Why Darius Boyd has become the Kangaroos defensive general in the Four Nations

DARIUS Boyd is best known for his attacking skills but it was two defensive plays from the win over New Zealand that showed his worth to the Kangaroos.

Darius Boyd was again safe as a bank against New Zealand.

AUSTRALIA has almost always had a reassuring figure as its rugby league fullback, but few have had Darius Boyd’s talent for being the right man in the right place in defence.

Boyd’s stamina and football knowledge got him into position to produce two try-saving plays in the last minute to safeguard Australia’s 14-8 win over New Zealand on Saturday.

Australia’s third win this year over the Kiwis from as many starts owed much to a tackle by Boyd and centre Greg Inglis and the fullback’s ability to apprehend a grubber kick.

Boyd and Inglis scrambled to hold up Kiwis playmaker Shaun Johnson over the line, combining strength with their years of knowledge about how exactly to twist the attacking player’s body and position their own frame to prevent the ball being grounded.

A subsequent play-the-ball gave the Kiwis two last tackles in which to bid for a draw, with Boyd hustled his way from the right corner to the left corner to field a grubber and suppress New Zealand’s last chance.

Boyd made two key defensive plays in the win over New Zealand.

Boyd, who has played the last four of his 21 Tests at fullback, would no doubt shrug off either play as being nothing more than doing his job, but a mistake in the last line in such a circumstance is glaring.

Boyd’s form for the Broncos led Australian coach Mal Meninga to choose the Bronco as his No. 1 for the May Test, after which Queensland coach Kevin Walters kept Inglis in the centres for the 2016 Origin matches.

Walters conceded after the series that Boyd, 29, could keep Slater, 33, and 29-yeer-old Inglis, as well as emerging contenders led by Cameron Munster, out of the Maroons fullback position for years to come.

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Slater returns to training this month from shoulder surgery and it would be the Queensland way to recall him for next year’s clashes with NSW if he shows he has recovered from the career-threatening injury.

The Storm fullback, a 27-Test veteran, is himself one of the greatest operatives in the last line to have worn the green-and-gold.

Slater was honest enough to tell me in Origin camp, in which he was a coaching consultant, how struck he was by Boyd’s positioning in defence inside the 20m zone and late in tackle counts.

It’s exactly what Maroons insiders, most notably former Test fullback Darren Lockyer, had been saying for years about Slater, as well as praise his ability to communicate accurately with defenders in front of him.

Boyd will play against a Wayne Bennett-coached side for the first time this weekend.

“Darius has that balance to be up in the line and also be there for kicks when then threat is there,’’ Slater said.

“He was the first fullback to really get that balance right. It’s the key attribute fullbacks will need to have in the future.’’

Boyd said ahead of this Saturday’s clash with England he can’t remember another game in which he played against a Wayne Bennett-coached side.

From the Broncos to St George Illawarra to Newcastle and back to Brisbane, Boyd has trekked to be coached by Bennett, only for their shared careers to intersect in London’s Olympic Stadium in the Four Nations showdown.

Bennett will, we can be sure, expect no unforced errors to flow from the Australian fullback.

Originally published as Why Darius Boyd has become the Kangaroos defensive general in the Four Nations