Back again with our Round 12 NRL review.
Theme of the round: Backing up
We are constantly (constantly!) told that State of Origin is for a special breed of player, that it takes a special kind of toughness (which I think we’re supposed to understand is the ability to rub one’s elbow in a defenceless player’s throat) to play in that rarefied arena.
Similarly the ability to back up effectively at club level from a mid-week Origin game seems to take a certain type of player.
This is not to say that players who are unable to back up are in way inferior, just that the Origin process affects different players differently.
For some players it is clear that the intensity of Origin has a toll as tackles are missed and poor decisions made. Ryan Hoffman, Beau Scott and Cam Smith would all fall into this category over the weekend. None were awful, but all were sub-par by their own standards.
For some players though, returning to club footy it is like switching from a full size snooker table back to an 8-ball table. All of a sudden everything is easy and every double bank shot is on. Michael Morgan, Daniel Tupou and Michael Jennings would be the best examples of this in Round 12 as they each had superb games for their respective clubs, despite modest showing in Origin.
There is another category of player in the round immediately after Origin: the ‘I’m coming for your job’ player.
As every Origin game is dissected there is always reckless speculation with respect to potential changes for the next game. Some players no doubt pick up on this and begin making their case immediately. This weekend one could see that level of intensity from players like Tariq Sims, Mitch Rein and the Raiders pair Jack Wighton and Blake Austin.
Team of the round: St George Illawarra Dragons
Remember when the Dragons were a nice little story, bubbling along with good defence and scrapping home in some close games? Nope me neither.
Over the last two weeks the gritty defensive team has shown some genuine flair and clinical finishing to ascend to the top of the table.
While quality of opposition may be a question mark over their last two games, St George scored 74 points against the Raiders and Sharks and conceded only 24. Although they are still in the bottom third for points scored, the team is rapidly trending up.
The Sunday afternoon destruction of the Sharks was all the more impressive because they did without ever getting out of third gear and with a line-up that is largely devoid of glossy talent. They simply steadily and methodically ground the Sharks into the ground.
Whether this success is sustainable is another question. Over the last four games the team has averaged an astonishing 87 per cent completion rate. By way of comparison, in Round 12 only one other team was able to complete over 80 per cent of their sets.
To a certain extent this sort of error-free execution relies on luck. If the Dragons’ luck should turn sour, it will be fascinating whether their workmanlike line-up can continue to produce enough points to win.
Player(s) of the round: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sam Moa
A joint award this week to reflect what was probably as dominant a stretch of play from a pair of front rowers as we’ve seen this year. For fans of Game of Thrones it was (spoiler alert!) hard to know which was the bigger bloodbath on Monday night: the events at Hardhome or what Moa and Waerea-Hargreaves did to the Melbourne Storm.
In the first half Moa and Waerea-Hargreaves recorded a combined 223m on 22 carries, while the Storm starting props, Jesse Bromwich and Tim Glasby, accounted for a mere 61m on seven carries. Bromwich, let us remember, was as recently as a couple of weeks ago acclaimed as the premier prop forward in the game, yet the Roosters pair made him look like a reserve grader. They also made Glasby look like a reserve grader, but… well, you know.
Raw numbers however can’t even come close to describing how dominant the Roosters pair were, as they repeatedly gashed the Storm defence in the middle third of the field. While neither was credited with a broken tackle in the game they should definitely be credited with breaking some spirits. The only period during which the Storm looked at all competitive was a brief period either side of halftime while Moa and Waerea-Hargreaves were off the field.
Watching that performance it is impossible now to believe that they actually lost two games in which both Moa and Waerea-Hargreaves played (Round 6 against the Broncos and Round 8 against the Dragons). It is however a timely reminder that when all fit and available, the Roosters squad remains a cut above the rest of the competition.
Hey, who’s that guy?: Reagan Campbell-Gillard
Reagan Campbell-Gillard is not a player who has attracted a lot of attention yet he has quietly been one of the Panther’s best performers in this injury-blighted season.
A front row forward with a hulking frame, Campbell-Gillard is in his first year in first grade. At nearly 22, he is fairly old for a first-year player in the modern NRL. Despite his (relatively) mature age and the fact that he is not in the Panthers’ top 25 contracted players, he has played every game this season for the club and in Round 12 graduated to the starting team.
He even, and this may surprise some readers, played in the City vs Country game in May.
While his stats are impressive, with a touch over 100m a game to go with 23 tackles, it is the quiet efficiency of his play that has allowed him to go largely unremarked upon. Yet it is this reliability that has made him so valuable to the Panthers, and that led to his selection for City Origin.
While he is unlikely to break a lot of tackles or throw a lot of offloads, he also makes very few errors and doesn’t miss many tackles. Many a long and productive career has been built on such rock-solid fundamentals.
Indeed Campbell-Gillard need look no further than his teammate Brent Kite, who built an entire career on steady production and a low error rate.
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