Monday Bunker: NRL Round 19 talking points from every weekend clash
ARE St George Illawarra genuine NRL premiership contenders, why Wayne Bennett can’t get excited about Brisbane and more — all the Round 19 talking points.
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WITH Round 19 of the competition now done and dusted, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the Monday Bunker.
BULLDOGS HIT NEW LOW AS SPOON LOOMS
Parramatta 14 Canterbury 8: Dogs go down in spoon bowl
The Bulldogs’ season hit a new low on Thursday night following a 14-8 ‘Spoon Bowl’ defeat to Parramatta.
The family club have been marred by salary cap mismanagement that’s limited the strength of their playing group, but there’s more than financial restraints responsible for their poor form.
Speaking following the clash on Thursday night, Matty Johns was adamant Dean Pay’s men need a fresh change of tactics to overturn their sub par performances.
“The Bulldogs don’t have the playing style,” he said.
“They are persisting with this style that’s block, for block, which worked 10-12 years ago, but these days it doesn’t work.
“The Bulldogs will bring in new players over the next few years, but the biggest thing for the Bulldogs apart from bringing in new players, they need to find a new style of football.
“Until they do that they’re always going to struggle.”
After years of repetitious block plays dominating attacking units, the game is finally starting to shift away from the monotonous style of footy.
The prime example is South Sydney under coach Anthony Seibold who have revived the ‘play what’s in front of you’ style of rugby league.
This isn’t to say Canterbury need to adopt the same style as the Rabbitohs, but in order to taste any success in the future they’ll have to find a game plan that reinvigorates and suits the current playing group.
— Tim Williams
BLAME GREENBERG, NOT REFS, FOR RAIDERS ROBBERY
Cronulla 28 Canberra 24: Robbery at Shark Park
DON’T blame the refs for the debacle at Cronulla last Friday night.
Blame Todd Greenberg.
Greenberg was the one who came out in March and declared: “If people want to come out over the weekend and start ripping into the referees, I’ve got some advice for them: they better start ripping into me first because all the referees are doing is following instruction.”
But after 13 rounds and continued backlash over the penalty crackdown, Greenberg delivered this stunning backflip: “There has been a tendency for referees to continue to nitpick so we have to find the balance. I don’t want referees looking for penalties … I would like to see referees find the balance more often, not looking for penalties and adjudicate accordingly.”
Then last week, just as the average penalty count for the season hit a new low, a new message emerged from the NRL when referees’ boss Bernie Sutton said the crackdown was back on.
How in the world are match officials expected to have any confidence in what they are doing if they can’t get consistency in the direction they must follow?
But in the wake of Canberra being robbed against the Sharks, Greenberg changed tact yet again, saying he was “as disappointed as the fans about what happened in the Raiders game”.
Spare us, Todd.
As Ricky Stuart said after the game on Friday night: “All this rot started round one this year”.
And it is important to note that Stuart wasn’t the only coach critical of the leadership above the referees on the weekend.
After Sunday’s loss to Melbourne, Warriors coach Stephen Kearney gave a calm but calculated assessment of the state of refereeing.
“Unfortunately they have been poorly led,” Kearney said.
“And I don’t mean by the referees’ boss.
“I think when they get a directive at the start of the year to blow the pea out of the whistle and then 13 rounds into the competition it changes again, it is just about that consistency.
“I do feel for them at the moment.”
As Greenberg said back in March, “all the referees are doing is following instruction”.
The problem is the instructions are as clear as mud.
— Paul Crawley
BRISBANE STAYING STEADY DESPITE BIG WIN
Brisbane 50 Penrith 18: Brilliant Broncos run Panthers ragged
BRONCOS coach Wayne Bennett refused to get too excited by Brisbane’s 50-18 thrashing of Penrith on Friday night.
It’s not hard to see why.
Two weeks ago it appeared the Broncos had secured themselves a top eight spot with their 34-0 defeat of the Titans.
But they were then handed a massive reality check just one week later when they lost to the Warriors 26-6.
Friday night’s victory over the Panthers was impressive, there’s no doubt about it.
But the Broncos have to remain cautious until they can show consistency on a weekly basis.
It’s something the side has struggled with this year and it’s fair to say they have not yet played their best football.
But if they can start to show that consistency and build strongly over the final six weeks of the regular season, the Broncos could become major threats for this year’s premiership race.
The health of Tevita Pangai Jr is also key to this after the forward showed on Friday why he is so destructive for the Broncos.
He only played 31 minutes in his return from a hamstring strain, but as Bennett said after, “you’d rather 30 minutes of Tevita than no minutes at all”.
— Rikki Lee-Arnold
NEXT YEAR THE FOCUS FOR KNIGHTS, AGAIN
Newcastle 30 Gold Coast 24: Knights roar home for comeback win
NEWCASTLE and Gold Coast know they can match it with the bottom half of the competition, but the real test, as they look ahead to next season, is how they match it with the top half.
Gold Coast missed 42 tackles in the 30-24 loss to the Knights and will need a lot more defensive mettle against the Warriors next week if they want any hope of victory.
While the Knights have a couple of weeks against bottom eight sides to patch up their defence, the last four rounds facing the Warriors, Panthers, Sharks and Dragons is where the real test lies.
Their attacking potential will likely get a boost next week as Kalyn Ponga returns, but his arrival back in the No. 1 jersey means it’s probably the last we’ve seen of Nick Meaney in NRL for 2018.
But coach Nathan Brown thinks Meaney’s two games in the top grade will have future coach Dean Pay excited about what they’re picking up.
“The pleasing thing from my point of view was that Nick last week played to get through the game where (this week) he actually made a difference,” he said.
“If that is his last game I’m sure Canterbury, Dean Pay would have been watching and would have been rather impressed.
“Again, we weren’t dominant at times and he came up with some positional play … his defensive part of the game for a young fullback is very, very good and he came up with a few plays tonight and if he played again next week I’d expect him to back himself more and go better again.”
— Fiona Bollen
TIGERS KEEP SEASON ALIVE WITH SHOCK WIN
Wests Tigers 22 South Sydney 6: Tigers spoil another party
THE Wests Tigers kept their season alive with a shock win against the Rabbitohs. It now means the Tigers have claimed big scalps in successive weeks having beaten St George Illawarra the week before.
With a run home that includes Canterbury, Canberra and Newcastle in the upcoming rounds, the Tigers could make a late push for a finals spot. Esan Masters continue to go from strength to strength while the additions of Moses Mbye and Robbie Farah have added new class to a Tigers outfit.
The Rabbitohs won’t panic and still sit pretty towards the top of the premiership ladder despite not being able to secure victory in John Sutton’s 300th game.
Their attack which has been the trademark of their success this year looked disjointed but this performance will be nothing more than a small speedhump for a Rabbitohs side who will push towards the premiership.
— Michael Carayannis
DRAGONS ANSWER, BUT THE QUESTIONS STILL REMAIN
St George Illawarra 24 North Queensland 10: Dragons rebound to down lost Cowboys
THE Dragons are back in the winner’s circle but are they genuine NRL premiership contenders?
St George Illawarra snapped a two-game losing streak with a 24-10 win against the confidence-sapped Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday night.
The Cowboys looked the sharpest they have in a long time, but lacked the polish needed to make the Dragons pay.
When North Queensland got a chance to score, they took penalty goals instead.
The Dragons did enough to win the game and their defence was very desperate, but it wasn’t the type of performance that screamed “we can win the competition!”
After starting the year with a bang, the Dragons have drifted throughout the season and need to find an extra gear when the finals roll around.
Coach Paul McGregor will be happy with their defensive steel to hold the Cowboys to one try — a soft one at that — but they are not firing on all cylinders.
— Travis Meyn
WARRIORS BATTLE BUT STORM WIN AGAIN
Melbourne 12 New Zealand 6: Does the ref crackdown apply to Melbourne?
WITH this win over the Warriors, the Storm are once again top of the ladder.
They are now the premiership favourites in most places, as they were last year, and the year before that and for seemingly a century before that.
Melbourne just win, in all ways and facets, and despite losing Cooper Cronk and Tohu Harris, despite losing Jesse Bromwich and Dale Finucane to injury, despite having a litany of Origin players they have emerged through the middle period of the competition unscathed.
The Storm have now won seven matches in a row and a third straight minor premiership is in the offing.
This is a team that has changed their halfback six times this season — Ryley Jacks and Brodie Croft have both traded the role, as has current man Jahrome Hughes.
In fact, nearly everything has changed over the course of the season. Not one Storm player has appeared in every match, not even the unbreakable Cameron Smith.
It doesn’t matter who is there. It doesn’t matter if it’s Jesse Bromwich or Tui Kamikamica, it doesn’t matter if it’s Cameron Smith or Brandon Smith, it doesn’t matter if it’s me or you or anyone else, they just keep doing it.
This win over the Warriors was not their best. They were on the receiving end of some very fortunate refereeing decisions. New Zealand competed well, but lacked the execution to take the chances they had.
But Melbourne still won and went top of the league. It’s just what they do.
— Nick Campton
MANLY HIT LOWEST EBB IN ROOSTERS THRASHING
Sydney Roosters 56 Manly 24: Roosters destroy Sea Eagles at Brookvale
THE Roosters were good in this match, let’s not miss that. They played all the attacking footy people have been waiting for.
But that will be spoken of in glowing and prolific fashion ahead of their clash with the Dragons this weekend. Let us focus on Manly and their truly insipid performance.
Moses Suli was punted from the Tigers and Bulldogs for not turning up to training. He did not turn up for this game either. The Sea Eagles genuinely would have been better off defending with 12.
Tom Wright has speed and skill with the ball, but his defence was so bad he was hooked after 20 minutes. Why was he placed next to Suli to begin with? Why was such an underdeveloped defender placed on the side that has been a weakness for Manly all year?
It is difficult to recall a more listless, half-hearted effort from any team all season.
Lindsay Collins had enough time to grow his mullet back before he scored his maiden first grade try, such was the lack of chase from the defenders on Jake Friend’s kick midway through the second half.
Luke Keary continued running through in the second half despite numerous calls of “touched!” from defenders — poor form from Keary, as most touch football competitions take the defenders at their word in those situations.
Latrell Mitchell can sometimes coast through games without putting in his best effort. He did not put in his best effort on Sunday, but only because he did not have to. Has anyone ever made a line break while jogging before? Mitchell did it three times. Truly, it was a historic occasion.
Manly are now just a win off the three-team struggle for the wooden spoon. On this effort, that is all they deserve. To lose is one thing — sometimes teams are just outplayed, or don’t have the talent of the opposition. There’s nothing wrong with losing.
A loss like this, a total abdication of effort, pride or professionalism, is another thing entirely.
— Nick Campton