Round 20 NRL Likes, Dislikes: ‘This young man could be anything’
Our writers reveal what caught their eye — good and bad — in Round 20 of, including an ongoing embarrassment to rugby league, Wests Tigers’ main man, brilliant Bulldog and more.
Early Mail: Arrow back on target for Titans return
Casualty Ward: Positive news for Rabbitoh Cook
Our rugby league writers reveal what caught their eye — good and bad — in Round 20 of the NRL.
TIGERS v COWBOYS
Like: The two biggest names in town at the Tigers are still Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall, and they probably will be until the day they retire. But the club rising back into semi-final contention has had much to do with the form of Luke Brooks. The 24-year-old is the team’s most important creative player and while he may never fulfil the ludicrous expectations that were saddled upon him before he had even played a first-grade game, he has become an underrated and consistent performer. Brooks was the best player on the field in this match and his defensive improvement was particularly notable.
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Dislike: Paul Green has had things go against him this year — particularly losing Ben Barba and Nene Macdonald permanently ahead of a number of other injuries — but his post-match comments on the refereeing were petulant and laughable. The Cowboys got a raw deal on the pass to Shane Wright which was ruled forward but the referees did not force Green to play Jason Taumalolo for a mere 57 minutes, referees did not mismanage the Cowboys roster to the extent Coen Hess must play in the centres and referees did not take a squad of top eight quality and miss the finals two years in a row.
— Nick Campton
WARRIORS v RAIDERS
Like: There has been plenty of talk of Cronulla magically transforming into premiership contenders once they got all their players back from injury and suspension but the Raiders have managed to go no lower than fifth all year despite near constant chopping and changing. Should Joey Leilua and Nick Cotric return for next week’s blockbuster against the Roosters it will be the first time all season the Raiders have had their best 13 available for selection. A big part of Canberra’s success this year has come from contributions from the likes of Bailey Simonsson and Michael Oldfield, who ensure the Raiders can still compete even without their top guns.
Dislike: Last week’s loss to the Eels was undoubtedly disappointing for the Warriors and they have a case to feel aggrieved but the way they turned it right up in this one would have been especially disheartening for their long-suffering fans. The finals were remote but not beyond them but a subpar effort from players who should know better put paid to any hopes of a miracle. They improved in the second half but it was too little, too late. The good work of last season now feels so far away.
— Nick Campton
BRONCOS v STORM
Like: The evolution of Melbourne’s unsung heroes. Everyone knows the class of the Storm’s big guns Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster, Jesse Bromwich and Josh Addo-Carr but Melbourne found surprising matchwinners in their 40-4 hammering of the Broncos. Jahrome Hughes is filling the Billy Slater void at fullback superbly, Kenny Bromwich’s two tries underlined his power and improvement and in centre Justin Olam, the Storm have a hungry, hard-running wrecking ball. The development of Bromwich and Olam again underlines why Craig Bellamy is the best club coach in the game. Bellamy simply makes good players great and that’s why Melbourne are on course for a fourth consecutive grand final.
Dislike: The Broncos have to get the composition of their playmaking spine right to be a premiership contender next season. Even if they sneak into the finals this year, they can write the season off. They are no hope of beating the top-four sides. Yes, they have superb talents in Payne Haas, David Fifita, Tom Flegler and Tevita Pangai Jr but without classy operators in the nerve centre, forward power goes to waste. Melbourne showed Brisbane how far off the pace they are this year. Darius Boyd is simply not a long-term option at five-eighth and coach Anthony Seibold must hope Tom Dearden steps up as a dominant No. 7 or the longest premiership drought in the club’s history will continue for some time.
— Peter Badel
SEA EAGLES v KNIGHTS
Like: Plenty has been made of Des Hasler’s ability to squeeze life out of previously lifeless footballers. The likes of starters Reuben Garrick, Brad Parker and Curtis Sironen head this list having rightly attracted plenty of attention for their rapid development.
But it’s the unheralded bench rotation that deserves some overdue praise for their efforts in 2019.
Manly’s go-forward in past seasons has suffered dramatically when Marty Taupau and Addin Fonua-Blake finished their first stints on the field.
The men tasked with filling the 25-30 minute void without their key props simply weren’t up to the task of winning the battle up the middle.
But the impact of Corey Waddell, Morgan Boyle and Taniela Paseka off the pine has ensured the engine room is in full operation for 80 minutes of rugby league.
Add in star rake Manase Fainu — who is soon to receive one of the biggest contract upgrades in the competition — and you’ve got a side with premiership credentials.
Dislike: Newcastle are struggling to find a balance between extracting the most out of Kalyn Ponga without overplaying his hand. The loser out of this instability is Mitchell Pearce.
