The Tackle: Dragons move into top 8 after biting controversy, NRL crackdown no one asked for, plans for the ‘NRL Olympics’
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s thrilling 40km/h chasedown of Josh Addo-Carr left fans wondering who the fastest man in the game is. The NRL’s plans for a ‘mini-Olympics’ may supply that answer. FATIMA KDOUH reveals her round 24 likes and dislikes.
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Fatima Kdouh highlights the NRL crackdown no one asked for in her likes and dislikes from round 24 of the NRL season.
ROUND 24 LIKES
MINI OLYMPICS
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow hit 40km/h as he mowed down Josh Addo-Carr for a trysaving tackle in what was one the highlights of the season.
But it left fans wanting to know one and for all who is really the fastest man in the NRL?
It’s a question the NRL’s plans for a ‘mini-Olympics’ on grand final day can answer.
Addo-Carr and Tabuai-Fidow have put their hand up for a planned 100-metre dash which would also include flyers Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Jason Saab, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Kaeo Weekes and Tolu Koula.
Why not add wrestling into the mix. Clubs spend most of the pre-season practising and finetuning their wrestling techniques. Or even a weight or power lifting category. Isaiah Papali’i is already a junior dual gold medallist in the snatch and clean and jerk. While Cronulla big man Royce Hunt claims to bench press a massive 200 kgs.
DRAGONS FIRE
The Dragons have overcome a week of controversy, after five-eighth Kyle Flanagan was whacked with a four-week ban for biting, to keep their finals hopes alive.
Shane Flanagan’s men moved up to eight-place on the ladder, ahead of the Dolphins, after a hard fought 32-16 win in front of a home crowd at WIN Stadium.
Flanagan injected Jack Bird into the starting side in the no.6 jumper for his first NRL game since round 19 but it was halfback Ben Hunt who delivered a captain’s knock to get the Dragons home.
The challenge for Hunt, and the Dragons, now is to find some consistency.
Hunt’s form has mirrored the tale of the tape for the Dragons who have struggled to string together back-to-back wins since round 14.
The Dragons now face Cronulla, Parramatta and Raiders on the run home in their battle to secure a top eight spot for the first time since 2018.
Flanagan would be heartened by the Dragons’ scramble defence, particularly in the second half, after going one-man down when Jack de Belin was sin-binned for a high shot in the second half.
But Hunt wasn’t the only standout on Sunday.
Hooker Jacob Liddle was menacing from dummy half causing the Titans plenty of trouble, particularly in the first 40 minutes – where the Dragons ran in five unanswered tries.
Local juniors and twin brothers, Toby and Ryan Couchaman, were impressive, while Luciano Leilua was rampant down the right edge.
MARSHALL NOT MINCING WORDS
A lot has gone wrong for the Tigers this year but what can’t be faulted is Benji Marshall’s honesty.
Like the very telling message the rookie coach sent to the club’s playmakers as he was heaping praise five-eighth Lachlan Galvin, 19, after the Rabbitohs win.
“We’ve needed him to play to get the wins. If I had another option I would have rested him,” Marshall said.
It’s an intriguing bit of intel from the coach given he has halves Jayden Sullivan and boom teenager Latu Fainu in NSW Cup – who are costing the Tigers around $1 million per season combined and are both only one year into their four-year deals at Concord.
The comments will undoubtedly send the contract rumour mill into overdrive, again. The club has already had to shut down speculation that Sullivan was shopped around to Super League clubs when CEO Shane Richardson was in England on a reconnaissance mission earlier this year.
The addition of Jarome Luai in 2025 only adds to the perceived oversupply of halves stocks on the roster.
But a more immediate concern for Marshall is the club avoiding a third-straight wooden spoon.
The side’s win has set-up what is likely to be one of the most anticipated clashes of the year – the spoonbowl against Parramatta in the final round of the season.
The Tigers are on 14-points with Manly their next opponent before a bye in round 26. A win against the Sea Eagles takes the Tigers to 18 points heading into the final round.
If the Tigers can take down Manly and the Eels – on 16 points going to round 25 – drop one of their next two games against Brisbane or St George Illawarra the scene will be set for a wooden spoon showdown at Campbelltown Stadium.
