It’s a short and disrupted round and the NRL Notepad reflects that. Still, there are a few things to keep an eye on over the weekend.
Friday Night Footy Members Preview
The North Queensland Cowboys host the Penrith Panthers to start Round 16, and it’s about as must-win as you can get at this stage of the season for the home side.
Sam McIntyre’s club debut
Well, it turns out the Gold Coast Titans did hesitate in picking Sam McIntyre…
He played only 15 games for the club since then including one surprisingly impressive but rather strange appearance at hooker. Because of that hesitation, McIntyre made the trip north to link up with the Cowboys and will play his first game for the club in Round 16.
McIntyre brings a different element to the middle forward rotation. Taumalolo’s ball-playing has come along further than anybody ever expected over the last 18 months but you’d still rather he be running the ball himself. Jordan McLean (32 passes this season) and Coen Hess (26 passes) are capable but not particularly prolific passers of the football.
McIntyre can be, though.
He digs into the line and releases a nice pass wide. The 25-year-old is dangerous enough as a runner that the middle defence needs to honour the possibility as he approaches the line. Assuming he is being introduced to add a bit more width to the Cowboys attack, I’ll be keeping a close eye on McIntyre this week.
I’ll be looking even more closely at his defence. He seems to have everything you’d want in a big ball-playing middle forward but has struggled to consistently feature in first grade since making his debut back in 2020. That leads me to think his coaches aren’t impressed enough with his defence…
Rugby League analysis
Have everything delivered straight to your inbox.
We try to provide the best on-field analysis in the game and want people to see it. Sign up for a premium membership and don’t miss out.
Sandon Smith the saviour?
The Sydney Roosters need something.
I’ve sat here for weeks waiting – assuming – that the improvement to their attack would come and it simply hasn’t.
Now, Sandon Smith has been called into the halves…
I’ve seen him play at NSW Cup level quite a bit this year. He will cause a few problems with the ball. However, he doesn’t profile as a halfback that will fill the role the Roosters desperately need. One that can organise all of these exciting pieces and put them all together.
Smith’s numbers at Cup level impress. He has handed out 17 try assists in 12 games this season. He dished out four in his last game back in Round 13. Those came while playing dummy half, though…
While often being named at halfback, Smith has also spotted up at fullback throughout the year. He looks particularly good in the second layer of a shift, much like Luke Keary…
Smith will duck down a short side, too.
I’m excited to see Smith play. I always like seeing reserve grade graduates make the leap and he’s not been provided with much opportunity in the two matches he has featured at NRL level. Hopefully, he can add something to this Roosters attack and play a part in kickstarting their run towards the finals.
More good NRL & NRLW reads
The demise of Twitter has made stumbling on good NRL content even more difficult so I think it’s important to share it around where possible. Here are a few things – sometimes not specifically rugby league related but lead me to rugby league thoughts – that I’ve read or listened to recently:
- Are errors the sole reason for the Roosters slump?
- STATS DROP: Round 15, 2023
- The system is broken
- NEDS NRL Podcast ft. Oscar
- Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Style and Depth Update
- Ep #5: Tohu Harris / Humble Beginnings
- Simon Wilson: Stockport County’s seven-year plan (not NRL, but interesting insight into roster construction)
Scrum Adjustments
Despite what the ‘back in my day’ footy fan tells you, scrums are a prime opportunity to display the best features of our game.
They’re a set piece to put your best attacking players on show. From fleet-footed fullbacks to a barnstorming prop, you can do whatever you like from the base of a scrum.
Since the rule change introduced the option to position the scrum across the field, most teams have ordered it to the middle. The attacking team is able to split the defence, see what the defence is offering, and design a play from there.
More recently, though, teams are pushing the scrum back to the edge. It may have something to do with the other rule change that makes it more unlikely that the defence will be offside leaving more room to move across the field before engaging the line. Whatever it is, we’re seeing teams stack one side of the field full while having the winger from the blind side feed the scrum.
Here, the Panthers are looking to turn the B defender as Dylan Edwards wraps around the back of a block and into a four-v-three situation.
Jake Turpin does a great job of breaking from the scrum and applying enough pressure on Nathan Cleary that the Panthers can’t create the numbers. Still, you can see what they’re trying to do and with how dangerous they are on that side, why they have stacked the numbers in such a way.
The Knights tried something similar in Round 15, too.
Personally, I like to see teams play from the middle with a ball-player floating in an I-formation behind the scrum, ready to jump out to whichever way he sees a weakness. I’ve liked how the Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm have used Junior Paulo and Nelson Asofa-Solomona in these spots at times as well.
Scrums these days are a gift and an area of the game that feels as though it’s still developing.
Tigers wingers tracking back
I’m having a look at when the Wests Tigers wingers track back while defending yardage sets this week.
Tanah Boyd let the Tigers off the hook on 4th tackle last week when he kicked early in the set with only three defenders in front of him. Perhaps sensing the kick, Junior Tupou was already tracking back to collect it when Boyd took possession.
Maybe the Titans noticed it as they went back to that side of the field late on the following set.
Shifting the ball from the left edge to the right, only a Tommy Talau tackle stopped the Titans from streaking down the right edge with Tupou backtracking.
They still managed to get the ball wide through a Klese Haas offload, but Talau’s tackle had provided the defence with enough time to scramble across and close down the play.
Teams defend these spots in different ways. For some, they want the winger to get back early and be in a position to win the transition. Others opt to have the winger stay in the line and be available to defend before tracking back on the last.
It might be something or it might be nothing. If it is something, the Melbourne Storm will expose it.
ICYMI: Melbourne playing to a plan
There was clear intent from Melbourne to target the spaces around Nicho Hynes* and Matt Moylan on the edges, either isolating them one-on-one in good-ball or testing them in yardage and playing off the back of it.
Quick NRL Team List Notes
- Kyle Feldt is back in the side after being dropped for Round 14. With Semi Valemei on the other wing, this feels a bit like a trial for the rest of the season.
- Liam Henry has been named in #19 but is on the Panthers bench. The 21-year-old is a workhorse prop that will cart the ball up as long as Penrith need it.
- Dylan Lucas is on the edge for Newcastle again this week. He played 15 minutes in Round 15 but didn’t particularly stand out. Having seen what he can offer at Cup level, I’m expecting the experience of last week to serve him well in this one.
- Ryan Matterson in the halves is certainly something…It’s funny that it comes against the Sea Eagles side starting Jake Arthur at #7. Between Matterson, Arthur, Daejarn Asi and Josh Schuster, there is plenty to keep an eye on in the halves.
- Starford To’a had really started to make his mark in the centres so it’s a surprise to see him shift into five-eighth especially when Daine Laurie was named as 18th man last week.
- Just one injury-forced change to a Sharks side pumped in Round 15. Connor Tracey and Braydon Trindall are both first-grade quality and sitting at 18th and 19th man so there could be a couple of changes yet.