Winning the ruck
Mitchell Pearce highlighted a telling stat on the Sixes & Sevens Podcast when reviewing Melbourne’s big win over Parramatta on Sunday.
Stats rarely paint the complete picture in rugby league, but the disparity in play-the-ball speeds between the Storm and Eels in Round 1 goes a long way to explaining the result:
With almost a half-second difference in ruck speed on Sunday afternoon, the Melbourne Storm quite simply ran straight through the Parramatta Eels defence.
The speed of the play-the-ball allowed Harry Grant to get out past the markers in yardage (who often weren’t even in position) and bring his forwards onto the ball with momentum, translating into an average 45.2 run metres per set – 13 metres more than Parramatta managed with each possession.
With only four penalties conceded, the Eels probably could’ve tried to test the ref a little more and cop the whistle rather than get the front door kicked down.
Early tries to Ryan Papenhuyzen and Josh King were a product of exactly that; markers out of position, A- and B-defenders slow off their line and spacings all wrong around the ruck.
Parramatta made Melbourne look good in Round 1 but it was a wonderful example of the importance of ruck speed and how it can influence an attack (or a defence).
I’m interested to see how the Eels adjust this week against Wests in order to better control the ruck.
Panic in North Queensland
Team List Tuesday dropped its first bomb of the season this week with Jeremiah Nanai sensationally dropped altogether from the North Queensland Cowboys side.
It’s a huge call from Todd Payten, but it’s the right one.
Nanai’s defensive deficiencies have been lingering in the background for the past 12-18 months.
It cost him an Origin jersey last year and fast-forward to Round 1, 2025 and it’s now cost him a club jersey, too.
The highlight reel from that game features an expansive Sea Eagles right edge attack. They’ve got a variety of shapes through Daly Cherry-Evans, Haumole Olaka’uatu and Tom Trbojevic which are difficult to defend at the best of times.
While the tape shows Tom Dearden, Jaxson Purdue and Murray Taulagi getting beat on the outside, the damage was actually done one channel further infield.
Watch Nanai’s movements here; he stands passive in the line and applies minimal inside pressure before biting on some footwork and losing his balance. That allows Cherry-Evans to get to Nanai’s outside shoulder, engage Dearden’s inside shoulder and fold North Queensland’s edge in towards the ball.
It’s Purdue and Dearden slipping off Olakau’atu as he scores the try but it was Nanai who the Sea Eagles targeted here.
From the outside looking in, Payten dropping his star backrower after one particularly poor performance feels like an overreaction, but it’s not. Nanai will be back sooner rather than later, and Payten will be looking for a response – particularly in defence.
So where does this leave North Queensland heading into Round 2?
Nanai has been made the scapegoat this week, but what negatives did Payten see on Saturday that he didn’t otice over the offseason?
And how much improvement will one personnel change promote, when there were signs of a passive middle and disconnected edges in both pre-season trials?
It doesn’t get any easier this weekend; the Cronulla Sharks sweeping, slingshot-style attack profiles very nicely here, particularly down their right edge.
- Tips: Cronulla Sharks 13+ , Jesse Ramien try, Samuel Stonestreet try
Forgive the Phins
I love the price offered for Redcliffe this week against an unconvincing Newcastle Knights attack.
The Dolphins let one slip against South Sydney in Round 1 but it was as much a credit to the Rabbitohs defence as it was a missed opportunity for Krisitan Woolf’s men.
Isaiya Katoa and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow got the look and nailed the shape three times while chasing points only to be denied by some spectacular defensive involvements from Campbell Graham and Jai Arrow.
It’s the kind of desperation and resilience under pressure that we haven’t seen from South Sydney for 18 months now, and it was personified by none better than Lachlan Hubner through the middle of the field. The Rabbitohs are missing the icing on top right now but Bennett has clearly worked hard to get the cake right in Redfern this year.
For The Dolphins, Kodi Nikorima is a big inclusion at five-eighth this week and I like their attack to click a little better for it. His speed is a nice change in tempo in the second layer of a shift after Katoa gets on the ball and straightens things up at first-receiver.
- Tips: The Dolphins win, Junior Tupou try, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow try
What were your key takeaways from NRL Round 1 and why am I a clueless nuffie?!
Let us know in the comments.
Written by Oscar Pannifex | RLWAPPAREL.COM