CLIFFORD CALL
A masterclass from Jake Clifford has all but prematurely ended the Cowboys career of Chad Townsend, who is Roosters bound in 2025.
Coach Todd Payten put his side on notice, axing Townsend ahead of the Raiders clash for Clifford, who has been plying his trade in Queensland Cup all year.
The move proved to be a masterstroke with Clifford delivering a masterclass and was in complete control, setting up two tries, four linebreak assists and running for a massive 150 metres in the 42-4 win over Canberra.
The new running threat Clifford has injected into the Cowboys attack just at the right time.
The Cowboys are 7th on the ladder on 30 points, with a bye in hand but face a tough finish with clashes against Melbourne and Canterbury.
SHARPE DECISION
It’s a referee’s job to make the tough calls and get them right.
Belinda Sharpe did exactly that when she denied what would have been a match winning try to South Sydney prop Davvy Moale right on the death, with the Rabbitohs behind 18-16, for a forward pass.
Sharpe had missed a blatant Rabbitohs forward pass 30 seconds before.
But Sharpe put that blunder behind her and then immediately pulled up the Moale try as forward. With the match on the line Sharpe made a brave call – especially when it’s a decision that can’t be reviewed by the bunker.
We want referees to make the tough decisive calls and Sharpe did exactly that at Campbelltown Stadium.
ROUND 24 DISLIKES
CRACK-ROUND
It’s the crackdown that no one wanted and now has unnecessarily blurred the lines between a hard, fair legal tackle and a legitimate late hit.
The worst part? The penalties awarded proved to be the difference in two games over the weekend.
On Thursday night, Penrith enforcer James Fisher-Harris was penalised for a ‘late tackle’ on Melbourne’s Jahrome Hughes.
Replays in real time showed the ball had barely left Hughes’ hands when Fisher-Harris made contact with his back.
It wasn’t high and it wasn’t late. Play on.
Instead, referee Ashley Klein hit Fisher-Harris with a penalty when the scores were tied up at 22-all. Nick Meaney kicked the penalty goal that proved to be the difference in Melbourne’s 24-22 victory – in a match that had minor premiership ramifications.
A penalty goal for another so-called ‘late hit’ was again the difference in Wests Tigers’ 18-16 win over South Sydney.
Rabbitohs skipper Cameron Murray was pinged for another seemingly innocuous hit on Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer, with the playmaker then kicking the penalty goal that took his side’s lead to 18-4 in the second half.
Dolphins forward Felise Kaufusi is one that walks a fine line but he might have been a victim of his own reputation when he too was pulled up for hitting Canterbury’s Josh Curran at the line.
Again, the hit was hardly late.
All three tackles looked more spectacular than what they were when slowed down. But a slow motion replay can’t be the litmus test for a late hit, it distorts the incident to make the tackler look guilty.
In real time, all three tackles looked like an attacking player taking the ball to the line where they got hit – and hard.
But that’s the risk a player takes when they dig into the line, the expectation is they will get whacked.
And in the Curran and Hughes example, both players turned their bodies away from the defence so a whack in the back was inevitable.
The hits were hard, and both players were left winded, but neither should have been ruled as illegal. Why penalise the defender for a decision made by the attacking player?
It’s a crackdown that threatens to take an element of physicality in the game out of the contest and one that will create another grey area for referees and the bunker.
TITANS TUMBLE
Kieran Foran’s 300th NRL match wasn’t enough to inspire the Gold Coast Titans to victory against a gritty St George Illawarra outfit at WIN Stadium.
Foran’s former Manly teammates, including Sea Eagles skipper Jake Trbojevic, and his best mate Mitchell Pearce cheered the milestone man from the stands but like the Titans, went home disappointed after Sunday’s 32-16 loss.
Foran also copped a head high shot for his troubles on Sunday, that left Dragons forward Jack de Belin in the sin bin in the 53rd minute.
But even with the Dragons one man down, the Titans could not find a way to capitalise on the advantage.
Foran did his best to get his troops over the line. The halfback delivered a perfect cutout pass to put Jojo Fifita over the line to narrow the Dragons’ lead to just 10 points with 14 minutes left on the clock.
