NRL Round 4 Monday Bunker: Raiders running out of options, contenders sliding
ROUND 4 WRAP: At the end of the first month of the 2018 NRL season there’s plenty more questions and even fewer answers — our experts analyse the weekend’s action.
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YOU might not believe this, but referees are again the talk of rugby league following another weekend of controversial footy action.
The penalty craze is a complex issue, but there’s a couple of results that are far easier to grasp — like the rise of the Dragons and Warriors, and the sudden decline of Brisbane and Melbourne, not to mention the free fall North Queensland can’t seem to escape.
With Round Four of the competition now (almost) behind us, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the Monday Bunker.
COWBOYS IN FREE FALL FOLLOWING THIRD STRAIGHT LOSS
The return of Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott from injury was supposed to make the Cowboys the team to beat. Instead, they are beating themselves.
Three consecutive losses has triggered alarm bells in Townsville and the million-dollar question is: what’s happened to the magical Thurston-Michael Morgan scrumbase alliance? Both have been below-par in the past fortnight and even Morgan concedes he needs some “honest” talks with Thurston to sort out their roles in hauling the grand finalists out of a worrying form slump.
The Cowboys are missing energy and desire and they need to find it quickly for this week’s daunting road trip to face the surprise packets of the season — ladder leaders the Warriors. Meanwhile, the Panthers face the Eels this week flying high in the top four. Without injured half Nathan Cleary, James Maloney was superb, producing one of the most dominant playmaking displays of his career. Penrith’s monster pack is terrorising teams in the midfield, giving Maloney the latitude to run amok. They look the real deal this year.
— Peter Badel
PENALTY CRACK DOWN HURTS MORE THAN IT HELPS
The problem many have with the referees’ crackdown on penalties over the opening rounds relates mostly to the consistency of the penalties being blown.
And perhaps the best example of this over the weekend could be seen in Canterbury’s controversial loss to South Sydney.
Referee Ben Cummins’ apologised to Josh Jackson for not allowing sufficient time for Jackson to set himself defensively before the Greg Inglis try, after Cummins called Jackson across the field to give the Bulldogs’ an official team warning.
But just as significant was the penalty against Aiden Tolman for not using his foot to play the ball that led to a crucial momentum shift in the first half after a Canterbury try.
The fact is Tolman’s attempt to use his foot was no worse than many similar instances throughout the match, including two play the balls from Tom Burgess that led directly to tries.
Replays clearly showed Burgess failed to make contact with his foot leading up to Braidon Burns’ 53rd minute try.
Burgess also failed to touch the ball with his foot before the match winning try to Cameron Murray.
There was another blatant example soon after the Tolman penalty when Angus Crichton also failed to touch his foot on the ball.
While no one expects the referees to be able to make judgment on every contentious play during a match, the NRL had previously informed clubs players would only be penalised if they didn’t make a genuine attempt to use their foot.
Dean Pay said after the game when asked about the Tolman penalty and if the new interpretation lacked consistency: “You tell me? Have you seen them let them go?”
“So if they are going to be consistent about it, that is all we are asking for.”
Some will say the Bulldogs had a dodgy call go their way the previous week in the win over Penrith.
They call it the rub of the green.
But all it really does is create further frustration for players, coaches and fans, while eroding confidence and credibility in referees.
— Paul Crawley
SHARKS GO RETRO, STORM FAR FROM PERFECT
With James Maloney hitting the road and Matt Moylan on the sidelines, Cronulla have turned to the thing they know best, the style of footy they played before Maloney showed up and turned them into premiership contenders.
It’s simple as anything — keep it in the middle, kick to the corners, tackle like lunatics and grind the opposition down. Give away penalties, hang on the edge of the law, drag the other team down into the gutter and let the forwards do the rest.
Such a style won’t make Cronulla a premiership side this season, but until Moylan gets back and their attack sorts itself out it’ll do them just fine. The Blues played a similar style in 2014 with Trent Hodkinson calling the shots, so it’s only right the journeyman has cropped up at Cronulla, who are now 2-0 under his stewardship.
Melbourne’s own inability to get the points flowing hurt them — the Storm were focused on attacking down Cronulla’s left, but Billy Slater and Will Chambers couldn’t break free all night. When Plan A wasn’t working there was no Plan B, and that’s where Melbourne felt the absence of Cooper Cronk and the inexperience of Brodie Croft.
Throw in some uncharacteristic errors from the likes of Jesse Bromwich and an injury which kept Nelson Asofa-Solomona on the sidelines and that’s all it took for Melbourne to be toppled.
The Victorians won’t be racing towards panic stations, but it’s proof the margin for error for the Storm is narrower than it has been for some time.
— Nick Campton
ALL NEW WARRIORS, SAME OLD ROOSTERS
Were the Warriors good, or the Sydney Roosters ordinary?
The answer is both.
Firstly, let’s look at the victors, New Zealand.
Much has been written and said about the impact Warriors new head of high performance Alex Corvo has had on ripping the NRL’s perennial underachievers into shape.
But perhaps the most telling aspect of the fitter-than-ever Warriors is what it has done to their mental edge.
Not only are they fit in body, but they’re fit in the mind.
And ultimately that is where they beat the Roosters — which in turn, is where alarm bells should be ringing for Sydney coach Trent Robinson.
Because the Warriors are playing with less fatigue, they are making precise, smarter and clear decisions. They know when to pull the trigger and when to play the percentages.
That has rarely, if ever, been said about the Warriors.
