NRL Round 3 wrap: It’s too early to dethrone top dogs and the Mitchell moment Bennett can’t forgive
The kings of rugby league shouldn’t lose their crowns overnight, one Mitchell moment Bennett won’t be able to cop and an Origin player who finally looks like an Origin player - it’s all here in Campo’s Corner wrap of Round 3.
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We have been reunited with the NRL, and it feels so good.
After waiting for what felt like years between Round 2 and Round 3, we only have to wait three days for the end of Round 3 and Round 4 but I say that is still far too long.
To help us get through these terrible, football-free days, here’s five things to take away from the resumption of the competition.
1) The best don’t lose their crowns overnight
I know everybody was very excited for the footy to be back after so long and a little bit of over-reaction was only natural, but please stay safe out there. We were merely two days removed from James Tedesco utterly dominating the Rabbitohs and showing why he’s one of the best players in the world (if not the very best, full stop) when some were ready to crown Tom Trbojevic as the best fullback in the NRL after his own, similarly excellent display against the Bulldogs. Tedesco is coming off a season where he scored the winning try in the grand final, the winning try in the Origin decider, won player of the series and the Dally M.
With all due respect to Trbojevic, whose quality is undisputed and who may well be a top ten player in his own right, Tedesco shouldn’t lose his status as top dog among fullbacks just because Manly put the cleaners through Canterbury. It wasn’t that easy for him to win the crown, so it shouldn’t be so easy for him to lose it.
The same thing, bizarrely, happens to Jason Taumalolo all the time. North Queensland’s man-mountain is the best forward in the game, and one of the best in recent history, and there exists a strange tendency to overlook his incredible week-to-week achievements. Taumalolo ran for 273 metres against the Titans, and everybody forgot about it by the time the next game started - how quickly we grow accustomed to wonders, because there’s nobody like Taumalolo and if other players at other clubs did the things he did they’d be deified. Cameron Murray and Victor Radley and Jake Trbojevic are all fine players, but Taumalolo is limited edition, one of one, and they’ll all be chasing him for some time yet.
2) We got Good Joe Tapine this week
Joseph Tapine’s talent has never been his issue - he’s powerful and strong and light on his feet, and he’s got a real mean streak in him which makes him all the more dangerous. Through a variety of circumstances, some of his own making (his discipline has let him down many times, and resulted in needless suspensions) and some beyond his control (Tapine is far better on the edge than the middle, but with Elliott Whitehead and John Bateman in the team he has to play lock or he won’t start) the Kiwi international is yet to fully hit his stride.
But performances like the one Tapine produced in the 22-6 win over Melbourne show why he is rated so highly in many circles. With Bateman injured, Tapine was able to switch to the edge and he thrived - not so much in attack, for which he is better known, but defensively. Tapine’s incredible save on Justin Olam when the Storm centre looked certain to score was the sort of play he just doesn’t normally make, and the kind of second effort that has occasionally been lacking from the former Knight in recent seasons. It wasn’t all gravy, with Tapine incurring yet another needless penalty with a mindless shoulder charge in the first half (given his track record, he was fortunate to escape suspension) but if Canberra are resigned to losing Bateman the drop-off may not be as major as some expect, so long as Tapine can tame some of his wilder moments.
3) The Mitchell moment Bennett won’t be able to cop
The spotlight will shine with a burning intensity on Latrell Mitchell until he is moved from fullback to centre, and performances like the one he produced against the Roosters will only serve to heighten the glare. Despite some more teething problems, Mitchell had his best game as a Rabbitoh against his former club, but that was a low bar to clear. He rarely looked like the attacking threat he has been in the past and questions still exist around his workrate as a fullback.
This should have been expected - he is a young man in a new position and these switches rarely happen overnight - but even Mitchell’s greatest fans would have to concede he has underwhelmed early on. Only Wayne Bennett knows how long the Rabbitohs will be prepared to wait, but as much as the supercoach may overlook Mitchell’s struggles at the back he surely will not continue to tolerate plays like his selfish shot on Luke Keary in the final minutes. In trying to settle a personal score with his former teammate, Mitchell was miles out of position and allowed Jake Friend to score an easy try that compounded the difference between the two teams. Taking time to learn a new position is one thing, putting oneself ahead of the needs of the team in the crucial stages of a match is quite another.
