NRL Round 6: Panic Buttons or Patience?

NRL Round 6: Panic Buttons or Patience?

Oscar Pannifex

We’re just five rounds into the 2024 NRL regular season and already there are four ‘big’ clubs currently sitting outside the Top Eight.

Easts, Souths, Parramatta and Brisbane are all on the outside looking in right now after being fancied as finals contenders before the season started, while the Gold Coast Titans are also languishing down the bottom of the ladder despite their expected improvements under new coach Des Hasler.

So, is it time to press the panic button already or have we seen enough from these clubs in their losses to safely assume they’ll improve as the year progresses?

Sydney Roosters (9th)

  • Record: 2 wins, 3 losses

Easts dished up an absolute bludger in the first half against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in NRL Round 5, conceding 18 points in the first 15 minutes and chasing a 26-point lead into the break.

To come out in the second half with just 12 players (and then 11 in the last few minutes) and almost sneak home with the win was a tremendous effort from the Roosters, albeit a fruitless one.

Like their cross-town rivals further down this list, discipline is key for this Easts squad in 2024.

As has been the case in all three losses to start the year, the Roosters are beating themselves with ill-discipline on the ball (avg 78% completions, ranked ninth in NRL) and off it (29 penalties conceded, fourth most).

No amount of effort can overcome a send-off, a sin-bin and 16 errors all inside 80 minutes of football; as was the case for Sydney against the Bulldogs last week.

In the Trent Robinson era, the Roosters have generally been happy to back themselves to defend any errors that come from employing an expansive, high-risk style attack.

Where and how they make those errors has been the difference to start season 2024 though; pushed passes out of yardage or silly offloads under pressure are putting too much pressure on the Roosters goal-line defence right now.

Often playing under fatigue and down the wrong end of the field, the Roosters attack is also struggling to begin the regular season.

When they get it right, few attacks in the NRL can ask as many questions as this Roosters system but with so many moving parts, Robinson is still searching for the right mix between Brandon Smith, Victor Radley, Luke Keary and Sam Walker in the spine.

A stellar showing from Sandon Smith in NRL Round 4 – the Roosters best performance of the year – only adds another question to the halves debate in Sydney right now.

Assuming their first-half performance in Round 5 was an outlier, Roosters fans shouldn’t be anywhere near the panic button just yet.

The depth of their roster is the envy of most rival clubs and is already helping Easts stay competitive when suspensions and injuries take their toll.

Despite their slowish start, I think we’ve seen enough from this Roosters attack to assume their execution will improve as the season progresses.

Brisbane Broncos (11th)

  • Record: 2 wins, 3 losses

Unlike the Sydney Roosters above, it’s been the quality of Brisbane’s performances in three losses to date that have me so confident about their chances in season 2024.

Head Coach Kevin Walters has been forced to adjust on the run as injuries to key players in key positions have unsettled their systems but the Broncos appear to be learning quickly from those lessons.

When you also consider the quality of players Brisbane have turned over since their 2023 Grand Final appearance, some of the footy they’ve been able to produce this year in an unfamiliar lineup has been encouraging.

It’s been their resilience and response under pressure in losses to both Penrith and Melbourne that have impressed me most, however.

With no Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds or Payne Haas in different stages of those games, the Broncos needed their best players to stand up, and they did.

While the role-players around them did their jobs to stay in the grind, Ezra Mam, Selwyn Cobbo and Pat Carrigan have all been immense in the absence of Brisbane’s other ‘Big Three’ to start the year.

They didn’t get the two-points in either instance, but the Broncos were brave in defeat against a clinical Penrith side in Round 2 before pushing Melbourne right to the death last week.

To me, that is the sign of a team who will be there-or-thereabouts at the back end of the season once their injured stars return.

Parramatta Eels (14th)

  • Record: 2 wins, 3 losses

Sorry, Eels fans, but I’m a little less confident about Parramatta’s chances in season 2024.

A recent injury to Mitchell Moses is a fair excuse for the Eels struggling attack in NRL Round 5 but the same issues were apparent with their halfback on the field to start the year.

RLWriters has covered ‘the good and the bad’ of the Parramatta Eels at length over the past few seasons.

At their best, they play direct through a dynamic, skilful forward pack to generate second-phase play and inject fatigue into the defence.

From there, the speed and ballplaying of Moses, Dylan Brown and Clint Gutherson consistently finds holes into a retreating or disrupted defensive line.

At their worst, though, this Eels attack is too often guilty of trying to play around teams.

The pass-and-pray Hail Mary’s to Maika Sivo have become easy enough to contain if the defence is allowed to slide across the field without first being engaged or tested through the middle.

It’s not panic stations for the Eels just yet but they need to make adjustments quickly while Moses is sidelined.

Brown’s on-the-ball role in NRL Round 5 saw him throw 21 passes and run the ball himself on just eight occasions.

Promoting their most experienced playmaker into the vacant halfback position was a logical move but with Parramatta’s most creative attacking player missing, the Eels need to allow Brown to continue playing to his strengths as a runner.

There are enough ballplayers in this pack (J’Maine Hopgood, Ryan Matterson, Junior Paulo) for Parramatta to move the ball around the ruck and embrace their power game in yardage.

From there, Gutherson and Brown will get their chances to run over the ad line and bring the likes of Sivo and Will Penisini into the attack out wide.

Gold Coast Titans (16th)

  • Record: 4 losses, 1 bye

If it weren’t for the horrific form of my beloved Bunnies, the Gold Coast Titans would surely be the biggest disappointment to kickoff the 2024 NRL regular season.

Big things were expected from new Head Coach Des Hasler and what he could do with a young roster that many believe hasn’t ever been anywhere close to their ceiling.

After four losses from their first four games though, that ceiling looks even further away.

Currently playing with the third-worst defence in the NRL and scoring just 10 points per game on average, the Hasler effect is yet to take hold on the Gold Coast.

There were some signs of life around AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell in NRL Round 5 once the former was moved into the halves but Tannah Boyd has been given another chance in the No.7 jumper this week at a time where a host of other club coaches are pressing the panic button.

An improved attack won’t count for anything though until the Titans can improve off the ball (avg 39.3 missed tackles, most in NRL).

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has left a gaping hole through the middle while both edges have been little better than turnstiles at times to begin the year.

I’m expecting the Titans to improve given time to adjust to their new systems, but it could make for a long season in 2024.

South Sydney Rabbitohs (17th)

  • Record: 1 win, 4 losses

Speaking of long seasons, it’s been a hell of a start to the year for Jason Demetriou and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Similar to most of the clubs on this list, Souths have been hampered by injuries and ill-discipline over the opening month of the regular season.

What sets them apart from the rest of this list – and the NRL for that matter –  right now are their effort areas.

Kick pressure, kick chase, push support, inside pressure, numbers in the tackle; in almost all key effort areas the Rabbitohs have been worryingly poor to kickoff season 2024.

These issues are compounding the struggling form of Souths key attacking players who are attempting to manufacture points under pressure and fatigue.

Pressure has made for some interesting team-list selections already this year and NRL Round 6 is no different.

The headlines this week suggest the panic button has already been hit in Redfern and big changes – in the coaches box and on the field – are looming.

‘Rebuild’ has always been an ugly word in rugby league circles but South Sydney are dangerously close to those areas right now.

 

What’s got you pressing the panic button five games in? Or are you keeping the faith and staying patient with your team for now? Let us know in the comments!

Written by Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com