The Notepad identifies one key player, stat, trend or talking point for every team, every round of the 2022 NRL season.
Thursday & Friday
– Sea Eagles newbies
– Roosters middle
– Montoya at centre
– Storm attack & bench rotation
– Eels bench
– Koloamatangi with the ball
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Saturday
Titans
Tries from kicks…
They’re a funny one to talk about.
All tries are worth the same and sometimes it doesn’t matter how you score them; as long as the ball crosses the line, that’s fine.
However, tries from kicks aren’t always repeatable.
The Cowboys have Jeremiah Nanai doing crazy things in the air and dragging down kicks. The Roosters have Joseph Suaalii and Daniel Tupou on the edges doing similar. However, both of those teams score their points in a variety of ways. While there would be some setup for kicks on the last – for Nanai, especially – it isn’t their only form of attack.
The Titans scored 26 points in Round 19. They’ve only hit that mark once all season and that came all the way back in Round 1. Scoring 26 points is a positive but not necessarily a reliable sign of improvement.
Four of the five tries came from kicks, and were kicked into a backfield being defended by a rookie fullback.
The Titans still need to change the way they use the ball. Josh Addo-Carr clearly had a plan to jam in and look to claim an intercept because he could rely on the Titans doing little to vary their shifts. A change of angle, particularly when dropping one of the most destructive forwards in the NRL off back underneath, could make a huge difference.
It’s been the same for almost two seasons now…
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Raiders
“It’s hard not to note that the right edge attack really hit overdrive when Elliott Whitehead left the ground. The threat of Harawira-Naera as an elite edge line-runner opened up space for Fogarty by forcing outside defenders to make difficult decisions about helping in or jumping into the face of outside defenders.” – Dan, Sportress
Elliott Whitehead has been named to start again…
I liked the idea of Whitehead playing more in the middle to start this year. His lack of mobility isn’t as exposed, his ball-playing is very good for the position, and he’s capable of playing decent minutes. The 32-year-old started the first five games of the 2022 NRL season at lock to varying degrees of success. Adam Elliott has been the better option there since, regardless.
Whitehead has since shifted to the edge and played more 80-minute games than those with a spell. Playing only 54-minutes in Round 19, his replacement, Corey Harawira-Naera made an instant impact.
Sorry, Elliott. I don’t think you’ve got the pace to hit this perfect line to score the first try. I don’t think you win the race to score the second either…
Sticky has his guys and Whitehead is one of them. He’s their captain and unlikely to spend too long off the field. However, Harawira-Naera is too good to be playing only 26 minutes off the bench.
Sharks
The Sharks are a good defensive team.
Only two teams in the NRL have conceded fewer points per game.
However, their weaker side will come under attack this week.
The Rabbitohs left edge needs no introduction. It has been one of the most consistent sources of points in the competition across the last two years. With Latrell Mitchell back, Souths are only looking better when attacking down that side of the field.
Having done a fairly decent job of containing the Panthers in Round 19, the Sharks will need to be at their best again down the right edge on Saturday.
Rabbitohs
Boy did I love seeing this…
I’ve been waiting for the Rabbitohs to work Keaon Koloamatangi into the attack more than working around him. He’s a superb hole-runner and crucial to their right side shifts. Still, he has excellent feet and good ball skills that can be used as they did last week.
While the Sharks have only conceded ten tries through their left edge all season, I still want to see the Rabbitohs run this one again at some stage.
Broncos
The Broncos may be looking to add their own twist to the scrum sweep-around play based on this effort last week.
Has Adam Reynolds made the wrong pass, or are they looking to have Corey Oates hit that gap and spin into an offload to Ezra Mam?
Can you tell I like scrum plays?
Tigers
The Cowboys at their best work hard through the middle and apply inside pressure to ball players. That allows their edge defenders to jam in confidently. Should they mistime their tackle, that inside defence tracks across and covers the corner.
They’re not at their best at the moment and the Tigers did well to expose them in Round 19 by finding space and points down the edges. However, there were times you could see the defensive plan work as it should:
The Broncos employ a similar approach and the right edge, in particular, has performed well all season. Adam Reynolds isn’t known for his individual defence but his leadership on the edge has surely played a part in Kotoni Staggs’ surprise improvements in the area.
Luke Brooks is said to be out of this one at the time of writing. That will change things up for the Tigers but it won’t be a surprise to see them keep Hastings at lock and move Jock Madden into the halves. Regardless, that inside pressure on Hastings and how he deals with it will play a big part in the result on Saturday night.
Sunday
Knights
It’s getting pretty difficult to sit here and think remotely positively about the Knights.
Even asking for something constructive seems pointless.
Just make some tackles and stop conceding so many points…
Maybe they can do similar to the Sea Eagles and learn to attack without relying on Kalyn Ponga so much?
Bulldogs
Having noted the four tries the Titans scored from kicks, it’s also worth noting that the Bulldogs conceded them. Against a Knights attack that has offered little all season and is likely to rely on hanging the ball up for one of their wingers, it’s an area the Bulldogs will need to focus on this week.
