The Tackle: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck fullback masterclass, Craig Bellamy’s deluxe blow-up, Kevin Walters and Broncos handed a lesson in hard work and humility
It’s hard to believe Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is the third-string fullback at the Warriors, but his stellar performance in the No.1 jersey in round 21 raised the question as to whether the side is more formidable with RTS at the back. THE TACKLE.
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Fatima Kdouh is back with her likes and dislikes from round 21 of the NRL season.
LIKES
RTS STILL NO. 1
It’s hard to believe that Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is the third-string fullback at the Warriors behind Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and rookie Taine Tuaupiki, who were both out injured against the Tigers.
Tuivasa-Sheck was named in No.1 jumper against the Tigers and didn’t miss a beat.
He finished with a game-high 255 metres, eight tackle busts and made some crucial try-saving tackles in defence.
Tuivasa-Sheck was at his running best, making a 50-metre break beating four Tigers defenders along the way, evoking memories of the superstar fullback who won a Dally M medal in 2018.
Andrew Webster is committed to Nicoll-Klokstad, who is set to return from a calf injury this week against Eels, at fullback but Tuivasa-Sheck must be giving the coach plenty to think about.
Like whether the Warriors are a more formidable outfit with Tuivasa-Sheck at the back.
BELLAMY BLOW-UPS
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is the hardest man to please in the NRL.
The Storm have now won seven straight after disposing of Parramatta on Friday night but Bellamy still found a reason to deliver a number of epic sprays in the coach’s box.
The Storm finished comfortable 32-14 winners over an injury-ravaged Eels outfit but a series of poor handling errors and wayward passes left the coach seething in the second half.
Melbourne struggled to deliver to the standard expected by the coach, and he let his troops know.
Bellamy’s blow-ups are the reason Melbourne are competitive year after year, the coach is unwilling to compromise on his values as a coach – even when the Storm are two points clear at the top of the ladder.
His relentless pursuit of perfection could not have come at a worse time for the Dragons, or any side on the Storm’s run home for that matter.
WAYWARD WIGHTON
Old habits die hard, especially for Jack Wighton after playing 242 games with the Canberra Raiders.
Back in the nation’s capital for the first time since joining South Sydney, Wighton forgot he’d ever left - for a moment anyway.
Running up the tunnel in his training jumper, embroidered with his Rabbitohs 1195 player number, Wighton made a beeline for the Raiders dressing room.
The faux pas was much to the delight of the Raiders fans and officials standing in the tunnel at the time.
Old habits die hard...😅
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) July 28, 2024
Jack Wighton went to the Raiders dressing room only to be told 'you're not welcome here anymore' 🥲
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PANTHERS’ PRODUCTION LINE
The exploits of Penrith’s talent pipeline is well known but has there been a club able to consistently produce such a high calibre of talent in the outside backs?
The latest addition is 18-year-old Casey McLean, who along with his older brother Jesse are locked in until the end of 2028.
The boom centre bamboozled the Dragons defence with his footwork and pace to burst over the tryline after just 4 minutes on Sunday’s 46-10 win.
The Panthers have already lost Stephen Crichton, Taylan May and will lose Sunia Turuva at season’s end. But with the likes of McLean, and brother Jesse, coming through the ranks Penrith have been able to replenish outside back stocks in a way that would be the envy of its NRL rivals.
Dragons fans would have also been green-eyed over the damaging halves combination of Penrith Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, while watching halfback Ben Hunt struggle to take control of the match for his side. Hunt had an unhappy outing, kicking out on the full on three occasions.
For the Panthers, Cleary will rightly be heaped with the accolades after scoring three tries on Sunday but Luai matched his general no. 7 across key statistics, with his two try assists, line break assist and five tackles busts. Like Cleary, Luai the ball strongly and also broke the 100-metre mark.
GRITTY COWBOYS
No Reuben Cotter and Jason Taumalolo, no worries.
Rising New Zealand international Griffin Neame stepped up in the absence of the two middle forwards to deliver a stellar performance churning out 180 metres and three tackle busts against the Sharks.
Cotter (concussion) and Taumalolo (facial fracture) both exited the game in the first 20 minutes but rather than use the loss of the experienced forwards as an excuse, the Cowboys dug in to secure a much needed win as the club edges closer to securing a finals berth.
The Cowboys, without Cotter and Taumalolo, will travel to Sydney to take on the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval, which has been a bogey away trip for the North Queenslanders.
From 11 games at the venue the Tigers have won nine games. The last time the Cowboys travelled there, the Tigers ran in 11 tries in a 66-18 humiliation of Todd Payten’s men.
DISLIKES
HUMILITY LESSON FOR BRONCOS
Brisbane won’t have to worry about a security detail for ‘rock star players’ if the scenes of fed-up fans turning their backs on the side and leaving Suncorp Stadium before full-time against Canterbury are anything to go by.
Who can blame Broncos fans for voting with their feet?
They’d just watched the Bulldogs, a side written off by many this year, teach the much-fancied Broncos a valuable lesson in hard work and humility.
And that, hard work and a gritty attitude will always beat out ego and star power.
Brisbane were full-strength for the first time since round nine but inexplicably were still flat as a tack – even though a final spot was on the line.
If the Broncos can’t get up to salvage the season, maybe playing for Kevin Walters is a good enough reason to turn up ready to compete?
Apparently not.
Walters was already under the blow torch, and Saturday’s result only turns up the heat on the Brisbane coach.
Worryingly, Walters had no answers for why his side was flat – like he had no answers to why the side was struggling to execute his game plan only weeks ago.
