Campo’s Corner: Where the strugglers went wrong and the guns went right
In this week’s Campo’s Corner we look at where the teams out of the finals race went wrong, where the top went right and get all misty-eyed about Matt Burton.
Dragons
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INVESTIGATION: Photo to cost Lane $20k
We’re at that time of the year when, after months of blood, sweat, tears, frustration and really thinking this will be the season Feleti Mateo makes it happen, the hope for the finals is gone.
That’s right – some teams have already given up on mathematical hopes of making the finals and it’s time to send the bodies of their seasons to the coroner to determine what went wrong, why it went wrong, and where they go from here.
As teams get eliminated we’ll add them to the pile – but to start with here’s the Titans, Bulldogs, Dragons and Cowboys.
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GOLD COAST TITANS
Given the talent on their roster there is no team in the league that has underachieved like the Gold Coast Titans. Maybe they weren’t the finals bolters of some imaginations but four wins is not a good enough return for any team, let alone one with the talent Gold Coast possess. The injury to Ryan James was a blow, as was Ash Taylor’s off-field struggles, but they have had big money buys fail to live up to the hype in spectacularly disastrous ways and some of their promising young players have failed to improve.
Garth Brennan had to go and while the Titans need to burn everything down and start again the talk of relocation or expulsion is wide of the mark – the Titans have had a bad season but not an existentially crippling one.
Most Valuable Player: AJ Brimson is a firecracker who’s exuberance more than makes up for his rough edges and Moeaki Fotuaika is an incredible player for one so young. Jarrod Wallace tries hard and Brian Kelly had some moments.
Least Valuable Player: Tyrone Peachey doesn’t have a position and at 28 it’s doubtful he ever will. The former Panther is on too much money to be a mere utility but doesn’t have a clear path into the first grade side beyond “we’ll put him in when someone gets injured” and has few discernible strengths beyond his versatility. Even then, is it really a strength if he can play many positions but none of them well?
CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
They were your pick for the wooden spoon and mine but Bulldogs fans shouldn’t despair – their team plays with a lot of spirit. The blue and whites have the worst roster in the competition by miles but have put paid to any fears of collecting the spoon with a series of gritty displays post Origin.
I don’t know if Dean Pay is a good coach or not and many of the players in first grade now won’t be around when the Bulldogs are in the playoff hunt again but they play hard for him and that’s no small thing.
The recruitment of Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was a great call and in chasing Apisai Koroisau and Jesse Ramien the Bulldogs show they at least have the right idea of how to build back up – even if they did move on from Rhyse Martin, a decision which is still difficult to understand.
MVP: Will Hopoate’s hands are smooth as butter and he continues to be one of the most underrated players in the game – if he hadn’t lost a good deal of speed on his mission he’d be one of the best fullback/centres in the game. Reimis Smith has done well on the wing and should survive the rebuild.
LVP: Kieran Foran’s effort can’t be questioned but this is the fifth year in a row he’s not played 20 games. Of the more regular performers, Dylan Napa has disappointed – he’s been solid at times but is hardly in the class of the man he’s replaced, David Klemmer.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
I had the Dragons in my top four at the start of the season, partly based on the assumption Jack de Belin would return at some point of the year and the Gareth Widdop-Corey Norman switch would work out.
Not only have those two things not happened, the Dragons have also suffered a steady injury toll and had a number of their back five fail to live up to the form of last season.
Perhaps the Dragons could have endured one ailment but not all and throw in some poor seasons from some of their biggest names (looking at you Tyson Frizell) and it’s been a total disaster of a year.
Fans have been calling for Paul McGregor’s head since the day he took the job but the pressure is right on for next year.
MVP: Paul Vaughan has been one of the few constants for the Dragons and is clearly their best running forward but Cam McInnes has been the Red V’s best player this season. His commitment to the cause and focus have never waned and were it not for Damien Cook he would be the Origin and Test hooker.
LVP: The entire backline. Nene Macdonald had some good days for the Dragons but I never expected his loss to be felt so keenly. Apart from Jordan Pereira, who was bafflingly dropped before suffering a neck injury, the Dragons have gotten very little from their back five all season. Tim Lafai’s yo-yo act from one year to the next continues, Euan Aitken lost all confidence and may need a change of scenery and Matt Dufty has not improved as expected.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Campo’s Corner came in off the long run on North Queensland last week so we don’t need to rehash too much of it.
The Cowboys still have one of the best forward packs in the game but couldn’t take advantage of it and, through a combination of unimaginative attack, sheer lack of speed and penetration and stagnation of both established players and up and comers means they will miss the finals two years in a row for the first time since 2009-10.
The loss of Ben Barba and Nene Macdonald were blows but they are better than this.
MVP: Jason Taumalolo has only played 15 games but he is second among all forwards in total run metres, first for average runs and first in the competition for average run metres. There is nobody else like him.
LVP: Michael Morgan has yet to come anywhere close to his 2017 form but was blighted by injury several times. Jake Granville, however, has had several very tough years in a row. With acclaimed youngster Reece Robson coming north next year time could be ticking for Thirsty Merc.
SUPER SUNDAY IN REVIEW
From the cellar let us adjourn to the penthouse – and the places just below the penthouse (I’m not sure what they’re called?). The twin top four showdowns lived up to the billing in Round 21 and each result gives us a clearer view of the premiership picture.
Much of the premiership predictions of the season have had the big three – Souths, Melbourne and the Roosters – as the only teams capable of winning the title with Canberra existing on a slightly lower rung and Manly a bit below them again.
We didn’t need these games to learn the Roosters and Storm are clearly the two best teams in the competition but it’s always nice to get a reminder. They managed to beat their top four rivals despite missing key players and in Melbourne’s case when they were forced to batten down the hatches following a lopsided penalty count.
