When the NRL preview rolls around, I always have a particular match, trend, team, or player in mind to focus on. This week, it’s the two teams at the bottom of the ladder.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs and Gold Coast Titans sit 16th and 17th on the NRL ladder after five rounds.
For the Rabbitohs, they’ve fallen shorter of expectations that anybody will have imagined. They’ve won only five of their last 18 games and have the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers to come over the next month.
Meanwhile, Des Hasler was signed on at the Titans for what he has done in the past. Their future doesn’t look particularly bright right now, though.
Rabbitohs need to roll
Completion rates are a funny stat. Some people overstate it. Some go the other way and undervalue it as though the number doesn’t tell us anything. But at the end of the day, South Sydney rank 17th in the NRL in completion rate at 73.5%.
They’re not giving themselves a chance, and it’s one area they need to improve on.
For a team down in confidence, holding the ball, completing sets and getting into an arm wrestle is a good way to build it back up. Their 12 errors per game are shattering. A team featuring Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Cameron Murray can turn things around if they’re provided with constent and clean ball.
“I know Jason is a good coach and something has gone amiss. That is their problem and they will have to sort it out.”
Wayne Bennett
We’re unlikely to ever know what that something is, but we can keep an eye out for what changes. Whether it be Jason Demetriou or Mal Meninga as coach, something has to happen.
Against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks this week, Souths need to set the game up early to win it late. Build into it by maintaining possession. While they’re impacted by injury, there is still points in this 17.
Souths are at the point where they don’t have to win to walk away happy. A good performance against a good team ahead of the bye could work wonders if they display the right signs throughout.
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Titans turning up in the middle
The Titans’ issues come in yardage – or their lack of it to rank 17th in the NRL at only 1,444 metres per game. For context, they’re almost 100 metres per game 16th in the competition.
They’re the worst team in the competition defensively. One way to help fix that is to get up the field and force the opposition to travel further. Spend less time defending under pressure.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s injury is an obvious factor. He’s a leader with his actions, and those actoins translate into roughly 160 running metres per game. He’s the guy who produces the carry to generate the quick play-the-ball which, in turn, makes it easier for the next player to get up the field.
He scrambles the line and generates a quick play-the-ball more often than not. The St George Illawarra Dragons struggled to keep up with him here.
The Titans don’t get it right after the carry; Keano Kini is too tight and makes the pass to Moeaki Fotuaika an ugly one. Ideally, Fotuaika flatter and hitting the advantage line.
Still, following a Fa’asuamaleaui carry, the Titans make another 15 metres on the following tackle despite the execution.
With an improved yardage game can come an improved defence. But it’s not as simple as running harder and faster. A lot of it comes from those without the ball, supporting the ball carrier and isolating defenders, reloading and going again on the next carry.
The Titans are up against a strong Canberra Raiders pack that thrives on momentum and shifting the ball. If the Titans are to match them in moving the ball, it will come on the back of a much-improved yardage game.
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The NRL is one of the most even sporting competitions in world sport. Somebody has to lose each week. But the Rabbitohs and Titans are better than what we’ve seen across the first five rounds of the season. At the very least, they’re falling short of even the lowest expectations set for them before Round 1.
There is no simple answer. It won’t happen overnight and it will take more than one good 80 minutes performance to right the wrongs. While there is a long time left in the 2024 NRL season, the Rabbitohs and Titans need to start turning things around now if they’re to cling onto hopes of playing finals football.