Ponga had some sublime touches in the hefty loss, but his senior halfback went missing at crucial times.
It’s not through a lack of effort from the veteran playmaker, but a relentless need to get Ponga the ball means Pearce isn’t getting the footy when he wants it.
Sometimes the best attribute of a star player like Ponga is that they attract an overcompensating defence even when they don’t have the ball.
Nathan Brown can use the Ponga decoy to bring Pearce — an attacking weapon in his own right — back into the game.
— Tim Williams
BULLDOGS v PANTHERS
Like: Jack Cogger. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak stole the headlines after sparking the Bulldogs against his old club Penrith, but Cogger was just as important with a leading hand in all three of Canterbury’s tries. The young half threw two lovely long passes to his centres on either side of the field to set up tries to both Bulldogs wingers (Will Hopoate and DWZ had the last touch for each four-pointer, but Cogger was awarded both try assists so sublime were his passes). Then he did it all himself with a solo run off the back of a scrum to score next to the posts and seal an upset win.
Dislike: What does Brent Naden have against grounding the ball in the in-goal area? Last week the Panthers young gun was at fault when conceding a try as he tried to pick up the ball, only to fumble it and allow Canberra’s Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad to plant down his easiest four-pointer of the year. This week he looked certain to score a four-pointer of his own as he raced on to a James Maloney grubber — but instead of simply grounding the ball he tried to gather it in and spilt his lollies.
— Dominic Burke
SHARKS v RABBITOHS
Like: Wade Graham has become easily Cronulla’s most important player.
He laid on three tries in yet another comeback game. Graham has had a stop-start year through injury but his confidence is at an all-time high.
His performance on the left edge has really freed Shaun Johnson on the other side of the field. Cronulla have struggled for consistency this year but they could find their rhythm again on the back of Graham’s return.
Dislike: The ill-discipline of Sam Burgess once again. He was placed on report and lucky not to be sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Matt Moylan. It was only four minutes into Burgess’ comeback game and the Rabbitohs skipper’s poor discipline could again haunt his team. Burgess also gave away a penalty for elbowing Paul Gallen while Gallen had the ball which cost his side two points.
— Michael Carayannis
ROOSTERS v TITANS
Like: As impressive and slick as the Sydney Roosters attack was in the crushing 58-6 win over Gold Coast, plenty of credit must go to their under strength forward pack.
The Roosters were without four of the best in co-captains Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend along with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Siosiua Taukeiaho.
But you wouldn’t have known it the way the Roosters demolished the lifeless Titans.
Admittedly, the Titans were also missing Jai Arrow, Shannon Boyd and Ryan James.
But even so, the value for money some of these underrated Roosters forwards like Zane Tetevano and Isaac Liu provide is massively underestimated. Tetevano and Liu wouldn’t be on a pittance of what some of those overpaid Titans forwards are paid.
Dislike: Can someone explain why the Gold Coast Titans are even in the NRL?
Seriously, fans on the NSW Central Coast have been begging for an opportunity to have their own team for 35 years or more and the entire time one of rugby league’s biggest junior heartlands has been treated with contempt.
Yet the Gold Coast are an ongoing embarrassment to the game and all everyone ever wants to talk about is what can be done to make them better.
It was obvious from the moment they ran on to the SCG on Sunday the players didn’t want to be there and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for stand-in coach Craig Hodges who had to front the media post match and try and explain why what had gone wrong.
I can tell you what has gone wrong.
There are too many people involved in this club taking up huge salaries under the false pretences they are professional footballers.
If the Gold Coast fail in the next two years under Justin Holbrook they should just close the joint down and put a new team in Gosford.
— Paul Crawley
DRAGONS v EELS
Like: Parramatta No.6 Dylan Brown. While the Eels don’t yet seem a genuine playoff threat, there’s no doubting the Next Big Thing potential oozing from a fella who in this one scored a try, drove his team around the park, even dislodged the ball from Dragons tough Tyson Frizell with a thumping tryline tackle. Certainly, eighth Immortal Andrew Johns is a fan. Speaking during the Channel 9 telecast, Joey said of Brown: “We’ve had a lot of superstars retire recently, guys like Thurston and co. But this young man, he could be anything … absolutely anything.”
Dislike: The Crusher Tackle. Undoubtedly, rugby league’s newest Wrestlemania issue. And like all the Chicken Wings, Rolling pins and whatever else came before, it’s bloody ugly. For if you hadn’t heard, keeping the neck uncrushed is fairly important to a person’s wellbeing. So the idea of it being dealt with like your old Commodore in a wrecker’s compactor … it isn’t great. In this game, there were a couple of them. As there now seems to be every weekend.
— Nick Walshaw
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