NRL Round 2 Review: The new-look Tigers spine, Raiders short sides & Trindall taking over

The NRL season really feels underway now. A disrupted Round 1 felt like a tease as Las Vegas held two games before six spread across a weekend a week later. We’re into the swing of things now with Round 2 producing some impressive performances and surprise results.

What's to come this week:

• The new-look Wests Tigers spine

  • Try 1 - The spine linking up

  • Try 2: Bula's role

  • Try 3 - Galvin in support

  • Try 4 - This is Wests Tigers

  • Try 5 - A sneaky scrum try

  • Try 6 - Turuva has three

  • What can we take out of it?

• Quick Play-the-Balls

  • Wounded Panthers

  • Shane Flanagan is breathing fire

  • Things you love to see…

• Setting Up For A Shot: Canberra’s short side raid

• Try Time: Trindall taking over

Big Takeaway From the Week: The new-look Wests Tigers spine

Tackle one can make or break a set of six. First up here, we’re breaking down what makes for the biggest talking point of the week.

I’ve taken a bit of a risk in relying on the Wests Tigers to provide me with the big takeaway for Round 2, but good or bad, the new spine linking up will be a talking point.

With the long-awaited first look at Jahream Bula, Lachlan Galvin, Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau, I’ll give you my first thoughts as the game progresses.

Note: I’m using the times from the Fox broadcast.

Pre-game Questions

Is the Koroisau/Luai combination that developed during their days at Penrith relevant?

How does Bula fit alongside two run-first halves? Does he spend more time pushing up through the middle in support or find himself on the second layer out wide?

We have to take a trial game approach to this and not read too much into it, but we will see a few signs of things to come this season.

First half

38:02 - Kick chase

Galvin is still growing into his body and will be a target for the attacking team for the foreseeable future. If Luai is to kick on the left side on the last, Galvin can expect a lot of traffic to come his way on the kick return.

33:36 - 5th tackle confusion?

A Galvin carry on the last makes for a sloppy 5th tackle option for the Tigers. It makes it easy for the kick pressure to zero in on Luai, but he’s able to find a pass wide. Going back to last week, the Eels do keep their wingers fairly far back on both sides on the last tackle, so maybe the pass is by design?

30:10 - Clunky

This definetly looks like a spine that hasn’t spent a lot of time together…

Koroisau is showing some craft, but Luai and Galvin aren’t quite clicking. After a number of crashes through the middle attacking the line, the forwards put themselves in the way as the halves appeared to have drawn something up out the back.

19:40 - A scripted set

The errors are mounting in this game, but the Tigers have an opportunity to start with a scrum 40 metres out. We should learn something here. It’s a prime spot to act on the game plan, work to the spots they’ve circled and construct a full set attacking the line.

Cooper Cronk just fell off his chair in commentary…

It provided a hint for what is to come later, though. Take note of Galvin presenting himself to feed the scrum.

13:13 - Finally! A try

The spine links up and makes the most of a standing tackle.

Shaun Lane is a great ball carrier but is there to be beaten on his outside if the shape is right. With Galvin able to fix up the big backrower in the line, Wests create an extra number against a back-tracking Parramatta edge.

Alex Twal’s involvement through the middle is important, too. Junior Paulo can’t push up at Luai, which allows the Tigers #7 to skip out to B with a lead inside Lane.

7:33 - Struggling to build pressure

Galvin is all over the place towards the end of sets. It’s going to come off from time to time, but at what cost? It’s led to a scrambled last play earlier, and now a laboured shift on the last that neither applies pressure to the defence nor generates the sort of field position a good kick would.

With a left footer and right footer, the Tigers have the perfect combination for a two-sided kicking game to end their sets.

4:40 - What Bula can add through the middle

While the last pass on a sweeping shift is the highlight play fans and SuperCoach players want from Bula, his involvement in the second phase in the build-up to Wests’ second try is where he adds value.

Terrell May’s offload causes havoc with Bula there to scramble the line further.

The offload leaves Lane behind the Bula play-the-ball when he is tackled. The result is felt on the following play as he struggles to get back in the line leading to three Eels defenders tight around the ruck on the short side.

Jack Bird holds them up before playing to Galvin who makes a simple early pass. Starford To’a has a lot of work to do and his finish is arguably the best of the round. While To’a might not be able to replicate that effort every week, May and Bula’s involvement is a repeatable action we can expect to see plenty of this season.

1:57 - A set after points

I really don’t know why, especially after points, the Tigers aren’t finding the middle of the field to kick on the last… Another dodgy end to a set.

0:50 - Welcome back Jahream Bula

Second half

37:40 - This is the Wests Tigers

“Don’t stop playing football.”

Those were the words from Benji Marshall at halftime. Perhaps having little structure to their last plays out of yardage is part of the plan, because their first try out of the break feels like one that might sum up the Wests Tigers by the end of the year.

Again the 5th tackle is a bit of a mess. Galvin is first not in position to kick, while he does eventually plug himself down the shortside, Wests are late to dummy half and Luai is again easy to pick out as the kicker. It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear the option to run - even in yardage - is an pre-planned option on the last, though.

