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Hunt’s influence from dummy-half
We’ve got 56 minutes of evidence from NRL Round 10 that suggests the Ben Hunt to hooker move might just work for the St George-Illawarra Dragons in 2023.
With Jayden Sullivan coming on at halfback mid-way through the first half last week, Hunt’s ability to engage ruck defenders and compress the defence around the ball created two try scoring opportunities for Sullivan a little wider of the ruck.
And although it was Sullivan who lit up the scoreboard, Hunt’s influence from dummy-half was immediately apparent. His craft and deception from behind the play-the-ball is as good as any hooker in the NRL and he used those subtleties to set up Sullivan’s first try.
The little fake towards the open side here doesn’t seem like much, but roll the tape and Hunt’s subtle actions in possession have a flow-on effect in the Dragons attack:
Hunt’s involvement here gets Josh Kerr one-on-one with Shawn Blore (17) who fails to wrap the ball up, inviting Brandon Wakeham into the tackle. Wakeham can’t bring Kerr down either as the big prop gets an arm free and offloads to Hunt in support.
Swivelling on a dime, Hunt knows what’s required in the moment and immediately shifts the ball wide of the ruck.
The wide shot shows the disruption Hunt’s actions have caused in the Tigers defensive line.
With four Tigers players caught up in the Kerr tackle, Wests defensive line through the middle is in all-sorts. Joe Ofahengaue and Alex Twal have already dropped back for the following play while Api Koroisau is left isolated in the middle of the field.
Jack de Belin identifies this and plays his role smartly to gift Sullivan his first of the afternoon.
With two Dragons players running at either shoulder, Koroisau is stuck in the mud.
He can’t make a decent attempt at either man as de Belin engages his inside shoulder before passing to Sullivan on his outside. Sullivan slices through to score a try constructed two passes earlier from nothing by Hunt.
In a fresh good-ball set, Hunt’s influence from dummy-half was even more noticeable.
Watch how he picks out Jahream Bula defending in the line in this action:
With multiple options moving in shape around the ruck, Hunt picks the one that targets Bula at A-defender.
A fake underneath to de Belin holds up the markers and a change of tempo drags the B- and C-defenders wide of the ruck, isolating Jack Bird onto Bula beside the posts. Bula makes his tackle but now has some ground to make up when the Dragons shift it to the right edge.
Hunt’s next involvement is to provide crisp service to Sullivan wide of the ruck:
Hunt’s pass splits the Michael Molo and de Belin decoys to get Sullivan on the outside shoulder of Isaiah Papali’i. The Tigers backrower knows there is an overlap out wide but overchases and gives up his inside shoulder when trying to release his edge defenders.
Hunt has created the opportunity and again it’s Sullivan who ices it. Some fancy footwork beats Papali’i and Twal back on the inside, sending Sullivan into the space that Bula has vacated in his attempt to reposition at fullback.
If Hunt hadn’t tied Bula up in the previous tackle, the Tigers defence sets itself and Bula is in a better position for the following play.
Keep an eye on Hunt’s involvements again this week once he shifts into dummy-half.
He triggered a number of short side actions in Round 10 only for his teammates to miss their assignment. With Moses Suli a particularly appealing option in blind-side raids, it could become a key element of the Dragons attack this season.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Jahream Bula’s defence – He was caught out for Jayden Sullivan’s second try but we’ll put that down to Ben Hunt’s class more so than Bula’s defensive deficiencies.
With just three NRL games under his belt, Bula is already building a rapidly growing highlights reel in defence.
Watch his effort to reload on the play once Hunt gets the offload away here. He sprints back into position and puts himself in the way of Moses Suli before reloading again to make a try saving tackle on Mikaele Ravalawa in the corner.
For a guy with so much attacking upside, it’s Bula’s efforts without the ball that have most impressed, three games in.
Wests have found their long-term fullback.
Roosters woes continue – The North Queensland Cowboys handed Easts their fourth loss of the 2023 NRL season in Magic Round despite being on the wrong end of multiple key stat areas.
The Roosters more or less matched the Cowboys in yardage but comfortably bested them in linebreaks (5 to 1), forced drop-outs (4 to 2) and discipline areas (3 to 10).
It’s the linebreak stat that will most concern Trent Robinson in the review this week.
To break the line five times but come up with just one rugby league try is an issue, particularly given the Roosters wealth of attacking talent. On multiple occasions the Roosters found the ball in space but without a support player in sight. Their kick chase was poor too, particularly in good-ball on the right edge around Joseph Sua’ali’i and Jaxson Paulo.
Easts’ execution has been off this season but effort hasn’t been a major issue until NRL Round 10.
I’m expecting a response from the Roosters this weekend.
Jayden Campbell re-signs – A major coup for the Gold Coast Titans who have historically struggled to attract or retain elite NRL talent. Campbell has had a mixed start to the season but he’s an excitement machine and a player of the future. He’s got a few weeks at the back while AJ Brimson is on the sidelines but we still feel no closer to finding out how Justin Holbrook plans to fit both players in. A move into the #6 jumper once Kieran Foran retires is the logical succession plan, but the Titans need to get the most out of Campbell, Brimson, Foran and Tannah Boyd if they’re to do anything this season.
Wayde Egan v Reed Mahoney – Two of the best attacking dummy-halves in the NRL go head-to-head on Friday night and will play a leading role for their respective clubs.
Mahoney has struck up a promising combination with Jacob Preston in good-ball, pitching him one-on-one against smaller defenders on the line to great effect. It’s only a matter of time before he does the same with Tevita Pangai Jnr around the ruck.
Egan was doing similar things for the Warriors to begin the season and found himself in the right spot to score an unlikely four tries from his first four games. He’s been disrupted by injuries over the last few weeks but is a key element of the Warriors attack in 2023 – particularly how he combines with Tohu Harris, Shaun Johnson and Dylan Walker through the middle-third.
The Damien Cook v Api Koroisau match-up will be highlighted during the week with Origin around the corner, but the Mahoney v Egan battle is what I’m looking forward to.
RLW Percentage Play – NRL Round 11
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South Sydney Rabbitohs v Wests Tigers (Saturday)