Take the Two: 8 Magic Moments from Round 10

With so much to review this weekend, I’ve picked 8 Magic Moments from the NRL’s Magic Round to enjoy all over again. 

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Newcastle Knights v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Regular readers will know we’ve already spent a fair bit of time here at RLW this year talking about Kalyn Ponga and the Knights. Injuries and form have forced changes in key playmaking positions again this season and in the struggles, Ponga has been the guy Newcastle turn to. He’s averaging the most receipts of all fullbacks in the competition but the ‘give the ball to your best player’ approach will only get you so far in the NRL.

Most of the debate has stemmed from Newcastle continuing to employ Ponga into ‘non-fullback’ like areas on the field. It’s a quantity over quality approach and it’s limited Ponga’s ability to inject himself where he’s most effective – down short sides on the left edge.

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There isn’t a better fullback in the competition in this area of the field. Ponga’s deception to sweep around the ruck at the last moment creates the extra numbers and the speed he carries the ball into the line gets the alarm bells ringing for Canterbury’s edge defence. Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Bradman Best run a perfect double-lead line off his hip which demands attention from the defence and from there it’s Ponga’s choice who to hit. In this instance, he finds Best who is too strong for Brent Naden to drag down that close to the line. A nice offload finds an unmarked Edrick Lee in the corner and the big winger plants it down for his first try since 2020.

The Knights could do a lot worse than set up for this action a few times every game. There’s potential for it to become predictable but it’s Newcastle’s best avenue for points right now and they aren’t in a position to be picky with their scoring actions.

Brisbane Broncos v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Broncos delivered the first upset of Magic Round when they put 38 unanswered points on the Sea Eagles on Friday night. It was the Adam Reynolds show again for the Broncos, with the little halfback scoring a magical solo try and handing Selwyn Cobbo two more to continue his red-hot run of form. It would have been easy to put Reyno’s chip-and-chase into this segment but it was the lead up to Cobbo’s second try of the night that should have Brisbane fans most excited.

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Unlike the chip-and-chase, this is a repeatable scoring action the Broncos can add to their playbook moving forward. With the defence compressed early in the tackle count, Reynolds identifies the space outside Reuben Garrick and expertly designs an action to expose it. The two pass shift through a Broncos’ forward – usually Payne Haas but in this instance Kobe Hetherington – invites the defence to tighten further, leaving Cobbo unmarked on the paint. The confidence and skill from Reynolds to execute this on third tackle was all class and even if Garrick was better positioned you’d still like Cobbo’s chances with that kind of run up. The scary thing for defending teams is that if you keep your winger wide to defend this, you’re then inviting Kotoni Staggs to have a crack one-on-one with your centre – no thanks.

It’ll be interesting to see how Brisbane incorporate this action into their attacking shapes throughout the rest of the season.

South Sydney Rabbitohs v New Zealand Warriors

In hindsight, this Rabbitohs fan is very glad he had other commitments at 3pm on Saturday afternoon. As I checked the score between work breaks I was delighted to see a Cody Walker-inspired Souths outfit leap to a 26-6 lead at halftime. The pass Walker threw for Taane Milne’s first try was superb and is a perfectly designed action to counter opposing wingers going for what has become a somewhat problematic intercept play. As for what happened in the final 20 minutes – I’m leaving that for another day (or maybe just leaving it altogether).

The magic moment I liked most when watching the replay back however, was not one of Walker’s three try assists but a no-try moment featuring halfback Lachlan Ilias.

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The form of Adam Reynolds (see above) hasn’t helped Ilias’ transition into first-grade but the good judges know Ilias is tracking along just fine. He throws this tunnel ball pass as well as Nathan Cleary or Cody Walker to get Alex Johnston down the touch line and doesn’t die on the play when Johnston kicks the ball back infield. I love the eagerness to catch the ball on the full and make the play, and it’s only an unlucky bobble that prevents Ilias from icing a very magic moment in Round 10.

Special shoutout to Campbell Graham – who celebrated his 100th NRL game in this one – for his involvements here. Switched over to the left edge to help bring Johnston into the game, Graham does just that with a lovely tip-on pass to his winger. Shot, Stretch.

Gold Coast Titans v St George Illawarra Dragons

If the stats are anything to go by, this game was an absolute bludger. One sin bin, 11 penalties, 21 errors and a combined 76 missed tackles is about as ugly as it gets when reading the score card but for a footy fan who only tuned in with 20 minutes to go, this was rugby league entertainment at it’s very best (or worst, depending on what colours you wear). The inexperience in both spine’s made for five botched field goal attempts and as the Titans looked like going for a sixth, we should’ve known something like this was coming.

