NRL Round 4: Practice Makes Perfect

NRL Round 4: Practice Makes Perfect

Oscar Pannifex

As we slowly work our way into the 2024 NRL regular season, clubs are offering us more and more insight into how they prepared behind closed doors over the summer.

We’re learning more every week about who teams are trying to get at or what shapes they’re falling into in good-ball, and the quicker we do that the quicker we can (hopefully) zero in on a few more regular try scorer tips.

With that in mind, here’s four scoring actions from NRL Round 3 that I think we’ll see again by season’s end.

Hit & Spin ft. Junior Paulo

It looks opportunistic at first glance but big Junior Paulo has assisted far too many tries in this fashion for it to be considered a fluke.

Last season Josh Hodgson consistently looked to isolate his prop close to the line and in the years before that it was Reed Mahoney who enjoyed a fast start to life in the NRL thanks to a killer combination with his front-rower.

Fast-forward to NRL season 2024 and J’Maine Hopgood is the man in the driver’s seat, holding up certain defenders in the line to get Paulo one-on-one with a smaller body.

A subtle show to his inside here is enough for Hopgood to engage Jake Trbojevic and pitch Paulo into a flat-footed Ben Trbojevic, one channel wider.

The big Samoan prop is already turning as he hits the line, shielding the ball with his body and shaping to catch, spin and pass in one motion.

As if not already skilful enough, Paulo then sees Luke Brooks shoot for the intercept so he delays the pass, transfers the ball into his left hand and pops the offload through the line for Mitch Moses to score.

Stop it.

Moses is a huge loss in this Eels attack but the offloading ability of Paulo, Bryce Cartwright, Ryan Matterson and Hopgood gives Parramatta a variety of avenues to the tryline while their star halfback is sidelined.

Zac Lomax Roaming

The roaming outside back role is one we’ve seen more and more of in recent years following Tom Trbojevic’s clinic in the 2020 State of Origin series.

Coaches have given select centres or wingers in clubland a license to roam in attacking sets, popping up in different areas on the field to ask another question of the defence.

Guys like Joseph Manu, Tolutau Koula, Ronaldo Mulitalo and Zac Lomax have recently featured in this action, with the latter doing so to score a lovely try against the North Queensland Cowboys in NRL Round 3.

A quick play-the-ball and a fatiguing Cowboys defensive line is the que for Lomax and the Dragons to fall into this roaming double fullback shape here.

Scott Drinkwater – usually quite active off the ball – doesn’t identify Lomax as a threat until it’s too late and isn’t in position to challenge for the ball when Hunt rolls it into the in-goal.

The fact that it’s only tackle four also works in St George’s favour; the Cowboys aren’t expecting an early kick while two Dragons players make a free run at the ball.

Even if the fullback is in position here though, Lomax’s presence back on the inside makes it a two-on-one in the backfield.

It’s up to Hunt to identify the space and either kick back in behind an over-chasing fullback or roll one towards the corner for his backrower.

We’re going to see this one again in season 2024.

Thunder ft. Valentine Holmes

It’s got a different name at every club and at the mighty UQ Hounds we call it ‘Thunder’.

Perfectly designed for a strong ball runner like Holmes, it’s a shape we’ve seen the Cowboys play to a few times in recent seasons.

There are a few things North Queensland get right here to send Holmes through the line.

First of all, they wait to fire the shot on the back of some ruck speed. Presented with a tired and passive edge defence, the Cowboys ballplayers get the look they want here and fall into shape.

Some clean ballplaying from Sam McIntyre – who is giving the Cowboys a genuine pivot option through the middle this season – then allows Tom Dearden to get wide of the ruck and bring his lead runner onto the ball.

Raymond Faitala-Mariner gets stuck on that lead runner and by the time the pass goes out the back, he can’t turn and recover in time.

Scott Drinkwater drags Ben Hunt out of the line while Holmes disguises his movement until the last second, cutting back inside into the space created.

The North Queensland Cowboys flew into the 2022 NRL finals series with a dogged defensive mentality and an expansive, exciting approach in attack.

Actions like this are straight out of Todd Payten’s ‘22 playbook and could be an indication that the Cowboys are getting back to their best in season 2024.

The AFB Cheat Code

You know you’re onto something special when defending teams know it’s coming and still can’t stop it.

South Sydney’s once-lethal left edge has long been the most reliable avenue to the NRL scoreboard but Shaun Johnson and this Warriors attack have done the impossible and found one better.

Putting a 189cm, 123kg prop out the back of a block shape is a problem for edge defenders.

Give that prop some late footwork and put some of the best ballplayers in the NRL on his inside and that problem becomes bigger still.

Even without Wayde Egan bamboozling markers and ruck defenders, the Warriors completely unravel Canberra’s edge defence here.

With Addin Fonua-Blake tucked in behind the Kurt Capewell lead line and Taine Tuaupiki stretching the defence out the back, the space opens up for big AFB who has time to look around and admire his work before planting the ball down.

Go back and watch the replay and you’ll see Johnson, Tohu Harris and Fonua-Blake cook this one up three tackles earlier.

No doubt the Raiders did some homework on it too but they couldn’t even get a hand on the big unit here.

We’re going to see this shape every other week in the NRL until opposing teams figure out how to stop it.

What was your favourite scoring action from NRL Round 3 that you want to see again this weekend? Let us know in the comments.

Written by Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com