4) Daniel Saifiti is looking like an Origin player
Saifiti was selected for New South Wales last year based on what he could be rather than what he was. The big unit had the worst year of his career in 2019, recording career lows in metres per game and runs per game, passing 100 metres gained just eight times in 21 appearances. He played Origin because he should have been better - Saifiti is big and mobile and powerful, and there happens to be two of him - but under Nathan Brown Saifiti was a study in underperforming, like many of the Knights’ heralded juniors in their unhappy times.
But after just three games under Adam O’Brien, Saifiti looks like a new man. His showing against Penrith was the best of his career, and the 217 metres he churned out is the second-highest total he’s ever recorded in a single game. He looked more like an Origin quality player than he did when he first played Origin and he’s not the only Knight who has already taken giant strides under the new coach. A quick mention must also go to his twin brother, Jacob - after his career looked to be on life support last year, he has become an important contributor off the bench for the unbeaten Knights.
5) Valentine Holmes is getting there
Holmes is yet to fully replicate the slashing running which marked his excellent 2018 season with the Sharks, and such incisive play may not return until the former New York Jet has at least one more pre-season, but there were some excellent signs in North Queensland’s easy win over the Titans. Holmes is still no slouch running the ball, but it’s his passing game that will especially please Paul Green.
Holmes show fast hands to play a role in three tries for the Cowboys, and his five try assists in three games is a show of how he’s improved in this department since his time at Cronulla (where he accumulated nine try assists in 26 games in his final season). The running might come back and it might not, but Holmes is already a key piece for North Queensland, regardless of what he might be in the future.
TAKEAWAYS FROM EELS-BRONCOS
Rugby league has come out of its cage and it’s feeling just fine.
On the standard of Parramatta’s 34-6 win over Brisbane on Thursday night, they’ve dealt with self-isolation better than most of us. What’s the stupidest thing you did to deal with these troubled times? I gave myself a mohawk. Terrible, yes, but at least I didn’t go for the real Slim Shady look most of the Parra boys tried out.
In their last four games, Parramatta have outscored the Broncos 146-33. They only won three of those games, but when they’ve triumphed they’ve won the hell out of them.
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That’s what Parramatta do, when they win they invariably win by wild, outrageous amounts while playing wild, outrageous footy. This season (re)opener might not have been as wild or outrageous as it could have been, but given how long we’ve been without footy it could have been a 0-0 golden point draw and we would have lapped it up and asked for more.
We’re back at it friends, and the return of footy means the return of takes, so here’s five things to take away from the first match of the resumed NRL season.
1) This did not tell us anything we did not know about Parramatta
There’s still too small a sample size to judge the full impact of the switch to one referee and the new six-again rule, but for whatever reason this match was played at a tremendous pace, especially allowing for the lengthy lay-off.
Such a style suits Parramatta perfectly. Once they get on the front foot they are incredibly hard to slow — for the best example of this, see their 58-0 win over the Broncos in the finals last year. This scoreline might not have blown out so badly this time, but it was still a game that played to everything Parramatta did well.
But we knew all these things about Parramatta. We knew they could play this way, and we knew how difficult they are to stop once they get a roll on. We knew that when they get into a fight they’re sure they can win they’ll show their teeth because they’re willing to bite. But doing that with 66 per cent of the territory against a Broncos team that made 14 handling errors is one thing, doing it against one of the competition’s true big guns is quite another and the Eels are still yet to take that final step.
They can’t do that until they play them, of course, but they’ll get that chance sooner rather than later: match-ups with the Roosters, Sea Eagles and Raiders are in their near future. As impressive as they were in this one it will still take some time to convert the unbelievers.
