The Tackle: Isaiya Katoa ends solid season on a high in good showing for Tonga
Super coach Wayne Bennett would have enjoyed watching young Dolphins playmaker Isaiya Katoa go to work against England, writes PAMELA WHALEY.
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Pamela Whaley wraps up the international fixtures in The Tackle, while identifying incoming Blues coach Michael Maguire’s most difficult selection call.
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GOOD SIGNS FOR DOLPHINS
It should be acknowledged how impressive Isaiya Katoa has been this year.
The 19-year-old half played 22 games for the Dolphins in his debut season, and then called the shots for Tonga on in international level.
Against a hugely experienced England team he held his own, which is a great sign of development heading into 2024 for a young playmaker.
It’ll be another season under Wayne Bennett, as well as an improved squad with grand finalists Herbie Farnworth and Tom Flegler to play with.
Phins up.
TOUGHNESS PERSONIFIED
Kiwis fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is one of the brightest and most genuine stars in the game for so many reasons.
Less than two years ago he was battling for a first grade spot at Canberra and now he’s one of the elite fullbacks in the competition.
His success is a testament to his incredible perseverance. It’s the stuff of fairytales.
And he added another chapter to it on Saturday with a man-of-the-match performance for the Kiwis while carrying a broken rib.
Maguire admitted after the game that he wasn’t meant to play, but instead he did, and churned out a casual 212 running metres, five tackle-breaks, a line-break and a try assist against some of the best players in the world.
A truly selfless player who puts his body on the line in more ways than one. Incredible.
After a man of the match performance in the Kiwis win yesterday it was revealed Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played through a broken rib for the past 2 games!
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) November 5, 2023
Supreme toughness just to play, let alone 23 runs (277 metres), 1 line break, 2 line-break assists & a try assist. pic.twitter.com/Eo0TXeEvWv
HOPE FOR TIGERS
Tonga were disappointing in their 26-4 loss to England, but there was one bright spot for Wests Tigers fans.
Incoming teenage sensation Latu Fainu made his international debut and looked right at home on the big stage.
The 18-year-old was impressive during the Tongan camp in England, and finally got his chance in the last match of the series in a utility role from the bench.
He played 33 minutes from dummy half, where he looked solid in defence and confident with the ball in hand.
Every bit of experience will count for the young half ahead of a big season under Benji Marshall at the Tigers, where he looks set to earn his anticipated NRL debut.
BROWN GIVES EELS HOPE
If you look up rocks and diamonds in the rugby league dictionary, you’ll find a breakdown of Dylan Brown’s 2023 season.
Just last week, after the Pacific Championships final round, the Parramatta and New Zealand five-eighth was criticised for going missing when the Kiwis needed him.
And now, after a historic 30-0 victory over Australia in the final, he’s about to cop some praise.
Credit where credit is due.
That’s the life of an NRL star when people expect big things from you. If no one believed in him, no one would offer him big-money deals and they certainly wouldn’t be bothered if he didn’t deliver on the big stages.
But on Saturday, he showed rugby league fans and Parramatta die hards what he’s capable of when he’s at his best.
Against the might of the Kangaroos on Saturday, Brown was completely dominant with ball in hand and also game management – an area he’s struggled with in the past.
He set up the first try for Ronaldo Mulitalo with an effortless looping ball out to the wing, and finished off the game with five-tackle-breaks, two try-assists, two-linebreak assists, 19 tackles with just one miss and two forced dropouts.
It was the most dominant Kiwis victory over their trans-Tasman rivals in history and Brown was key to orchestrating it.
And it’s especially impressive given the way he bounced back from a 36-18 loss to Australia the week before, where he had just eighth runs for 66 metres, two tackle busts, no linebreaks, no linebreak assists or try assists.
Despite the pressure of the week before, he didn’t overplay his hand, but he kept up intensity on the crumbling Kangaroos and it was wonderful to see.
This is the standard people expect from Brown. This level of class earned him a long-term deal with the Eels and that’s what he needs to deliver every week.
He let the team down bad in 2023 with a seven-week suspension, and ultimately they missed the finals by a whisker. Not all of that blame lies on his shoulders, of course, but fans deserve better than what he offered this year.
Saturday’s performance for the Kiwis shows he can bounce back from tough times.
And that gives Eels fans hope that he will.
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KANGAROOS, JILLAROOS DISAPPOINTMENT
Australia may have won the men’s and women’s World Cup but both teams took backwards steps to New Zealand 12 months later.
They’re no longer the world beaters many assumed they’d always be.
First, the Jillaroos were beaten 12-6 by the Kiwi Ferns a week ago, and then the Kangaroos dished up their worst ever performance in Hamilton.
It’s great for international rugby league, but the Kangaroos and Jillaroos both need to go back to the drawing board for next season with team changes and a plan for what the net few years looks like.
The rest of the rugby league world is catching up and complacency will leave them behind.
MADGE’S BIG CALL
Michael Maguire is set to be confirmed as the NSW State of Origin coach this week after one of the best coaching performances of his career.
But what awaits him in the job is one of his biggest decisions - a call on James Tedesco.
The champion Blues skipper deserves full respect as one of the best fullbacks of all time, but he was haunted by question marks about his representative future this season.
And to be fair, he had a slow start to the year with the Roosters. The Blues lost the Origin series too, and now Australia has finished the Pacific Championships with their worst ever performance.
It’s not been his best season by a long shot, but he still sets an exceptionally high standard for consistency, leadership and sheer freakish ability. On the other hand, at 30 he is coming into the back end of his playing career and at some point the time will come for a changing of the guard.
A 30-0 loss to New Zealand has done nothing to quell concerns that Tedesco’s time in the green and gold jersey is coming to an end with Queensland superstars Kalyn Ponga and Reece Walsh next in line for their chance a No.1.
However, it also immediately raises the question for Maguire too, who had a front-row seat to his Blues skipper in Hamilton on Saturday.
Tedesco was not the reason for the Kangaroos loss. That blame is shared collectively amongst a team that looked flat and bullied.
He ran for 136 metres and had four tacklebreaks, but behind a struggling forward pack he had little chance to have a big impact on the game.
It would be an enormous call for Maguire to overlook the captain in his first series as coach and take a punt on three-time premiership winning fullback Dylan Edwards.
A coach of his experience and skill would back himself to get the best out of a champion.
Maguire has shown he can make tough calls in the past, but this is one of his biggest - regardless if he sticks solid with Teddy or moves him on.
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