Chooks Taking Chances
After being criticised for not asking enough questions inside-twenty v Penrith, the Roosters attack responded in fashion on Saturday night.
The conditions of the contest certainly lent itself to an attacking display (Cronulla’s early injuries caused chaos to their middle rotation) but if nothing else, it was a shot of confidence for this trending Easts side.
They appeared to make more of an effort to hit the edges in good-ball, persisting with three- and four-pass shifts in the face of a rushing defence to eventually cash in out wide… but not before making inroads first. Lindsay Collins & Daly Cherry-Evans laid the foundations for Mark Nawaqanitawase to post a late double and for James Tedesco to ice a classy outside-in action down that right edge.
Easts attack has understandably struggled in Sam Walker’s absence but they were back to somewhere near their best against Cronulla. Looking forward to the prelims, Redcliffe’s defensive edges suddenly have far more homework and video to get through this week.
While we wait to see if Walker returns, the Chooks have already received another big boost in the form of a 30-minute Angus Crichton cameo on Saturday.
The form of Salesi Foketi means it’s unlikely we see ‘Gus’ start in the backrow this week but his inclusion in the forward rotation is a nice point-of-difference for this Roosters pack. Crichton’s leg speed and offloading ability through the middle once fatigue sets in can be the catalyst for points against Redcliffe on Friday night.
Newcastle Locking In
For the second time in as many weeks, this Newcastle defence managed to keep a Top Eight calibre attack to just 10 rugby league points.
Their defensive efforts against the Rabbitohs and Warriors is reminiscent of Penrith’s half-decade of dominance; an 80-minute grind, a death by a thousand cuts approach and a sheer belief that they can defend any lead to the fulltime siren.
To not just match the best forward rotation in the NRL through the middle but arguably beat it is a testament to the efforts of the Knights players and the smarts of the Knights coaching staff.
Newcastle are playing to their strengths right now as a shift-happy team, whether out of yardage or early in the count.
Dom Young’s try last week was the perfect example; a forced error into a quick shift for Dane Gagai to enjoy a one-on-one look at his opposite number. At worst, it’s a simple three-pass shift for ‘Gags’ to earn a quick play-the-ball. At best though, it’s a veteran centre executing a repeatable action to send Young down the touchline for his 22nd try of the year.
After defying the odds in the past fortnight, the challenge becomes far more real this week.
Where Souths do their best work on the edges and New Zealand left far too many chances out there, the Panthers machine profiles very well against this Newcastle side.
Their gameplan almost exclusively relies on a direct, relentless approach through the middle of the field; promote fatigue into your forwards and set the game up early to win it late.
In defence, the Panthers set the modern trend for getting high and staying high on the edges to turn the ball back in towards the middle. If the Knights want to shift the ball out of yardage this weekend, they must be prepared to do so in the face of a rushing Panthers defence…
Farewell to…
Cronulla Sharks
You’ll hear plenty of rhetoric this week around Cronulla ‘failing’ to take the extra step again after featuring in the finals for a fifth year running, but I’m not so sure.
A 46-10 loss to Easts in Week 2 of the Finals doesn’t read nicely on paper but this wasn’t another case of the Sharks just making up the numbers in the post-season.
Where they’ve struggled to compete with the top teams while Nicho Hynes was in the driver’s seat, Cronulla made genuine strides this year in a new direction. Braydon Trindall has emerged as their primary playmaker and he has completely changed how we need to look at this Sharks attack. Once reliant on cues that only the poor defensive sides offered, the Sharks are now playing tackles ahead of time and hitting spots on the field for Trindall to pull the trigger.
His first finals game as an NRL halfback didn’t go to plan but when you consider the context, there’s a lot to like about where Trindall can take this Sharks side moving forward.
Cronulla will certainly miss the involvements of Sia Talakai in a variety of roles next year but are better stocked than the media is suggesting to navigate the losses of Cameron McInness, Jesse Ramien and Sione Katoa – hardly the roster ‘overhaul’ we’re all hearing about right now.
New Zealand Warriors
We spoke on the Neds NRL Unpopular Opinions Podcast last week about rugby league changing from a weak-link sport (you’re only as good as your weakest link) during the regular season to a strong-link sport in the post-season.
New Zealand didn’t do much wrong against Redcliffe two weeks ago but it felt like they were missing that one player to ice a few special moments. Running it back against Newcastle on Sunday though, Leka Halasima won his moments but this Wahs machine was far from the clinical, consistent outfit that we’ve come to expect.
Poor options or execution on fifth tackle saw the Wahs leave far too many points out there on Sunday.
They’ve been one of the best systems all year on fifth tackle but struggled for the most part to create any pressure with their kicking game against the Knights back three. Similarly, Wayde Egan has been the most influential attacking dummy-half in the NRL behind a dynamic forward rotation but couldn’t control proceedings while the Wahs looked wide in attack.
Credit must go to Newcastle for employing and executing on a gameplan that nullified the best parts of this Warriors attack, but for New Zealand this will feel like an opportunity missed.
It’s a long time between now and the 2027 NRL Preliminary Finals but on the evidence available, the Wahs should be in the picture again this time next year.