Check-in with the Repeat Set every week to recap the latest round of NRL action. This week, we’re breaking down how the Penrith Panthers pulled the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles apart, thinking about Jayden Campbell, and celebrating another Jared Waerea-Hargreaves wraparound.
How the Penrith Panthers pulled the Sea Eagles apart
Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo are the chassis to the Penrith Panthers chaos engine and linked up to dismantle the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles left edge defence in Round 6.
Dylan Edwards is filling the highlight reels as the beneficiary of four tries, but the planning and execution to pick a target and set the team up to expose it is why the Panthers are so good. It’s why, despite losing key players over the summer, they’ve been able to hit the ground running in 2023. There is a trust and willingness to play within a system that allows them to consistently beat the top teams in the NRL or, as the case this week, to put a game beyond doubt by halftime.
The Panthers circled Kelma Tuilagi in the line this week. For all of his strengths as a ball carrier, Tuilagi’s defence is an issue for Anthony Seibold. He doesn’t stick well in tackles above the ball and has a tendency to lose his feet and slip to the legs of a ball carrier before often slipping off the tackle entirely.
Unfortunately for the Sea Eagles, the soft try Edwards managed to open the scoring wasn’t a one-off and wasn’t the last they’d concede on the night.
The first real signs of the plan came when Cleary took the line on out of yardage two sets later. As part of my Notepad this week, I had a keen eye for when Cleary tucked the ball under his arm and took the line on.
“Cleary putting his head down and taking on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles line would be a promising start. Kelma Tuilagi seems a likely target for Cleary this week…”
After Yeo shifts the ball out behind a lead runner, Cleary shapes to pass on this one but it looks as though his intent is always to attack the space between the three and four-in defenders.
Ten minutes later and two tackles after throwing a similar shape at the right edge further up the field which ended with Brian To’o streaking down the sideline, Cleary attacks the same space and again almost skips through. With the defensive line in tatters, Stephen Crichton fires a lovely pass to To’o in the corner for the Panthers to score their second down the right edge.
It’s more of the same as the Panthers run in two more tries before halftime.
The first is too easy and a major concern for Seibold and the Sea Eagles. Not only does the inside defence get caught on the lead runner, but they also stay there and don’t bounce out to cover their outside man. Edwards sees the space and takes it with ease for his second.
Three minutes later and Edwards completes his first half hattrick.
Scroll up to the Cleary run in the seventh minute of the match and you’ll see the same shape.
They have a little bit more room to work with this time, but again it’s Cleary throwing a dummy, targeting the space between the three and four-in defenders, and looking to get his arms free to offload.
And just like that: 1 plan + 1 half of footy = 2 competition points
Edwards’ name fills the score sheet and Cleary is credited with putting the pieces together, but this is a fine example of a cohesive team playing to a plan and executing to perfection. While they’ve lost key individuals, the Panthers juggernaut rolls on. Ivan Cleary is one of the best coaches in the NRL and his squad is still producing on both sides of the ball.
Perhaps they’ve come back to the pack just a little bit. Nonetheless, they reaffirmed their position as premiership favourites in Round 6.
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The Campbell Conundrum
1 try
183 running metres
2 linebreaks
1 try assist
7 tackle breaks
Jayden Campbell is too good to spend only 20 minutes coming off the bench.
Signed until the end of the 2024 NRL season with clubs able to negotiate with the 23-year-old from November this year, Justin Holbrook and the Gold Coast Titans have some juggling to do. They need to balance winning footy games and keeping everybody happy.
Campbell’s Round 6 try sums up what he offers as an attacking threat. He’s always active, around the ball, and ready to pounce on any opportunity.
There’s a bit of the Reece Walsh’s about him in that he’s constantly available with lightning-quick acceleration which goes a long way to making up for his diminutive stature. Like Walsh, Campbell can fill more of a ball-playing role on the edge if the Titans look to use him in that capacity.
He’s an ideal #14 for the Titans at the moment. He can fill two key playmaking positions while others offer relief at hooker if they need it on the day. But how long will he be happy to play as a utility?
The Parramatta Eels have talked about wanting some X-factor at the back and Campbell presents as the ideal option. The Wests Tigers can’t decide what they want at the back, but Campbell could become a consideration if they don’t land on a long-term option in the next 12 months.
