NRL Finals Week 2 Review: How the Sharks kicked their way past Cowboys & two wraparound plays

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.

What you’ll get in this NRL Finals Week 2 Review:

• How the Sharks kicked their way into the Preliminary Final

• Positives for Cowboys & Sea Eagles

• Angus Crichton’s wraparound

• Reuben Cotter’s wraparound

The Tough Carry: Sharks kick plan

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.

Braydon Trindall played out a blinder in the first half as the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks took a 24-0 lead over the North Queensland Cowboys into the break.

While all of the talk pre-game was around Nicho Hynes – some of it quite ridiculous – Trindall ended up as the lead playmaker across the first 40 minutes.

Hynes (40 touches) and Trindall (41) split the touches in the first half, and while taking the pressure off their #7 was important, the quality of touches, and where they were, allowed the Sharks to build their formidable lead.

Before breaking down the good, it’s worth rewinding the tape back a week to their Week 1 loss to the Storm.

The Sharks are under pressure in yardage here. They look to wrestle back the set with an offload, which turns ugly. In response, Hynes takes a shortside into a set defensive line.

Cramped up near the sideline, it’s obvious for the defence where the ball is going on the last. Alec MacDonald is able to fly out from marker knowing it’s unlikely that Blayke Brailey will sell a dummy and beat him back inside. Harry Grant is able to apply kick pressure from in front, too.

Trindall shovels the ball on for Hynes to get a kick away, but it’s a poor one under pressure and the Storm start the next set just short of halfway.

Under pressure in yardage again in the second half, Brailey is able to shoot out from dummy half to put the Sharks on the front foot. However, the Sharks pass up a three-man edge with momentum and the option to tip Tieg Wilton into a half on 4th tackle for a shift to the edge.

Tom Hazelton tips the ball into Briton Nikora, who has little choice but to take the tackle.

Again, close to the sideline with both halves stacked on the long side, it’s clear where the ball is going. The kick pressure on Hynes forces another average kick as Melbourne continue to dominate field position.

“Moving forward from last week, their 5th tackle options just need to be way better. If they can get that right – early kicks and stuff like that – get down there. If they get the territory battle won, they’ll win the game.” – Brandon Smith on The Bye Round Podcast

The Sharks got their 5th tackle options right and won the game.

Trindall, in particular, kicked for 438 metres in the first half. He averaged only 303 kicking metres per game when playing alongside Hynes this season.

Where they went searching for things that might not have been there in Week 1, the Sharks played to their points and applied pressure against the Cowboys.

Here, it’s Will Kennedy generating momentum before Cam McInnes does the same through the middle. Hynes and Trindall are on either side of the ruck, providing two kick options for Brailey the dummy half.

Trindall lands his kick in the 10×10 box halves are always aiming for and the Cowboys have 95 metres to travel if they’re to score.

Even when searching on 4th tackle, the Sharks played to better positions.

With Jason Taumalolo late to retreat, the Sharks have a good look down the left edge. It’s worth having a crack. However, as Jake Clifford gets high and the defence recovers, Trindall drops Wilton back under at the tiring Cowboys forwards.

Again, with Hynes and Trindall on either side of the ruck, the kick lands five metres from the Cowboys line.

Searching on the edge before running out of room just before halftime, Trindall drops Jesse Ramien back under this time. He doesn’t have a lot of room to get his kick away, but as a right-foot kicker with the pressure coming from the inside, he has time.

The Cowboys edge has got up high to defend the shift. They have a long way to travel if they’re to get back and up again to apply pressure. Trindall’s kick is tough to handle and leads to a forced dropout. With it, the Sharks regain possession and use it to score and push the lead out to 24-0.

Hynes finished the game with 83 touches to Trindall’s 65, but it was a different game in the second half. The damage had been done. It required the Sharks to manage the second half and Hynes took control.

It won’t come this easy against the Penrith Panthers, though. No team in the NRL is better at embracing the grind and backing their kick-chase and kicking game to apply pressure. The Sharks won’t be able to beat the Panthers at their own game. They’ll have to change things up again this week. Still, how they end sets, and where, will be crucial to keeping up with the Panthers for 80 minutes. Expect Trindall to again play a major role and for the touches between the two Sharks halves to be relatively even throughout.

Quick play-the-ball: Positives for Cowboys & Sea Eagles

We’re generating momentum through the middle of the article with a couple of quick carries.

Cowboys

Todd Payten made the big call to install Jake Clifford into the halves, and while it didn’t translate into an appearance in the Preliminary Finals, the North Queensland Cowboys can be confident in knowing they have their spine set for 2025.

I’ve long been a fan of Clifford and thought he was unlucky with his time at the Newcastle Knights. He has a great kicking game and is a strong runner of the ball. It’s his running game that I think pairs nicely with Tom Dearden and Scott Drinkwater.

Drinkwater, in particular, will float across both sides of the field. With Clifford a threat of tucking the ball under his wing and going himself, the defence has to hold up slightly. They can’t slide off early like they might have with Chad Townsend.

Clifford will be 27 years old when the Cowboys kick off the 2025 NRL season. He’s entering what are typically the prime years for a halfback. While he might not become a superstar, he profiles well as a valuable player for Payten moving forward.

Sea Eagles

The Sea Eagles seem to have found their style of play. Lulled into a false sense of security following the ridiculous six-again NRL season in which Tom Trbojevic was allowed to do whatever he liked, they’ve found a balance.

Still at their best when shifting the ball and always a threat on the edges regardless of field position, the Sea Eagles had a lot of success in other areas this year. Short sides are always a dangerous attacking weapon when Daly Cherry-Evans is involved, but Luke Brooks is a strong runner and threat on the edge, too. With a backrower like Haumole Olakau’atu, shortsides regularly present themselves, and the Sea Eagles took them with great success this season.

The Sea Eagles averaged only 18.9 points per game in 2022 and 22.7 points per game in 2023. With this new-look attack, Anthony Seibold’s side bumped their average up to 26.4 points per game in 2024 – 5th in the NRL.

The scoring output finally reflected the attacking talent on the roster. There is little reason to think that won’t continue in 2025.

Setting up for a shot: Crichton’s Wrap

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.

A handful of Sydney Roosters players are apparently preparing a rap album. As weird and wacky as that might be – and I’ll definitely listen to it at least once – this is the wrap I’m most focused on.

It’s clearly a planned move from this field position. You can see Angus Crichton change his line into Daly Cherry-Evans before twisting his body and finding James Tedesco on the wraparound. Reuben Garrick caves in to help his halfback with the big backrower, too.

Just like that, the Roosters have a 3 v 1 situation in the corner.

The Roosters will need a few tricks up their sleeves if they’re to break down the Melbourne Storm defence in the Preliminary Final. We might see this one again…

Try Time: Another wraparound

Sometimes, it’s a piece of magic. Other times, 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.

And another wraparound…

This time it’s Reuben Cotter who sucks in three Sharks defenders and turns in a fourth.

It’s all an attempt to isolate Nicho Hynes on the edge. As Scott Drinkwater takes possession and releases his pass, Tom Dearden already has Hynes beaten on the outside.

Hynes chases hard to recover, as he should. However, with the backrower dropping back under along with Val Holmes, Briton Nikora doesn’t track across to close the space.

I’m not so sure having Holmes drop under is deliberate. Nor is the backrowers’ run genuine enough to think he’s going to receive the ball. Still, Cotter’s work in the middle does the job, and Dearden is able to create something on the run.