Recap the latest round of NRL action with the Repeat Set: Talking points, highlights, lowlights and the Play of the Round.
Here’s your Repeat Set for Round 22 of the 2022 NRL season:
- What will the Titans spine look like in 2023?
- Roosters rising
- A round to remember for… Talatau Amone
- A round to forget for… Take your pick
- Rugby League World Cup Hype: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
- Play of the Round: Warriors pushing up around the ball
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What will the Titans spine look like in 2023?
The Gold Coast Titans have struggled their way through the 2022 NRL season.
After making the finals in 2021 and perhaps getting a little bit too excited about a 10-win season, questionable retention decisions, inconsistent team lists and a lack of accountability has led to a horror 22 rounds. However, with a big win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and two key spine players arriving over the summer, there is reason to be optimistic for 2023.
Justin Holbrook has some difficult decisions to make over his spine for next year. Kieran Foran is the ideal addition while Sam Verrills arrives to fill a spot the Titans have struggled in for years. That leaves AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell, Tanah Boyd and Toby Sexton to make up the rest of the key play-making positions.
There are a few ways Holbrook could go about it…
As it happens, Round 22 provided us with a few actions that could translate into an improved Titans 2023 NRL season.
First, Tanah Boyd.
He has been shuffled around the Titans side for years now but has looked at home in the #7 jersey over the last fortnight. The 22-year-old kicked exceptionally well on Sunday afternoon. He repeatedly landed the ball inside the Sea Eagles’ ten-metre line. Notably, he put it high enough to give his kick-chase enough time to get down the field and force the Sea Eagles to travel 90 metres the other way to score.
“I said to Tanah, ‘You are our halfback. You run the team and kick the footy into the corners’. Credit to him. Our kicking game was awesome against Manly,” AJ Brimson told The Australian.
Boyd’s kicking game translated into a Titans territorial advantage, and from there, he was able to display his skills with the ball in hand.
Boyd is a tough player. He digs into the line and isn’t afraid to wear a shot. The Titans have looked better in attack with him getting deep and straightening at the line. His footwork is somewhat underrated given the rather simple nature of his role in the team. However, it was on full display when he stepped off his right foot as he took possession before throwing a beautiful pass out to Jojo Fifita here.
A lot of people have had Boyd’s name circled as a future star of the game for years. A schoolboy sensation before cracking the NRL, he is taking the chance Holbrook has given him to finish this season.
Boyd’s halves partner, AJ Brimson, certainly didn’t hurt his case as the five-eighth of the future.
Brimson will always do his best work on the ground. His solo effort try on Sunday is one few players in the NRL could repeat. The 23-year-old’s acceleration is ridiculous and paired with an improved passing game and more experience playing closer to the ruck, has the potential to cause havoc.
You can see the potential here.
Brimson skips to the outside of Jake Trbojevic at A to engage Daly Cherry-Evans at B. Brian Kelly’s line attracts Tolutau Koula leaving Beau Fermor and Patrick Herbert running at Christian Tuipulotu. Only a superb defensive read from Tuipulotu stops the Titans from scoring. It’s not all about skipping and throwing dangerous passes in good ball either. Brimson’s speed and willingness to get into the line is effective all the way up the field.
Here, he gets to the outside of Haumole Olakau’atu and pitches Fermor onto Cherry-Evans.
Holding up Olakau’atu for just a second forces him into a legs tackle which translates into a quick Fermor play-the-ball. With it, Boyd gets up another one of his excellent kicks to finish the set and the Titans have the Sea Eagles pinned in their own end once again.
As far as the Brimson/Boyd halves pairing goes, they’re the best option to finish the 2022 NRL season.
Kieran Foran showed why he walks straight into either the #6 or #7 jersey next year, though.
Foran’s setup to this try is the sort of thing the Titans have lacked not only this year, but for the last two or three. He played to a point, engaged the right defenders, and hit the space he created on the following tackle.
He plays inside to Reuben Garrick in what looks like a set play directed at David Fifita. Fifita has a tendency to stop once the ball is past him and Foran played to that first of all. However, when it didn’t come off, the veteran half caught Fifita, Jojo Fifita and Tanah Boyd in the tackle – three right-edge defenders.
As if being short for numbers wasn’t enough of a sign, Boyd is slow to get out of the tackle and reload. He tracks back in the hope that Isaac Liu can get across to finish the tackle. Allowed to run forward and most importantly, straight, Foran preserves the space out wide and makes the right read to send Brad Parker through half a gap before Jason Saab and Garrick finish the job.
The perfect short side play.
Foran’s work with David Fifita (depending on the sides) is most exciting. There are two contrasting thoughts when it comes to Fifita.
a) He’s lazy and doesn’t go searching for the ball often enough.
b) The Titans don’t use him properly.
