The Tackle: Bad habits killing Brisbane Broncos’ season; Stefano Utoikamanu’s price tag under microscope
The stats don’t lie, revealing the effort areas that are punishing the Broncos as they slumped to their fourth-straight loss in round 17. Fatima Kdouh writes that and more in THE TACKLE.
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Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from round 17 of the NRL season.
DISLIKES
BRONCOS FALTER, AGAIN
With Penrith waiting on Friday night, the Broncos are staring down the barrel of five-straight losses, but is there a quick fix for Kevin Walters?
Injury and lack of depth has caused Walters headaches but the biggest hurdle for the Broncos is simply attitude based.
The side’s poor starts are hurting the Broncos’ more than anything. Against the Warriors they were way behind in the possession stakes, run metres and post contact metres after the opening 10 minutes. The Broncos need to find the will to win out of sheer determination, grit and hard work.
Despite halfback Adam Reynolds already missing, Walters made a huge call to rest Origin stars Reece Walsh, Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas. Given the lack of depth in the forward pack resting Haas and Carrigan came back to bite Walters. In the coach’s defence, the away trip to New Zealand is hardly an ideal way to back-up from Origin.
In the past, backing up from Origin would have been a badge of honour at Red Hill.
12 minutes in and it’s the story of the past month all over again pic.twitter.com/K5vYHSon2f
— Broncos Rebuild (@BroncosRebuild) June 29, 2024
TIGER’S PRICE TAG UNDER FIRE
Right now, the math on Stefano Utoikamanu’s $1 million price tag is not mathing.
Utoikamanu has rejected the Tigers’ five year $4 million deal to test the market and already the likes of the Storm, Raiders and Dragons are interested.
Utoikamanu had the chance to prove he’s worth the big bucks against Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Terrell May, Lindsay Collins and Spencer Leniu on Sunday night.
He made 30 tackles but finished with 63 metres from 56 minutes.
Rising Roosters prop May finished Sunday’s win with 107 metres, four tackle busts and a try from 47 minutes. May is currently on a deal worth less than half of what Utoikamanu is asking for per season on the market.
WHERE TO FOR HORSBURGH?
Where to next for Canberra’s Corey Horsburgh?
The 26-year-old has gone from the Origin arena, just 12 months ago, to a reserve grade brawler – who is now facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after being sent off head butting and punching Warriors forward Jacob Laban in NSW Cup.
There are suggestions he’s fallen out with coach Ricky Stuart and his manager even had to step in and shut down that speculation last week. Horsburgh’s brain explosion against the Warriors did little to silence those rumours.
It’s quite the demise for a Maroons forward seen so crucial to Stuart’s set-up that he was extended until the end of 2027 last September.
Horsburgh has always been emotional, it’s part of his brand.
He famously left the field in tears and flipped the bird to the crowd at CommBank Stadium as he came off the field with a leg injury in 2020 against Parramatta.
The Raiders have lost three straight games as they fight for a finals berth and could use Horsburgh’s experience. Instead injury and suspension have limited him to just two NRL games this season.
After his latest indiscretion, Stuart would be hard pressed to play Horsburgh again this year undoubtedly putting his Raiders career in jeopardy.
Stuart and the Raiders can’t afford the liability that comes with Horsburgh’s brain snaps.
DETRACTORS CIRCLE
Cronulla’s clash against the Titans on Friday night will test exactly what Nicho Hynes is made of. It’s a game the Sharks should win, and do so comfortably with the $1 million dollar man pulling the strings.
Hynes missed a sitter from just 15 metres out in golden point against Canterbury, only for Matt Burton to nail a field goal in the next set.
The halfback had also missed a sideline conversion to level the scores against the Dolphins after the siren. Another clutch moment, another missed opportunity to silence Hynes’ and Cronulla’s detractors.
Resident Bulldogs niggler Reed Mahoney got in Hynes’ face as the two players came off the field at halftime. There’d been a lot of talk about Hynes’ mental steel recently and Mahoney was trying to get under his skin to gain the upper hand psychologically. Mahoney would say it worked.
The Sharks have now lost four of their last five, and searching for the form that led to back-to-back victories against Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters in May.
COATES HAMSTRUNG
Melbourne, and the Maroons, have suffered a huge blow after flyer Xavier Coates was ruled out for up to six to eight weeks, which could rule him out until round 25 for the Storm.
With Coates sidelined, Brisbane’s Selwyn Cobbo is in line for a Queensland recall for the Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium after dodgy hamstrings claimed yet another superstar in Coates, who suffered a low grade tear against the Raiders.
The timing could not have been worse for Billy Slater.
Cobbo started on the bench in game one and is the box seat to be recalled on the wing but there are calls to name him at centre ahead of Valentine Holmes. Cowboys star Holmes has played seven games for the Maroons on the wing, where he has been a strike weapon, scoring nine tries.
The other option is veteran Dane Gagai, who was named as a reserve at the MCG. But Gagai’s defensive performance against the Eels would have hardly pleased Slater.
Normally a defensive rock, Gagai was burned twice by Mitchell Moses, both times leading to tries. If selected Gagai will have to defend opposite Latrell Mitchell, who left him clutching at thin air the last time the pair went at it in Origin in 2021.
For the Storm, Dean Ieremia and Reimis Smith are two option for Craig Bellamy on the wing.
DISCIPLINE KILLS DOLPHINS
Felise Kaufusi’s discipline against the Dragons was as bad as his haircut, and it could cost him the chance to play in the Origin decider.
Kaufusi faces a nervous wait after he was put on report in the dying stages for appearing to bodycheck Kyle Flanagan, making contact with his head.