The Titans had all the momentum, territory and possession in the second half but had no answers to the Dragons’ scramble defence.
But the damage was all but done after a dismal first 40 minutes from Des Hasler’s men.
Rookie dynamo Keano Kini produced a brilliant moment, splitting the Dragons defence from the kick off to set-up Jojo Fifita for the opening try after just 60 seconds.
But it was all downhill from there in the first half with the Titans coming up with sloppy errors and poor defensive decisions, leading to five consecutive tries.
MODERATE FORCE, MASS CONFUSION
When is moderate force a sin bin and when is it not? It’s still a question fans don’t have a clear answer to and one that is a source of confusion and frustration.
South Sydney’s Richard Kennar cleaned up Tigers rookie Luke Laulilii with a careless swinging arm and got marched for 10 minutes. The call was on the money.
But then why did Penrith’s Mitch Kenny stay on the field for a similar swinging arm that hit Melbourne’s Grant Anderson flush in the face?
Most fans would agree that force was moderate, at least. Especially since it left Anderson leaving the field for a HIA after he displayed concussion symptoms.
The game was on the line at 22-all with 10 minutes to go but that’s not a good enough reason for Ashley Klein and the bunker not to make the call.
If the game is trying to protect players from moderate force head high contact then the penalty should be a sin bin whether it’s in the first minute or last minute of the game.
Then there’s the case of the Parramatta forward Wiremu Greig’s sin bin on Friday night. Had Roosters lock Connor Watson not stayed down after he copped Greig’s shoulder to the head, the referee would have played on.
Watson wasn’t milking a penalty, he was clearly groggy but if he listened to his instincts and got up to play the ball, the most Greig would have copped is being put on report, retrospectively.
Protecting players from head high contact is crucial, but so is finding some consistency if the rulings – especially so close to the finals series.
RABBITOHS RUE MITCHELL
Things just keep getting worse for South Sydney on the field, after a week of turmoil off it.
The Rabbitohs will lose halfback Cody Walker to a head injury this weekend with coach Ben Hornby forced to dig into his reserve grade stocks to call-up Dean Hawkins for Saturday’s clash against Newcastle.
South Sydney lost a 18-16 nailbiter against the Tigers in a game Mitchell could have proven the difference. Mitchell was initially scheduled to return in round 24 from a foot injury but is now another addition to Hornby’s burgeoning casualty ward after he was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Instead, Mitchell is waiting for the NRL’s decision over a leaked photo that shows Mitchell with what appears to be a white substance.
Mitchell will face the Rabbitohs board this week, where he is likely to put on notice. Skipper Cameron Murray insisted the Mitchell saga has not been a distraction but no side is immune from the external noise that off-field scandal can generate.
Incoming Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett wants fans to focus on what Mitchell brings on the field and not the headlines off it.
But the only person in control of that is Mitchell himself.
STICKY SITUATION
Ricky Stuart is locked in at Canberra until the end of 2029 but the coach will go into next season under pressure and under the microscope.
Having security in the coaching ranks is crucial to club stability but when it comes at the expense of on-field success questions must be asked.
Canberra look set to miss the finals again, the sixth time since Stuart took over in 2014.
Stuart, whose passion for the club is undeniable, guided the green machine to a grand final appearance in 2019 but since then the Raiders have barely made a dent on the ladder.
Some more recent calls, like dropping rookie Ethan Strange two weeks ago, who has been a halves mainstay, only to then play him out of position at centre against the Cowboys have raised eyebrows. Strange was out of his depth defensively and easy target for Kyle Feldt.
Admiringly, Stuart has had to manage a long period in 2024 without general Jamal Fogarty and as a result a young spine – with no clear answer at hooker.
Then there’s the matter of the likes of Emre Guler, Trey Mooney and Corey Horsburgh – none who have reached their full potential in the nation’s capital.
After 11 seasons, some Raiders are asking if it’s time for a fresh perspective in the coach’s box. Especially when up and coming coaches like Sam Burgess, Dean Young, Ben Hornby, Willie Peters and Josh Hannay are all ready and waiting for a shot.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Dragons move into top 8 after biting controversy, NRL crackdown no one asked for, plans for the ‘NRL Olympics’
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