NRL Finals 2020: Which surviving teams have the best halves combinations
Has there ever been a year when all four set of halves playing in the NRL preliminary finals have been in better form? But they can’t all be voted the best, writes Paul Crawley.
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They are the NRL’s youngest halves partnership, but Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai have also set the benchmark this year.
That’s if you judge them by where their team finished on the NRL ladder, or their individual statistics.
Next comes South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker, with Walker easily having the best individual attacking season.
Today we have crunched the numbers on the four combinations that will play off for a grand final spot this weekend, ranking them alongside their season stats.
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The figures overall are truly extraordinary.
I can’t remember a year when all four sets of halves playing in the preliminary finals have been in better form.
You go back over the eras to Parramatta’s Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny, Canberra’s Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley, Brisbane’s Allan Langer and Kevvie Walters, even the Sydney Roosters’ Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary last year.
The halves combinations left fighting for this year’s title could hold their hands up against the best of them.
Stuart got the conversation started last weekend following Canberra’s win over the Roosters when he went into bat George Williams and Jack Wighton.
Stuart declared: “I wouldn’t swap those two for any of the halves in the game.”
It came after Williams’ had set up Wighton’s match-clinching try when he wrong-footed James Tedesco with that deft grubber.
And taking into account how the two have stepped up in the injury absence of Josh Hodgson, Ricky was well within his rights to say what he did.
“The number of times I have seen both boys load the team on their shoulders and say, ‘follow me’, that’s what all good halves should do,” Stuart said.
“I don’t say that to be rude to any of the other halves. But I love those two blokes and they are team players.”
But if you look beyond Ricky’s loyalty, no doubt Ivan Cleary would make his own case for Nathan and Luai, as would Wayne Bennett for Reynolds and Walker and Craig Bellamy for Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster.
So I went to Fox Sports Stats and put together a list that includes just about every stat you can measure a player’s performance by.
Here’s how the stats rank them.
NATHAN CLEARY/JAROME LUAI
RANK: 1
On pure numbers you just can’t go past the Panthers’ halves.
While Cleary is the chief playmaker, Luai’s influence is enormous, especially factoring in his significantly fewer possessions.
No halfback on Fox Sports Stats’ records, going back over a decade, has ever averaged as many possessions as Cleary (73.4).
Johnathan Thurston’s highest average was 63 in 2015 and Mitchell Pearce was 65.4 last year. Luke Walsh had the previous highest with an average of 65.5 in 2009.
But that’s just one aspect of Cleary’s game that’s off the charts. He also has easily the most kick metres (495) along with 26 forced drop outs.
What makes Luai’s stats extra special is that he only averages 45 possessions, yet is equal with Cleary as second best in try assists (both on 22), and Luai has the equal most linebreak assists (22).
The both average more than five runs for more than 40 metres.
ADAM REYNOLDS/CODY WALKER
RANK: 2
The Rabbitohs are viewed as the lucky survivors in this finals race. But the unbelievable form of their halves shows why they are such a serious threat heading into what promises to be an attacking shootout against the Panthers on Saturday.
There is just no denying that right now Walker is the game’s most dangerous attacking weapon.
He has 10 tries and averages second most runs (7.3), most tackle busts (63), most linebreaks (18), equal most linebreak assists (22) and most try assists (23).
While Luke Keary is deservingly rated the first choice NSW five-eighth, if Walker gets Souths into the big one his form will be just about undeniable.
Meanwhile, Reynolds has been really solid all year but his form is getting better by the week. And how they combine so well is what makes the partnership so special. Reynolds easily has the second most dominant kicking game behind Cleary, averaging 374m with 20 forced drop outs.
GEORGE WILLIAMS/JACK WIGHTON
RANK: 3
For years people have taken great delight in having pot shots at Ricky saying he couldn’t coach.
Well, what he has showed again this year is that when he has the players to compete with the best, he too is up with the heavyweights of the coaching ranks.
And the foresight he showed to recruit a player like Williams to be Wighton’s halves partner has been one of this season’s true masterstrokes.
They don’t necessarily play like a traditional halves pairing but they sure complement each other and, importantly, it works unbelievably well for the Raiders when you factor in they have been missing their chief organiser, Hodgson.
Between them Williams and Wighton have scored 20 tries which is easily the most of the halves combinations.
Williams’ averages five runs for 47 metres, has seven tries, 16 try assists and 16 forced drop outs (third most behind Cleary and Reynolds).
Wighton’s 76 metre average is second most with 13 tries, while 55 is also the second most tackle busts.
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JAHROME HUGHES/CAMERON MUNSTER
RANK: 4
Often it’s a case of out of sight out of mind when it comes to the Storm until we get to the pointy end of the season and they’re always still standing.
In what’s been another wonderful example of Bellamy’s coaching genius, former fullback Hughes’ transition into the halves has looked seamless. But don’t underestimate the work that would have gone on behind the scenes.
We all saw over the last couple of years how Brodie Croft in particular really struggled doing the halfback job alongside the giant shadow of Cameron Smith.
But Hughes has showed no signs of buckling under the same pressure, while Munster is just so gifted and so dangerous.
Still, their stats overall are off the pace the Panthers are setting.
Hughes has seven tries and Munster four, but they only have 11 try assists each, half what Cleary and Luai have.
Munster does average the most metres (80) and third most tackle busts (53) just ahead of Hughes (50).
Originally published as NRL Finals 2020: Which surviving teams have the best halves combinations