It’s a mistake to declare the two losers dead in the water. Souths have won three of their last 10 but, even in defeat, began to show signs of true improvement – most notably in the form of Cody Walker and the fine play down their left edge.
Damien Cook is the team’s best player and Sam Burgess, who missed the match, their most forceful but Walker is the player who elevates Souths and takes them from part of the pack to a potential leader.
The Rabbitohs have three upcoming games against teams either on the cusp or the outside of the eight before a final round clash with the Roosters.
Getting the three wins will be important but working their way back into prime form is the more pressing concern and with Walker showing glimpses of the form that won him his maiden Origin jumper the signs, if not the results, are promising. Burgess going back to the middle is the right call at the right time from Bennett – the Bunnies need some extra grunt and they have enough quality edge forwards to cover the switch.
Canberra lost few admirers in their defeat at the hands of the Roosters and it seems the kind of game from which the Raiders can take important lessons. Their record against the rest of the top five (now 0-5 on the year) is a concern but not a crippling one – the margins in those losses have been 12, four, six, four and four and the Raiders are still new to their hard-nosed, grinding style which is so different to the way they’ve played in the past.
For the Raiders to defeat the Roosters or Storm they need just about everything to go right. For example, they can’t concede tries like the one Latrell Mitchell scored on Sunday, or endure gaffes like Nick Cotric’s double movement. They also need Joey Leilua and the creativity he can provide on the right side to stop their attack getting bogged down in the attacking 20.
The Roosters experience in big games, excellent ruck control and confidence in their own ability and systems played a major part in winning the day – that’s something the likes of Canberra can only replicate by playing in more games of this caliber and magnitude. Barring an upset win over the Storm this weekend, the match with Manly in Round 23 now shapes as the club’s biggest of the regular season – the winner will likely claim the final top four spot.
As for the two winners, what more is there to say?
Not only are they both superbly drilled and confident, they possess an air of absolute certainty as to where and how they want to attack. Their defence is not reactionary but anticipatory and their weaknesses have all but been eliminated.
They both have plenty of troops to come back – Melbourne’s ability to create fullbacks is bordering on obscene – and if they meet in a grand final rematch we will be treated to an incredible showdown of style and substance.
WEIRD OLD RULES AND OTHER STUFF THAT HAPPENED
The stripping rule has dominated the news recently because……well, I’m not that sure to be honest. Some people seem to like it, some people are suddenly overtaken by concern for how tough a job the referees have despite usually campaigning for them to be hung up by the heels whenever they get a knock on call wrong.
It’s also interesting Trent Robinson suddenly cares so deeply about adding to the game as a spectacle given he pioneered teams giving away deliberate penalties inside their own 20 - but I digress.
Here’s some weird old rugby league rules and things I know about them.
Drop goal vs field goal
From 1908 until 1922 there were five ways to score in rugby league – tries, goals, field goals and drop goals. What’s the difference between the latter two? Well a field goal, originally, was when a loose ball was kicked over the cross bar from open play while a drop goal was a goal scored from a drop kick. An original “field goal” was worth two points and was still allowed in England until 1950.
Play the ball forward
There has still been significantly more rugby league played where striking in the play the ball was allowed than when it wasn’t. It wasn’t until 1997 that contests for the ball from marker, as well as playing the ball forward, were outlawed. Here’s an absolutely ace video of Brad Fittler playing the ball forward if you’re confused by what it means.
Dummy half runs
In the 1960s rugby league was becoming incredibly bogged down, which lead to the most significant change in the game’s history with the introduction of limited tackles. But before that, the powers that be tried other methods to open up the game – including a rule, for the 1961 and 1962 seasons, which decreed that if any player ran from dummy half and was tackled a scrum would be packed. Shockingly, more scrums turned out to be a bad thing.
GOLDEN HOMBRE
Is there anything more thrilling than when a big man gets into the clear and attempts an ill-advised dummy, or perhaps a chip kick?
Is there anything greater than when a large lad decides the time has come for him to show the world the ball skills he knows lurk deep within?
Is there anything that lifts the spirit more than a hefty fellow crashing across the stripe for his second NRL try in his 179th first grade match?
I say no, and to honour these big fellas each and every week of the year, which many have dubbed #BigManSeason, we hand out The Golden Hombre, named after Todd Payten, the biggest halfback God ever created.
Not a stacked field this week but Ligi Sao is still a deserving winner. Sure, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck throwing the ball through his legs was impressive – but Sao’s juggling act to hang onto the ball was clearly the highlight of the play. It was Sao’s first try since 2015 and was made all the sweeter given it came against his former club.
A GUY YOU SHOULD KNOW
If you watched any footy last week you know all about Matt Burton, the 19-year old Penrith five-eighth who starred on debut in the win over Cronulla, but I want to highlight what made it all so special before it gets lost in the churn.
So often in rugby league we get captured by our own outrage and are so busy screaming at each other about why the stripping rule is a cancer on the game that we forget what makes this sport so special.
A 19-year old from the bush, wearing the headgear of his late mate, playing alongside fellas he barely knew cause he’d only met them that week and not only holding his own but starring, looking like he’d been in first grade forever, playing with all the time in the world – it’s the kind of thing we deride when it happens in the movies. Life can’t ever be that perfect, we say. But sometimes it is. Not always, but sometimes.
It’s something Burton would have dreamed about for his entire life and it’s something he’ll never forget, even if he doesn’t play another top grade game. Often we forget that players are people too, young men who have dreamed of playing footy for their entire lives, men with hopes and dreams and beating hearts. The Matt Burton’s of the world – like Brian To’o and Brent Naden and all the other rookies who live their dreams – help us remember.
Originally published as Campo’s Corner: Where the strugglers went wrong and the guns went right
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