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.
– Ponga v Walsh living up to the hype
– An important tweet
– A banger Titans try
– “Holy shit”
– Harry Grant The Wizard
– Monday Night Infringements
Ponga v Walsh living up to the hype
Billy Slater has a decision to make next year.
It’s a difficult one, but a welcome one.
It’s not one he can really get wrong.
Does he stick with Reece Walsh who seems to be fitting into the State of Origin arena exceptionally well or, does he recall Kalyn Ponga who is proven at the level but ruled himself out of contention for this year?
It’s a pretty nice position for Slater to be in. He’d have been more pleased than anybody to see the two go toe-to-toe on Saturday night in a match that displayed the talents of both fullbacks to a tee.
We’ll start with Ponga first.
I’m a supporter of his move to five-eighth. I’d have liked to see the experiment last a lot long longer but understand Adam O’Brien’s approach. He is juggling Lachlan Miller and Tyson Gamble and, right now, Gamble is the more productive of the two. So, Ponga moves to fullback to provide O’Brien with the best balance for his side at the moment.
There is still a good chance Ponga moves forward again at some stage. Perhaps even this season. For many, his defence has been a concern but his performance on Saturday should start to turn those opinions.
He struggled to defend in the line early, but it’s hardly a surprise to see somebody miss a few tackles defending in a new position. Particularly when the opposition no doubt made him a target and wanted to test him early. However, he’s big enough, strong enough and smart enough to develop into a competent defender at five-eighth.
Ponga produced an excellent one-on-one tackle in the backfield to stop Ezra Mam in the second half. He quickly repositioned himself and cleaned up a grubber in the corner on the following tackle, too. Later, he put his shoulder into Walsh and floored his rival on a kick return.
The first thing coaches mention when it comes to good defenders is attitude. You have to have it. The technical and decision-making side of it can come later. For Ponga, there is no questioning his attitude to defence.
His ability with the ball needs no introduction.
Regardless of the number on his back, Ponga can find mismatches in the line and exploit them. Having found some success down the left edge already, he got to the outside of Adam Reynolds and beat the Broncos halfback for pace before wrong-footing Walsh at the back.
It’s a “he’s back” sort of try for Ponga after a difficult 18 months at NRL level.
He later created a dangerous action down the short side in a planned yardage sequence from a tap on the 10-metre line.
You can see him in the background of the play preparing the left edge. He’s putting the pieces in place to recreate a shift they had success with last week.
From the middle, Ponga and the Knights left edge again have Reynolds in their sights.
Tyson Gamble engages the line and uses a lead runner to hold Reynolds and create the space between the two and three defenders.
Ponga passed the ball to Bradman Best and backed up down the short side on the following play in Round 14. He keeps hold of the ball this time and takes the line on himself, but the result is similar.
Gamble wraps around the short side and gets downhill against a retreating Broncos short-side defence. He makes the right pass to Best who produces another nice tip pass sending Greg Marzhew down the sideline. It doesn’t end in points. Still, you can see the influence Ponga is having on Newcastle’s yardage sets and it feels like a result of the work he put in on the edges throughout the preseason.
That shift doesn’t turn into points because Walsh produced a ridiculous tackle.
Stand Marzhew and Walsh side-by-side, ask anybody on the street whether or not they think Marzhew would trample Walsh running straight at him at full speed, and 100% of the respondents would say yes.
Small in stature, Walsh has no respect for his body in these situations. He was targeted as a “bad defender” last year in a bad defensive team. When the line is breaking down in front of you as often as it was in 2022, you’re going to let a few in. However, this has always been part of Walsh’s game. He puts his body on the line and does enough to affect a tackle and allow his teammates to finish it if not complete it himself.
Walsh is only young and it’s difficult to get an accurate read on how a fullback influences a defence without seeing it in action at the ground, but the Broncos are playing with the second-best defence in the NRL and are rarely caught short for numbers on the edges. It’s safe to assume Walsh is playing a key role in that regard.
With the ball in hand, Walsh was again fantastic.