15:40 - Getting to the kick

While Benji did tell his side to keep doing what works, the Tigers have become a little more conservative after a long period in defence on their own line. Parramatta has generated 36 tackles inside the opposition 20-metre line (to Wests’ 9) now. In response, Wests have worked up the field and kicked well in back-to-back sets.

13:53 - Not this time…

Galvin tries to run a drop play down the short side on 5th tackle 30 metres from the line.

This will be a problem against the top teams in the NRL.

12:30 - A sneaky scrum try

This is sneaky from the Tigers.

Remember Galvin above? It’s Luai this time.

The Tigers presented a 5:1 split before Luai flipped. The Eels winger, head down with hands on knees, hasn’t seen it. Even with the set play not being executed as they would like, the extra number is enough for Bula to break the line and send Turuva over in the corner.

7:30 - Turuva has three

There isn’t much to say about this one, nothing that Parramatta Eels fans will want to read, anyway. You can only beat what is in front of you, but the edge defence is concerning for Jason Ryles.

Post-game Answers

Is the Koroisau/Luai combination that developed during their days at Penrith relevant?

There weren’t many signs of experience playing together in the end. The early visits into the Parramatta 20 looked clunky, while the last plays out of yardage weren’t particularly well organised.

How does Bula fit alongside two run-first halves? Does he spend more time pushing up through the middle in support or find himself on the second layer out wide?

I do think we have our answer here. With Galvin and Luai spreading themselves across both sides of the field, I expect to see Bula more as a support fullback than a ballplayer on the edges.

What can we take out of it?

The scoreline suggests dominance, but there is a lot to work on for this new-look spine.

Some of their last play options left a lot to be desired. While they managed to score a few points against the Eels this week, the lack of structure to end a set will cost them more often than not against the top teams.

An interesting stat…

Is it a product of scoring from long range? Will they be able to work up the field into strong field position to build pressure against a better defence?

Whatever happens from here, the Tigers will be entertainers. Whether or not this “play footy” style translates into consistent success remains to be seen.

Quick Play-the-Balls

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

Wounded Panthers

Nobody gave the Sydney Roosters a chance against the Penrith Panthers in Round 2. There isn’t enough time in the day to go through who wasn’t available for the Roosters and the impact it has on the team.

But rugby league is a leveller. The mental side of footy, the belief, can often be worth more than the X’s and O’s. The Panthers have had both in recent years, but even they can fall victim to an ambush.

“That game was lost before we got here, I think for whatever reason,” Cleary said.

“It’s just the classic upset. The unbackable favourites against the group of kids. Score the easy try to start the game, I’ve seen that a million times.

“And then, credit to the Roosters, they just gave it a red-hot crack and in the end were good enough to get the win.”

As if Penrith’s clash with the Melbourne Storm wasn’t already a must-watch, seeing how they respond to such a disappointing performance will be interesting. Ivan Cleary’s book gives an excellent insight into how he approaches every game¹ , but this is something they’ve not dealt with recently. I’m intrigued to see the response.

Shane Flanagan is breathing fire

The St George Illawarra Dragons playing group may have thought they were in for a cruisy week with their Round 3 bye. However, coach Shane Flanagan now has different ideas after their 25-24 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

“You wouldn’t want to be one of my players for the next 10 or 12 days, that’s for sure. It’s not going to be pretty.”

His post-game press conference is worth watching:

While the Dragons fell away and checked out for the bye early, they still showed some positive signs in attack. The preseason attacking structures are still a work in progress, but are working well enough to have scored nine tries across the opening two games.

Left or right, the Dragons are stacking their spine players on one side of the field, using a variety of looks to create space on the edges.

Like the example from the Charity Shield above, the Dragons half is positioned behind the ruck with an eye to the short side. The numbers determine which way he goes from there.

The Rabbitohs number up with four down the short side. With Jye Gray a spot as an A defender, the Dragons have an extra number on the long side.

Damien Cook to Lachlan Ilias, Ilias to Kyle Flanagan, Flanagan to Clint Gutherson - Try.

Flanagan is rightfully fuming with the lack of effort late in the game from his side. The halves let them down by not taking a field goal late, while five players chose not to apply any pressure on Jamie Humphreys as he attempted his. Still, there will be a lot of positives for Flanagan to take out of the game.

Things you love to see…

Setting Up For A Shot: Canberra’s short side raid

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.

The Canberra Raiders have a licence to move the ball. It’s early days, but from what I can tell, they’re happy to play whatever is in front of them and look to be the team that reacts quickest.

Their offloads proved the difference in Round 1. Being around the ball and ready to pounce led to three tries in Round 2.

Two tries came as a result of pouncing first on loose balls after a kick. A late Corey Horsburgh offload led to another. The Raiders love a short side, and put the game beyond doubt when Seb Kris put Savelio Tamale over in the corner with no room to move.

It came after adding the hint of a short side look to my notepad earlier in the game.

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