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.
– How the Knights scored two tries in three minutes
– Asofa-Solomona on the edge
– A try on debut
– Liking what you like
– Some NRL stats
How the Knights scored two tries in three minutes
The Newcastle Knights broke away from the Wests Tigers early in their 34-18 win on Friday night. They played to their point and executed down the left edge using the same shape in slightly different ways.
Every team has the points on the field they like to attack from. Depending on the point and the splits their hooker and halves identify, they’ll have a menu of options depending on the numbers the defence gives them at the time. Meanwhile, the defending fullback is keeping an eye on the whereabouts of the attacking team’s spine and setting his line accordingly. It’s an 80-minute game of chess that, unfortunately, due to how the game is broadcast, we don’t often see all that well.
We get a fairly decent idea of how the Knights sequence their attack in good ball here, though.
On these two occasions, the trigger is Daniel Saifiti in the middle of the field, their shape is a block play around Brandon Wakeham, and they pulled both off with four and five defenders in front of them.
The first starts with Ponga receiving the dropout on the right post. Saifiti then takes a strong carry to the middle of the field and leaves Api Koroisau in his wake.
It’s the break through Koroisau’s tackle that ultimately creates the numbers advantage for the Knights down the left edge.
The Tigers have left four players down their right edge. Koroisau is late back into the line, and while he does an excellent job of getting back and up to apply some inside pressure on Jackson Hastings, that slight delay leaves John Bateman in no-mans land.
He doesn’t feel Koroisau recovering and pushing up on his inside. With Bateman on his heels as Hastings accelerates into the line, Wakeham does the same on Lachlan Fitzgibbon’s lead and Ponga is presented with a 3 v 2 scenario which he ices more often than not.
It’s exactly where you want Ponga in attack and the Knights are finding a lot of success down that side of the field at the moment. However, Saifiti’s work in the buildup can’t be understated. It’s a different look if Koroisau is able to get back to A and the Tigers line has time to adjust.
The Knights still had the answer when faced with the Tigers adjustment, though.
On the following set, Saifiti is again the trigger from the same spot. You can see Wakeham waving Stefano Utoikamanu over as Jahream Bula sets five defenders down the Tigers right edge. In response, the Knights add the extra layer through Adam Elliott, he finds Hastings out the back, and Ponga again takes possession out the back of Fitzgibbon’s lead to put Bradman Best over this time.
The Knights made it look easy early and while they perhaps should have put more on the Tigers, the attack is humming two weeks after putting 66 points past the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
You can only play what is in front of you, but the Bulldogs (30.5ppg) and Tigers (27.3ppg) are two of the worst three defensive teams in the NRL. They provide attacking teams with regular opportunities to score and the Knights made the most of them. In Round 21, however, Hastings, Ponga and the Knights will need to break down a Melbourne Storm defence conceding only 19 points per game – the 4th-fewest in the NRL. Melbourne are a lot better in the ruck and will slow things down to set their line. They play with relentless line speed and inside pressure, too.
Newcastle has improved massively to be in with a sniff of finals football, but next week will be the test that determines whether or not they can compete with the finals-bound teams heading into the pointy end of the season.
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Asofa-Solomona on the edge
The jury is still out on Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s role as an edge forward.
He’s so dangerous in the middle. Effective in yardage, his offload is lethal in good ball and has been a regular feature of the Melbourne Storm attack over the years. His work rate is grossly underappreciated and at his best, he’s one of the best props in the world without a doubt.
Now, Craig Bellamy has him playing on the edge.
Round 20 marked the third-consecutive game big NAS has been named to start in the second row.
There have been a couple of concerns defensively but given how hard he works in defence, his lack of speed compared to a lot of other edge forwards in the NRL hasn’t been exposed too often. But his play-the-ball leading to points on Saturday night might be what has Bellamy so intent on keeping him wider.
Nelson is huge. He often demands three defenders in the tackle, especially when the first contact comes from a halfback. He has more room to pick his targets, bigger gaps to crash through, and fewer instances of simultaneous contact.
He was able to scramble the Sydney Roosters defensive line for Harry Grant to scoot over in this one.
With Asofa-Solomona charging straight at Luke Keary, Nat Butcher is forced to chop him down low. He’s able to stop the big unit in his tracks, but Asofa-Solomona ultimately wins the ruck and gets a quick play-the-ball away. As a result, Butcher is left on the ground, Joey Manu is holding his spot at A down the short side waiting for him, and Lindsay Collins and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves can’t get off their line quickly enough.