The addition of Foran to the halves can help with both.
a) We know Fifita isn’t going to demand the ball for a tough carry out of yardage. So, why not just give it to him in spots he can dominate? The Sea Eagles love to run this shape on the edge in yardage. Swap Andrew Davey with Fifita here and the Titans backrower is all of a sudden contributing to the yardage game.
b) “Using him properly” doesn’t need to involve Fifita touching the ball. He’s one of the most destructive players in the NRL and the Titans get plenty out of Fifita by throwing him the ball and hoping for the best. However, with how deep Foran gets into the line and the attention Fifita attracts, the Titans can create space out wide. It’s not difficult to imagine Campbell in place of Garrick here.
And with that, Campbell.
He’s an exciting young talent but plays the same position as Brimson. That at least adds an element of uncertainty around his place in the team, particularly with how well Boyd is playing right now.
“It is going to be a battle with no spots guaranteed and me earning it in pre-season, whether that is at six or one or wherever.” – AJ Brimson
Campbell wasn’t at his tackle-breaking best on Sunday. He averaged five per game before finishing up with three in this one. However, his 155 running metres is significantly more than his 132 metres per game average, and he constantly threatened with the ball.
His positioning in defence is improving. While he is small in stature, Campbell is learning how to best use his body and at least get into position to affect a tackle close to the line. He wasn’t far off stopping Trbojevic in this one and showed his strength in keeping him up after that initial grounding.
Having watched all of Campbell’s appearances for the Tweed Seagulls this year as well, it’s clear he has a long future in the NRL. If the Titans don’t start to provide that for him in 2023, he may start looking elsewhere.
Toby Sexton is another consideration but his recent demotion comes on the back of a rather disappointing season. He hasn’t shown enough improvement throughout the year to guarantee him a spot in the side for next year. Right now, Boyd looks to be in front of him.
AJ Brimson into the centres is another talking point. While that may be something the Titans explore one day, they’re unlikely to do so for Round 1 next year. Neither Boyd nor Sexton is playing well enough to force him out of the halves and into the centres where he will become fixed to one side of the field and reduce his potential impact in attack. It will take a special preseason from Campbell at fullback and one of the young halves for Brimson not to be in the spine to start.
So, how does it all line up for 2023?
A lot can change between now and Round 1, but this is how I have it right now:
1. Campbell
6. Brimson
7. Foran
9. Verrills
14. Boyd
Campbell and Brimson have the potential to form a lethal partnership with time. They can both float in and out of five-eighth and fullback shapes as we’ve already seen this season, and Foran’s organisation will help set up those actions.
“Jayden and I always try and link up. Each week we are trying to do little kicks for each other. The more times we have our hands on the footy the more dangerous our team is.” – AJ Brimson
Boyd is the perfect 14 for this spine, too. Every spine position is covered with Boyd on the bench and it’s a role he’s likely to be happy with given he should be the first drop following an injury.
The spine has been an issue for the Titans all season. They’ve struggled to score points consistently. When the points have come and built a lead, the young playmakers haven’t been able to hold those leads often enough. But Holbrook all of a sudden has a welcome headache for 2023 with a number of spine combinations capable of triggering a significant improvement to the side overall.
Roosters Rising
How seriously do we need to start taking the Sydney Roosters when it comes to premiership contention?
They’ve won five games on the bounce now. While not every win has been one to write home about, they comfortably handled the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday.
The Cowboys had their own reasons to perform poorly, obviously. We will never know the impact Paul Green’s passing had on the playing group and how that displayed on the field. However, what we do know is that the Roosters made it look easy by dominating the middle of the field.
The Roosters ran for 1,703 metres throughout the 32-18 win. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (180m), Matt Lodge (153m) and Victor Radley (123m) all performed well in yardage while the back-five combined for 740 running metres. The Cowboys, on the other hand, struggled to get on the front foot. Coen Hess (30m), Gilbert (45m), Nanai (41m) and Taumalolo (70m) all grossly under-performed their usual production which impacted the influence of the back-five who managed only 585 running metres.
Scoring points hasn’t been much of a concern for the Roosters. Even while Sam Walker and Luke Keary played out of position and looked clunky in attack, there was an inevitability towards their improvement. This team is stacked with too much talent to struggle with the ball all year. It’s the improvement in the middle – both with the ball and without it – that has allowed that talent to begin piling up points.
The Roosters went from a middling net yardage team across the opening 17 rounds of the NRL season to be the best in the competition since then. They’ve managed to do that with key players spending time on the sidelines, too.
We’re not going to learn much about many teams across the last three weeks of the season. Teams are what they are for the most part. The good ones may even take a week off with ladder positions locked in and rest required. However, the Roosters don’t have that luxury. With the Tigers, Storm and a blockbuster against the Rabbitohs to come in Round 25, we’re going to have a relatively clear idea of the Roosters’ premiership credentials by the end of the regular season.
