The Notepad identifies one key player, stat, trend or talking point for every team, every round of the 2022 NRL season.
Saturday
Sharks
Siosifa Talakai played only his 15th game in the centres when he ripped through the Sea Eagles right edge to score two tries and hand out three try assists in one of the great individual performances in Round 7. However, in typical rugby league fashion (we can’t just have a player dominate a game without him becoming something he’s not) Talakai became the talk of the town. He was all of a sudden one of the best centres in the game and a State of Origin candidate.
It’s unfair to put so much on a player but it happens every time. As is the case most of those times, that player doesn’t live up to the hype. Not bad by any means, Talakai hadn’t scored since that game against the Sea Eagles until he skipped past Rocco Berry on his way to the line on Sunday.
His 218 running metres in Round 14 was the most since the Manly match, too.
Origin teams have been named and Talakai is no longer part of the conversation. He had the opportunity to rest and reset through the bye round and has a Test for Tonga coming up next week. Things have settled down for the 25-year-old and I expect that to translate into an uptick in form to finish the 2022 NRL season.
Titans
Greg Marzhew should have the Titans left wing spot locked down for the next few years.
He’s the best winger on the roster.
Effective in yardage to average 157 running metres per game, his destructive ball-carrying style saw him create something out of nothing to score last week.
There is nothing on here. It’s a poor shift, Toby Sexton throws the pass and hopes for the best, and it takes a superb Marzhew carry breaking through three defenders all in position to make the tackle to score.
Relying on a guy to do it all himself is a little bit too familiar for the Titans (see, David Fifita), but at least they have two options now. Keep feeding him the ball.
Warriors
It may not look like it on the scoreboard but the Warriors looked a little bit better in Round 14.
They’ve slowly moved away from Nathan Brown’s “playing footy” style of play. That started around their loss to the Sharks in Round 9. It became clear that the idea of running the opposition around and playing side-to-side isn’t going to work if it didn’t against 11 and 12 men. If anything, it perfectly highlighted what was wrong with that approach and Brown seemed to concede.
We saw the Warriors produce the sort of actions many had hoped for before the season started. I highlighted this one on Monday and it’s something we will see plenty of on Saturday, but most likely from the Panthers.
Outside of the focus on the middle, I’m excited to see Ronald Volkman play.
Throwing him into the deep end against the defending premiers isn’t exactly the way I would do it but Stacey Jones has faith in the 19-year-old so let’s see what he’s got.
Volkman will take the line on. He has a handy left foot step and a good show of pace off the mark. While the Warriors are last in the NRL in offloads with only 7.1 per game, Volkman running at a scattered line on the second-phase is an area he could produce a highlight.
I’m concerned for the Warriors in this one and the reaction from Jones next Tuesday ahead of their return to New Zealand, but crazy things happen in this competition.
Sidenote: The discussion around Shaun Johnson needing to be dropped is mind-numbing. He’s not playing his best football but he isn’t the reason for the Warriors’ struggles on the field and is most likely part of their solution. Before parroting the easy anti-Johnson gear, listen to Fonzie breakdown his performance last week here.
Panthers
There is a bit of a trend developing with Viliame Kikau…
After kicking the ball for a total of 114 metres across the first 98 games of his NRL career, he’s ticked up 101 kicking metres in only 13 games in 2022. He’s put boot to ball in back-to-back weeks to combine for 47 of those kicking metres.
This one in Round 13 looked more like an error on the count from Sean O’Sullivan:
But having seen Kikau instinctively look straight for his boot when the defence saw Nathan Cleary in the tackle and rushed out at Jarome Luai on the last, he must have a licence.
The Panthers have used Kikau as a decoy a lot more over the last two seasons. He’s featured as a ballplayer out the back of left shifts on occasion, too. Is rolling in a grubber for Izack Tago or Taylan May the next variation he adds to his game?
Up against a poor Warriors right edge and a fullback that is still very much learning the defensive side of the game, this could be the one Kikau tries it on closer to the line.
Eels
It’s a tough week to look into the Eels.
Of course, the Eels faithful are eager to see how they respond to their poor performance last week. How many times have we been here already, though?
What good is a bounce back this week if they’re going to need another in the not too distant future?
The Eels producing horror performances has occurred too often in recent years. I, personally, seem to pick the wrong way with them every time. Having sat on the fence before last season and considered them a chance at dropping out of the Top 8, they played well for most of the year and spent the majority of it inside the Top 4.
As recently as a month ago I had Parramatta on a tier of their own behind the Storm and Panthers. Now, I can’t see them stringing together enough wins in September to make it past the Preliminary Final if they get that far at all.
A good performance on Sunday will help make up for last week but do little for my faith in them as premiership smokey’s.
Roosters
When picturing Roosters before the 2022 NRL season kicked off, this is what I saw:
Luke Keary to Sam Walker. Walker to Joey Manu. Joey Manu flick out the back to Joseph Suaalii.
Add Sam Verrills in at hooker for this one and the consistency that will hopefully come with a natural hooker behind the ruck in the coming weeks and we might finally start to see the Roosters at their best.
A lot depends on the health of Keary, obviously. There are conflicting reports about the seriousness of his knock last week and whether or not he passed the HIA. The Roosters can be trusted to put the player first so it won’t be a surprise to see him rubbed out of this one if there are any lingering effects. If he’s good to go and we have Verrills at hooker, Keary on the ball and Walker floating, this is the Roosters I imagined.
Back to that try for a minute, though.
Walker’s dummy is what had people talking but it’s the tuck under the arm to commit the defence before releasing the pass that seals the deal.
He is ridiculously calm and composed for somebody so young.
Sunday
Raiders
The New Zealand Kiwis named their side to play Mate Ma’a Tonga next week in preparation for the Rugby League World Cup and it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen on paper. The pack is stacked and the spine is full of points. However, the outside backs are a little bit thin and it was a surprise to see Matt Timoko not force his way into the squad for this one with Reimis Smith injured. Michael Maguire only named two genuine centres so perhaps he already knows what he wants at the position.
Still, Timoko probably deserved to at least travel with the side to New Zealand. With one or two sure to pull out before the flight takes off next week, I’m looking to see how he responds to the snub in this one.
Knights
The Knights are dead last in yardage at the moment averaging just 1,312 running metres per game. While the Raiders are only up at 10th, they’ve made significant improvements behind the work of Joseph Tapine in recent weeks.