2) It’s important to remember how undermanned Brisbane are in the back row
Brisbane are blessed with terrific depth in the forwards but we must remember how far they’ve been stretched. Tevita Pangai Junior (suspension) and David Fifita (injury) were both missing, robbing them of both their regular second rowers, which threw their defensive patterns on the edge into chaos.
Once Alex Glenn was injured, they were left with rookies Jamil Hopoate and Ethan Bullemore on the edges. Given Darius Boyd has only recently moved to centre and Brodie Croft was in just his third game as a Bronco so it was only natural their combination, or lack thereof, was continuously tested by the Eels.
Brisbane’s inability to lock up the middle of the field compounded their defensive struggles — the Marata Niukore try was an early warning sign, and the Eels’ constant offloading gave the Queenslanders no chance to slow things down and as a result they looked exhausted from around the 30th minute onwards. Mitch Moses throws as good a long ball as any player in the competition, and it allows Parramatta to switch the point of attack from one edge to the other in an instant.
The Broncos have a tendency to collapse when things get bad, and they do not yet know how to dig themselves out of their spirals — against a team like Parramatta, who are waiting for the chance to bully their opponents out of the game, such a flaw is often fatal. In hindsight, it’s easy to see how Parramatta’s strength lined up with Brisbane’s weaknesses.
3) Staggs is not yet the finished product
Kotoni Staggs has been attracting Origin hype for some time, and there was even talk heading into this one that a good performance could all but seal his spot – which seems presumptuous, given Origin will not be played until October.
While Staggs is a terrific attacking player (see his fabulous in and away on Maika Sivo early) his defensive reads must improve.
He was beaten cold by Michael Jennings for Sivo’s try, then made a poor read for Gutherson’s try (albeit after Brodie Croft and Hopoate had already turned in) before he was trampled by Shaun Lane for a try in the second half.
None of these problems are fatal for Staggs — this is just his second year as a starter after all — but he needs to correct them, or at least improve them a little, before he truly enters representative calculations.
4) Mick Jennings still has plenty of that Good Shit
A little over two years ago, Michael Jennings was very nearly finished at the Eels. He spent some time in reserve grade, and the club tried to offload him to Newcastle, but he came back with an excellent season last year and he carried that form into Thursday night.
Jennings is still very good at all the things he’s always done well — he’s still got the speed and acceleration that’s made him an attacking threat since his debut in 2007 and his footwork in broken play remains exemplary. Given how long he’s been around (14 seasons now!) that’s no small feat. Jennings has scored 148 tries in his career, the second-most of any active player and the second-most of any centre behind Andrew Ettinghausen.
I already mentioned how Staggs was beaten dead to rights by the older man for the Sivo try, but it bears repeating how impressive a move it was, a classic piece of centre play, something which is becoming a little bit of a lost art in the modern game, where centres are often manufactured rather than born. Jennings is a specialist centre, always has been and always will be, and those players are rarer than they used to be.
Jennings is at the point of his career where he will never be anything more than what he is, and what he is what he’s always been — he’s not going to move to the halves, he’s not after fullback money. Michael Jennings is 32 years old, he’s here to beat some dudes and score some tries and he doesn’t have time for anything else. He’s been doing this to grown men since Kotoni Staggs was playing under-9s for the Wellington Cowboys, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. Staggs will have plenty of better days to come, but this time youth had to bend the knee to old age at least one more time, and my guy is making the salt and pepper look work.
LISTEN! This week on The Daily Telegpaph podcast Mick, Mobbsy and Buzz talk through the Bronson Xerri drama, the Parramatta pressure cooker, your top eight picks … and what we are looking forward to most this season.
5) Junior Paulo is one of the best props in the competition
Since his Canberra days, Paulo has had the reputation of being a large lad who was good for about 20 minutes of action a week. I never understood where this came from, as even when Paulo was a Raider and carrying a little more timber than he is now he was capable of playing between 50 and 60 minutes every week. As it stands, he is Parramatta’s most important middle forward and a key pillar of their premiership hopes.