A round to remember for…
Talatau Amone recently extended his contract with the St. George-Illawarra Dragons and showed why the club is keen to lock up the young talent with three tries on Sunday.
He’s learning from one of the best halfbacks in the NRL at the moment. Ben Hunt is a significant part of the Dally M conversation. He’s playing out a stellar season and produced another superb individual performance on Sunday. Organising the side is an area of Amone’s game he is still to develop so Hunt is the perfect partner for him right now. However, when it comes to creating points and testing the defence, Amone is more than ready.
His right-foot step has caused a few problems already this year and he used it to beat an over-eager Raiders slide on Sunday to score his first.
Amone is active in support and some lovely hands allowed him to fall over the line for his second.
Holding the ball out in front and shaping to pass wide, Amone sold a dummy and beat the cover defence to score his third.
Still only 20-years-old and playing in a side that doesn’t always provide him with the strongest foundation to play on through the middle, Amone has put together a solid second season after playing 11 games in 2021. Round 22 is reward for his consistency and he will be confident in continuing that form against a leaky Titans defence next week.
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A round to forget for…
Take your pick here, really.
Each one of the Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have their excuses.
For the Eels, playing without Mitchell Moses was bound to catch up with them at some stage. Dylan Brown played out one of the best games of his NRL career to beat the Sea Eagles in Round 21. He wasn’t given much of a chance to replicate that one in Round 22 as the Rabbitohs raced out to an early lead. Once again, we’re looking at the Eels and wondering how they can be so good one week and so bad the next.
The Panthers are dealing with significant injuries to key playmaking positions and came up against a Melbourne Storm side that is starting to hit their straps with Cameron Munster at fullback. This result in isolation isn’t one to be concerned about. Penrith can forget about this result and move onto the next. However, if one loss becomes two against the Rabbitohs in Round 23, there will be room for one or two questions to be asked over their premiership favouritism. They’re unlikely to be leaped as favourites, but it feels as though the gap is closing.
As for the Bulldogs, they were one of the unlucky teams forced to face the Warriors in New Zealand. Playing at Mt Smart Stadium clearly gives this playing group a lift, and Stacey Jones managed to name his best-available 17 for this one, too. The Bulldogs fought back well following a slow start. However, a dominant Warriors side pushed through the 80 minutes and won with relative ease in the end. The Bulldogs are on the up and remain as one of the most exciting teams in the NRL right now. This is one to chalk up as an off night.
Rugby League World Cup Hype
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves wasn’t available for Kiwis selection earlier in the year but he’s surely on the list of prop forwards for the Rugby League World Cup.
It’s been a fairly typical year for the 33-year-old. He started relatively slowly as he tends to do which had the usual suspects retiring him after Round 3…
Cracking 100 running metres in 12 of his 16 games to average 131 running metres per game this season, Waerea-Hargreaves has shown little sign of slowing down. He’s still one of Trent Robinson’s most reliable and trustworthy middle forwards and he seems to get better the more Robinson counts on him. With Lindsay Collins and Siosiua Taukeiaho both unavailable against a top shelf Cowboys middle in Round 22, Waerea-Hargreaves led all players in yardage with 180 running metres for the match.
The man is a beast. He churns out his metres with the ball and his defence stops the opposition in their tracks coming back the other way. Matt Lodge’s addition to the side happens to coincide with a significant improvement to the Roosters’ yardage game, but it’s Waerea-Hargreaves that is leading the way. Michael Maguire will surely have him in his sights for the Kiwis at the end of the year.
Play of the Round
Regular readers knew this one was coming…
Shaun Johnson turned back the clock to produce a classic when he skipped through the line, sold Jake Averillo a dummy and crossed over under the posts.
Beautiful.
It’s the work around him that makes this the Play of the Round, though.
The Warriors are last in supports. It’s an area of their game that has lacked all season despite the tools at their disposal. Nathan Brown coached it out of the side in the name of spreading the ball and “playing footy” but it’s slowly starting to become a factor under Stacey Jones.
This try is the perfect example of the Warriors using their passing big men with strong runners pushing up in support around them.
You can see in the reverse angle how the hole Johnson ran through was created: Addin Fonua-Blake takes possession one off the ruck with Tohu Harris hanging off his hip. Fonua-Blake’s ability as a passer and the threat of Harris short turns Jackson Topine in.
Kyle Flanagan already has a difficult decision to make when Johnson takes possession. Aitken is another strong ball-carrier pushing up in support around Johnson and Reece Walsh is available out the back. Flanagan holds and hopes Topine can recover and close up the space.
He can’t.
This is something the Warriors should have been doing all year; big bodies pushing up in support, compressing the middle and forcing defenders into difficult decisions. Not flinging the ball wide and allowing the defence to slide with relative ease. It’s taken until the second half of the season to see an improvement in this area, and it translated into a beautiful try in Round 22.