Campo’s Corner: New stars, the king’s ransom and a Golden Hombre
We’re already a quarter of the way through the 2019 campaign and that’s more than enough to run the eye over five outsiders who have made a name for themselves.
CHEAPIE BIBLE: Enter the house of Payne
We’re a quarter of the way through the regular season. Doesn’t it seem strange to hear that already? I mean, we’re barely in the throes of Origin hype trains and there’s a mere three-fourths of the regular season remaining.
What’s most important about crossing this rubicon is that the flaming hot takes that keep the rugby league world going round can now have a little substance behind them.
The sample sizes are no longer small – we can shoot from the hip in the knowledge there’s a quarter of a season to confirm or deny whatever half-baked takes one wishes to throw out there.
To celebrate this quarter mile, let’s take a look at five players who have made a name for themselves in 2019 and what the rest of the season may hold.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
In my harrowing Raiders season preview I expressed real doubts about Nicoll-Klokstad’s ability to be Canberra’s long-term fullback.
Sure, he was capable enough in his brief time on the wing for the Warriors, but could he be a fulltime replacement for Jack Wighton?
Would the Raiders feel comfortable betting big on a player who was not only unproven as a first grader, let alone as a fullback?
I will regret these doubts until the end of my days. Nicoll-Klokstad has been one of Canberra’s best players in their excellent start to the season and leads the Raiders in average metres per game, line break assists and is second in tackle busts.
He’s also made just two errors in six matches and his positional play and defence has been terrific. Nicoll-Klokstad also really loves Canberra.
Raiders fans have also taken to him – the church of Charnze is accepting all comers.
John Bateman
I was confident John Bateman would be a success in the NRL – after all, he’d been one of the best players in Super League for some time and excelled in Test footy for England.
But I’d be lying if I expected this with Bateman looking like one of the best forwards in the NRL through six weeks.
Bateman is the face of Canberra’s transformation from glass cannon to defensive powerhouse, a transition I’m still having trouble believing.
Be it at lock or second row, Bateman has been at the heart of so much good the Raiders have done this season and, like Nicoll-Klokstad, the green faithful have already taken him into their hearts.
Plenty of smart judges have told the masses how good Bateman has been so he doesn’t need me to keep doing it but he’s the runaway leader for buy of the year.
Reed Mahoney
Hooker has been a difficult hole for Parramatta to fill since Nathan Peats left midway through 2016. Kaysa Pritchard is talented and mean but is cursed by injuries and may well be too tenacious for his own good. Cameron King was an honest toiler but lacked the attacking class of his contemporaries.
In Reed Mahoney, Parra might have their long-term guy. After nine matches last season, Mahoney has blossomed this year and become one of Parramatta’s best with his tenacious defence and smart work around the ruck adding a new dimension to the Eels.
With three line breaks in his first six matches and an average of 41 tackles per game, Mahoney is making all the right moves and the 21-year old Queenslander is a big part of Parra’s future.
Manase Fainu
In contrast to Parra, Manly already have a very capable dummy half in Apisai Koroisau but the time draws near when Des Hasler will have a difficult decision to make with Koroisau and Manase Fainu because Fainu is too good to keep on the bench for much longer.
Right now, Hasler is juggling the two – Fainu is averaging 40 minutes per game off the pine – but the 20-year old is making the most of it.
He’s Manly’s equal leading tryscorer and has Koroisau covered in terms of line breaks, metres per game, line break assists and tackle busts.
Fainu is no one-trick pony either, he’s not just a runner but a cunning ballplayer who excels at committing the markers. Koroisau has been good for Manly ever since he joined the club in 2016 but Fainu is the future.
Brian Kelly
Kelly showed some promising signs in his two seasons at Manly and luring him back north could be the smartest bit of business the Titans have done in a while.
In his third season of first grade Kelly has enjoyed a fine start and is clearly the most incisive outside back at the club – it’s no coincidence the Titans look better the more he gets involved.
While Kelly is capable of playing both sides of the field and at wing or fullback, he’s a natural left-sided player and an out and out centre.
With Tyrone Peachey not exactly setting the world on fire, switching Kelly to the left fulltime should be on Garth Brennan’s mind.
THE KING’S RANSOM
What is Clint Gutherson worth?
Since the speculation around the Parramatta captain’s contract situation ramped up in earnest there’s been much speculation as to what he’s worth as a player.
The obvious answer is, of course, he’s worth whatever he can get but it’s been puzzling to see the amount of pundits and fans who oppose Parramatta ponying up cash for the king.
Since joining the Eels in 2016 Gutherson has gone from strength to strength and while his knee injury in 2017 is a concern, he’s proven himself to be a well-rounded and dangerous fullback and one of Parramatta’s best and most popular players.
Fullback is in a state of flux around the league at the moment. Over the last decade it’s been one of the deepest positions in the sport but that’s not the case anymore. It’s very much a position in flux as a new generation of players replace the old.
You can make the case there’s only four fullbacks in the league one would take ahead of Gutherson – James Tedesco, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Kalyn Ponga and Tom Trbojevic.
