Finding The Winning Formula

Finding The Winning Formula

We’re almost a third of the way through the 2023 NRL regular season and most of the top sides have already ironed out the kinks in attack.

A few clubs in the bottom half of the competition though are still searching for the right mix in their first-choice squads.

Finding a position for new recruits or searching for ways to get the most out of their best players is an art as much as it is a science. It could also end up the difference between a bottom side fighting for the Eight or not.

Four of those lower placed clubs – the Titans, Dragons, Bulldogs and Tigers – are currently going through the process of finding the right mix in attack.

Let’s have a look at what they’re getting right (or wrong) with a key player in each line-up.

Gold Coast Titans – Jayden Campbell

The Titans are 3-and-3 this season when Jayden Campbell spends 60+ minutes on the field. He’s been thrown in through the middle, on an edge and out the back so far this year but is yet to lock down a fulltime position despite producing some game-defining moments in attack.

His involvements in a Round 6 win over St George-Illawarra highlighted how dangerous Campbell can be in a roaming role.

Campbell has great ruck recognition and the speed and agility to capitalise on half-chances in the line.

He’s only small but uses his footwork to target spaces in the defence and is strong enough through contact to brush aside an arms tackle like this.

Put simply, Campbell is too good an NRL talent to be playing just eight minutes a week, as he did in Round 8.

Justin Holbrook needs to find a way to bring Campbell into the game, but it’s easier said than done.

Kieran Foran has had a mixed start to his Titans career but has been instrumental in helping David Fifita produce career numbers.

Fifita’s current try-scoring drought is his longest since early 2019, but in every other facet of the game he is dominating.

He’s besting his career average run metres by more than 55m per game and his assist numbers are career-high, too.

Don’t pay heed to the suggestions you read on social media – dropping Foran is not the answer.

Moving one of AJ Brimson or Tanah Boyd to accommodate Campbell in the spine is another option for Holbrook to consider, but there’s negatives to that plan, too.

Boyd is 46 games into his NRL career and has shown enough to suggest he’s worth investing in further. His kicking game in particular has been an area of strength for the Titans this season and hooking him leaves the Gold Coast with no recognised general play kicker.

Brimson’s versatility means he could do a job out in the centres, but as one of the Titans best attacking players he needs to be on the ball.

Holbrook could rejig his attack to play more through Brimson on an edge (the Bulldogs for example are doing a good job at bringing Jake Averillo into the game at right centre), but that’s a lot of moving parts to consider when trying to cram Campbell into the spine.

Given his small stature and defensive liabilities, throwing Campbell into the middle is a risk.

He’s a good option around the ruck if Gold Coast have the momentum, but when the game is in the grind Campbell would end up a net-negative through the middle-third more often than not.

Shifting Boyd to lock and bringing Campbell into the halves feels like the best option at time of writing.

Boyd is a fair defender and could play a Mitch Kenny-like role in the forwards while Campbell spends time in the halves alongside Foran.

It means Boyd is still on the field as a kicking option on fifth tackle, while allowing Campbell to pick his moments in attack.

Defence clearly needs to be a priority for the Titans right now. It might put Campbell’s development on the backburner as Holbrook concentrates on improving his team without the ball, but sooner or later the Campbell question needs to be answered.

St George-Illawarra Dragons – Jack Bird

Three weeks ago I noticed the positive influence Jack Bird, Ben Hunt and Jacob Liddle were having on the Dragons attack.

Liddle was asking questions around the ruck to free up Hunt late in the count, and Bird was varying his involvements through the middle of the field and injecting himself into a range of attacking actions across the park.

Since then, Bird has been moved to an edge and St George are 0-and-2.

Bird’s positional change wasn’t the reason the Dragons lost their last two games, but it was a factor.

Pinned to one side of the field, Bird’s ability to challenge the defence with a variety of actions is limited.

Instead of getting involved in consecutive plays as a distributor, runner or decoy, Bird is being asked to lay lead lines on the Dragons left edge and be a role-player in their attacking shapes.

It doesn’t play to his strengths, nor to the Dragons as a whole. they don’t have the personnel to be a conventional attacking side and need to be getting more out of gamebreakers like Bird.

He’s a good foil for Hunt in attack and gives St George’s otherwise one-dimensional pack a point of difference in how they work upfield.

The latest injury to Jaydn Su’a might force his hand for now, but Anthony Griffin needs to get Bird back in the No.13 jumper if we are to see the best of him and the Dragons in attack.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – Matt Burton

Cameron Ciraldo made a significant change in Round 8 by naming Matt Burton at halfback and Kyle Flanagan at five-eighth. I wasn’t sure how much it would affect things, but 80 minutes later and I’m a believer.

With the No.7 on his back, Burton played out most of the game at first-receiver.

His 49 receipts was his second-most in a game this season and the Bulldogs looked better for it. He straightened their attack nicely to engage the defence and create space on the edges for Flanagan and Hayze Perham to go to work.

Playing at halfback also prompted Burton to produce his best running performance of the season.

We usually associate running halves with the five-eighth position but at halfback Burton took his chances to run on the back of some ruck speed, eventually setting up Corey Waddell for a nice try.

There’s every chance this positional change was made with an eye to the future.

Karl Oloapu is biding his time in reserve grade and looks the logical successor for the Bulldogs No.6 jumper. In the meantime though, Burton at halfback might be the answer Ciraldo has been looking for.

Wests Tigers – Api Koroisau

The Wests Tigers are the punching bag of the NRL right now but there are positives to focus on if you’re a long-suffering fan.

They’re looking for ways to use Api Koroisau more in their attack, and in Round 8 they had some joy with this wrap-around shape beside the ruck.

Koroisau is an obvious target for defenders. He’s one of Wests most important players in attack and is often double- or triple-marked, particularly in good-ball, you can see how Manly’s defence reacts when Koroisau throws to Joe Ofahengaue here and then follows the pass to wrap around.

Four Sea Eagles defenders move laterally off their line, anticipating Koroisau to take possession on Ofahengaue’s outside shoulder.

Some nice variation from Ofahengaue catches Manly napping back on the inside in this instance, it’s only a desperate tackle from Toafofoa Sipley that denies Big Joe and the Tigers here, and I’m looking out for more.

Koroisau’s ability to engage defenders and create spaces elsewhere in the line is the Tigers best avenue for points this season.

This wrap-around shape will produce a try sooner rather than later.

Finding the Winning Formula

Every club from 1 through 17 has a player or two that still hasn’t locked down a position or role in their squad.

Who is the player at your club that is yet to find their winning formula, and what do you think the solution is? Let us know in the comments.

Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com