If the beers are cold and the afternoon’s long enough we’d be talking footy all day, every day until kickoff on Thursday night. With so much to review, let’s break down some of the key plays each week in the NRL.
How Melbourne set up Jonah Pezet for first-grade success
Roster depth will be more of a factor this NRL season than in any other. The new mandatory 11-day stand-down policy for concussions will force coaches to reach deeper into their squad of 30 than ever before. Throw suspensions and representative duties into the mix, and there’s even more pressure on rookie players to provide cover at a pinch.
We’ve heard about Jonah Pezet for a while now. He brained it for NSW in the U19’s State of Origin series last year and was quickly snapped up by Melbourne in the process. Now, he’s been thrust into the picture ahead of schedule to enjoy a flying start to his NRL career.
It’s not often a rookie playmaker dominates with his first taste of first-grade. Playing within an elite system like Melbourne though, Pezet stuck to the gameplan to have a starring role in the 24-12 win over Wests Tigers in Round 4. The Storm had a clear plan to target Luke Brooks and Asu Kepaoa on Wests left edge on Friday night. They sent a variety of attacking shapes at the Tigers duo, testing their positioning, decision making and cohesion in defence.
The first test came just minutes into the contest when Cameron Munster swept over to the right edge in good-ball, trying to get at Brooks’ inside shoulder down a short side.
The principle is simple. If Munster can get at Brooks and force him to turn in, Kepaoa will either jam in too and leave Smith unmarked, or stay on his opposite man and open a hole for Katoa off Munster’s hip. Thankfully for Kepaoa and the Tigers, some good linespeed from Api Koroisau here pressures Munster from the inside which allows Brooks to stay square and shut things down.
Not to be dissuaded, Melbourne asked the same question not long after.
Shifting the ball in yardage this time, Munster shovels it on to Pezet who has shape to his outside. The work of Munster at pivot allows Pezet to take possession on Isaiah Papali’i’s outside shoulder, and he doesn’t have the same inside-pressure that Koroisau provided in the first action.
With time to ballplay, Pezet isolates Brooks in the line and forces him to bite. Kepaoa follows his halfback in, jamming on Nick Meaney who is sweeping out the back of Katoa’s lead line. It’s a good read from Kepaoa but an even better read from Pezet, who identifies the shooting defence and smartly lofts a ball over the top for Smith in space. The Storm eat up 30 easy metres down the touchline as a result.
Just minutes later and Melbourne were at it again.
Set up in good-ball this time, the Storm shift it right on tackle three through their forwards. Harry Grant passes to Josh King at the right post, and King makes a bee-line towards Brooks’ inside shoulder.
As King appears to settle things up, Brooks turns in to help Papali’i make the tackle. When Brooks goes low though, King gets his arms free and pops the offload to Pezet in support. Kepaoa has followed Brooks in but doesn’t close the space quickly enough to contain Pezet, who also gets an offload away to Katoa on his outside.
It’s a little more opportunistic than with Munster in the first action, but the principle is the same.
Testing the defensive combination of Brooks and Kepaoa, the Storm get a result when Kepaoa is marginally late to jam in with his halfback. Both he and Brooks make contact with the ball carrier, but neither wraps up the ball which allows King and Pezet to promote the footy to the edge. A lovely pass from Katoa sums things up from there as Will Warbrick finishes in the corner.
Having found some luck down that edge, Melbourne wasted no time going back to the well.
Again spreading it right in yardage, Munster does a good job engaging the line to get Pezet on the outside of Papali’i yet again.
With Papali’i beat for speed, Pezet isolates Brooks in the line. Katoa is running a strong lead line at Brooks’ outside shoulder while Pezet targets his inside, and in his indecision Brooks freezes and plants his feet.
The front-on angle shows it best.
Kepaoa can see what’s unfolding and makes the right read to jam in on Katoa here, but Brooks doesn’t follow suit. Perhaps because Kepaoa hadn’t jammed on the previous occasion, or perhaps due to a lack of playing time together, Brooks doesn’t move in unison with Kepaoa. Instead, he holds on Katoa’s lead line which allows Pezet to slip past his inside shoulder. Another lovely offload from Pezet beats Papali’i’s legs tackle to pass Katoa into the backfield, and Meaney finishes things from there.
In isolation, these few actions from Pezet are moments of individual brilliance. The vision, the ballplaying, the offload – all signs of a very talented young playmaker. In reality though, this was all Pezet playing within his systems and executing a specific plan with the ball. How he got there – whether via a lofted cut-out pass, a pre-line short ball or a through the line offload – was up to Pezet and his own instincts.
It’s is a wonderful example of the coaching brilliance of Craig Bellamy. He provides his players with a blueprint of what or where to target, while leaving the ‘how’ up to the man with the ball. Pezet’s target was Brooks’ inside shoulder, but what he did once he got there was up to him – and he nailed his assignments in Round 4.
