From The Couch: NRL Round 21

From The Couch: NRL Round 21

Canterbury are the Real Deal: Canterbury’s Round 21 domination of the Broncos in Brisbane was a seminal moment in the history of the Bulldogs, the confirmation that the Bulldogs are indeed the real deal and that their ladder position is not just smoke and mirrors. Brisbane may be a shadow of the team they were last year but they had four Origin stars and their most important player playing. Brisbane were favoured by double digits in a game they had to win. And they were blown off the park by a Bulldogs team missing their best player and captain in Stephen Crichton as well as their most important prop in Max King. In what was a coaching masterclass from Cameron Ciraldo that his counterpart Kevin Walters could not come close to either containing or countering, the Bulldogs played expansive to get around the compressed Broncos middle and expose the bad tackling edges and it was one-way traffic. The Bulldogs have a smattering of stars but what Gould and Ciraldo have done so well is getting the most out of their depth. Ciraldo has pulled some poor selection triggers but in fairness to him, he has adapted and eventually landed in the right spot, the most important being Toby Sexton over Drew Hutchison. Sexton’s short kicking game has been a perfect fit with Matt Burton while he has a good pass that can get the ball to the edges soon. Connor Tracey is doing a tremendous job at fullback. The three-quarter line is firing. The pack if making the most of its limited abilities, particularly in the middle. Canterbury are probably a year away but with player development and purchasing a decent middle or two, the Bulldogs are well in the picture to win it all in 2025.  

 The Most Underrated Players in the Game: Some players sneak under the radar, not getting the raps or the credit among the wider game that they deserve. Here are the 10 most underrated players running around in 2024: 

  • Tyran Wishart (Mel) – Versatile, he can plug any hole in a very structured team and possesses one of the best dummy-and-runs in the game.  
  • Jack Bostock (Dol) – Scrapped his way into the top grade team but is all of a sudden Top 5 in tries and line breaks in 2024.  
  • Corey Jensen (Bri) – Invisible with the Broncos stars but ranks 13th in post-contact metres and has topped 38 tackles the last five weeks.  
  • Jacob Kiraz (Bul) – One of eight players to break 90-plus tackles this year and his metreage is elite, leading the NRL in runs and run metres 
  • Beau Fermor (GC): Fearsome defender and quality line runner who ranks Top 20 in post-contact metres.  
  • Isaiya Katoa (Dol): Leads the NRL in line engagements, line break involvements and nearly all kicking categories. A legitimate dominant halfback.  
  • Matt Timoko (Can): Rarely mentioned among the best centres in the game, Timoko averages 161 metres a game, ranking Top 10 in post-contact metres.  
  • Max Plath (Dol): Workhorse capable of playing anywhere in the forwards. Gets through a mountain of work sn ranks fourth in average supports.  
  • Fonua Pole (Tig): Teammate Stefano Utoikamanu gets all the rah-rah but Pole is his equal as a player and a workhorse. 
  • Brian Kelly (GC): Strong tackle buster who runs the ball very well and typically has strong instincts.  

Missing The Big Shot: This is how each team has performed kicking for goal when their top kicker has been absent:  

  • Brisbane – 40/47 (85.11%) – Staggs, Walsh, Madden 
  • Manly – 19/23 (82.61%) – Cherry-Evans, Humphreys 
  • Cronulla – 23/28 (82.14%) – Trindall, Atkinson 
  • Canberra – 23/29 (79.31%) – Rapana, Weekes, Stewart 
  • Newcastle – 31/40 (77.50%) – Hastings, Gagai, Pryce 
  • Sydney Roosters – 15/20 (75%) – Suaalii, Keary 
  • Wests Tigers – 15/20 (75.00%) – Sezer, Sullivan 
  • Penrith – 38/53 (71.70%) – Edwards, Alamoti, Schneider 
  • Gold Coast – 31/45 (68.89%) – Kelly, Boyd, Kini, Schoupp 
  • New Zealand – 37/55 (67.27%) – Pompey, Metcalf, Harris-Tavita, Tuapiki 
  • Melbourne – 8/12 (66.67%) – Wishart 
  • North Queensland – 6/9 (66.67%) – Drinkwater, Clifford 
  • St George Illawarra – 11/17 (64.71%) – Flanagan 
  • South Sydney – 19/33 (57.58%) -Hawkins, Cook, Walker, Milne, Teaupa, Arrow 
  • Canterbury – 4/7 (57.14%) – Sexton, Hayward 
  • Parramatta – 32/61 (52.46%) – Gutherson, Asi, Russell, Brown 
  • Dolphins – 1/2 (50.00%) – Nikorima 

