The Tackle: Reece Walsh’s State of Origin absence can revive his NRL career
If pressure makes diamonds then it’s time for Reece Walsh to shine - Brisbane’s season is depending on it during a horror run through the State of Origin period. THE TACKLE
Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from round 11 of the NRL season.
ROUND 11 LIKES
WALSH IN THE WINDOW
There was a surprise face in Manly’s coaching box in Townsville – boom rookie Joey Walsh.
Coach Anthony Seibold is trying to keep a lid on the hype surrounding the teenager but his presence in the coach’s box after he was named in the extended reserves has raised eyebrows among Manly fans.
Walsh is earmarked at the club’s long-term replacement for departing halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, who is heading into Origin camp.
It could see Walsh’s progression expedited in coming weeks as part of his development into a full-time role at halfback at NRL level. Walsh, who was eligible for SG Ball this year, has already played a game in NSW Cup.
Seibold could pull another surprise this week, naming the 19-year-old against the Eels this week.
MARK OF THE YEAR
If the AFL has any designs to get one back on the NRL after the announcement of the Perth Bears, they could do worse than make Melbourne’s Xavier Coates a code-switch target.
Coates pulled off a speccy for the ages at Shark Park, leaping high over the shoulders of Daniel Atkinson to take a cross-field kick in the second half.
Teammate Harry Grant joked he would not be surprised if AFL clubs came knocking.
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Grant told Fox League.
“He’s been the most underrated winger in the game for a long, long time.
“I think Hawthorn might come knocking or something like that.”
Watch Xavier Coates’ incredible try against the Sharks in the player above
METCALF MAGIC
Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf isn’t just the most improved player in the NRL, he is about to become the hottest item on the player market.
Metcalf will be a free agent from November 1 and the form No.7 can expect a big payday. A number of clubs, like Canterbury and the Bears, are on the lookout for an elite halfback.
The 26-year-old is not only proving a game winner with his boot but also as a running threat from halfback, where he set-up a try to Kurt Capewell with a chip-and-chase assist in Saturday’s win against the Dolphins.
The second-placed Warriors are riding high and fans were out in full force on the weekend, taking over Caxton Street.
They’ll be in full voice again this Sunday at a sellout Go Media Stadium against Canberra.
DOGS’ PACK BARKING
Cameron Ciraldo’s next-man up mentality is working so well it was easy to forget the Bulldogs were missing forwards Jacob Preston, Josh Curran, Sitili Tupouniua and Jaeman Salmon in their win over the Roosters.
This is a pack that was already unfancied even when at full-strength but still getting the job done in recent weeks against bigger packs like Canberra and the Roosters.
Unheralded prop Max King, who won selection in Laurie Daley’s Blues squad, led from the front, finishing with 172 metres on Friday night, while rookie forward Lipoi Hopoi, who came on after seven minutes for Daniel Suluka-Fifita, churned out 114 metres.
The ladder-leaders will need to lean-on the next-man up again this week against the Dolphins after news flyer Jacob Kiraz is set to be ruled out for up to a month with a calf injury.
ROUND 11 DISLIKES
BRONCOS BUCKED
If pressure makes diamonds then it’s time for Reece Walsh to shine, Brisbane’s season is depending on it.
Coach Michael Maguire should have Walsh (knee) available for selection after the bye next week to take on Manly in Round 13 and then the Titans before another bye in Round 15.
Two four-point games that could be the difference between a top eight berth or another season of missing the finals.
The Broncos then face a horrid run with NRL frontrunners the Sharks, Warriors and Canterbury waiting for them during a period where Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas will also be on Origin duty.
It makes the game-breaking brilliance that Walsh is capable of even more crucial to Brisbane’s hopes.
In a silver lining to Brisbane’s disappointing loss against the Dragons on Sunday, maligned five-eighth Ezra Mam returned to spark some life into Maguire attack, scoring one try and setting up three others.
Walsh’s attacking threat should be another shot in the arm.
Walsh was under the blow torch thanks to his indifferent form to start the season before succumbing to a knee injury in Round 7.
Now he returns at a time when the club is under even more duress and Walsh, like Mam, must find a way to rise above the noise.
But even the luxury of having both Mam and Walsh on the field at the same time might not be enough to save the Broncos in 2025. Not when the side is letting in two tries, to give away a six-point lead, while the Dragons were down to 12 men mid-way through the second half.
Instead of putting the Dragons to the sword, it was Maguire’s men that fell short at full-time.
The coach was disappointed after the Dragons loss but buoyant about Brisbane’s ability to overcome this rough patch.
Brisbane fans, however, were in crisis mode on Sunday.
LICENSE TO HIT
The NRL has overcorrected on its sin bin crackdown.
Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen was told in no uncertain terms by referee Adam Gee on Saturday night that his hit on Ronaldo Mulitalo while he was on the ground would have been in a sin bin if the incident didn’t happen right on the full-time siren.
But the Storm fullback escaped punishment entirely from the judiciary on Sunday.
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton wasn’t even put on report for his shoulder to the head of Lindsay Collins when the Roosters prop was on the ground.
