There is a lot to cover after every round in the NRL. Throughout the 2024 season, this is a place where I’ll cover what is most important, a few little things I liked from the round, something to keep an eye on in the next one, and a try I particularly enjoyed.
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The Tough Carry: How Tago ripped through the Eels
Tackle 1 is often the toughest carry of the set. It can make or break it. Here, it’s my biggest talking point from the round that was.
Izack Tago finished the game with six linebreaks on Friday night.
It’s more than many teams manage in a whole game so I had to dig further into how he was able to rip through the Parramatta Eels line so often.
The forced reshuffle of the Eels left edge had a lot to do with it. Bailey Simonsson left the field early forcing Brad Arthur to install Kelma Tuilagi and Bryce Cartwright into the centres.
It doesn’t take a genius to see a player out of position in the line and say “target him.”
However, it wasn’t a case of getting up the field and putting pressure on those players while defending their own line. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The Panthers made the most of the mismatch in yardage and didn’t waste any time in exposing their advantage. Here, Dylan Edwards fishes across the field on the kick return.
Importantly, he has brought Shaun Lane (left edge backrower) and Tuilagi (makeshift left centre) into the tackle. Better still, he wins the tackle and we can see Tuilagi late back into the line.
That leaves Reagan Campbell-Gillard in the unfamiliar spot of B defender on the short side. It’s a fairly clear plan given how quickly Sunia Turuva releases the ball to Nathan Cleary outside him before Tago and Liam Martin link up for the first line break.
It’s much of the same for number two. Again it’s Edwards working across the field. Morgan Harper can see what the Panthers want to do and tries to solve it himself. However, Turuva is good enough to evade the tackle and send Tago down the sideline. There isn’t much Tuilagi can do, but he doesn’t have the speed to close down the Panthers centre himself.
The third is my personal favourite because of what happens inside Tago.
The ball goes through five sets of hands after Nathan Cleary touches it, but it’s his involvement that creates the space on the edge.
He tucks the ball and makes a line Campbell-Gillard. It doesn’t seem like much on the first look, but you can see how, by picking Campbell-Gillard, he’s able to engage two middles. Isaah Yeo uses a lead to engage the three and four man, and just like that, the Panthers are testing out the new-look Eels edge and Tago is awarded a linebreak and try assist.
Penrith went back to the well in the second half, twice simply shifting the ball early out of yardage to put Tago in a strong positon against his opposite.
Tago’s try and line break ended up as the most unimpressive of the lot. The beneficiary of a break down the left edge, Tago is left with achres of space to sell a dummy and barge over in the 55th minute.
His six linebreaks are the talk of the town. It’s a big number on it’s own, and while I’m not a SuperCoach player, I’m guessing he was popular in those circles this week, too.
But it’s how the Panthers did it. The in-game adjustments. The execution under pressure. We constantly see reshuffles or injuries cause havoc to a defensive line go unpunished by an attacking team. Not the Panthers, though. They fell into shape like it was an unopposed captains run and made the most of the favourable situation in front of them.
The Panthers squad is stacked with talent, but so are many others. It’s their ability to execute the game plan that sets them apart from the rest of the NRL. It’s why, despite losing players over the summer and not looking their very best to start the season, remain as the benchmark of the competition.
Quick play-the-ball: Burton running, Tuku’s impact & roaming outside backs
We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.
Simple Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs looked a lot better in attack this week. It only translated into six points but they at least threatened the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks line at times.
Their best moments were simple, early-ball actions to their best players on the left edge. Nothing flash. Just making the most of their most dangerous weapons.
Matt Burton ran the ball early on. Later, he almost put Viliame Kikau over by simply shovelling the ball on and letting the big Fijian run riot. Burton running the ball doesn’t have to end in a line break or even a tackle break to be effective. He can sit defenders and make things easier for those outside him when tucking the ball and attacking inside shoulders.
It’s not world beating. It’s not premiership winning. But it’s better than we’ve seen in recent seasons and at least acts as an avenue to ask consistent and repeatable questions of the defensive line.
Tuku’s Impact
From the same game, Tuku Hau Papua was a new name for most as he ran out for his first NRL game for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
He earned his spot with an impressive performance against the Warriors in the New South Wales Cup a week earlier. A mountain of a man at 114kg and 196cm, he presents as an excellent impact option off the bench.
The 22-year-old made a mark on this one shortly after running onto the field. As the Sharks moved up towards the goal line, Blayke Bradley hit him short twice in a matter of minutes. Big and powerful, he scrambles the line and for an attack that relies so much on seeing cues, he can have a huge impact off the bench.
Craig Fitzgibbon only sent him out for ten minutes in this one. I’d be surprised if that doesn’t inch closer to 20 minutes per game in the next few weeks.
Roaming Outside Backs
Discussions around roaming players has revolved around centres recently.
Tom Trbojevic has made a State of Origin career out of it. Joey Manu has remained at the Roosters, I’m guessing, with the understanding he is allowed to spread himself across the field more than a typical centre. It’s not uncommon to see him float over to the left edge to start a yardage set or towards the back end of a good ball set as the Roosters swing the ball. It’s a regular part of his game at this point.
I think we will see Tolutau Koula add it to his game in the coming weeks, but another player, a former centre, is already roaming.
Zac Lomax is already spreading himself across the field. You can see him swing late on 5th tackle in what looks to be a pre-planned play here.
There have been rumours of discontent with Lomax and his new position. It’s not a secret that he would rather be in the centres. Perhaps putting him in more situations like this will help to keep him engaged in his role.
Setting up for a shot: Paseka out wide
Teams play to points with the following tackle in mind. Here, I’m touching on something to watch next week as we try to keep ahead of things happening on the field.
The Sea Eagles made Luke Keary their target in Round 2. They constantly ran Haumole Olakau’atu at him. While it doesn’t come off, I particularly liked this look.
They’ve put Taniela Paseka outside Olakau’atu to run a lead inside the four man, hoping to isolate Olakau’atu onto Keary.
It takes a great Keary tackle and Sitili Tupouniua scrambling to close it down. I don’t think it’s the last we see of this action.
Try Time: Moses Leota swapping hands
Sometimes, it will be a piece of magic. Others, it’s a basic move made to look easy. Whatever it is, all great sets end in points, so we’re doing the same here.
There is the obvious Try of the Round. There’s a a very good chance it ends up as the Try of the 2024 NRL season. We’ve all seen it, so I’m going with something different.
Something that won’t make the hype reel for Las Vegas next year.
Particularly, it’s Moses Leota – a prop – running at full speed and swapping the ball between his hands three times on his way to the line.
It’s his footwork late to evade the sliding defender. As he makes that move, he swaps his ball-carrying hand to fend off the help inside. With one to beat, he frees up his right hand to keep Clint Gutherson at bay and scores a beauty.
Some of these players in the NRL don’t make sense. In a league that is defined by size and strength, we sometimes forget just how skilful these big blokes are. Leota is one of them as one of the most underrated in the league.