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.
The making of David Fifita’s try
Despite their position on the NRL ladder in recent years, scoring points hasn’t often been a major issue for the Gold Coast Titans.
They play an expansive style and until this year, if all else failed, the plan simply became ‘give it to David.’
Piling up points isn’t enough to secure finals footy, though. Des Hasler’s focus will surely be on the defensive side of the ball when he arrives on the Gold Coast over the summer. However, he will take over an attack that can score from anywhere and proved again on Saturday night that they have an eye for the finer details.
David Fifita scored a simple try ten minutes into the second half in Round 25. Brian Kelly took the tap as he normally would and accelerated towards the defensive line. This time, however, he stepped back off his right foot and found Fifita lurking near the sideline.
It looks like the Titans have just spied an opportunity in the line and played what is in front of them – a rampaging Fifita running at a halfback. While true to an extent, it’s a planned move they no doubt trained for throughout the week.
You can tell by Fifita’s body language that he’s trying to show the Panthers that the ball is going to the long side. He doesn’t look like somebody that is preparing to take a carry but as Kelly takes the tap, Fifita springs into action and beats Nathan Cleary on the outside.
Cleary on the outside…
It’s a somewhat common spot for a halfback to defend. A few clubs do it at times but the Panthers seem to make a real effort in getting their halves to the sideline. The Titans saw it coming ahead of time in their prep throughout the week and identified a small detail and turned it into points.
Here’s Cleary hugging the sideline as Tom Weaver kicked to touch only a minute earlier.
Going back a full week, here’s Cleary again on the sideline. As the Manly Warringah-Sea Eagles take the tap and shift the ball to the middle of the field, Cleary moves from his assigned position on the sideline for the tap and back to three-in where he typically defends.
Back another week and here he is on the sideline again. As Cameron Munster kicks the ball up the field you can see how far Cleary has come to get to the sideline for the tap.
Fifita’s try isn’t an accident. It’s a superb example of the attention to detail that can decide games throughout the year.
While it worked to perfection this time, the worst case is Fifita running straight at a halfback with the line in sight. Cleary is a good defender for a halfback, but he would struggle to stop Fifita from pushing through the tackle far enough to score this close to the line.
The Panthers are the best defensive team in the NRL. Their middle gives up the fewest metres in the competition and having their biggest and best defenders in the line defending away from the ball on taps might be one small reason for their dominance. It’s not uncommon to see a centre take the tap and look to pick up easy metres running at the half standing directly in front of them. The Titans caught them out, though. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers approach these moments in the coming weeks and whether or not other teams look to expose them in the same way.
A Sharks beauty
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks attack has kept humming since Will Kennedy went down with an injury.
Connor Tracey has long been on the cusp of regular NRL football and has shown why he’s such a valuable player within the Sharks setup even if he doesn’t play every week – he can pop up and do a job anywhere.
He has played his best at fullback for the Newtown Jets throughout the year and it is translating to NRL level at the moment. His try assist for Ronaldo Mulitalo to score on Thursday night is an absolute beauty.
The Cowboys are numbered up here. If anything, they have an extra one with Jeremiah Nanai’s movement from marker after the Braden Hamlin-Uele play-the-ball. But with Nicho Hynes able to get at Scott Drinkwater while Jason Taumalolo is a little bit slow off the line, Wade Graham ties up Chad Townsend while Siosifa Talakai’s slip line sends Peta Hiku into no man’s land.
Tracey then has the composure, footwork and pass to finish it off. Beautiful.
Their struggles against Top 8 teams still hang over the Sharks but their recent form is enough to be hopeful of a run through September. Tracey’s form, in particular, is encouraging given how important the ball-playing element of the fullback is to their attack.
Up against a high-scoring Newcastle Knights team in Round 26, we should learn a lot more about the Sharks defence and whether there is any chance it is up to scratch.
Ryan Papenhuyzen Sualauvi Faalogo Watch
I said last week that I’d be back for this one with more Ryan Papenhuyzen stuff after covering his latest game against the Tweed Seagulls in Round 22 of the Hostplus Cup season.
Papenhuyzen was good, but not noticeably incredible. You can often see the guy that’s too good for Cup footy stand out given the extra time they have on the ball or ruck control in defence. Papenhuyzen didn’t stand out like that in this one which isn’t a huge surprise given how little he has played over the last 18 months.
Instead, the focus needs to be on Sualauvi Faalogo.
The 20-year-old scored an incredible chip-and-chase try out of yardage last week. On Saturday, he returned a Lindon McGrady kick to the house showing a lethal turn of pace and footwork at speed.
As you might expect when you have a player with speed to burn on the edge, the Sunshine Coast Falcons looked straight to him when presented with a transition opportunity from broken play.
He finished with 208 running metres and seven tackle breaks in this one and is averaging 153 metres per game this season. His numbers aren’t too shabby regardless of the competition.
The Melbourne Storm aren’t stacked with outside backs at the moment. I’ve been impressed with Will Warbrick this year and Xavier Coates has one wing locked down for as long as he wants it. Still, they’re an injury away from Faalogo being considered. Probably not this season, but surely in the next.
Api KoroiWow
With no hopes of finals football and his contract extension already on the books, Api Koroisau had every excuse you could want to phone in the end of the NRL’s regular season. Instead, he’s stood out every week for the Wests Tigers as not only the best player in their team but one of the best in the competition overall.
He’s doing it all for the Tigers at the moment but his short kickoff on Sunday afternoon was something special, still.
The Dolphins knew the short one was coming. They stacked their left side in preparation for Koroisau trying to land one on the ten-metre line. However, the Fijian international kicked across his body and chipped the ball up into the space like a golf shot deep out of the bunker.
Given the record of his team, it’s unlikely that Koroisau is much of a chance at the Dally M Hooker of the Year award. Make no mistake, though, he’s the only one close to Harry Grant in the dummy half department.
DWZ is redefining ‘the best seat in the house’
Nobody has ever turned up to a stadium and said to those around them “Let’s go and stand at the fence in the corner.”
That was until Dallin Watene-Zelezniak started putting on a weekly show of some of the best finishing we’ve ever seen.
Just look at the number of people in the corner (my brother one of them who changed corners at halftime) and how many phones are out in preparation for the DWZ show…
He missed the first six rounds of the 2023 NRL season but is equal with Jamayne Isaako and Alex Johnston with 21 tries. The Warriors are only one win away from securing a place in the Top 4 and the reliability of Watene-Zelezniak’s finishing in the corner has played a major role.