Todd Payten calls for 18th man shake up
Cowboys coach Todd Payten says the NRL needs to seriously consider making the 18th man a playable injury cover, after a rampant round of football had teams on the brink of chaos.
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Cowboys coach Todd Payten says the NRL needs to seriously consider making the 18th man a playable injury cover, after a rampant round of football had teams on the brink of chaos.
North Queensland lost young gun lock Reuben Cotter to concussion early in their loss to the Gold Coast, but it was the sorry scenes of Canberra and Cronulla’s respective benches which caused calls across the game to grow louder.
The Raiders were diminished to just one fit player on the bench in the first half, as regular hooker Josh Hodgson bounced throughout the forward pack and Tom Starling assumed dummy-half duties.
After bravely going into the sheds up 25-6, they were eventually run down by a fast finishing New Zealand Warriors outfit.
It was an even worse case for the Sharks — not a single player was left on the pine by the end of the contest.
Payten said the introduction of new rules in the past two seasons — namely the six-again calls for ruck infringements and 10m off-side penalties — had sped rugby league up to a point where injuries were going to be inevitable, and endorsed a change to enable the 18th man to come into the fold.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I think the game’s a good product but we’ve sped it up to a point where it’s really physically taxing,” he said.
“Under fatigue, you find yourself in vulnerable positions and that’s why we’re getting the injuries we’re getting.
“Plus, everyone is getting bigger, faster and stronger so it all contributes.”
Payten’s Titans counterpart Justin Holbrook echoed those sentiments, however he believed its use needed to ensure it would not be exploited.
His suggestion was as a first-half measure only, with any concussions or injuries occurring in the second stanza not eligible for the interchange.
While injuries are part and parcel of football, athletes taken from the field due to concussion has been a vocal discussion point in recent times, as more information surrounding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) comes to the fore.
Cronulla lost Wade Graham, Briton Nikora and Will Kennedy to HIA against Parramatta, and Holbrook said the images of a player-less bench needed to be the catalyst for a revamp.
“When I first came back from England we had a meeting around that 18th man and I thought it made sense,” Holbrook said.
“My two cents worth is if you lose someone in the first half you should be able to use them, second half I think a fair bit of the game has been played so you probably don’t expect an advantage there.
“From what we saw, Canberra and Cronulla, we don’t want to see sides playing with no one on the bench. It’s great for character and team spirit, but there’s two competition points up for grabs.
“Given how strict we are with HIA protocols, which is a good thing we’re all in agreeance of that, maybe we look to the 18th man.”
Changes imminent after crushing loss
Cowboys coach Todd Payten has confirmed changes are imminent in his side’s ranks, at a loss as to how to arrest the “behaviours” that have become deeply ingrained in the playing group.
In the absence of injured captains Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo, North Queensland struggled for direction in attack, while the defence was powerless to prevent Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita from causing chaos in the 44-8 defeat.
Fifita in particular was unstoppable, running for 147m metres, breaking nine tackles, offloading five times and scoring a try for good measure.
Titans utility Tyrone Peachey was also impressive after being promoted to the starting side, backing up his declaration he would be gunning for star recruit Fa’asuamaleaui’s lock jersey.
Titans coach Justin Holbrook said he respected the tenacity and competition Peachey had brought to the side.
“The early plan was to bring Peach on after 25 or 30 minutes and leave him out there., but with the pace of the game we have to take him off,” Holbrook said. “Knowing how warm it was going to be, if I start him I need him on at the back end of games.
“It is a real competitive side that they all want to start, and I am okay with that. Any forward that comes off the bench, they all want to start and I get that. But it is what is best for the team.
“This time we put Mo back to the bench and he was phenomenal for us. He showed what kind of an impact player he can be. The balance of the side worked really well.”
North Queensland will still be without Taumalolo for next week’s clash against Cronulla, while question marks remain over the future of Morgan as his worrisome shoulder continues to plague him.
Deserved troops are in short supply for the Cowboys, and coach Todd Payten has been unwilling to swing the axe after the first two rounds - sighting the fact no one player could be singled out for the performances.
However with the likes of hulking rookie prop Wiremu Greig waiting in the wings, and firebrand forward Tom Gilbert due back from injury shortly, the new mentor may be forced to send a statement to his squad - with high profile stars Coen Hess and Jordan McLean struggling to make inroads on Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve spoken about being a team that competes and being accountable to each other, and we’re at that point at the moment,” Payten said.
“We’ll look at division, we’ll talk as coaches and go from there.
“I think our behaviours have become learned over the past how many losing seasons. The good teams that have been up the top of the competition for a while now, when something goes against them the first thought is what’s important next and they all dive in.
“At the moment, we’re going inside our own head, we’re not communicating with our teammate and it’s putting our team under pressure.
“It’s a behaviour that’s ingrained in us at the moment. Across the board our effort wasn’t good enough.”
FIRST HALF BURIAL
Four unanswered tries in the opening half buried the home side, with AJ Brimson opening proceedings with a touch of individual brilliance.
When play shut down shifting to Anthony Don’s wing, the Queensland fullback put a deft grubber through for himself, finishing the job with a trademark front flip on the put down.
While that was a moment of class, four-pointers to Phillip Sami, Corey Thompson and Mo Fotuaika were all the result of poor defence, all occurring from close range, as the Gold Coast went into the sheds up 26-0.
Speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow finally gave the Queensland Country Bank Stadium faithful a reason to celebrate, crossing early in the second stanza on the back of a swift movement close to the line.
But it was another defensive lapse in the middle of the field opened the floodgate for Jamain Joliffe to burst through, putting an unmarked Brimson over for his second.
“We missed far too many tackles, and that puts pressure on the edge,” Payten said.
“It’s a bit of a snowball cycle, but I don’t think it was our edge D that lost us the game, it was a lot of things before that.”
RARE SHINING LIGHT
Murray Taulagi added respectability to the scoreline late in the contest, scoring off a final pass from Valentine Holmes in his comeback to the NRL.
The 22-year-old flyer was a rare bright spot in a well beaten side, finishing with 114m and a pair of tackle busts.
Holmes also tried in vain to create opportunities, his move back to the custodian role with 201m, four tackle busts and a try assist, as Scott Drinkwater assumed Morgan’s number six jumper.
“I thought Murray Taulagi did pretty well coming in, probably short of a run without playing for the last couple of weeks,” Payten said.
“I thought he carried strong, made some really good decisions - he’s a threat out there for us, so that’s a real positive.”
Originally published as Todd Payten calls for 18th man shake up
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