His pass for Selwyn Cobbo to score is a beauty and becoming a weekly feature. I once thought it was somewhat premeditated, but you can see how he pulls the ball back to pass and holds it until the defence provides him with a cue.
His try assist to Brendan Piakura ended up as the play of the game for me in a match Ezra Mam threw a flick pass out the back to win.
To see the jam, move with the ball in the air, step around the defence and make the pass…
That’s special.
It’s another string to Walsh’s bow that is already among the best in the NRL with the ball and he’s still only 20 years old.
Walsh v Ponga was hyped up as a battle between two of the game’s best #1’s and it didn’t disappoint. Both displayed their talents in attack and defence and did so in different ways. While Walsh has the fullback jersey locked up for Queensland this year, Ponga will have to be a consideration in 2024.
There is a world where both are in the 17 on game day in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, these one-on-one battles in club land should be circled as must-watch on the NRL calendar.
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An important tweet
I think this Tweet sums up the disconnect between what a lot of people say they want from rugby league media and what people end up clicking.
I didn’t read the story – something about Eels players meowing. Still, a lot of people did and their response was overwhelmingly negative. Controversy gets clicks and clicks drive content.
It’s up to the fans to change the landscape. So, with that in mind…
More good NRL 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 I’ve read or listened to recently:
- 300 to 1: The milestone kid out to one-up Croker’s special night
- ‘I forgive myself’: How Pangai has come to terms with Origin fallout
- Rugby league strives to step up amid Premiership’s collective crisis
- Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Winning Footy Notebook vs Raiders
If you’ve read anything worth sharing, perhaps you’ve written it yourself, flick it through so I can add it to the list.
A banger Titans Try
I loved this try from the Gold Coast Titans on Thursday night.
We’ve seen this shape pop up more and more recently and Brian Kelly, in particular, nailed it here for AJ Brimson to score.
It’s only a little thing, but Kelly bouncing off his right foot to turn the Wests Tigers centre is where the space is created for Brimson to score.
Where the block shape has typically revolved around the lead runner hitting the inside shoulder of a defender, this variation sees them bounce out with the fullback wrapping around. It’s very difficult to stop and it seems like teams are still figuring out the best way to handle it.
Quickly on Brimson: He needs to stay at fullback from here. Have him in #1 and figure out the rest from there. In Kieran Foran, Tanah Boyd, Jayden Campbell and Toby Sexton, they have plenty of options. Tom Weaver will be another one in the not-too-distant future as well.
“Holy shit”
Two plays left me with no more words than “holy shit” when they played out over the weekend.
The first: Lachlan Croker taking an offload and getting boot to ball while being tackled from behind.
The second: Ezra Mam realising his “little legs” wouldn’t get him to the line so he threw an outrageous flick pass to “the other guy with little legs” for the win.
Harry Grant The Wizard
Harry Grant feels like one of those players we take for granted a bit now.
He’s so good and has set the bar so high that most people have come to accept that he’s going to play well every week.
I’ve not spent enough time talking about him this year but he provided plenty of reasons to do this week.
He’s a magician behind the ruck and there is no better dummy half at spotting a smaller defender and exploiting him in the line than Grant. Whether it be passing a teammate onto him or charging at the target himself, Grant’s vision is second to none on the line.
He scored his first by jumping out from behind the ruck and playing big Tui Kamikamica onto Blayke Brailey. Anticipating his forward winning the contact and getting his arms free, Grant wraps around to receive an offload to score.
Shortly after, an offload of his own triggers a second phase and leads to a scrambled Sharks defensive line.
The Sharks can’t get back quickly enough for Will Kennedy to set the defence. He’s all on his own behind the ruck and Grant spots it early. Following up after releasing an offload and being taken to the ground 20 metres behind Nick Meaney’s play-the-ball, Grant only has eyes for Kennedy as he bursts towards the line and crashes over.
The Melbourne Storm haven’t been at their best this season but Harry Grant has been a standout. If they’re to overcome a strange first half of the season and charge into the NRL Finals, Grant will be alongside Cameron Munster at the forefront of it all.
Monday Night Footy Infringements
Here is something to keep an eye on tonight from the NRL Notepad:
