The Tackle: Parramatta Eels’ $1m man flops in big stage, unlikely Golden Boot favourite
When we think of the Golden Boot we’re talking about superstars like former winners Joey Manu, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston. But this year will surely be different.
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Paul Crawley reveals his likes and dislikes from week three of the Pacific Championship in The Tackle.
WEEK 3 LIKES
UNLIKELY GOLDEN BOOT FAVOURITE
No wonder the Sydney Roosters are looking at Lindsay Collins as the future leader of the club.
In fact, the unassuming prop should also be favourite to take out the Golden Boot award this year as the world’s best rugby league player, if we are being fair dinkum.
Usually when we think of the Golden Boot we’re talking about superstars of the game such as Joey Manu, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston and Shaun Johnson, who are all previous winners.
But going into the Pacific Championships final, the hard working prop is surely the man to beat.
While he’s certainly not one of the more fashionable players you’d expect to win such a prestigious award, who else has had a bigger impact this year?
Don’t just take into account Collins’ club games for the Roosters, but also his efforts for Queensland and now the Kangaroos.
It was one of the biggest moments of the season when Collins out jumped Roosters teammate and NSW captain James Tedesco to set up a winning try for Queensland during Origin.
And while he was pipped by Reuben Cotter for the Wally Lewis Medal, Collins was right in the photo finish for player of the series.
He was also crowned the Roosters’ Jack Gibson Medal winner, while his two-try effort off the bench in the Kangaroos’ win over the Kiwis was amazing.
This time Collins was neck-and-neck with Pat Carrigan for best player on the field, while Harry Grant was also sensational.
But wouldn’t it be great to finally see a no-frills forward win one of these top awards?
ROOS DESERVE RESPECT
Would you rather see the Australian Kangaroos cry before a Test match or get worked up like the Kiwis were during the haka - or go out and play like warriors once the whistle blows?
While the Kangaroos copped criticism for some of the indigenous players not singing the Australian national anthem before their opening Test, you certainly can’t question what it obviously means to every single player in that team at the moment to pull on that Australian Test jumper.
Sure, they might not match the Kiwis or Samoans when it comes to their pre-match emotions.
But they certainly have done themselves and their country proud with their performances.
And it is going to give Mal Meninga a huge headache this week when deciding who to leave out of his top 17 for the final.
Michael Ennis was adamant on Fox League after the win in Melbourne that Nicho Hynes had done enough to justify his selection as the utility player off the bench.
But that would mean potentially leaving out Tom Flegler and Reuben Cotter given Harry Grant, Pat Carrigan and Lindsay Collins will almost certainly take up the other bench spots.
Of course, Meninga has to bring back Payne Haas, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Liam Martin who didn’t play on the weekend.
Whichever way Meninga goes, it won’t matter because every one of them deserves to play.
Big Mal also deserves a rap for the way he has the Kangaroos performing, which is a magnificent coaching effort to have them so committed after such a long and tough NRL season.
TEDDY’S FIGHTBACK
How good is it watching James Tedesco fight back to finish off the season as strongly as he has?
This column was among many questioning if Tedesco deserved to stay in the NSW team this year - or if it was time to give someone like Dylan Edwards or Latrell Mitchell a crack at fullback.
But the way Tedesco has fought back to not only finish the season so well for the Roosters, but continue to stand up and lead Australia so well is just a reflection of his character.
That’s not backing away from what I wrote at the time because it is chalk and cheese how much better Tedesco is playing now compared to where he was during Origin and even leading into the series.
You’ll remember after the Origin series there was talk Tedesco might retire from rep footy at the end of the year.
But the 30-year-old has certainly shown he deserves to be the front runner to lead the Blues again next year if he chooses to play on.
WEEK 3 DISLIKES
$1M MAN GOES MIA
When a player puts his hand up to take the big bucks, it comes with the responsibility of also delivering in the big moments of the big matches.
And this is where Dylan Brown’s performance in the Kiwis’ loss to the Kangaroos again didn’t justify the 23-year-old being paid around $1m-a-season on his bumper new deal at Parramatta.
In fact, you wouldn’t have blamed Michael Maguire for sending out a search party in Melbourne given Brown’s lack of impact, when finishing with nine runs for 77m but only one tackle bust, no linebreaks, no linebreak assists or try assists.
In comparison, while halves partner Jahrome Hughes also didn’t have his best night, he was certainly a lot more involved than Brown.
This comes after a season where Brown also let the Eels down badly on the back of his signing his new deal, after he copped a seven-match suspension for that ugly nightclub incident that ultimately had a huge impact on last year’s grand finalists completely missing the finals.