The demolition job on Brisbane is a tale of two coaches.
One in Walters, who can’t get a star studded outfit to fire even with the season on life-support.
The other in Ciraldo, who has managed to squeeze out the best from every player on the field.
Ciraldo witnessed the fruits of hard work during his time at Penrith.
The Panthers refused to coast on talent after losing the grand final in 2020, instead the side doubled down and worked even harder, giving Ivan Cleary 100 per cent buy-in.
And that’s what Ciraldo now has at Belmore but Walters is missing at Red Hill – buy in.
Ciraldo has been unapologetic about his gruelling training methods and its paying off.
The Bulldogs are fit, well drilled and most importantly are playing for each other and the coach.
Inspirational skipper Stephen Crichton missed the clash with a neck injury but it barely made a dent to Ciraldo’s game plan. Jeral Skelton stepped in to fill the backline void seamlessly.
Canterbury fans will expect the same effort against Canberra at Belmore Oval this week, and Ciraldo should be confident his side can weather the pressure that comes with being a finals contender.
The Broncos now have to win all five games against the Titans, Cowboys, Eels, Dolphins and Storm to be a finals hope.
To do that, the Broncos have to learn the same lesson Ciraldo has hammered home at Belmore – hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
SEIBOLD SEETHING
Anthony Seibold was right to ask questions about the 18th man rule but not the decision of the independent doctor to rule Reuben Garrick out of Saturday’s clash against the Roosters.
Seibold revealed Garrick was shocked at being ruled out after he was left reeling following a tackle on Roosters winger Daniel Tupou.
Garrick, who has already suffered two concussions this year, was wobbly after the tackle. Had he been left to his own devices, Garrick would have put his hand up to return to the action.
The independent doctor is there not only to rule on concussion symptoms but sometimes, like in Garrick’s case, to protect players from themselves.
The Manly coach did make a valid point about the 18th man, which can only be activated after two failed HIAs.
Seibold was able to activate Clayton Faulalo after Jason Saab also failed a HIA on the back of a high tackle by Michael Jennings – but it still left the coach with two players on the bench.
Right now, sides that lose a player to a head knock through foul play are left short-changed if the offending player escapes any on-field punishment or if no other HIA incident occurs to activate the 18th man.
Seibold suggested looking into increasing the number of bench players to counteract that problem. It’s definitely an avenue worth exploring if the game is to maintain its stringent concussion protocols. So is the immediate replacement of a player that is ruled out due to foul play.
TROUBLED TIGERS
Benji Marshall had a stoic demeanour after Friday night’s loss to the Warriors, praising the side’s effort for not letting the score blowout despite having to do a mountain of defence in the first half and having no players left on the bench in the second.
The Tigers were hardly disgraced but injuries to rising playmaker Lachlan Galvin and boom forward Fonua Pole have only compounded the 28-16 loss.
Galvin (ankle) failed to finish the clash and left the field after 75 minutes. Pole did not return after the 45th minute after picking up a side strain/rib injury.
The duo have been two of the Tigers’ best all season and are racing the clock to take on the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval.
Galvin and Pole have given Tigers fans a reason for hope beyond 2024.
So losing both at the same time to injury will be painful viewing for fans, who could be dealt another huge blow as soon as Monday when the club to meets with Stefano Utoikamanu to determine his future.
Starford To’a (hamstring) and rookie Luke Laulilii (concussion) are also in doubt.
FLYER GROUNDED
South Sydney’s Alex Johnston has suffered a heartbreaking Achilles rupture, just as the flyer was closing in on Ken Irvine’ all-time try scoring record.
Johnston’s season is now over and the winger could spend up to eight months on the sideline depending on the severity of the injury.
The 29-year old will finish 2024 with a total of 195 tries to his name - 17 short of Irvine’s record.
Johnston suffered the non-contact injury, immediately falling to the ground as he tried to push off his left leg as a prepared to take a run in the first half.
It’s another untimely blow for South Sydney backline stocks with superstar fullback Latrell Mitchell sidelined with a foot injury and centre Campbell Graham unlikely to return this year from a serious sternum issue.
Playmaker Cody Walker also failed to finish the Rabbitohs’ 32-12 loss to Canberra and is racing the clock to overcome a hip flexor injury in time for Saturday’s clash against Cronulla.
DISCIPLINE DISASTER
Mathew Feagai was one of six players put on report at WIN Stadium on Sunday but it’s the St George Illawarra fullback that faces the most nervous wait.
Earlier in the day, the MRC handed Roosters centre Michael Jennings a two-match ban for a shot on Jason Saab – that broadcast replays showed had hit the Manly winger at chest height before making contact with his head.
Jennings escaped a sin bin at the time but is now facing a stint of the sideline after the MRC ruled it was still forceful enough to warrant a grade two charge.
Feagai is facing a similar fate after initially avoiding a sin bin for a tackle that has been described as lacking ‘duty of care’ on Penrith fullback Daine Laurie.
Laurie was taken late in a forceful tackle that ended up in a head clash, prematurely ending the afternoon of both players.
At the time referee Gerard Sutton and Bunker official Kasey Badger deemed the shot worthy of being put on report but not it being sin binned, or even penalised.
“There’s a duty of care, and there was no care in that tackle, he just launched Feagai. Head collision, it doesn’t matter whether it’s shoulder to head or head to head. I’m highly surprise he wasn’t sin-binned and fans are looking for consistency,” Fox League expert Michael Ennis said.
Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Jaydn Su’A, Izack Tago and Trent Toelau were also placed on report.
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