Attacking Trends: Fake Blocks and Wrap-Arounds

Attacking Trends: Fake Blocks and Wrap-Arounds

Oscar Pannifex

We’re almost two-thirds of the way through the 2023 NRL regular season, the Origin series has been decided and it won’t be long before we’re on the home straight towards the finals.

It’s a strange time in clubland with players resting or recovering from representative duties, and the NRL ladder is slowly figuring itself out as bye rounds are shared evenly across the competition.

For some, this period is an opportunity to steal a few wins against depleted oppositions.

For others, it’s make or break time following a slow start to the season.

For me, it’s a time to comb through my notes and take a closer look at some of the attacking trends that have appeared throughout the 2023 season so far.

I’m zeroing in on two actions in particular today: wrap-around shapes and my new favourite pet play, the ‘fake block’.

The Fake Block Shape

The idea of a traditional block shape is to force a specific defender into a decision – either turn in to hit the lead runner or slide to contain the jockey sweeping out the back.

It’s one of the most common attacking shapes in the NRL and can be seen a hundred times each weekend:

You can see Eels right centre Will Penisini turn in to check Kenny Bromwich (12) here, ultimately creating the space for Euan Aitken and Brayden McGrady out the back.

The fake block shape is a little different.

Where the traditional block shape uses one of either the lead or the jockey option, the fake block uses both.

It’s not designed to force a defender into a decision, rather to create a numbers advantage by effectively turning one pass option into two.

The Dolphins threw this one together back in Round 13:

Bromwich (11) and Brenko Lee (4) are in position for a traditional block shape here, targeting Moses Suli in the centres.

Bromwich is aimed up on Suli’s inside shoulder while Lee is ready to sweep towards his outside.

When Bromwich bounces off his left foot and Lee appears on his outside though, the Dragons centre is stuck in the mud with two attackers coming at him. Mathew Feagai sees what’s happening from his wing and jams in on Lee, but he can’t get there quickly enough to stop the pass.

The fake block shape suddenly gives The Dolphins a three-on-two overlap on the edge, and Jamayne Isaako is the beneficiary in the corner.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs tried something similar last week against the Cowboys.

There’s Keaon Koloamatangi as the lead runner and Cody Walker jockeying out the back.

They’re trying to get at Tom Dearden as the three-in defender, and when Koloamatangi catches on Dearden’s inside shoulder and passes to Walker on his outside, the three-on-two overlap is created.

Only a poor pass from Walker denies South Sydney on this occasion.

The Gold Coast Titans did it best a few weeks ago through Brian Kelly and AJ Brimson:

When Brian Kelly takes possession on the lead line here, Starford To’a turns in to help Brandon Wakeham make the tackle.

He doesn’t – or can’t – adjust in time though when AJ Brimson pops up on the outside to create the numbers advantage.

The beauty of this fake block shape is the variety it presents.

The best teams in the NRL will condition or train the defence into moving or reacting a certain way. They might hit the lead option on a block shape the first few times to invite the defence to turn in, before catching them off guard late in the piece by playing out the back.

The fake block adds another layer to this variety.

If defenders are staying passive on the edges to check the jockey option, a fake block can take advantage of that extra space by playing through the hands to create the overlap.

It’s still early days and only a few clubs are currently running it, but this feels like a shape we’re going to see more and more often in the NRL.

The Wrap Around Shape

The Wests Tigers employed the wrap-around shape religiously to begin the 2023 season, and with mixed results.

The idea of getting Api Koroisau on the ball more was a good one, but they struggled to find the right balance and it became a little predictable.

Since then, we’ve seen a few other NRL sides fall into the wrap-around shape a little wider of the ruck, trying to get their fullbacks at a staggered or retreating defensive line on the edges.

This action with Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Kalyn Ponga from earlier in the season was nice:

Fitzgibbon’s presence on the ball suggests he is taking a yardage hit-up, and it invites Manly’s edge defenders to turn in.

When the pass goes out the back to Ponga though, Tolutau Koula is isolated in the line and can’t make a good attempt on the Knights fullback.

Bradman Best and Greg Marzhew both hold their width to give Ponga room to move, and he very nearly breaks through the line himself.

It’s an appealing action in yardage but is even more effective in good-ball.

Twice in the last two weeks, the Penrith Panthers have found points through this wrap-around shape.

In Round 16 it was big Lindsay Smith acting as the link man between Jarome Luai and his outside men:

At the time it looked like a bit of eyes-up footy from the Panthers, and I credited Smith and Penrith’s systems for working seamlessly regardless of the personnel.

When Tyrone Peachey scored against Newcastle last Saturday though, it became clear that the wrap-around shape is one Penrith have practised for.

The idea of this wrap around shape is to compress the defensive line towards the ball before catching them on the outside.

Penrith do two things here to achieve just that:

  1. Mitch Kenny darts from dummy-half and immediately makes a bee-line for the A- and B-defenders
  2. James Fisher-Harris takes possession running a hard unders line back towards the posts

Both of these actions invite Newcastle’s defensive line to fold in, stripping them for numbers on the edge.

The skill from Fisher-Harris here cannot be understated.

You could plug a fullback into that position but it would telegraph your intention to shift the ball. Putting a 103kg prop-forward on the ball like this though demands attention from the defence and disguises the real target of this action.

It’s great skill and great coaching from one of the best-drilled sides in the competition, and if recent seasons are anything to go by, we’ll see a few more NRL clubs try to emulate Penrith’s plan with the ball in the coming weeks.

Have you noticed your team doing anything different or special with the ball in hand lately? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com