Everyone knows at his best Brown is a hell of a footballer, and can be dynamite when he injects himself at any level given the strength of his running game.
But he needs to start realising the positives and negatives his individual performances have on any team he’s playing in.
There’s no doubt the Kiwis are really missing a strike dummy half with Brandon Smith out of the end-of-season Tests as he recovers from hand surgery complications.
And while veteran Kieran Foran is doing his best in an unconventional role, he needs his halves to take control.
If the Kiwis are going to strike back next week they need Brown at his best, which will also take some of the pressure off Hughes.
NAS’S LUCKY ESCAPE
How Nelson Asofa-Solomona was not sin binned for his cheap shot on James Tedesco yet again highlights the different standards set in regular club games as opposed to finals and rep matches.
It was a shoulder directly to the head, forceful contact as they put it, and it was only pure luck Tedesco wasn’t seriously hurt again.
But forget the fact Tedesco has a history of concussion injuries, it’s just not acceptable that any player should cop that treatment when the attacking player has no way to defend himself.
To make matters worse, Asofa-Solomona was then fined a grand total of 7 per cent of his match fee.
What an absolute joke.
As if that’s really going to make him think twice about changing his tactics next time around.
POMMY COACH MISSES THE POINT
Talk about taking things out of context.
England coach Shaun Wane was conveniently missing the point with his post-match crack at Tonga, questioning what the next “excuse” would be following the 14-4 defeat.
Wane was still worked up over comments made by Tongan coach Kristian Woolf after the first Test, where Woolf questioned how the Englishman were getting away with murder slowing down the ruck.
Wane said following the match: “I was absolutely desperate to win that game today, after what has been said about my players this week, about my team, my mates.
“That really upset me … the excuses about the ruck … it will be interesting to see what the next excuse is.”
But while England were deserving winners against a Tonga side really lacking experience in the spine, there is no question the spectacle of the game was severely impacted again by the latitude given to slowing down the ruck and also players standing metres offside, especially when defending their own try line.
It was embarrassing compared to the standards we see set in the NRL, where the officials here have done a tremendous job eliminating the wrestle.
Which is the point Woolf was making in the first place.
But England is obviously used to it given that’s the way the game is also officiated in the Super League, and it’s proving a considerable advantage, even if Wane doesn’t want to admit it.
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON MADGE
The blowtorch is firmly on New Zealand Kiwis coach Michael Maguire going into the Pacific Championships final given his future role as NSW Blues coach.
There are already plenty of questions being asked as to whether Maguire is capable of juggling both positions next year.
While his deal with the Blues is yet to be signed off on, it is seen as a formality at the conclusion of the Pacific Championships (with Maguire expected to take up a one-year offer while continuing as Kiwis coach).
But while some already see it as a potential conflict of interest, it will be just as interesting to see how Maguire responds when it comes to making the tough calls at the selection table.
To have any hope of turning around what was a comprehensive 36-18 loss in Melbourne on Saturday night, Maguire has to be prepared to make the biggest but most obvious call of all.
That is moving reigning Golden Boot winner Joey Manu back to fullback where he played at last year’s World Cup.
One of the biggest mistakes Brad Fittler made during his stint as Blues coach was not getting it right when it came to team selections.
There is no denying it would have been an incredibly difficult call for Maguire ignoring Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad’s form for the Warriors this season going into these end-of-season Tests.
But on the evidence of what we saw at AAMI Park, it is a no-brainer that Manu just has to return to wearing the No.1 jumper.
Manu finished Saturday night’s game with 15 runs for 117m, with only two tackle busts and no line breaks or line break assists.
And while there is no disputing he did his best to get involved, he was wasted on the edge, and ultimately upstaged by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
Nicoll-Klokstad also had a quiet game by his standards with 10 runs for 62m and two tackle busts.
In comparison, in last year’s 16-14 World Cup semi-final loss to the Kangaroos, Manu made 28 runs for 272m at fullback, including a try assist and five tackle busts.
And in the quarterfinal win over Fiji, Manu was even more impressive, with 29 runs for 347m including a try and 12 tackle busts.
Even in the Kiwis’ 50-0 flogging of Samoa last week, Manu’s figures were still nowhere near what he can achieve at fullback, with 17 runs for 176m.
And it is just not the numbers but the effectiveness of his carries, and his ability to constantly have the opposition defence on edge that makes him so dangerous at fullback.
Nicoll-Klokstad could easily revert to the centres where he played at the World Cup.
But if you were to ask Mal Meninga and the Kangaroos players where they would rather be defending Manu, it’s not even a debate.
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