Not just settling for a bit-part role in Melbourne attack though, Pezet got busy on both sides of the field in attack and as a kicking option on fifth tackle.
This kick was one of nine that Pezet put up against the Tigers. He finished the game with two forced drop-outs and managed 191 metres with the boot, proving a capable option for Melbourne late in the set. This attacking bomb was particularly effective to pitch the 194cm Xavier Coates against the 184cm Charlie Staines. Coates wins that match-up as expected to take possession and roll a grubber into the ingoal, earning a fresh attacking set.
Four tackles later and Pezet was in the box seat again.
It won’t seem like much following his highlight-reel actions earlier in the game, but these involvements suggest Pezet has a long-term future in the NRL. He isn’t afraid to wear a shot after passing and looks comfortable in a first-receiver role as he does out the back of shape.
His work to compress the defence before shifting to Munster on the left edge here is nice.
With the ball out in front, Pezet engages the line to bring three Tigers defenders towards the ball before throwing out the back. It’s his involvement that strips Wests for numbers on the edge and leaves Brandon Wakeham to make a passive legs tackle on Justin Olam here. With the ruckspeed Olam is allowed to generate, Munster goes over on the following play.
That’s good eyes up footy from Munster and a great hit-up from Olam, but we can credit Pezet for his lead up work here, too. Having been engaged in the line by Pezet one tackle earlier, Shaun Blore (16) barely makes it onside when Munster darts from half and is stuck in the mud on his own try line.
Playing within Melbourne’s systems has helped Pezet to a promising start in the NRL. His role has been kept simple and the players around him have helped him succeed. It won’t surprise to hear suggestions of Munster moving to fullback and Pezet holding his spot in the halves, if he can keep this up. Meaney provides excellent coverage at the back but if Bellamy thinks Melbourne need more in attack, it’s an option to consider until Ryan Papenhuyzen returns.
There’s Always Next Week For…
… The Dolphins
Wayne Bennett’s epic start to the NRL season hit a speed bump in Round 4 with an agonisingly close 18-12 loss to the Brisbane Broncos.
The Dolphins played out this match just like they have the first three games. They completed well and defended smartly to stay in the yardage battle and always keep the result within an arms reach. In good-ball, their attack threatened on both edges to only be denied by some desperate and impressive Broncos defence. With the game in the balance, The Dolphins searched for a winning play but couldn’t find it with so many key players removed from the contest.
A six point loss to a finals quality opposition is not cause for concern. The key players that will be missing again over the next few weeks is, though.
We knew depth would be The Dolphins greatest challenge in 2023. Over the next month, we’ll get a better idea of how well equipped they are to handle that challenge.
NRL Round 4 Shout-Outs
Lachie Miller – I’m going to save the GIFS for my Heads In! preview this week, but allow me to sing Miller’s praises here today. In just his 11th NRL appearance, Miller was everywhere for the Knights to orchestrate a 24-12 win over the Canberra Raiders in Round 4. He will always be a high-involvement type player on kick returns and supporting in yardage, but it’s Miller’s ballplaying abilities that stood out in Round 4. His deception and pre-pass tempo changes bamboozled the Raiders edge defence to be involved in three Newcastle tries on Sunday afternoon. His development will be key to the Knights success in 2023.
Lachlan Ilias – If I was convinced about Ilias’ NRL prospects midway through last season, I’m not sure how to describe how I feel now. He’s still got a long way to go before he’s the finished product, but Ilias has this Rabbitohs tragic feeling very happy at time of writing. The watch winning field-goal was clutch, but the try saving, one-on-one tackle on Kelma Tuilagi in the 63rd minute was even better. Barring injury, he will be a 10+ year NRL halfback… hopefully in the red and green.
GOATs doing GOAT things – When Mark Nicholls swatted the ball out of Selwyn Cobbo’s hands as he dove for the try line on Friday night, NRL fans rightly lost their minds.
When I rewatched the game on Saturday morning, so did I. Not only did Nicholls make a try saving effort on Cobbo as he fell to the Suncorp Stadium turf, he also made four consecutive tackles in the lead up, including this try saver on a runaway Reece Walsh:
It’s these kinds of actions that made Nicholls a target for Wayne Bennett at The Dolphins this year. Efforts like this can’t be coached – you either make them or you don’t, and Nicholls will make that effort time and time again. It epitomises how the Dolphins have gone about their footy so far this NRL season, and if that effort remains they will be well placed to navigate key injuries in the coming months.
Shaun Johnson – Instead of losing time and brain cells arguing over the obstruction interpretation, can we please just take a second to enjoy Johnson’s NRL revival? He hasn’t been as poor as the media has suggested over the last few seasons, but Johnson is playing out a stellar season to begin 2023. His general play kicking is much improved and his involvements in attack – albeit not always highlight reel involvements – are helping the Warriors consistently create points across the park. Andrew Webster wasn’t exaggerating when he said Johnson won them the game in Round 4. Lets Gone!