The NRL Tackle: Likes and dislikes from the season and a look forward to 2025
From the NRL bunker to the Bulldogs, and Madge’s appointment at the Broncos, here’s a special seven tackle set edition of likes and dislikes from the season and what it all means for 2025.
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From the NRL bunker to the Bulldogs, and Madge’s appointment at the Broncos, here’s a special seven tackle set edition of likes and dislikes from the season and what it all means for 2025.
THE SEVEN TACKLE SET
LIKES
MAGUIRE’S BRONCOS
Broncos bosses have been slammed for the way they handled the exit of Kevin Walters but they should be praised for having the courage to pull the right rein when it comes to the appointment of Michael Maguire.
Maguire’s arrival at Red Hill has been dubbed a battle between a dictator and a bunch of rockstar Broncos.
Already there are questions over whether Maguire’s hardline approach will resonate with the likes of Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam and Selwyn Cobbo.
But Maguire is a proven winner.
He broke South Sydney’s 43-year drought in 2014, took New Zealand to a famous win over Australia last year and did the unimaginable by winning an Origin series in a decider at Suncorp Stadium.
Maguire played the mental game, targeting Maroons coach Billy Slater in the media, and won.
Not only did he rattle Slater, he showed he is more than just a drill sergeant coach.
He did that too during NSW camp, where he emphasised connection, culture and history above gruelling training sessions.
Kevin Walters was right when he opined that his young team did not understand what it truly meant to be a Bronco.
It might sound sacrilegious to suggest that a New South Welshman could be the person to remind players about the gravitas of a Broncos jersey.
But Maguire is that man.
He’s also the coach that players want to play for, that was the overwhelming consensus from Blues players during Origin camp this year.
BULLDOGS BARKING
All the signs are pointing to another big year for the Bulldogs next year, and more Belmore street parties.
After a successful season, the club’s passionate fans will demand better than a week-one finals cameo next year.
Bookmakers agree, installing the Bulldogs as third favourites for the title next year when the first betting market opened for the 2025 premiership this month.
The Tackle isn’t suggesting the Bulldogs will be there on the October long weekend next year but one thing is certain - this well coached side won’t be going backwards anytime soon.
Canterbury’s smaller and more mobile pack defied the critics until it was monstered by Manly’s big men in the first week of the finals.
Sydney Roosters back rower Sitili Tupouniua will add class to the pack but coach Cameron Ciraldo needs to beef-up his middles.
The club is also likely to add former Roosters premiership winner Siua Taukeiaho to the roster but chasing after a young prop like Newcastle’s Leo Thompson would be a smart move.
Ciraldo will also have to navigate the pressure that comes with expectation but the coach has shown he can get the best out of every player in his 17.
TIGERS TO ROAR
The Tigers slumped to a third-straight wooden spoon in 2024 but there are signs of life at Concord.
It might not be enough to get the Tigers to their first finals series since 2011 but it should be enough for Benji Marshall and his men to avoid a fourth-straight wooden spoon.
Jarome Luai’s should have an immediate impact off the field. His competitive nature and unwavering desire to win will not revolutionise the club’s culture but drive it in the right direction, while setting the standard and do what his former Penrith teammate Stephen Crichton did for Canterbury this year.
Luai’s halves combination with talented rookie Lachlan Galvin will likely make or break the Tigers on-field success but Luai won’t waste any time in building that relationship.
Even though he won’t be due back until early January, Luai is expected to cut his holiday short to get acclimated with his new surroundings.
It’ll send a clear message to Marshall’s young roster, to win, to be the best, sacrifices need to be made.
Star centre Jack Bird, Cronulla prop Royce Hunt and Canterbury powerhouse winger Jeral Skelton have also been added to the top 30, which has only raised competition for starting spots. Which is a good thing.
Marshall also has some of the game’s best young talent at his fingertips in the likes of Galvin, Tallyn Da Silva, Kit and Luke and Laulilii, Heath Mason and Jordan Miller.
All young players, gifted in their own right but in need of an education in what it takes to win given their rise through the ranks have coincided with the club hitting rock-bottom on the field.
Luai can provide that education. A lot will depend on whether the players around his are ready to hear the lesson.
LAS VEGAS SHOWPIECE
The NRL is going prime-time in the United States and it comes with the chance to show 120 million Americans why rugby league is truly the greatest game of all.
It also takes the NRL one-step closer to expanding into a market once considered too difficult.
The NRL scored a huge coup with the season opener between Canberra and the Warriors to be shown on free-to-air on the FOX broadcast network.
But it does feel like a lost opportunity to showcase the best ever team in the NRL era to the American audience. Penrith’s clash against Cronulla will be shown on FS1 and not free-to-air.
Regardless, both sports lovers in the States and league fanatics back home are in for a quadruple-header with Super League clubs Wigan and Warrington and a women’s exhibition match between Australia and England to also feature.
The game continues to go from strength-to-strength under ARLC Commissioner Peter V’landys and CEO Andrew Abdo. The NRL is set to surpass $720 million in revenue this financial year, as the game dethroned the AFL as the most watched TV sport in Australia.
If the NRL can capture a slice of the US audience, the sky’s the limit for the working class game.
DISLIKES
BUNKER TWEAK TO FIX ISSUES
The bunker and other controversies dominated far too many headlines over the course of the season.
The Jack Howarth no-try controversy threatened to be the biggest headline out of this year’s grand final.
But it also gave the game’s administrators a simple solution in helping to take the heat out of a contentious decision in real-time.
It’s time for the NRL and the broadcasters to work together and ensure that the exact angles used by the bunker when making a decision are the ones relayed back to the public.
An angle which appeared to show Howarth ground the ball, spread like wildfire on social media even though the bunker had made the right no-try call.
What appeared to be the point of the ball touching the ground was actually a player’s arm. While the immediacy of live sport requires an instant replay, there is always an opportunity to show the decisive angle during a break in play, particularly when the decision is contentious.
The bunker, its processes and the rules it can adjudicate on will come under review over the summer. As will a number of other issues like the on-field officiating and the match review committee.
All 17 coaches have also been asked for feedback on other issues like leg lifting by a third defender, disruptors and more contentious rules like obstruction and sin bins for high tackles.
While the bunker will be a hot topic, high on the agenda will also be sloppy play-the-balls. By the rules, players just have to attempt to play the ball but with coaches obsessed with speeding up the play, the ruck now resembles tunnel ball.
The NRL has tried to target sloppy play the balls in the past but like with most crackdowns, they seem to end as quickly as they are introduced.It only adds to the perception of inconsistency in adjudication of the game.
Most fans understand perfection is unattainable. Fans just want transparency, and a better understanding of how the bunker, in particular, comes to a decision will go a long way in achieving that.
SEASON LENGTH
The NRL season is too long and the governing body should heed calls from fans and pundits to re-think its calendar.
The rugby league calendar just keeps growing but at some point player welfare and burnout has to be taken into consideration.
The game’s elite players can now feature in up to 34 matches a year, including 24 regular rounds, finals matches, Origin and Test matches and preseason trials.
There are draw complexities the NRL has to consider in a 17-team competition - which led to the gruelling 27-round season, including three byes.
But with plans to expand to 20 teams, a 19-round competition with a representative window mid-season should be the way forward.
The mid-season break is a chance to play the Origin series, minimising disruption to teams on either end of each Origin game, but also elevating the international game.
Right now, Test matches are at the mercy of everything from end of season surgeries to important personal events, like weddings.
ROOSTERS REBUILD
A mass exodus in the roster after losing experienced campaigners Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Joseph Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Luke Keary and Sitili Tupouniua, and ACL injuries to spine players Sam Walker and Brandon Smith has only made coach Trent Robinson’s job even tougher next season.
The term rebuild is a dirty word at powerhouse clubs but for the Roosters next year is just that.
And while Robinson is one of the most successful coaches of the modern era, he’ll have no bigger test than navigating next season.
He’ll be under pressure to keep the Roosters competitive next year and to bridge the gap between his side and the two NRL front-runners in Penrith and Melbourne.
The side’s depth in the halves will fall under immediate scrutiny as to whether a combination of Sandon Smith and Chad Townsend can carry the side long enough for Walker to return.
In the backs, rugby convert Mark Nawaqanitawase has shown he can make a successful transition into the NRL and will ease some of the pain of losing Suaalii and Manu.
So will the rise of Robert Toia and the return to the NRL of centre Billy Smith, who had an interrupted season before making a couple of appearances late in the season for the Roosters.
Despite the losses in the pack, the Chooks still have a formidable representative engine room led by the likes of Lindsay Collins, Spencer Leniu and Terrell May.
But for the Roosters to be true title contenders, Robinson must crack the code to beating both Penrith and Melbourne, something the Bondi club has been able to do since 2020.
Originally published as The NRL Tackle: Likes and dislikes from the season and a look forward to 2025
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