Recap the latest round of the 2023 NRL season with the Repeat Set as we break down some of the best plays from the weekend.
Shark Attack: How they play to cues & why they struggle against the top teams
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks attack has been a talking point throughout the 2023 NRL season. At its best, few can contain it. Their slingshot style to the edge has caused havoc for defensive lines but not often enough against the best.
Cameron McInnes offered some insight into how the Sharks approach their attack close to the opposition line when speaking with James Graham on The Bye Round Podcast which I found interesting. It may also tell us why it hasn’t translated into wins against Top 8 teams:
“Laying the line is a waste of a play- footy is past that now.
“You’ve got to [play on every play].
“Coming off your own line sometimes there is that one-out carry…but attacking the try line, we don’t do it at Sharks, that lay-the-line play is a waste.”
We constantly hear commentators refer to “eyes up footy” as though it’s the answer to any attacking struggles. The term has taken on a life of it’s own and I’m not sure anybody knows what it really means these days. But if I was to define it myself, it would involve the Sharks. They play what is in front of them rather than to points on the field by laying the line. If a defence gives up a cue, Blayke Brailey, Nicho Hynes and the Sharks attack swings into action.
Piling up points hasn’t often been an issue and wasn’t in Round 24 as they hung 36 on the Gold Coast Titans. I’ve picked out the first three tries of the night for the story they tell about the Sharks attack and their ‘play on every play’ approach.
The Sharks played to the cues to score their first and it starts with those one-out carries McInnes mentioned as necessary at times. In this case, Blayke Brailey is playing to what the defence gives him which is two play-the-balls with a single marker. He first jumps out to pitch Braden Hamlin-Uele onto a single defender.
Using the momentum of a fast play-the-ball to jump out again, Brailey plays Briton Nikora onto a smaller defender. Nikora’s offload creates a second phase and the Sharks are allowed to travel further up the field, scrambling the Titans’ defensive line in the process.
It’s the last tackle but the Sharks take what the Titans give them: A 6-4 split with the winger tracking back behind the line.
Hynes takes the ball deep into the line at the A defender to hold up the slide and reinforce the overlap before Siosifa Talakai uses some soft hands to put Mulitalo over in the corner.
Their second try takes more of the “play on every play” approach McInnes mentioned as Mulitalo skips across the face of the defensive line in yardage to put four teammates against two defenders with acres of space to move. With speed to burn on the edges and Connor Tracey pushing up through the middle, the Sharks make it look easy to score 80 metres from the line.
It’s not without a prior cue, though. You can see in the set leading to their first try that the Titans defend very tight in yardage. Their winger is well inside the numbers leaving 20+ metres on his outside and the Sharks take note.
The Sharks played to the space when the opportunity presented itself and while scoring isn’t necessarily the plan when taking on the tight line in yardage, they were able to ice it on this occasion.
The third try of the match applies both cues to perfection.
It starts with a superb Tracey kick return and barnstorming Jesse Ramien carry to get the Sharks up the field and in position to shift the ball against the compressed Titans yardage defence.
They take one more carry off the ruck before pulling the trigger out wide. Again, scoring a try isn’t the intention but the easy metres against a retreating line generates ruck speed and the Titans middle is still getting back to the referee as Siosifa Talakai plays the ball.
Having created the look from exactly this spot to score their first try, the Sharks play to it again.
Jayden Campbell sends Tino Fa’asuamaleaui the wrong way. The ball follows Hynes more often than not when the Sharks attack inside 20. While Campbell plays to the numbers here (the Sharks have stacked the right side) he may have been better to play the man. Instead, the Titans are again left with only four players down their right edge and the Sharks, using Hynes as a decoy out the back, send Mulitalo over in the corner for his second.
The three tries are all slightly different but play to the same cues throughout and sum up how the Sharks use the ball.
While they’ve struggled in recent weeks, the Sharks attack has always been proficient in taking what the defence gives up. That might be why they struggle so much against the top teams in the NRL…
Top teams play with a top defence. The sort that doesn’t offer up many cues and opportunities to pounce on. The likes of the Penrith Panthers, Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors need to be broken down defensively across full sets of applied pressure. They don’t often have players get left behind in the tackle, peel slowly to marker or get their numbers wrong on the line.
Keep an eye on how the Sharks manufacture their points against a North Queensland Cowboys defence that works hard from the inside.
The Haas Pass
Payne Haas is the best ball carrier in the NRL.
His speed and acceleration make no sense for somebody his size, he has the footwork to poke his head between two defenders and the leg drive to keep pushing through the contact.
He’s a freak.
The freak has a pretty nice pass, too.
Haas has developed a dangerous partnership with Patrick Carrigan this year with Carrigan the ball player and Haas pushing up in support.
He is throwing the pass himself at times for 2.9 passes per game. It’s an element Jason Taumalolo has worked on in recent years and appears to be an area Haas is developing as the season progresses.
This is why…
We’re often blessed with the end-on angle at Broncos games and it perfectly captures how the home side was able to hold up the defence to create numbers on the edges.
Haas’ quick carry and pass ties up three players in the middle of the field to start. As Adam Reynolds sweeps behind the block, Jordan Riki drops back underneath to hold up Luca Moretti (14). With Reynolds engaging Dylan Brown (6) as Kotoni Staggs his Daejarn Asi’s inside shoulder, the space is created for Reece Walsh to whip around the edge.
As they so often do, Brown and Clint Gutherson do a good job in the scramble and force a kick out of Selwyn Cobbo, but this is the Broncos at the moment. They’re the most entertaining team in the NRL and these actions seem to be coming off more often than not at the moment.
Scoring 26.7 points per game to play with the best attack in the competition, the Broncos are still getting better. Remarkably, Haas is still getting better. Any other season and they’d be heavy favourites for the premiership.
Papenhuyzen Watch
Ryan Papenhuyzen played the full 80 minutes for the Sunshine Coast Falcons and doesn’t look too far away from an NRL return.
He scored a try, but there isn’t much to read into it. His two try assists, however, will encourage Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm.
As well as Nick Meaney has performed, Papenhuyzen is who you want throwing these passes on the edges. His speed makes him a running threat and he throws a good pass while straightening into the line.
The try assists are nice, but this is one of the more encouraging clips from the game.
When I think of Papenhuyzen, I see him flying up the middle of the field in support exactly like that against the Devils. He looks quick. Really quick. He finishes or contributes to tries other players simply aren’t in a position to impact and while he’s not able to pull away from the defence here, it’s encouraing to see from a player that has missed so much time.
The 25-year-old is said to be nearing a return to the NRL. Possibly in as little as two weeks. It looks like he will play Cup footy again this week though, and given my work with the Tweed Seagulls – his opposition on Saturday afternoon – I’ll be able to offer up a bit more on how he’s looking next week.