Crawley Files: 12 burning issues confronting NRL clubs as State of Origin approaches
On their day Parramatta can beat any NRL rival, but they lack one key component of a premiership contender writes Paul Crawley.
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Are Brisbane and North Queensland the real deal? What threatens to derail Penrith and Parramatta’s premiership campaigns? And which players have the spotlight on them and the burden of carrying their team’s hopes? We’ve identified 12 burning issues as we near the halfway point of the competition.
1. Achilles Eel exposed
Currently 6th on 14 points
Wins this year over Melbourne and Penrith confirm this is the Eels’ best chance to win a comp for a long, long time. But what is a huge issue is Parra’s shocking struggle for consistency.
Since stringing together three straight wins between rounds three and five, they’ve gone up and down like a yoyo. They haven’t put together back-to-back wins since.
It really is a legitimate concern Brad Arthur needs to sort out, starting with Canberra on Sunday, otherwise this Origin period — where they actually have a favourable draw — could still severely impact Parra’s top-four hopes.
2. Broncos chance to reclaim lost pride
Currently 5th on 14 points
After five straight wins, this Origin period gives the Broncos a chance to reclaim the mantle as Queensland’s top team. It kicks off with the local derby against the Titans, then they take on the Cowboys in round 16, with the Titans again in round 18.
In between they’ll also have to deal with having more Origin players then they’ve had in years with Selwyn Cobbo, Corey Oates, Kotoni Staggs, Kurt Capewell, Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan and Tom Flegler all in contention.
Make no mistake, if the Broncos get through this period healthy it could really set them up for a memorable charge into this year’s finals series.
We know Origin can be a real burden on clubs, but the upside is the experience can also catapult young players to that next level.
3 Big loser in Dragons’ No. 1 fight?
Currently 11th on 10 points
Cody Ramsey’s outstanding performance against the Warriors has put him in the box seat to own the Dragons’ fullback spot for the rest of the season.
The next obvious question is where does that leave Tyrell Sloan’s long-term future?
While there are parts of 19-year-old Sloan’s game that are obviously not ready for the week-to-week NRL grind, you’d think if 22-year-old Ramsey gets comfortable in the No. 1 jumper then the spot could be his for years to come.
It’s a great problem for the Dragons until Sloan gets restless, and rival clubs come sniffing around.
4 Can Flanno protect under-fire son?
Bulldogs currently 16th on 4 points
With Shane Flanagan now publicly campaigning for Trent Barrett’s former job, this just ups the pressure on Kyle Flanagan to really step up and show why he deserves to be the Bulldogs’ halfback next season when Reed Mahoney and Viliame Kikau arrive.
It would be incredibly difficult on father and son if Kyle can’t show some significant improvement by season’s end.
Shane has said he thinks he can get the best out of Kyle if he gets the job. But even if he doesn’t, whoever takes over will be faced with the same tough decision.
5 Will Latrell save Souths?
Currently 8th on 10 points
Souths sent Latrell Mitchell to the US for treatment on his problem hamstrings so they could fast-track his return, with round 14 now pencilled in for his comeback. That means they get through the Tigers game on Saturday and Souths will have their superstar fullback back after the bye. If that turns out to be the case, maybe the Rabbitohs can still save their season.
While they have a very favourable draw coming up, it won’t help if they continue to play like they did last week against an equally understrength Raiders.
6 Madge back on shaky ground
Tigers currently 14th on 6 points
Michael Maguire’s future is back in the news with speculation the Tigers need to beat Souths or the pressure will intensify again. It’s really unfortunate timing because there has been some positive signs since Jackson Hastings moved to halfback, and even with Luke Brooks injured last week Jock Madden was terrific.
You’d expect taking on a desperate Bunnies will be a tougher assignment than the last-placed Bulldogs, but the Tigers did beat Souths back in round. 7
The other thing Madge has on his side right now is the fact the Tigers won’t lose any players to Origin.
7 Bellamy’s unwanted history
Storm currently 2nd on 16 points
Even allowing for injuries to Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and big Nelson Asofa-Solomona, the Storm rarely lose two in a row, and never before in Craig Bellamy’s 20-year coaching career has he copped consecutive defeats by 25 points or more.
So while another loss won’t be critical, it’s the Storm’s pride that will suffer if they go down to Manly on Thursday night, given they haven’t lost three in a row since 2015.
8 No Turbo, no hope?
Sea Eagles currently 10th on 10 points
You can safely write off Manly’s top-four chances with Tom Trbojevic gone for the season. The question now is can they even make the eight, given they go into Origin sitting 10th on the ladder? Taking on a desperate Storm is a chance for young stars like Josh Schuster, Haumole Olakau’atu, Tolutau Koula and Reuben Garrick to really show coach Des Hasler what they are made of.
But with Daly Cherry-Evans and most likely Jake Trbojevic heading off for Origin next week, my fear is this will be the start of a long end to the season for a team that started with so much promise.
9 Are Cowboys the real deal?
Currently 3rd on 16 competition points
Taking on the reigning heavyweight champs will be the ultimate test for these young gun Cowboys, who have already claimed the scalps of Parra and the Storm.
But a fully fit Panthers at Penrith is a different beast. They don’t necessarily have to come away with the win on Friday night, especially with Jason Taumalolo and Kyle Feldt out. But what they can’t afford is to get blown off the park, or it could really crush their confidence heading into an Origin period where they could potentially lose as many as five players.
10 Panthers’ Origin fears
Currently 1st on 20 points
We’ve seen through generations that this time of the season can really galvanise the top teams if a chunk of club mates come through a winning series on a high. Or it can just as easily be a giant pain in the butt if injuries wipe out key players.
Penrith have six Origin certainties including Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o. And they won’t need reminding what happened to Cleary last year. As good as it ended, they wouldn’t want to go through it again.
11 Are Robbo’s Chooks cooked?
Roosters currently 7th on 12 competition points
There’s a fair bit riding on Trent Robinson’s first showdown against his former assistant when the Roosters take on Craig Fitzgibbon’s fourth-placed Sharks on Saturday.
Just look at the Chooks’ upcoming draw.
They play three of the top four teams as well as Parramatta and the Dragons during Origin. At the start of the year the Roosters were my tip to win the premiership. But they need to start stringing together wins if they are to maintain any chance of staying in the top-four fight.
Luckily James Tedesco and Angus Crichton are their only Origin reps.
12 Big Tino exposes Titans
Currently 13th on 6 points
It’s hard to see the value of making a 22-year-old giant middle forward captain, when all big Tino Fa’asuamaleaui should be worried about right now is intimidating opposition packs.
But it sums up the Titans for me, a team that don’t really know who they are.
While a lot was expected of them this year, they’ve nosedived from being Queensland’s leading side to dropping six of their past seven. If anything is going to spark them it will be taking on the Broncos — and given Fa’asuamaleaui will be Origin bound after this week’s game, all of Queensland should be hoping he finds his mojo.
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Originally published as Crawley Files: 12 burning issues confronting NRL clubs as State of Origin approaches
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