NRL Analysis: Contested kicks, Roosters v Panthers & Knights looking for balance

Round 7 is underway, and it’s already a banger.

The St George Illawarra Dragons attack is one of my favourite to watch and did just enough to beat the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on Thursday night.

65,000 turned up to Accor Stadium to see the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs thrash the South Sydney Rabbitohs and add more weight to their argument as premiership contenders. Later, the Dolphins did something Craig Bellamy says he can’t remember ever seeing to beat the Melbourne Storm.

What's to come here:

• “Why didn’t they contest that kick?”

• Easter Weekend Watchlist

  • Roosters v Panthers

  • Knights Looking For Balance

“Why didn’t they contest that kick?”

It’s a question asked on social media, in chat groups and the commentary box every week.

It’s one I’ve tried to answer before on the old website, but with it becoming a more prominent topic every week, I’ll try to answer it again.

A lot of this will look familiar to long-time readers¹ , but might still be worth the refresher ahead of the question being thrown out there before the round is finished.

It might not be the most exciting approach for viewers at home. For fans, you’re trusting the team will back up the conservative end of a set with a strong defence and eventually wear the opposition down.

It's easy to forget those contests that don't work out for the kicking team when the odd one results in a try or an opposition error. However, there is a logical reason behind teams not contesting on every kick.

None of this is to say it’s right or wrong—we’ll get into that more in the Weekend Watchlist below. It’s simply one way of doing things that does work when executed well.

Rugby league is becoming increasingly about possession and momentum. When contesting a kick, a team risks an error themselves, a set start for the opposition, a penalty, or a broken defensive line.

Take this example in Round 10 last season of when it goes wrong:

Both AJ Brimson and Jojo Fifita made an effort to be in a position to contest the kick.

Fifita manages to get up and disrupt the kick and does force a mistake. However, with Brimson’s first focus also being to contest the kick, he’s not in position to present a line and shut down the counter-attack.

Those close to the sideline have contested the kick, while the kick chase through the middle didn't close the gap. Scott Drinkwater is one of the most instinctive attacking fullbacks in the NRL and makes them pay.

But why do some NRL teams rarely contest, and what is the benefit?

They're happy to back their defence and pin the opposition in their own end.

As you might expect, the Penrith Panthers are masters in this area. They get around the ball, but don't commit themselves to the contest. Instead, they present a line and shut down the kick return before it has started.

By landing on the catcher and not allowing a kick return, the defence is set for tackle two. Notably, and a large feature of the Panthers at their best (more on what that looks like right now, too), the opposition middle forwards have to travel a lot further back to get behind the ball.

Just look at the line waiting for the Broncos’ outside backs on tackle two here:

Penrith's outside backs do the heavy lifting in yardage, which allows the middle to front-load their energy to defence early in a set. Not contesting the kick ensures they get the most out of the defensive energy from the middle forwards.

The Newcastle Knights became one of the best kick-contain teams in the NRL throughout the second half of 2024, and that trend has continued into 2025.

Here, they hold on their kick chase and instead allow Xavier Savage to catch the ball. The defensive line has plenty of time to set, and their line speed catches Jordan Rapana behind the Savage play-the-ball.

Albert Hopoate's carry on the following tackle ends up just five metres past where Savage caught the ball. By not contesting the kick and instead containing, the Knights defended three tackles for a five-metre loss.

These actions didn’t end up in highlight reels last season. You'll see teams get bored of kicking to the corner and containing on the kick chase within a game, it's that unexciting. Not everybody will agree with the approach, but the defensive benefits are why teams don't always get up for the ball.

Perhaps the better question every week is whether they should be contesting the kick?

Easter Weekend Watchlist

Roosters v Panthers

The 15th-placed Sydney Roosters take on the 16th-placed Penrith Panthers in this one.

What a sentence…

I still expect both to challenge for the Top 8 from here. They’re both well-coached and have rosters that should be playing finals footy if they’re healthy often enough throughout the NRL season.

We do need to start seeing a bit more soon, though.

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