He’s much smaller himself, but with his speed and agility that close to the line, Grant is able to crash over to score, and it’s all thanks to Asofa-Solomona’s carry on the edge.
It’s a balancing act for Bellamy at the moment. While Asofa-Solomona is an elite prop, you want your best players to spend as much time on the field as possible. In two of the last three weeks, the 27-year-old has played 75 and 72 minutes – the most and second-most minutes he’s played in a game throughout his 176-game NRL career.
Things will change if Tui Kamicamica or Christian Welch miss time, but for now, I like Asofa-Solomona on the edge where we can see him make the most of his skillset in attack.
A try on debut
Seeing a footy player score in their NRL debut is one of the game’s great pleasures.
It doesn’t seem to matter whether or not it’s a young winger destined for a long career scoring 100 tries or a big middle that might never score another, it’s a moment every fan remembers.
The mature debutant* is a try on a tier of its own, though.
For Dean Matterson, he found himself in the right place at the right time to cash in on an opposition error to dot down only four minutes into his NRL career – at home.
It doesn’t get much better than that to start a game.
You love to see it.
*I personally think we should see a lot more 25-year-olds making their debut but for now, it’s a mature age to earn your first game in the NRL.
Liking what you like
This follows up on a topic I touched on a few weeks ago, but one that does come up a couple of times a year.
For better or worse, rugby league content is driven by clicks and clicks are driven, for the most part, by social media algorithms.
Social media is based on engagement and the posts receiving the most are pushed to the top. Unfortunately, most engagement on the internet is negative. Those negative engagements drive clicks, organisations respond to the clicks by producing more of that content, and around in circles we go.
We were told growing up that “if you got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
It seems to be the opposite online.
I wrote a piece for NRL.com on how the North Queensland Cowboys have turned their season around. It seemed to be fairly well received but one comment stood out amongst the rest, albeit few.
Tunza, a great supporter of our site, is right, but the ultimate show of favour is to engage with it beyond clicking.
You only need to look at the traction James Tedesco’s week off in Byron generated to see why stuff like that continues to not only be produced but dominates headlines and timelines.
If you see something you like, add another perspective or layer to the article or video in the comments. Tag like-minded friends. RT, like, thread or whatever it is that is done on your platform of choice. That is how you truly make a difference and tell the right people that this is the kind of content you want to see.
“The reason most of the media has gone the way of tabloid journalism is because it rates. It’s what people like to watch.” – Ben Ikin on The Bye Round Podcast with James Graham
Some NRL Stats
After Round 20
Points Scored
1 – Sharks: 27.6
2 – Eels: 26.4
3 – Rabbitohs: 24.9
4 – Panthers: 24.8
5 – Cowboys: 24.3
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks can’t seem to beat the top teams in the NRL but they lead the competition in scoring. While they struggled in Round 20, their output suggests you can’t rule them out of a late premiership push. The same goes for the Parramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys who finished in the Top 4 last year but have spent more time outside the Top 8 than in it this season. The Round 21 clash between the two could prove pivotal by Round 27.
Points Conceded
1 – Panthers: 12.8
2 – Broncos: 17.8
3 – Warriors: 18.1
4 – Storm: 19
5 – Rabbitohs: 19.8
The Penrith Panthers are on a level of their own in defence. It doesn’t matter who is out there on the field, they’re so well-drilled that every player in the Top 30 knows their role in the line. After conceding an NRL-high 700 points throughout 2022, the New Zealand Warriors are the third-best defensive team in the competition through 20 rounds to be sandwiched between the four big premiership contenders.
Points Scored
17 – Tigers: 15.8
16 – Roosters: 16.4
15 – Bulldogs: 17.4
14 – Sea Eagles: 20.3
13 – Dragons: 21.1
I still can’t believe the Sydney Roosters are down here…
Points Conceded
17 – Bulldogs: 30.5
16 – Dragons: 29.1
15 – Tigers: 27.3
14 – Dolphins: 26.7
13 – Titans: 25.5
We might learn something about Cameron Ciraldo as a coach in the coming weeks. With Finals footy out of the question, he will be desperate to see an improvement in defence. So too, will Benji Marshall, Tim Sheens and the Wests Tigers. Meanwhile, the Round 20 loss may end up circled as one that stopped the Gold Coast Titans from cracking the Top 8, but they need to fix up their defence if they’re to continue pushing through to the end of Round 27.