A Brutal Beat That Will Live Long in the Memory: Anybody who bet the Roosters minus against Manly will this week be doing two things: purchasing Luke Keary voodoo dolls and  immediately seeking long-term counselling. The Roosters absolutely dominated the Sea Eagles and looked set to win by a huge number until they conceded not one, not two but three intercept tries in the final 25 minutes of the match, the last two thrown by Keary. When it comes to bad beats, that is about as horrid as it gets.  

2024 Field Goal Update – 24: It was a wonderful weekend for field goals with two highly notable one-pointers slotted. Matt Burton laid on an incredibly disrespectful field goal to put Canterbury up 41-16 on the final play of the game against the Broncos while Kieran Foran kicked just the second field goal of his 297-game career to seal the Titans’ come-from-behind win over the Dolphins.  

  • Fun Fact #1: Cameron Smith scored points in 383 games – 11 more games than the second-most capped player has played.  
  • Fun Fact #2: Of the 51 players to play 300 NRL games, just 16 played their entire career with just a single club.  
  • Fun Fact #3: Jason Ryles played 101 games with Trent Barrett – one of just four teammates to play 100-plus games with Barrett.  

Willie M Team of the Week: This week’s team of dropssy-doodles, dunderheads and dropkicks:  

1.Liam Ison (Cro)
2.Luke Laulili (Tig)
3.Michael Chee Kam (Sou)
4.Deine Mariner (Bri)
5.Jake Tago (Par)
6.Luke Keary (Roo)
7.Ben Hunt (Dra)
8.Tom Hazelton (Cro)
9.Billy Walters (Bri)
10.Tevita Pangai Jnr (Dol)
11.Jordan Riki (Bri)
12.Bryce Cartwright (Par)
13.Hame Sele (Dra)
————————————–
14.Tom Eisenhuth (Dra)
15.Peter Mamouzelos (Sou)
16.Ben Murdoch-Masila (Dra)
17.Jayden Berrell (Cro)
—————————————-
Coach: Kevin Walters (Bri) 

Betting Market of the Week: After making up a ridiculous interpretation to deny Jack Bostock a try on the weekend by claiming a passing player running after he offloaded was interfering with a defender, the next “I’m smarter than all you fools and I’m going to show you” interpretation he will pull out will be:  

$6.00: Kickers must have both feet on the ground when kicking
$3.40: Breathing on an inside shoulder is obstruction
$2.80: Grounding is about the vibe of it
$2.40: Time is a social construct 

Rumour Mill: Canterbury have emerged as favourites for the signature of Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu. Valentine Holmes has been linked with a move to St George Illawarra. Nicho Hynes has been linked with the North Queensland Cowboys but that would be stunning if it were actually true.  

The Coaching Crosshairs: It is astonishing to think that there would be a market for Trent Barrett to be brought on in any coaching capacity at any professional club considering the heinous record he has built across head coaching stints at Manly, Canterbury and Parramatta. Despite the backing of players and the front office, incoming Eels coach Jason Ryles punted his former teammate from any role next year. Yet the Brisbane Broncos, whose season is hanging by a thread and who are coached by someone desperately in need of quality assistants, is rumoured to have met Barrett last week in order to bring him in as a Broncos assistant in 2025. If that isn’t the first sign that Walters isn’t cut out for the head coaching job, it should be the last.  

Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Heading into Round 21, seven of the eight Top 8 teams played a back on the bench. The one team that did not was Manly. Anthony Seibold likes to position himself as a Harvard educated man who is smarter than your average coach but once again let his team down. Manly lost both Reuben Garrick and Jason Saab early and couldn’t compete thanks to the huge reshuffle. The data is clear about what happens to teams who lose a back without an adequate replacement. Seibold cost his team dearly.  

Watch It: “What a try, what a try, what a run from Stuart, what a try”. That was the late David Morrow’s fabulous call from the famous second Test of the 1990 Kangaroo Tour when Australia pulled the Test and the series from the fire in the dying minutes in what remains one of the most famous tries in Test history. It was a tremendous call from one of the great Rugby League commentators. It was terribly sad to hear of his passing. Watch one of his great calls here.