NRL Round 12: Previewing Indigenous Round

NRL Round 12: Previewing Indigenous Round

The NRL’s Indigenous Round kicks off on Thursday night as we celebrate and recognise the contributions of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people to the greatest game of all.

Some of the NRL’s biggest superstars are of First Nations heritage and if recent years are anything to go by, we can expect some highlight reel performances from those stars this weekend.

Here’s a few key names to keep an eye on in NRL Round 12.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (The Dolphins)

A two-try haul on return from injury for ‘The Hammer’ shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone.

He’s one of the best movers in the game with an uncanny knack for putting himself in the right areas in support.

Wayne Bennett called it “anticipation” in the post-match presser which summed up Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow perfectly.

Like so many of the great Indigenous players before him, Tabuai-Fidow has a wonderful feel for the game and always does the early work to put himself in the frame.

Watch him swerve through traffic to pop up on Connelly Lemuelu’s inside here:

Tabuai-Fidow never stops moving his feet as Redcliffe work downfield in yardage.

Always sniffing around the ball, his sense of timing mixed with that sickly speed makes him one of the best support players in the NRL today and a key feature of this Dolphins attack.

For punters, ‘The Hammer’ will continue to be an appealing try scorer tip given the range of involvements he has each week.

His combination with Isaiya Katoa has frightening potential if they can spend enough time on the field together and when he’s not icing set pieces, Tabuai-Fidow will pick up tries like this in support consistently enough.

Selwyn Cobbo (Brisbane Broncos)

There’s a silver lining to every injury and in the NRL’s Magic Round that silver lining was a powerhouse cameo appearance from Selwyn Cobbo at fullback.

Raw, brute power paired with balance, speed and finesse; only a select few NRL players can lay claim to such a deadly athletic combination and most of those players are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

Cobbo’s ability to bust tackles and take spaces with a burst of speed is a serious problem at fullback given the extra room he has to move.

He makes it look easy here, but swapping ball carrying arms to fend with either hand like this is elite gear:

That’s just unfair.

A big don’t argue on Jaxson Paulo with his right, a fend on Luke Brooks with his left, a bump on Tolu Koula with his right again before almost pushing Karl Lawton away with another big right hand… Cobbo was just toying with them at this point.

Reece Walsh isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and for now Cobbo gives Brisbane wonderful depth in a key position.

You can be sure more than a few rival clubs will have noticed what Cobbo has done with limited opportunities in the NRL as a fullback though…

Cody Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs)

The Bunnies are dead in the water but proud Yuin and Bundjalung man Cody Walker has worked himself into some individual form of late.

With one try and seven assists from his past five games, Walker’s on-the-ball efforts can’t be questioned while South Sydney’s off-the-ball efforts as a whole remain poor.

The veteran five-eighth has bested his career average 42 touches per game in nine of 11 games this season as Souths only recognised playmaker, often getting his receipts in different areas on the field which has affected his attacking output.

With limited opportunities behind a regularly beaten pack, we haven’t seen anywhere near Walker’s best in season 2024.

A clash with the struggling Parramatta Eels in NRL’s Indigenous Round however profiles nicely for one of the best ballplayers in the competition.

Nicho Hynes (Cronulla Sharks)

Destined for the Blues No.7 jumper in the coming weeks, Nicho Hynes has spearheaded most of the genuine improvements made in Cronulla to begin the 2024 NRL regular season.

Hynes is a natural triple threat to the defence and has developed his pass selection and execution to be one of the more efficient playmakers in the game.

Elite at identifying cues in the defence and constructing an action to expose it, Hynes plays on the ball to average the third most touches per game of any non-hooker in the game behind just Daly Cherry-Evans and Shaun Johnson.

There are still lingering questions around his defensive positioning but Hynes is one of the best and most influential players in the NRL and a key watch in this weekend’s Indigenous Round.

Seeing a proud Aboriginal man lead the state of New South Wales at halfback in a few weeks will be a special watch, too.

David Fifita (Gold Coast Titans)

In a somewhat different mould to the more creative attacking players on this list, David Fifita adopts a very different and unique route to the try line.

Arguably the most difficult player in the NRL to defend one-on-one, Fifita made a name for himself as a dynamic, try scoring backrower but has evolved his game in recent years to become a well-rounded, top tier edge forward.

The work of Kieran Foran to position his backrower into positive involvements has been key to this evolution, but Fifita himself has added some nice variety to his typical battering ram approach.

After throwing 11 try assist passes across the first five years of his NRL career, Fifita has assisted another 13 in just his last 30 games; no longer simply a bash-and-crash merchant, the Titans are finding new ways to use Fifita as the catalyst for points rather than simply the try scorer.

The Gold Coast have pulled off a massive coup in retaining their star forward with his best football still ahead of him and he can be the difference in a Titans upset against big brother Brisbane on Sunday.

Which players are you expecting a big performance from in the NRL’s Indigenous Round? Let us know in the comments.


Written by Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com