Earlier in the second half Kaufusi was penalised for changing his line and taking Flanagan out when the Dolphins trailed 16-6 with 15 minutes. It was downhill from there as Jack de Belin scored after regaining possession.
It was the last thing the Dolphins needed from one of their most experienced players as they slumped to four losses from their last five games. Dolphins playmaker Kurt Donoghoe was also sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Red V forward Francis Molo.
The Dolphins now face a horror run home, that could be without hooker Jeremy Marshall King after he left Netstrata Jubilee Oval in a moon boot.
TIGERS BINNED
As Adam Doueihi is being sin binned for a hip-drop like tackle, referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski explained there is a moderate risk of injury. Yet the week before neither Jayden Campbell or Te Maire Martin were marched for hip drop like tackles.
The reality is every time a player swings their legs around there is a risk of injury and by Sunday’s yardstick all hip-drop should mean 10 minutes in the bin.
Api Koroisau was also binned for a lifting tackle on Lindsay Collins, again the referee cited the risk of injury, when the Tigers skipper barely got Collins over the horizontal.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was sin binned last week for a lifting tackle but like Campbell and Martin only copped a fine. Doueihi and Koroisau should expect similar treatment from the match review committee.
LIKES
COACH OF THE YEAR
Cameron Ciraldo has Canterbury in the fight for a top 4 spot and the coach is quickly pushing open the Bulldogs’ premiership window, at least defensively.
He should be in the Coach of the Year conversation.
Ciraldo knows from his time at the Panthers that defence wins premierships, and he’s transformed the Bulldogs from one of the worst defensive teams in the comp to one of the best.
The Bulldogs are conceding the least tries per game (2.7) than any other side, even bettering Penrith (2.8) in 2024. Canterbury are also conceding the least line breaks, just 3.8 per game. Ciraldo’s men are holding their opposition to only 16 points per game, which is only second to the three-time premiership winners (15 points).
The Bulldogs are gritty and desperate in the scramble.
Saturday’s thrilling 15-14 golden point win against Cronulla will springboard the Bulldogs into the run home with a winnable clash against the Warriors next week and then a bye. The Bulldogs are shaping as a September wildcard.
TOUGH LOVE
After saving Origin for NSW, Mitchell Moses earned the right to blow up at his Parramatta teammates, even if it was at skipper Clint Gutherson.
Moses, who was best on ground against Newcastle, is desperately trying to lift the bottom-placed Eels off the canvas and to do that there needs to be accountability.
Many think Moses’ public sprays are a blight on his leadership but the opposite is true. It’s a sign of just how much he cares about the outcome despite being last on the ladder. It’s also a sign of his competitiveness.
Moses appeared to spray Gutherson after a loose ball from the captain led to a Bradman Best try, ending any hope of a last-gasp victory with less than 60 seconds on the clock.
When a team like the Eels, packed with stars, is last on the ladder, the greatest burden of accountability is on those senior players.
Moses, as the side’s general, was simply laying down the law.
HOT TICKET
The NRLW will kick-off in just over three weeks and if the State of Origin ratings are anything to go by, the women’s game is set for its biggest season yet.
A massive total TV audience of 2,282,000 million tuned in to watch Queensland claim the shield with 22-6 win over NSW in the Townsville decider. It beat the game two audience by 65,000 viewers.
The first ever three-match series saw the average total TV audience increase by almost 68 per cent year on year.
One thing is clear, the appetite for the women’s game is not only there but continues to grow.
Back-to-back title winners Newcastle will open the 2024 season in a blockbuster clash against the Roosters on July 25.
NO BUNKER BLUNDER
Blaize Talagi’s no-try for rolling the ball over the line, in Parramatta’s 34-26 loss to Newcastle, was the right call from the Bunker official Wyatt Raymond.
Why? Because the NRL’s handbook does not have a black and white rule for rolling the ball over the line when it is planted short.
It was up to Raymond to make a decision whether grounding the ball short and then moving it forward constituted a knock on.
The NRL’s head of football elite competitions Graham Annesley told The Tackle that the decision is not ‘definitively wrong’.
“There is no rule that talks about that situation where a player rolls the ball onto the line. So there is a degree of interpretation,” Annesley said.
“It is grounded short, it clearly leaves his hand, if it wasn’t for the ground the ball would have been dropped. ”Therefore open to interpretation and it’s not definitively wrong.”
There were plenty of contentious calls in Saturday’s game between the Eels and Newcastle, the Talagi no try was not one of them.
PRYCE’S POTTY MOUTH
Astute NRL fans were quick to point out the very different response to Will Pryce’s foul mouthed post match interview compared to Latrell Mitchell’s radio f-bomb tirade back in March.
At the time the South Sydney superstar made it clear he was unapologetic for swearing in the radio interview, drawing the ire of many fans and pundits.
Pryce, speaking after his triumphant NRL debut for the Newcastle Knights, was Cleary’ overcome with emotion and dropped two f-bombs in quick succession.
He apologised immediately for the awkward TV moment.
While swearing during a broadcast is never OK these days, quickly owning up to the gaffe saved Pryce from a social media onslaught.
TRIP BIN
Any deliberate attempt at a trip should always be a sin bin offence and referee Liam Kennedy made the right call to march Cowboys rookie Jaxon Purdue.
Daine Laurie was making a beeline for the tryline before being cut down by Purdue, who stuck his leg out to stop the Penrith playmaker. If Jake Clifford wasn’t also close to incident in the defensive line, there’d be an argument for a penalty try.
Sunday night set the new precedent for tripping, do it and you’ll be in the bin.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Bad habits killing Brisbane Broncos’ season; Stefano Utoikamanu’s price tag under microscope
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