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 7 Review:
- Marshall-King taking his chances
- An old-school banana kick
- Burton roaming to the right edge
- Walsh in the middle
- More Walsh weaving through the defence
Extra note: Sorry to the few of you who wait for this one on a Monday. I’ve been put on the injury report this week, so the review is a little bit shorter than usual. If all goes well, I’ll be ready for full contact on Thursday.
The Tough Carry: Marshall-King taking his chances
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.
Brad Arthur didn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation in his post-game interview following the Parramatta Eels’ big loss to the Dolphins in Darwin.
“We’re a part-time footy team at the moment. We pick and choose when we want to play. We pick and choose in the 80 minutes when we want to make a tough choice or a soft choice…It got too hard for us and too fast, and we gave up. Simple as that.
They choose – when the going is tough – whether they want to get forward in the defensive line, or if they want to make their tackle or lay on the ground.”
NRL coaches don’t use “soft” lightly but Arthur felt as though he had no choice. Even while the Eels made a game of it in the first half, the signs where there. Maybe not a for an eight-try Dolphins second half, but a difficult period after halftime, at least.
Without being in the sheds at the break we don’t know for sure, but my guess is Kristian Woolf suggested to Jeremy Marshall-King that be play in behind the ruck more often in the second half.
His deception caused issues for Parramatta in the first half. Their marker play was slow, allowing Marshall-King to jump out and engage the first marker, while Parramatta’s line speed from the inside dwindled as the half wore on. We saw Marshall-King generate ruck speed with relative ease as he played his teammates onto the ball.
Shortly after the break, however, the Dolphins were able to start turning that speed into points.
The Eels markers both take the option Arthur was so annoyed with ahead of Max Plath’s first try. The first marker barely moves while the second commits himself to the tackle, which allows Tesi Niu to dart back in behind the ruck.
An offload to Trai Fuller extends the play slightly and leaves two defenders on the ground.
That’s a sign for any hooker to run, but unlike in the first half when Marshall-King jumped out from dummy half and moved the ball wider, he took it through the middle himself.
He’s an underrated runner of the ball and skipped through the line with relative ease. Drawing the fullback, he sends Plath under the posts.
Marshall-King was brilliant in 2023. He’s carried that form into 2024 and remains one of the most underrated players in the NRL today. While the Eels’ middle folded and provided him with plenty of opportunities to generate his 76 running metres on seven carries, it’s the adjustment and execution that are most impressive.
The Dolphins always needed to find some value in their early contracts in search of a superstar. They’ve got one in Marshall-King.
Quick play-the-ball: Bananna kick & Burton roaming
We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.
An old-school banana kick
Last week we saw the Canberra Raiders produce a mousetrap. This week, the Gold Coast Titans gifted us with an old-school banana kick.
We see them from time to time, but they are not often as planned as this one.
Two things make me think it’s something they drew up earlier in the week.
First, AJ Brimson starts behind the ruck but moves to the middle of the field after Kieran Foran flips himself down to the short side late.
What Foran’s movements do is hold Jason Saab on the wing. He can’t cheat and track backwards with four Titans players in front of him on the short side. That keeps Tom Trbojevic closer to the sideline, and while he ends up under the ball in position, Brimson is able to fly onto it at speed.
The Titans are still winless after the first seven rounds of the 2024 NRL season. This is encouraging, though. Even when they’ve been bad, they’ve always entertained, and they did so while going down in this one.
Burton roaming
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs looked better again in Round 7 and turned it into a massive win over the Knights at home.
They’ve made their left edge attack the key point and should do with Viliame Kikau, Josh Addo-Carr, and Matt Burton camped over there. Newcastle no doubt made it part of their pre-game plan to shut it down. Perhaps that’s why they’ve camped four down the short side while the whole Bulldogs spine spread across to the right edge. Notably, Burton was included.
Stephen Crichton’s move to right centre may have dragged Burton over there with him more often. He swung around to the second layer here with Connor Tracey on the third, and the Bulldogs swung into the corner to score a beauty.
Unlike the last few years, when the Bulldogs have produced a decent number of points, their actions are repeatable. They’re not Burton chip kicks to Addo-Carr or somewhat lucky bounces. They’re planned moves executed well that can be executed again the following week.
Setting up for a shot: Walsh through the middle
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.
Reece Walsh will be a major talking point for every opposition throughout the week.
Keep an eye on him, call out his name, and don’t let him play with time.
He scored a beautiful solo try early on – more on that soon. It’s a Broncos try in which he made a simple pass that I’m keeping an eye on moving forward, though.
By taking the ball deep from Pat Carrigan’s pass, Walsh has time and space to weigh up his options. The defence instantly falls back on their heels, and in this case, their eyes are fixed to the fullback in what is a somewhat unfamiliar position through the middle of the field.
With the lead inside the three-man, Walsh is able to put Ezra Mam onto the two-man, and it’s a relatively simple three-v-two for the Broncos to score.
Walsh and Mam being able to switch spots is a dangerous asset to the Broncos attack. Both are run threats, and both can throw the looping pass over a jamming defence.
Where Walsh takes the ball, especially in set starts like this one, is something to follow in Round 8 and beyond.
Try Time: Walsh weaving
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.
The Canberra Raiders couldn’t get it right on Walsh this week.
They held their line and slid, only for Walsh to beat his opposite on the outside to score. Here, they jammed hard and didn’t lay a hand on him.
Walsh’s movements here are otherworldly. He moves without the ball and controls the tempo of his run to perfection. Defenders usually at least lay a hand on a player in this spot – not Walsh.
His timing out the back of a lead is immaculate. He holds the perfect depth to make either move, and even an early, correct guess from the defence isn’t enough to stop him.
He’s 21 years old…