The cool head of Blake Green is key to their success, but Isaac Luke is also showing signs he’s about to remind us all how good a player he can be.
As for the premiership-favourites, the Roosters, not for the first time they looked cumbersome and beaten to the punch in the areas of urgency.
This loss was very reminiscent of their first-up defeat to the Tigers.
Out of synch in attack and sloppy through the middle of the field, the Roosters, despite their abundance of big-game experience, appear to have a serious lack of mental toughness when the blowtorch is applied.
It has to be a concern for Robinson.
It’s an area that needs to be addressed pronto because next-up the Roosters travel to the Shire to tackle a hard-nosed Cronulla, who thrive on getting into the trenches and pummelling their opposition into submission.
— David Riccio
WHERE TO NOW FOR RICKY’S WINLESS RAIDERS?
Ricky Stuart is fast running out of options.
Continuing their winless season start by being thrashed by Manly, the Canberra coach claimed he would not make any changes following the “soft’’ and embarrassing loss.
“Why should I make changes when they delivered that crap,’’ Stuart said.
“They should all be wanting to play for themselves and going up to make up for that. They way I feel right now those same 17 have to go back out. They need to show something.’’
And he has few other options as they prepare to take on the Bulldogs at home.
After rolling the dice and axing Blake Austin to reserve grade, his only play may be to recall the struggling No.6. Austin scored a try for Mounties in their win over the Sea Eagles while his NRL replacement Sam Williams was exposed by a rampaging Manly attack.
Craig Garvey could also get a shot at No.9.
The Raiders are just three loses away from recording their worst ever start to a season. The inaugural Raiders lost their first seven on the trot in 1982.
Meanwhile Tom Trbojevic is set to spend a couple of weeks out with an ankle complaint, while forwards Curtis Sironen (knee) and Kelepi Tanginoa (knee) will miss the rest of the season in a double blow that will test the Sea Eagles’ depth.
— James Phelps
INJURED KNIGHT FORCED TO BEGIN ALL OVER AGAIN
On Saturday evening in a Wollongong hotel, Tautau Moga stood before his Newcastle teammates and talked about coming back from ACL injuries.
Three of them.
And as he spoke, this newest of Knights recounted tough days. Dark days.
Days where the young centre wondered if rugby league even wanted him in it again.
But now ... well, he was back.
At 24, healed up, knuckling down and ready to rip into the best years of his footy career.
Yet within 24 hours, the poor bugger was again laid out on the grass at WIN Stadium.
Same injury. Different knee.
As halfback Mitchell Pearce put it: “Devastating”.
And so now, again, Moga starts over.
First, a surgeon’s knife.
Then the loneliness that is rehabilitating for days, weeks, months solo.
Moga once again disappearing to heal as the rugby league world goes on without him.
Tragic.
— Nick Walshaw
WHO’S GOING TO STAND UP FOR THE BRONCOS?
The Broncos are missing a game breaker.
For years Brisbane has been blessed with those players that can produce special moments when it’s needed most.
Names like Alfie Langer, Darren Lockyer and Justin Hodges are just a few that spring to mind.
But Sunday’s shock 26-14 loss to the Titans showed that is the kind of player they are missing at the moment.
While Wayne Bennett blamed errors for the loss, it was also a lacklustre performance and no Broncos player stood up to deliver when Brisbane needed it most.
The Titans made more errors and gave away more penalties, but still walked away with the two points after a spirited and gutsy performance.
The same can’t be said for the Broncos, who were always in a position to claim back the game from the Titans but didn’t show that same fire.
Kodi Nikorima produced a solo effort late in the game to boost Brisbane’s chances.
But where were the other players to capitalise on that moment?
Errors may have stifled their momentum, but there was no Lockyer-like miracle, no explosive play from the highly-rated centres to save the day.
Brisbane have the big names that should be game breakers — Anthony Milford, Jack Bird, James Roberts, Darius Boyd, Nikorima.
But those players are not stepping up at the moment and taking control.
Bird is only two games back and it seems Boyd is not as confident in his hamstrings as he’d like to be.
But those excuses can only last so long.
Someone has to stand up for the Broncos.
— Rikki-Lee Arnold
TIGERS ROARING BUT EELS LOOK DESPERATE
HERE’S bit of prop forward logic for you – good teams beat bad teams, that’s what makes them good.
After the Tigers giant-killing start to the season, Easter Monday’s clash with Parramatta shaped as a classic trap game.
The desperate Eels with everything to play for against the high-flying Tigers, who would have been filled with confidence after wins over the Roosters and Storm, and the outsiders started fast with an early try to Will Smith.
But the Tigers rallied, showing some sharp attacking football that belied the low scoring grinds they’d found themselves in over the first three weeks.
Benji Marshall is a man reborn, and Luke Brooks had his best game in a couple of seasons.
The continued improvement of Esan Marsters is a highlight every week, with the young Kiwi’s footwork and offloading ability giving the Tigers the kind of strike out wide they haven’t had for some time.
The forwards continued to impress, with Robbie Rochow continuing his rise from the ashes after two seasons blighted by injury. Jacob Liddle made a fine return from injury and the Concord rubber man, Corey Thompson, was saving and scoring tries in equal measure.
Parramatta’s rally late in the match will be a little concerning for Ivan Cleary, but not enough to keep him up at night.
The Tigers will again be outsiders this week in a rematch with the Storm, but will fancy their chances after the 10-8 triumph in Melbourne in Round 2.
And even if the joint venture suffers their second loss of the season, they can beat the bad teams, which is what good teams do.
— Nick Campton