Paulo can collect the skulls of his opponents when the need arises, but he’s no mere bruiser — he’s got terrific skills for a big man, as evidenced by his tremendous pass for Clint Gutherson’s try (digging into the line at second receiver like that showed form many halves would be proud to call their own), and his offloads are one of his great strengths. The Samoan international’s size is offset by his excellent mobility, which allows him to still perform well in games as quick as this one. To me, he was the best player on the field in this win and there are few better front-rowers in the competition.
GET EM ONSIDE: 37 THINGS WE MISSED FROM THE FOOTY
Let the word go forth from this time and place — rugby league is back.
It’s back! It’s really back! Steedens will fly! Tackles will be made! Tries will be scored! Dreams will be realised and hearts will be broken. Refs will be urged to get ‘em onside.
It’s NRL Eve, and from this weekend until the end of November, God willing, there will be rugby league each and every weekend. What a concept.
I’ve been spending the hiatus sitting in a dark room, staring at the walls and not thinking about the 2019 grand final, but Campo’s Corner is back and it’ll never leave you again. Here’s 37 things we missed the most in the weeks footy went away.
1) When a team is down 48-0 but score a late consolation try and you turn to the person next to you and say “comebacks on here!”
This is the fourth funniest thing you can do while watching a game of footy. Bonus points if the losing team scores two or three late tries, turning the scoreline from an embarrassing 48-0 to a far more respectable 48-16.
2) Yelling out “if you do that on the street you go to jail!” for very mild penalties.
This is the third funniest thing you can do while watching a game of footy. Plays even better if it’s for something like off-side, or a ruck infringement. Silverwater is packed with hard-nosed bastards who just refused to retire the required 10 metres when a scrum was packed.
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3) Yelling out “get ‘em onside!” loudly and for no real reason.
This is the second funniest thing you can do while watching a game of footy. The best time to yell it out is while the opening kick-off is in the air, but there is no bad time to say it.
4) Yelling out “they’ve been doing it all day, sir!” when the ref gives away the first penalty of the match.
This is the funniest thing you can do while watching a game of footy. Most jokes get old after you say them a dozen times, this just gets a dozen times funnier.
5) Watching Newtown and getting a Henson Park Happy Meal (sausage sandwich, two VBs).
The odds of the NSW Cup returning this season are slim to none, so we might have to wait until 2021 for this particular slice of rugby league heaven to come back into our lives. But imagine this, in your mind’s eye - you are on the hill at Henson Park on a clear winter’s day. In one hand, you grasp a snag that has been burnt within an inch of its life and lovingly placed betwixt a folded slice of white bread before being slathered in tomato sauce and buried under a sea of onions.
In your other hand, you wield a can of VB so cold it would snap your face off. A second can, which is somehow colder than the first, is nestled in your jacket pocket. Jets halfback Braydon “Tricky” Trindall has just set up a try for fullback Will “The King” Kennedy, and Newtown have taken a 26-18 lead with 15 minutes to go against Western Suburbs.
The ground announcer tells the crowd that the attendance, improbably, is once again 8972. Your mate turns to you and says “up the Jettos” and you nod in agreement.
Is there anything better in the world? Friends, I really don’t think so.
6) Front-rowers getting the ball in space.
They’re so uncertain of what to do! Imagine a newborn foal trying to break into a gallop except it’s 120kg of prime, rugby league beef. Trust your instincts big man, wherever they may lead you.
7) Front-rowers kicking the ball.
Most props kick the ball like they have never actually kicked a football before but have had someone describe it to them. Paul Gallen might have been one of rugby league’s great on-field villains, but he also kicked a field goal for absolutely no reason in that final-round game against the Tigers last season, so he’s all right in my book.
8) Front-rowers doing anything they are not supposed to be doing.
Rugby league positions are just a social construct and in the 21st century there are no more lines. If a prop forward wants to take a shot at field goal, or perhaps try a chip and chase on his own 40m line he should not be shamed for doing so. It’s 2020 man, live your truth.
9) Shaking your head when fights break out but secretly wishing they brought back punching.