He was slapped with a fine but it should have been a sin bin at the time.
There will also be incidental contact and the referees are getting better in determining that in real time.
But players on the ground are an easy target and need to be protected from shoulders and swinging arms to the head.
The sin bin will remind defenders they have a duty of care when a ball carrier is at their most vulnerable.
COACH KILLER
Todd Payten called the Cowboys’ yardage errors as the side’s ‘Achilles heel’ before Saturday’s clash against Manly.
Prop Jordan McLean didn’t get the message. Late in the second half and behind 14-6 on the scoreboard, McLean gave away a ruck infringement and the Sea Eagles marched up the field for a Lehi Hopoate try that all but the result beyond doubt.
The Cowboys coach was also defiant in his decision to pull the trigger on Jaxon Purdue’s move into five-eighth after the teenager excelled out of position at centre.
The move forced Jake Clifford, who had been in decent form but failed to seal victory in last week’s draw against Penrith, out of the No.7 jumper and Tom Dearden into halfback.
There has been speculation Clifford could spend the rest of the season in reserve grade.
With Dearden set for Origin duty, Payten’s team list in coming weeks will be telling if it excludes Clifford.
KNIGHTS WOES
Friday’s clash against Parramatta was Newcastle veteran Dane Gagai’s 300th NRL game.
Even that wasn’t enough to rally the Knights to victory.
It’s going so bad in Newcastle that club legend Andrew Johns has implored coach Adam O’Brien to put whatever feud has left Jackson Hasting on the outer to bed.
“There are rumours about certain feuds, I couldn’t give a rats … whoever the best No.7 is put them there and leave them there,” Johns said on Channel 9.
“He is polarising as we all know, but he can get you around the park. He’ll organise, he can get a game plan on, he kicks well, he brings other players into play. Adam O’Brien pretty much poo-pooed that said he won’t get back.
“Tyson Gamble is not a halfback … Work out who your seven is, whether it’s Cogger or Jackson Hastings.
“I feel sorry for Kalyn Ponga, because as a fullback you need someone to put him into space.”
O’Brien axed Jack Cogger in favour of Gamble last weekend but calls to reinstate Hastings won’t go away.
If the Knights can’t overcome a Panthers outfit without its Origin stars this week, the coach will find himself under the blowtorch yet again.
SHARK IN A FRENZY
Cronulla’s Ronaldo Mulitalo is the nicest man in rugby league, until he isn’t.
He is a true Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and quickly becoming the man that NRL fans love to hate.
Mulitalo was at his menacing best in Saturday’s win against Melbourne but arguably got away with far more than what referee Adam Gee should have allowed.
The fiery winger got into the face of Storm flyer Xavier Coates on Saturday night at every chance he got. Fair game.
What wasn’t fair was his actions late in the game where he rushed over to Ryan Papenhuyzen, who had spilt the ball as a result of a high shot by Sifa Talakai, and stood over him sparking a melee.
Rushing in to escalate an incident normally results in a penalty, even a sin bin.
But Gee let Mulitalo get away with it.
Cronulla’s win over Melbourne makes it easy to excuse Ronaldo’s antics as “passion”, the word coach Craig Fitzgibbon used after the game.
But a loss would have left the coach, and Sharks fans, with cause to examine his behaviour.
Earlier in the year, the NRL promised it would crackdown on players feigning injury to gain an advantage.
Mulitalo is lucky that match officials haven’t had the nerve to pull players up on ‘milking’ in recent weeks.
Mulitalo isn’t the first player, and won’t be the last, to try and earn their side any leg-up possible.
But in a tackle with Stefano Utoikamanu, late in the second half, he immediately was seen clutching at his head when Utoikamanu arm grazed the side of Mulitalo’s head.
Off the field, Mulitalo pours his energy into worthy causes, like helping to raise money for the homeless.
On it, he is the antithesis of the way in which Fitzgibbon went about his business during his playing days, all heart but no carry on.
“I’m a Shark Supporter. I believe Cronulla were the better team. I also believe Ronaldo needs to pull his head in,” one Cronulla fan said on social media.
While Fitzgibbon won’t be as crude in the assessment of Mulitalo’s behaviour, no doubt the coach is likely to remind him that he is walking a fine line.
Especially in a tight contest like Saturday night, where the game was in the balance.
Across town Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo never put Reed Mahoney’s so called ‘grubby’, in your face tactics on notice publicly but there was plenty of speculation that internally his on-field antics were a cause for concern.
Mahoney has been on his best behaviour in recent weeks, and it hasn’t taken away from his contributions or effort.
The Bulldogs hooker has let his football do all the talking.
Mulitalo could do worse than borrow a leaf from Mahoney’s book.
Add your comment to this story
How Rugby League for Dummies is killing the Broncos
Anthony Seibold was allegedly too sophisticated. Kevin Walters too soft. Michael Maguire too hard. At what point do we accept that the players are the product of a soft life which cushions their every move.
SuperCoach Sunday wrap: Egan injury and Origin auditions
From an injury to popular cheapie Dylan Egan, to a Terrell May masterclass as he chases a State of Origin debut, Sunday NRL action had it all.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout