The Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from the NRL’s first trip into Las Vegas

Plenty of questions are to be asked of the Bunnies, while Manly’s impressive showing was soured both on and off the field. Check out all the likes and dislikes from the NRL’s Las Vegas extravaganza.

After all the anticipation, NRL history was finally made over the weekend with two sensational games of rugby league at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

On a weekend of celebration, what were the stories that stood out?

Fatima Kdouh and Russell Jackson present the likes and dislikes from NRL Las Vegas 2024.

DISLIKES

SEA EAGLES SPEEDSTER STALLS

Manly speedster Jason Saab went from full-flight to broken down by full-time in worrying scenes for Anthony Seibold and the Sea Eagles’ team list ahead of round two’s clash against the Sydney Roosters. Saab was clutching at his right hamstring, and looked in distress after pulling up lame with four minutes left on the clock. In Manly’s favour is the fact that the Sea Eagles won’t play again for two weeks but soft tissue injuries can’t be rushed due to the risk of recurrence. Seibold does have some depth in the outside backs and can turn to Sea Eagles veteran Brad Parker and new recruit Tommy Talau. For Saab, who has struggled with injury, it was a sour end to an otherwise impressive showing, finishing with 235 metres, four tackle busts and a try.

Saab’s injury curse may have struck again. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

RABBITOHS RICKETY EDGES

He made history by becoming the first player to score a try in an NRL game in Las Vegas but Souths left centre Richard Kennar was in the spotlight for a different reason. The patched-up Rabbitohs face Brisbane in round two and the Broncos’ right edge speedsters Kotoni Staggs and Deine Mariner will be licking their lips at the prospect of lining up against the depleted Souths side. Kennar missed four tackles on Sunday and Isaiah Tass struggled as well. Big name recruit Jack Wighton will play left centre when he gets on the park, adding much needed starch, but that won’t happen until round three against the Roosters when his biting suspension ends. While star Campbell Graham is sidelined for six months with a sternum injury, so Souths need to batten down the hatches on the edge in the meantime. To Kennar’s credit, he never stopped trying and walked away with a try scoring double after scoring the last four-pointer of the game and two linebreaks.

CROWD CLASH

The video of a Manly fan getting struck in the face during an altercation at Allegiant Stadium.

The fan, whose face was dripping with blood, appears to be escorted from his seat by security staff after the incident.

The video shows the man getting hit in the face by another spectator. It’s not known what sparked the scuffle but it wasn’t a great look.

A Manly fan was left bloodied after an unfortunate clash.

SMOKEY CONDITIONS

The Tackle has a big problem with fireworks and smoke machines at the footy at the best of times but it becomes an even bigger issue when you let fly with pyrotechnics at a stadium with a roof! TV viewers could have been excused for thinking they had blurred vision at times. The footy was sensational but let’s keep the air clean, please.

PIAKURA SETBACK 

Boom Bronco Brendan Piakura could be racing the clock for a blockbuster round two clash against South Sydney after he left the field after just three minutes following a sickening head clash after colliding with Brandon Smith’s knee while attempting to make a tackle. Piakura had done all the right things to get on the field in Las Vegas after overcoming a knee injury suffered in the pre-season challenge. Other than being a blow for SuperCoaches, Piakura’s untimely exit from the game unsettled Brisbane’s forwards rotation, forcing Pat Carrigan onto the edge. But it also blunted the Broncos attack.

SHOULDER CHARGE

Reece Walsh was the Las Vegas poster boy but the Broncos superstar should have been sent to the sin bin for his blatant shoulder charge on Roosters Veteran Daniel Tupou. Tupou looked all but certain to score in the corner before a last ditch effort from Walsh, who launched himself shoulder first into the Roosters winger knocking him into the sideline and out of the field of play. The problem for Walsh was that it wasn’t any last ditch effort, it was a shoulder charge. A shoulder charge is dangerous play regardless of whether it makes head high contact with the victim or not, and should be stamped out of the game. There should be no leeway for a player to be penalised, and put on report, for a shoulder charge but then escape sitting 10 minutes in the sin bin. Using the illegal play in the act of stopping a try should not be enough to save a player from being sent to the bin.

Should Walsh have been sent to the bin? Picture: NRL Photos

RABBITOHS SPINE

Rabbitohs superstar Latrell Mitchell gave it his all against Manly delivering 92 metres, nine tackle busts, two offloads, one line break, two line break assists and two try assists – in stats that rivalled James Tedesco. But it wasn’t enough for South Sydney to get the win. Why? Because Mitchell was left to carry the Rabbitohs spine from the back on Sunday night. Mitchell can do a lot of things but he can’t do it all, all the time in attack and needs his spine mates in Cody Walker, Lachlan Ilias and Damien Cook to step-up. Cody Walker came into the match under an injury cloud and was a little underdone. The five-eighth looked like he was in a mood early but when momentum swung against the Rabbitohs, he went into his shell and by the end of the game was completely outplayed by his opposite, Luke Brooks. Ilias had a bright moment with his brilliant cover tackle on Jason Saab but again struggled to stamp his authority on the contest. Hooker Damien Cook showed glimpses of how dangerous can be when he runs from the ruck. But Demetriou’s spine needs less glimpses of their best and 80-minute performances filled with intent.

The Bunnies have plenty of questions to answer. Picture: NRL Photos

LIKES

LUKE BROOKS

Luke Brooks left the Wests Tigers in his dust with a five-star performance in his Manly NRL debut. Brooks capped a terrific first outing with a try and combined well with his halves partner Daly Cherry-Evans. If the once-maligned Tigers playmaker continues on the same trajectory, he’ll be a hot favourite for buy of the year. They say a change is as good as a holiday, and for Brooks, his move to the northern beaches was the clean slate needed to show the extent of his attacking arsenal. Brooks wasn’t afraid to run the ball and take on the line. He even kicked for himself after spotting a hole in the Rabbitohs defence. The move to Manly has been a shot in the arm to Brooks’ confidence, a part of his game that abandoned him at Concord but now has re-emerged with abundance in a spine where the pressure is off and his only job is to do what he does best, run.

Luke Brooks was superb on debut. Picture: NRL Photos

HAUMOLE HYPE 

Haumole Olakau’atu admitted to believing his own hype last season but after Sunday the Manly faithful, and even new Blues coach Michael Maguire, won’t be blamed for buying into the fanfare this time around. Olakau’atu was an absolute menace at Allegiant Stadium and if he delivers with the same intent and intensity over the coming rounds, the 25-year old will find himself well and truly in the thick of Origin selection for NSW. There were plenty of raised eyebrows when Manly extended Olakau’atu until the end of season 2031 on a deal worth around $8 million but in his first game since inking the contract, the backrower proved it could end up being money very well spent by the club. Olakau’atu did all the right things on Sunday, he ran hard and bent the Rabbitohs defence and was just as physical with trucking the ball for territory. He finished with 151 metres, 29 tackles, four tackle busts and one linebreak. Is Olakau’atu the real deal in 2024? Manly face Roosters and then Parramatta in the coming weeks, if Olakau’atu produce some consistency, the sky’s the limit.

Olakau'atu dominated in Manly’s big win. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP

BLOCK PLAY 

Players were warned in the trials series with match officials routinely blowing penalties for the downtown rule and kick blockers. Someone forgot to send that message Sydney Roosters forward Victor Radley and Lindsay Collins all the way to Las Vegas after the experienced duo were penalised for blocking former teammate and Brisbane forward Fletcher Baker from being able to get to the kicker, halfback Sam Walker. The Roosters remonstrated over the decision but referee Adam Gee had a clear message for them, and other sides watching in particular the Panthers, that any players standing still “anywhere near the ruck” risked ping for blocking. Referees were urged by pundits to put the whistle away but the practice of blocking is being completely outlawed, and as much as we want free flowing football with little referee interference, match officials need to get the message across.

Roosters' Lindsay Collins and Victor Radley were penalised for blocking. Pic: Fox League

FULLBACKS 

Both games featured the cream of the crop when it comes to superstar fullbacks but it was Roosters veteran James Tedesco and silenced any critic from last season that dared suggest the custodian was ‘slowing down’. Instead, he reminded Michael Maguire why he’s had a mortgage on the No. 1 Blues jumper for so long. Tedesco finished with 190 metres, nine tackle busts, one line break and a try assist. While Tedesco’s opposite number, Reece Walsh, had a big game for the Broncos, scoring a try and racking up 137 metres, three tackle busts and a try assist. In the earlier game, Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic gave Tedesco a run for his money in the stats stakes but the Roosters skipper was alone in the influence he had on the outcome for his side on Sunday.

James Tedesco won the battle of the star fullbacks. Picture: Todd Martyn-Jones

MANU MAGIC 

If Joey Manu walks away from Bondi at the end of the season, the Roosters don’t just lose a genuine clubman but the kind of strike weapon that cannot be easily replaced regardless of how hefty the club’s recruitment war chest might be. Manu showed why he is on the radar of rival clubs, and codes, delivering a peach of a flick pass on the run for a Junior Pauga try, delivering a moment of magic in Las Vegas. They’re the kind of x-factor plays that will only help beef-up his asking price as the season goes on. It only gets better for the Roosters next week against Manly, when Trent Robinson is preparing to unleash Dom Young (neck) and Billy Smith (hamstring) into the backline.

Originally published as The Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from the NRL’s first trip into Las Vegas