots on the field to attack from. With two weeks under his belt now and coming off a good win in Round 13, I’m looking for Fogarty to take another step forward this week.
It won’t come in tallying up try assists or breaking the line. But if he kicks well and is otherwise relatively quiet in the way people want referees to be quiet, then he will have done his job.
Sunday
Tigers
So, what now for the Tigers?
Michael Maguire is gone.
There are plenty of good arguments that it should have happened months ago if not before the end of last season. Some, I don’t think they’re quite as strong, argue he should still be there despite the results throughout this year and last.
Regardless, the Tigers are moving in a new direction and we will start to get an idea of that direction this week.
How the Tigers defend will be telling. Poor defensively all season, it’s where the Tigers need to improve most before the end of the year. While Isaiah Papali’i and Api Koroisau are great additions for next season and Adam Doueihi is still to return in 2022, what they offer in attack means little if the defence continues to provide the opposition with free passage to the line.
Maguire tried various defensive systems and combinations throughout his time at the Tigers. None really worked for an extended period. Brett Kimmorley hasn’t had a full week to make any significant changes so we’re unlikely to see any notable difference this week. Still, I’m looking for any hints as to how the Tigers plan on defending throughout the rest of the year. It won’t be too much of a surprise to see them revert back to the scramble defence they found success with in Madge’s first season in charge.
Sea Eagles
Jake Trbojevic still hasn’t broken a tackle which I find absolutely crazy so I’m on the lookout for one – even if it isn’t on purpose – for the remainder of the NRL season.
Otherwise, Josh Aloiai against his former club is a nice little battle in this one. Aloiai is starting to play some really good footy and was up there with their best last week against the Warriors. He was signed to replace Addin Fonua-Blake last year and while he’s not about to entirely replicate his numbers, the consistency is starting to show.
He’s also part of the Rugby League World Cup watch. I started to highlight the absolutely stacked Kiwis forward pack on Monday and hadn’t even considered Aloiai. He’s not going to start in their big games of the tournament, but there might be a place for him in the squad with a strong finish to the NRL season.
Knights
I’m going there again with the Knights and using Ponga down the short side.
They’ve gone close with it a couple of times which led me to add it to the State of Origin preview as part of Queensland’s attacking profile.
Ponga and the Maroons nailed it on Wednesday night.
