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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What you’ll get in this NRL Round 6 Review:
- Roosters executing on a tap start
- Manu Magic
- Mouse trap!
- Liu’s ball-playing
- Koroisau’s deception & the options provided to him
The Tough Carry: Roosters executing on a tap start
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.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how they attack, the Roosters. Especially from set starts.” – Joey Johns
You can learn a lot about how a team wants to attack when it comes from a set start. They will run a somewhat scripted set to the points on the field they want to get a look from, with the ending determined by what the defence does in front of them.
A good ball tap start is designed to create opportunities and play to cues.
Sydney’s first try is a brilliant example and provides a glimpse of where they most want to attack from.
It starts with two carries directed at the Knights left edge.
Jacob Saifiti and Kai Pearce-Paul are both in there. Pearce-Paul is in the second tackle as well while Saifiti travels back to the long side.
A third down the short side (there’s Pearce-Paul again) generates a quick play-the-ball and shrinks the defence to bring the right edge backrower inside the posts.
We can see on the wide angle (Kayo, please bring back the full streams from this view) that the Roosters get the look they want and why.
Perhaps I’m looking into it too much, but I think you can see Smith point Victor Radley to the spot. He jumps out and shovels the ball on and motions to Radley to find the middle and a quick play-the-ball through Pearce-Paul (making is fourth consecutive tackle), Jayden Brailey and Adam Elliott.
Pearce-Paul and Brailey are the key here. With Pearce-Paul in the tackle Brailey needs to get off the legs quickly to fill in at A on the left edge. If Paul was the target, there’s a scenario where he struggles to get back in the line before Smith jumps out and attacks the short side.
Instead, Kalyn Ponga holds the spot for Brailey and a 5/5 split for as long as he can, but can quite get to the right edge quick enough to push Jacob Saifiti out a step or two wider.
With Jared Waerea-Hargreaves holding the marker inside Keary’s hip, Keary takes a long pass and skips to the outside of a tight and tiring Jacob Saifiti. With that, he’s able to square up the three and four defenders (in the box) and create the overlap out wide.
Joey Manu has a pick of either pass and executes to put Daniel Tupou over in the corner.
The start to sets don’t always look like much. In fact, they can look labouring at times. Like a wasted opportunity or aimless carry to get things going. However, there is often more to it when those set starts occur further up the field. There is a plan involved and it looks as though the Roosters executed theirs to perfection here.
It starts with putting fatigue into defenders down one side of the field, compressing the line before finding the middle of the field, and getting the ball wide depending on the split.
At their best, the Roosters are one of the most dangerous attacking teams in the NRL. Consistency eludes them right now, but they keep showing enough positive signs with the ball to suggest they will find it eventually.
Quick play-the-ball: Manu Magic & a mouse trap
We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.
Manu Magic
Joseph Manu is arguably the best centre in the NRL. As he showed on Thursday night, he could be one of the best fullbacks in the competition if given the chance.
What he lacks in the finer details of ballplaying and fullback play he makes up for in effort and constant contributions.
He touched the ball 45 times against the Newcastle Knights. With those touches, he produced 347 running metres, two line break assists, a try assist, 11 tackle breaks and a forced dropout. He was involved in everything, and most notably, involved in three of Sydney’s four tries through his passing game, push support and raw power.
Mouse trap!
I dug into the Canberra Raiders attack a little bit last week.
It’s here if you missed it, but in summary, they’re doing more with the ball this year. They’re constantly on the move, not afraid to throw it around, and have steered clear of simply crashing it up the middle for a set.
Now they’re throwing a mousetrap into the mix…
Love it.
Setting up for a shot: Liu’s ball-playing
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 Gold Coast Titans rank last in the NRL for yardage. They struggle to get up the field which puts pressure on their defence, which makes it harder to get up the field…
Something has to change and Isaac Liu’s ball-playing might be part of it.
He threw five passes on Sunday night and these are three of them.
The first isn’t perfect but it puts an idea into the minds of the Raiders defence. They’ve seen him bounce off his left foot and play out the back of a lead here, jamming from the outside in as a response.
Two tackles later he’s back at it. This time, however, he plays short. It’s not a flashy play, but it allows Moeaki Fotuaika to poke his head through the line to generate a quick play-the-ball.
It’s this third pass where it almost comes together. He just missed the pass.
The Titans paint the same picture for the Raiders. Ethan Strange makes his decision early and jams on a trailing Kieran Foran. If Fotuaika could mirror Liu’s step and bounce outside Hudson Young, he’s halfway through a gap if not all the way through and to the line.
Still without a win and averaging only 1,495 metres per game, I’m looking at the carries on the back of a Liu – or Erin Clark – pass a little bit more closely in Round 7.
Try Time: Koroisau’s deception & the options provided to him
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.
Take a bow, Api Koroisau.
The deception with the double pump while looking long to play short is just another example of the Koroisau masterclass we’re witnessing this NRL season.
There is a little bit more detail to it all, too.
The halfbreak brings Tyrell Sloan into the tackle and disorganises the Dragons line. You can see both Ben Hunt and Matt Eisenhuth pointing Raymond Faitala-Mariner to their side of the ruck.
For Hunt, he sees Justin Olam in front of him. Meanwhile, Eisenhuth knows that by sending an extra to the shortside with Sloan in the tackle, the Dragons are short on the open side.
Eiesnhuth takes a step out in anticipation of Faitala-Mariner filling in at A, but as he readjusts when Faitala-Mariner flips, Hame Sele (10) doesn’t follow and leaves the hole Stefano Utoikamanu eventually strolls through.
It’s a try that not only highlights Koroisau’s skill, but the importance of having options either side of the ruck for him to work with.