Just about every club bar North Queensland have a fullback they’re willing to commit to in the long term but it’s easy to argue that Gutherson has as high an upside as all bar the best four fullbacks in the league.
Critics can say he’s not got the track record of a Billy Slater or a Johnathan Thurston but guess what – neither does anyone else.
Through six games, Gutherson is second in the league for average run metres, first in line break assists and second in try assists.
He’s well rounded and entering his career prime with plenty of scope to improve.
Staying at Parramatta is the ideal option for player and club – let’s hope they can work out something everyone’s happy with.
AN APPRECIATION FOR JWH
It wasn’t so long ago that it was reasonable to assume Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was done as a top tier NRL prop.
On his day he could still mix it up with the best of them but close to a decade at the highest levels seemed to have worn him down. His infamous no-show in the preliminary final against the Cowboys in 2017 after talking a big game in the lead up could have been the end of the big Kiwi as a top tier forward in the NRL.
But fast forward two years and I would argue Waerea-Hargreaves has experienced the best two season stretch of his career. He hasn’t put up the same attacking numbers as he did in 2013 but he’s become the Roosters best middle forward by some way, often trading quantity for quality and excelling as a defender.
Waerea-Hargreaves was terrific through the back end of last season, would have been a worthy Clive Churchill medal winner in the grand final victory and helped tame the Storm again last Friday – it’s no coincidence the Roosters steadied in the final quarter once he came back on.
The Roosters forward pack isn’t reliant on any one man – look how they excelled on the weekend without in-form Tongan Sio Siua Taukeiaho – but when it really gets tight they rely on Waerea-Hargreaves more than anyone else and he’s done nothing but deliver for some time.
FIELD GOALS FOREVER
And now, to celebrate Latrell Mitchell’s first career field goal, here are some other unlikely field goal kickers and the things I know about them.
Alan Tongue – As if he couldn’t be any more admirable, the workaholic former Raiders skipper and one-time nominee for Australian of the Year banged over the only field goal of his career in a 2007 match against the Roosters that stretched the score from 36-28 to 37-28. Kudos to Tonguey for excelling under such pressure.
Nathan Cayless – The long-time Parramatta skipper knocked over a left-footed field goal in the dying stages of a clash with Newcastle in 2008 to level the scores at 23-all before a Luke Burt one-pointer won it for Parra in golden point. I’m fairly certain it’s the only field goal kicked by a prop since the turn of the century and it sneaks in ahead of teammate Ian Hindmarsh’s similarly incongruous field goal the year before against Penrith.
Mark Carroll – One of the least likely field goal kickers of our time, Carroll banged over an absolute beauty from 30 metres out for Souths against Parramatta in 1993 in 15-2 victory. If this happened today I wouldn’t come home for a week.
Nathan Merritt – Probably the most apt comparison to Mitchell’s kick is Merritt’s famous, last-second field goal against the Tigers in 2009 to secure a 23-22 victory at the SCG. Although he wasn’t as far out as Mitchell, Merritt was even further off-centre and didn’t have the benefit of a set play.
Shaun Timmins – The Illawarra stalwart kicked his first field goal in 1996 for the Steelers in a 21-14 win over the Sharks. His second was in the first ever golden point Origin match from 40 metres out that won Game I of the 2004 Origin series. To this day if you yell out “TIMMINS!” as you launch off a drop kick it’ll go five metres further than if you hadn’t, that’s a scientific fact.
THE GOLDEN HOMBRE
Is there anything more thrilling than when a big man gets into the clear and attempts an ill-advised dummy, or perhaps a chip kick?
Is there anything greater than when a large lad decides the time has come for him to show the world the ball skills he knows lurk deep within?
Is there anything that lifts the spirit more than a hefty fellow crashing across the stripe for his second NRL try in his 179th first grade match?
I say no, and to honour these big fellas each and every week we hand out The Golden Hombre, named after Todd Payten, the biggest halfback God ever created.
It was another stacked field this week as Tim Grant waltzed over untouched for his seventh NRL try in his 190th first grade match, Briton Nikora chipping over a fullback despite having support and Corey Waddell offloading through his legs.
But instead we’re taking a quick trip to Hull and handing this week’s Golden Hombre to Mark Minichiello, who sold Adam Quinlan a truly filthy dummy in last weekend’s Hull derby.
At 37, Mini the younger has reinvented his career and should be moved to the halves post haste.
A GUY YOU SHOULD KNOW
Everyone who watched Roosters-Storm has heard of Sitili Tupouniua but I swear I had him pencilled in for this spot before the game even happened. Tupouniua played in the middle against Melbourne and did a fine job but he’s better suited to the edge where he’s been one of North Sydney’s best in the NSW Cup this year.
Tupouniua has the speed, footwork and mobility to be a threat on the edge at any level of the game and even though he’s got just two NRL matches under his belt he can be a big contributor for the Roosters this season.
Apologies to last week’s Guy You Should Know – Alex Twal endured one of the worst games of his NRL career in the Tigers 51-6 loss to Parramatta and I can’t help but feel partially responsible.
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