The Titans have a good one in Campbell. Where and how often he’s used is something a few teams around the NRL will be keeping an eye on, though.
Waerea-Hargreaves wraparound alert
Regular readers know I love a wraparound. Even more when it’s Jared Waerea-Hargreaves doing it.
First, a throwback to Round 10 last season when Waerea-Hargreaves finished it off himself:
The Sydney Roosters’ try to kick off Round 6 is more wraparound perfection:
At roughly the same spot he turned his back in Round 10 last season, Waerea-Hargreaves this time lets go of the pass. As he does, the Roosters right edge sees Cameron Munster fly out in front of his line and prepare to fire. Brandon Smith knows that is where the ball is going and as he holds up the space around the ruck using Victor Radley’s lead, the space opens up out wide for Jaxson Paulo to score.
Simple. Effective. Beautiful footy.
This is the Roosters at their best: Firing shots and falling back into shape at speed. We’ve not seen every week to start the 2023 NRL season, but there are enough signs to suggest the Roosters can put it all together by September if the footy gods help on the injury front.
NRL Notepad
We’ve got a Monday game this week so we’re flicking open the Notepad ahead of an intriguing clash between the Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels.
Tigers
Isaiah Papali’i arrived at the Wests Tigers as a major player in their rebuild. Having started his NRL career with the New Zealand Warriors before becoming one of the best edge backrowers in the game at the Parramatta Eels, expectations were set fairly high for the 24-year-old.
While it’s difficult to stand out and have a positive impact on a team without a win and sitting at last on the NRL ladder, Papali’i hasn’t lived up to those expectations so far this season. From a numbers perspective, he’s down across the board on last season despite averaging more minutes per game.
Against his former club, this is a big game for Papali’i. It’s one the Tigers need him to start firing and should give us an indication of how they most want to use him.
Parramatta found a lot of success dropping Papali’i back underneath on the right edge, triggering a quick play-the-ball, and firing the ball to the left edge on the following tackle. He was often the trigger to a lot of their attacking raids down their dangerous left edge. I’ve not seen a consistent approach to how Wests want to use Papali’i outside of handing him the ball and asking him to create something while carting it up at a set defensive line. Something needs to change, and perhaps using him more like their opposition this week has done in the past is the answer.
Eels
Shaun Lane is back and Sean Russell is in for Waqa Blake in the centres as the Parramatta Eels desperately search for form down their left edge.
While they have still scored 44% of their tries down the left side of the field, the eye test tells us they’ve not been nearly as dangerous. They’ve missed Lane’s offload and line-running ability which has taken some of the sting out of Dylan Brown’s running game.
The young five-eighth is averaging a career-high 140 running metres per game, but a lot have come in the sort of “just run the ball” carries people love to demand. Less will produce more with Lane around him to take some of the attention.
Russell is an interesting proposition in the centres. According to Rugby League Project, he’s not yet started a game in the centres at Cup level. However, by coming in for Blake, a solid outing on both sides of the ball will be enough to retain his spot. Distribue to Maika Sivo and defend well; that’s all the Eels need to improve down the left side of the field.
Cheers
This season is going from strength to strength on the field and I managed a personal win this week with a feature piece going up on NRL.com.
Reece lightning: How Walsh has shifted Broncos attack into over-drive
The response was quite overwhelming in the end. Arriving in Perth after a seven-hour flight, I opened my phone to an incredible response. Messages, tags and comments popped up everywhere.
It’s a great result for the independent NRL media space. There’s a small but dedicated group of people providing content that struggles to be seen among the click-bait material being dished up elsewhere and the feedback to this one article suggests there’s perhaps more demand for a genuine footy focus than people realise.
The major publications will always be front and centre but there is a growing demand for the little guy, so it’s important we keep pumping them up when we can. Twitter is no longer a great space for writers to share their stuff. Elon Musk considers links to be spam and significantly limits their reach. Instead, readers should subscribe directly to their favourites.
We have our premium and free options. More creators are moving to Substack where they can write directly to those that want to read it.
The Maroon Observer is Pythago NRL’s newest project and a must for Queensland footy fans.
Beyond The Goalpost is Ben Quagliata’s footy focus among other sports.
Others are considering the move to Substack, and having started there originally ourselves, we might end up back there too.
There’s a bit of the ‘like and subscribe’ YouTube cringe to it, but it’s the best way for genuine footy content to be seen.