In saying that, even if St George had known this was coming I’m not sure they could’ve done anything to stop it.

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Ben Hunt is one of the more reliable defensive halves in the competition and he does everything right here to cut down Jayden Campbell’s time with the ball. His line speed is good and his hips are square, but it all counts for nothing when Campbell produces a wicked right-foot, left-foot step to turn Hunt inside out. There isn’t another fullback in the game (maybe Ryan Papenhuyzen, maybe Scott Drinkwater?) who could make this look so good – let alone in the pouring rain and 88 minutes into the contest. With Hunt beat on the outside St George are forced to jam in, which leaves AJ Brimson with an extremely difficult catch-and-pass and Jamayne Isaako with an even more difficult put down to win the game for the Titans. Magic at it’s finest.

Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm

Injuries certainly played their part in the result of this one, with a full strength Penrith side running through a decimated Storm outfit 32-6. The absence of Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes certainly hampered Melbourne’s chances with the ball but it was the loss of Reimis Smith that I thought would hurt Storm the most, and it did. The Panthers peppered Melbourne’s right edge all night and came up with four tries in Round 10 including this special from Viliame Kikau.

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For every tackle-busting run or crunching tackle he makes, Kikau’s elite skill and athleticism remains some of the best in the business for a backrower. Nathan Cleary sets things up from pivot and isolates Kikau one-on-one with poor Cooper Johns, who makes a fair legs tackle but can’t wrap up the ball too. Marion Seve has shot out on Jarome Luai and can’t turn in time to stop the offload for Luai in support. A perfectly worked and executed four-pointer.

Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks

Another surprise result with the Raiders finally producing an 80 minute performance to best Cronulla 30-10. Canberra scored a few opportunistic tries on the back of Sharks errors but overall they impressed while playing with a lead – something they have struggled with in 2022. The magic moment for me was the debut of young Zac Woolford – called in at the eleventh hour to replace Adam Elliott in the hooker position – something else Canberra have struggled with this year. In 37 minutes on debut, Woolford made 20 tackles for no misses and set up two tries – a lovely short ball to isolate Josh Papali’i onto Nicho Hynes on the line and this for Brad Schneider as the clock wound down.

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That stats sheet tells us Woolford ran the ball just three times on Sunday. The highlights package tells us he picked his moments perfectly. Woolford identifies the markers are out of position and immediately constructs an action to expose it. The way he holds the ball in two hands to engage Hynes at fullback and the slight decrease in speed before he passes the ball to Schneider is evidence of a natural ballplayer – something Tom Starling will never be – I won’t be surprised to see the pair share hooking duties a few more times in 2022.

Sydney Roosters v Parramatta Eels

I was pretty confident on Easts coming into this one and they proved me right. Trent Robinson is getting closer to figuring out the finer details of this Roosters side and when it clicks, it’s going to be a joy to watch. The attacking talent Easts have on both sides of the field is laughable and we got a glimpse of that on Sunday when Joseph Suaalii produced this absolute screamer to give the Roosters a seven point lead.

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I’m not an AFL guy but even I can spot a specky when I see one. With one knee planted firmly into Hayze Perham’s back as he leaps skyward, it almost feels like we’re watching in slow-motion as Suaalii plucks the ball out of the air and spins to plant it down in the in-goal. The most pleasing (or daunting) aspect about all this is seeing Suaalii use every bit of his 196cm, 98kg frame to score this try. With every game he plays Suaalii is looking more and more at home in first-grade and he’s quickly becoming a strike weapon for the Roosters in good ball.

North Queensland Cowboys v Wests Tigers

We should’ve known the Rugby League Gods would save the best for last in Magic Round. The Cowboys played an excellent game against Wests on Sunday night and there were a few passages they produced that I’ll be breaking down next week in my Heads In! piece, but as far as magic moments go there’s really no denying this.

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We won’t see another try assist like this for a very long time. Poor Jackson Hastings – who is fast becoming my new favourite player – can only laugh and shake his head in disbelief as Murray Taulagi somehow gets an offload away here – despite being entirely out of the field of play and hurtling towards the Suncorp turf – which lands in the lap of Scott Drinkwater. Rugby league can be a messy, ugly, frustrating old game but it can also be just as clean, pretty and magical as this.

What a way to cap off a ripper weekend of footy.

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