I understand why they got rid of punching, I really do. It’s a bad look for the game, it’s a relic of another time, rugby league should be about the rugby league-ing and not the fighting, I understand all of this. But I also understand that it absolutely rules when two dudes throw wild, stupid haymakers at each other for 30 seconds while the fans hoot and holler like idiots.
10) Calls to bring back the little man
Your dad’s favourite rugby league take. For some reason, a school of thought exists that footy was better 25 years ago when players were, objectively, not as fast or strong as they are today. People like to say we need to bring fatigue back into rugby league, and especially that we need to “bring back the little man”, like little men aren’t already the best and most coveted players in the game.
In the NRL era, only one non-spine player has won the Dally M Medal, only seven have won the Clive Churchill medal and if one was currently doing a list of the five best players in the game the only forward who would be a walk-up start is Jason Taumalolo. Cameron Murray is one of the best lock forwards in the game and compared to his contemporaries he's a featherweight. Ditto with Victor Radley. Ryan Papenhuyzen played in the middle at times last year, and so did Connor Watson. Kalyn Ponga came off the bench to do the same in his Origin debut not two years ago! The little man never left! How can we bring back something that’s never gone away?
But you can set your watch to this take coming out at some point in the near future. It’s going to be so annoying. I can’t wait.
11) Getting pissed off over Origin selections
A tradition unlike any other.
12) Claiming you knew the Origin selection you were pissed off about was the right call all along.
Everyone has one of these and if you don’t you’re not trying hard enough.
13) Being absolutely sure this is the year Player X will put it all together.
“If Dave Taylor just has a good off-season, under the right coach, he could really be something.”
14) Making excuses when Player X doesn’t put it together.
“Can you believe they kept moving Dave Taylor from the middle to the edge like that? How was my guy supposed to settle anywhere? Not his fault if you ask me.”
15) Having serious conversations with your pals about your team, currently in sixth place and on a two-game winning streak, possibly winning the competition.
“Look, all we need to do to make the top four is beat the Roosters and the Storm away, hope the Raiders beat the Knights by less than 12 points, sacrifice a cow upon a golden altar, sign a clone of Andrew Johns and we can make the top four. It’s not THAT far-fetched, is it?”
16) Either being one of those loons who buys grand final tickets early or one of those loons who won’t buy them until your team makes it.
I’m part of the latter group, because I stupidly believe in jinxes. I was at the Raiders-Souths prelim last year and somebody in front of me tried to buy grand final tickets at halftime. I nearly called the police.
17) Golden point
Peter V’landys seems determined to have rugby league played the same way that it was in 1987, so don’t be surprised if golden point is the next thing he throws out the door. This would be a terrible decision, because golden point rules incredibly hard. For every narc who says “what’s wrong with a draw?” I ask them - what is right with it?
Why have the existentially apathetic outcome of a draw, where there are no winners or losers, no happiness or misery, none of the hard and fast emotions that make sport worth following, when you can have lunatic field goal shootouts, where the edges of the match and reality itself start to fray and the fate of the game itself hinges on every run and tackle and decision? Golden point is raw, uncut rugby league lunacy, and if you wouldn’t choose that over a tepid draw and a cold shower then you’re turning your back on life itself.
18) Andrew Voss
What do you reckon Vossy has been doing in self-isolation? I know he’s been calling a few old games for Fox League, but that could hardly be enough to scratch the great man’s itch. Has he been heading down to the park and commentating on his own shots at field goal?
Has he been regaling his mates on Zoom chats with stories about the Russian team from the 2000 World Cup?
Has he staged some kind of Ocean’s 11 style break-in at Leichhardt Oval? I’m not ruling anything out. Whatever gets you through these troubled times is all right by me Vossy.
19) Rag-tag teams that can’t make the finals upsetting premiership contenders
The Titans are usually good for one of these a year - the best of them was in 2017 when they beat the Storm 38-36 at Suncorp Stadium. It was the only defeat a full-strength Melbourne team suffered that season. Konrad Hurrell forever.
