NRL Analysis: Why wingers jam in

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 jamming wingers and why they aren’t always at fault.

There are a few classic lines repeated in the stands throughout an NRL game.

You’re not live in attendance if somebody isn’t demanding the referee “get ’em onside” within a minute of the game kicking off. Chances are that offside player has already “been doing it all day.”

One that isn’t so common, but one that I can feel coming as soon as we’re given the cue, is “why did the winger jam?”

The expectation, for some, is that a winger never leaves the paint. They defend the winger opposite them, and only that player. Nobody else. While that is an ideal situation for the defence, it’s not realistic.

It’s a bit like a goalkeeper being forced into a one-on-one situation; something has gone wrong up the field, and they’re the last line of defence.

I highlighted in the NRL Round 6 Review how this…

…turns into a try; one the winger has little influence on by the time the ball gets to the edge.

It doesn’t take long to find another couple of examples where the winger is left on an island. They’re forced into a decision and sometimes make the wrong one, but that decision isn’t necessary if things go to plan inside them.

The Penrith Panthers are one of the best defensive teams in NRL history. They have carved out a system that works and they believe in it. However, that belief can be tested when the likes of Haumole Olakau’atu is running a hard line in front of you.

It looks like a classic “why did the winger jam” scenario, but Brian To’o doesn’t have much choice here. Jarome Luai has shrunk into his backrower at the sight of Olakau’atu on his inside. With Ben Trbojevic flat on Olakau’au’s outside, To’o needs to close the space and address the most immediate danger.

To’o doesn’t get there in time and Trbojevic does a nice job in getting the pass away under pressure. He’s made the right decision here, though.

This Broncos example is a little bit different.

Watch the movements of Jarrod Wallace out of the tackle. With the big middle late into the line, the Broncos have created a numbers advantage. A nice long pass out of dummy half adds to it as Ezra Mam takes possession outside the four-man and skips further to engage the three-in defender.

Jamayne Issako sees it coming early. He rushes in to put pressure on Selwyn Cobbo out the back of Jaiyden Hunt’s lead. Again, it’s not perfect, but he’s forced Mam into the more difficult pass.

Wingers often become the scapegoat on defence. They’re by no means blameless; there are still good defending wingers and bad ones. But a jamming winger isn’t always at fault.

There will be another few examples to come out of Round 7 of the NRL season. A winger will come into make a tackle that ends in a try, and somebody beside you will ask the question: “Why did they jam in?”

The answer – if the broadcast give us the right angles to work with – will be in the replay and the movements of the players closer to the ruck from which the play started.