The bar was set very high indeed after a cracking Round 1 of the NRL last weekend.
Rank outsiders upsetting premiership heavyweights, breakout player candidates and boom rookies to watch were some of the narratives we were treated to across eight games, and the joy of rugby league is we get to do it all over again in a few days time.
We’re at that stage of the season where discussing trends and speculating on playing styles is in vogue. Figuring out how new players will affect their new clubs is another topic I’m particularly interested in, and in the case of the dummy-half position we are blessed with content this week.
As we look ahead to Round 2, my eyes are firmly fixed on what’s happening behind the ruck following a number of standout performances in the No.9 jersey last week.
Special mentions to Reece Robson, Damien Cook, Wayde Egan and Sam Verrills who would’ve made this list any other week, but for the standout performances of the four hookers below:
Harry Grant
Without question the premiere dummy-half in the NRL right now.
Grant’s ability to threaten with a pass, kick or run is what makes him such a dangerous attacking hooker. Ruck defenders can’t switch off until the ball leaves Grant’s hands which gives his forwards an extra half a yard to carry the ball, or his halves an extra half a second to ballplay.
Most of the work Grant does goes unnoticed. The next time Melbourne play, take note of how he positions his body from behind the ruck; shaping one way before snapping and passing flat around the corner to a teammate over the ad line. That little fake is enough to sit markers on their heels or pull an A-defender half a meter in the wrong direction. In isolation the impact is hard to measure, but over the course of 80 minutes Grant’s deception and sleight-of-hand consistently helps Melbourne to a positive yardage gain.
In good ball its even more relevant.
In the time it takes for Grant to pluck the ball off the turf and release the pass – maybe half a second – he can create a try scoring opportunity. He’s the difference between a ruck defender getting two steps off his own line and making strong initial contact, or a ruck defender reaching sideways and making an arms tackle. When the guy you’re trying to bring down is Nelson Asofa-Solomona, that difference is significant.
Only the best dummy-halves in the NRL – think Cameron Smith or peak Josh Hodgson – have this quality and it’s what makes the Melbourne Storm so dangerous when attacking the try line. No team came close to scoring more points through the middle of the field than the Storm (34 tries in 2022) last season and that trend looks set to continue in 2023.
When he isn’t passing a teammate into a positive position around the ruck, Grant can do it himself. With seven tries and eight forced drop-outs last year, Grant is a constant threat from dummy-half and that too looks set to continue this season. His ruck recognition is elite and he has the physical attributes to punish any mistake in the defensive line, as evident in his match winning four-pointer against Parramatta last week.
Jharal Yow-Yeh tipped Grant for Dally M on the Neds NRL Punting Podcast last week and if Round 1 was any indication, it’s looking a good bet already.
Jeremy Marshall-King
There’ll be rhetoric that Wayne Bennett is responsible for Jeremy Marshall-King emerging as a genuine No.9 this season, but in reality he showed glimpses of his Round 1 form right throughout 2022.
Marshall-King’s development has been enjoyable to watch from a content perspective and I was higher than most on the acquisition when The Dolphins announced his signature last year. He’s not quite at Harry Grant levels but in terms of a dual-threat dummy-half, Marshall-King was probably the closest thing we saw to Grant in Round 1.
Harry Grant was deservedly the standout hooker of Round 1 but this action from Jeremy Marshall-King was right out of the Grant playbook.
His ruck recognition is mint and he’s got the speed and ballplaying subtleties to own the No.9 position in 2023.
— Oscar Pannifex (@OscarPannifex) March 6, 2023
He has great vision from behind the ruck and the speed to punish tired markers (Matt Lodge in this example) or defenders peeling late from the tackle.
Bennett has a history of developing your more conventional, up-and-down type hookers but Marshall-King might end up the outlier in that trend. He can play a big role in The Dolphins attack this season.
Josh Hodgson
If you get your rugby league news from the comments section on Twitter then Josh Hodgson should probably be playing social-grade park footy by now. Truthfully though, he’s still a top tier hooker and a perfect fit on paper for this Parramatta Eels pack.
The criticism of Hodgson has always been around his dominance as a playmaker. Its a double-edged sword, though.
Just like the keyboard warriors on Twitter or the talking heads in the media, defensive systems also expect Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown to play on the ball in attack. Having a guy like Hodgson who can recognise when defenders are expecting one thing and then design an action to expose it can only be a good thing for Parramatta in 2023.
Hodgson’s combination with his forwards in attacking field position – Junior Paulo in particular – will be one to watch. Wrap-around plays with Paulo at pivot will be key to the Eels good-ball attack this season. So too little short-side crash plays for Shaun Lane or a deft grubber into the in-goal for a flying outside back.
He won’t get the mix right every time, and when he gets it wrong we’ll be sure to hear about it.
I’ve no doubt though that the Mahoney-to-Hodgson swap ends up a net-positive for the Eels in season 2023.
Reed Mahoney
He mightn’t be as crafty (yet) as the others names on this list, but whatever Reed Mahoney lacks in subtleties and ballplaying nous he makes up for in effort.
Mahoney was absolutely everywhere for the Bulldogs in Round 1. Cleaning up kicks in areas no hooker should be, locking up the middle in defence and still threatening as Canterbury’s most productive player in attack – Mahoney made a hell of a club debut last weekend.
The teething issues in Canterbury’s attack might last a few weeks yet but we already know what Mahoney brings to the dummy-half position. And with the Bulldogs clearly running a left-edge heavy offence in 2023, it is vital Mahoney can threaten closer to the ruck. He has potential to have a Josh Hodgson-like influence on this pack in good-ball, particularly when Tevita Pangai Jnr returns.
Keep an eye on his pass selection in attacking field position this week. The Storm aren’t likely to present many chances through the middle but if they’re worried enough about Burton and Kikau out wide, there could be an opportunity for Mahoney to strike one-off the ruck.
Oscar Pannifex
Rugby League Writers