20) Premiership contenders putting 50 points on rag-tag teams and scoring heaps of sick tries
The Titans are also good for one of these a year. Last season it happened when the Roosters ripped their throats out in a 58-6 smashing at the SCG in Round 20.
21) Rag-tag teams giving premiership contenders a real scare but falling just short in the final seconds while the commentators say “well, they can be proud of their efforts here tonight.”
Canterbury have gotten really good at these in the last few years.
22) Full-strength tins at GIO Stadium
Escape the yoke of oppression and the empty promises of mid-strength beers - head down to the territory, where they treat folks right.
23) When the “New-cas-tle” chant starts up in Newcastle
Here’s a stat that always blows my mind - since 1998, the Knights have had just four home games with a crowd of less than 10,000. That’s including the three straight seasons they claimed the wooden spoon, and the horrible year in 2016 when they only won one game. True love is finding someone who cares about you like Newcastle cares about the Knights.
24) Magic Weekend
Eight matches, four days, one stadium, 10,000 beers and more obscure jerseys than you could possibly count. There are literally no downsides. Every red-blooded footy fan should try and get to Magic Weekend at least once, it’s a carnival of football and good times that will lift your spirit.
25) Improbable first-tryscorer bets
Gamble responsibly … unless Josh Papalii is 50-1 to get over first and you have a good feeling about it.
26) When guys come from nowhere to become beloved fan favourites
Me, in February of 2019: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad? I guess he was OK on the wing for the Warriors a few years ago, but I’m not sure about this.
Me, now: Not only would I die for Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, I am actively eager to do so.
27) Damien Cook taking off from dummy half against a retreating defensive line.
I swear to God, it’s like watching someone rise up for a slam dunk. Sprint on them Cookie, sprint on them like they’re a beach.
28) Long field goals
The vaccine for coronavirus is somebody kicking a field goal from their own side of halfway.
29) When guys look like their careers are over but make the most of their one chance in first grade
Brent Naden is a good example. The Panthers centre was within an inch of walking away from the top grade last year - he was always talented, but things just didn’t seem to work out. But then he got his chance, played great, scored some sick tries and now he’s got a full-time deal and isn’t going anywhere. You love to see it.
30) Hating opposition players with every fibre of your being because they dared to beat your team
How DARE they! The nerve, the audacity!
31) Old fellas doing cunning, old fella shit
Cameron Smith is the best at this, but he doesn’t really count cause he’s been an wily old fox for nearly 15 years now. Benji Marshall is a better example - think about in Round 1 against the Dragons when he beat Ben Hunt and Zac Lomax with a headfake and the mere idea of a sidestep. Young Benji hopped like a kangaroo, old Benji doesn’t have to.
32) Scrum plays
Bring Tim Sheens back, somebody, please. It’s been a lean few winters for scrumbase plays since Cronulla pulled off this beauty in the 2016 grand final.
33) James Roberts and Josh Addo-Carr running really fast
There is nothing else like seeing Roberts and Addo-Carr put the pedal down, knock it up another notch, really turn the engine over, put the rubber to the road, let loose down the stretch, go for the gas, light the fuse, crank it up, really just get into space and get the motor running. I’ve got Roberts over 40 and Addo-Carr over 100, but I would gladly pay folding money to see a proper race between the two.
34) When a front-rower sprints the ball back from a kick off and you know someone is going to either smash him or get smashed
YES BOYS RUN INTO EACH OTHER!
35) Grubbers that curl just the right way
Former Bulldogs, Storm and Eels half Ben Roberts used to do these crazy, corkscrew grubbers that would turn like Warnie was chucking them down in the final session on Day 5.
Nobody now is as good at them as Roberts was then, but it still happens sometimes - Mitch Moses likes to do them a lot, and it’s always very satisfying.
36) Sideline conversions after the siren to level the scores/take the lead.
Even the most ardent anti-vaxxer would not object to having this injected directly into their veins.
37) When you’ve had a bad day or a bad week but you know there’s footy at the end of it, and that makes it all right.
I’m so glad it’s back guys.