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NRL Round 20 review: One-way traffic

Martin Taupau is off to Manly. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
Roar Guru
27th July, 2015
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As we inch closer to the end of the NRL season we continue our weekly series of reviews. This week we saw a rare round of floggings, the Sea Eagles stepping up in Auckland, and our first team mathematically eliminated.

Theme of the Week – One-way traffic
For all the regular bleating about the salary cap the NRL remains a remarkably even competition in which on any given day any team can beat any other team. Well, usually that it is the case.

Round 20 was an exception to this rule with five of the eight games resulting in total blowouts. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon in Penrith that we finally saw a competitive match as the Raiders outlasted the Panthers.

In all likelihood we will see more and more blowouts as the regular season winds down, as teams that are eliminated from contention begin to switch off and teams still in contention try to pile on the points.

For and against is absolutely critical at this time of year in a competition that has only three wins between fifth and thirteenth. Just last season the Warriors and Eels missed the finals on account of an inferior point differential. In this context the Raiders’ execution of the Titans in Round 9 continues to bear fruit months later.

Team of the Week – Sea Eagles
With apologies to the Broncos, Roosters and especially the Rabbitohs who all stomped bottom of the table teams, the most impressive performance this week was that of the Sea Eagles who overcame the Warriors in fairly comprehensive fashion .

While the first half injury to Shaun Johnson certainly helped, the Eagles also had to overcome the loss of Steve Matai and Luke Burgess. Not quite the impact of losing Johnson of course but a challenge nonetheless.

The Sea Eagles win came in large part because of the contribution in the front line from players allegedly on the chopping block for next season. Willie Mason and Josh Starling led the line admirably while Matt Ballin’s reaction after scoring his first try since the 2013 preliminary final told you everything you wanted to know about his head space at the moment.

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The Eagles remain a long shot to make the finals this season however things have improved dramatically for the club since I wrote this story.

Since then, Cherry-Evans has of course decided to stay and the acquisitions of Nate Myles, Darcy Lussick, Lewis Brown and the man whose name sounds like a Rammstein lyric, Apisai Korisau, will go a long way to reinvigorating the side alongside the Turbo brothers Jake and Tom.

Moreover with the Broncos, Rabbitohs, Raiders, Roosters and Sharks still on the docket the team can go a long way to determining both the final standings inside the top eight.

Player of the Week – Greg Inglis
Three tries, one try assist, two line breaks, three line break assists, twelve tackle breaks and a partridge in a pear tree. Fairly solid night’s work.

Inglis was simply outstanding as the Rabbitohs crushed the hapless Knights. Everyone knows that a fit and interested Greg Inglis is the most potent attacking force in the NRL but the perception has always been that he is more switched on for some games than others.

On Saturday night Inglis recorded 48 touches of the ball of which he ran the ball 21 times, the most among fullbacks for both categories. It’s fair to say he was switched on for this one.

A Fond 2015 Farewell to – The Wests Tigers

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With only six games remaining and sitting on 14 competition points the Tigers are now mathematically incapable of reaching the magic 28 competition points that is generally required to make the finals.

Later this week we’ll take a closer look at what went wrong for the Tigers and offer a prognosis for season 2016 but for now let’s just pour one out for the loss of the last Keith we’re likely to see in the NRL for some time as Keith Galloway heads to Leeds to end his career.

Elimination Watch – The Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast Titans

As with the Tigers last week, the Knights and Titans will both have their season on the line against the Saints and Eels respectively. While both teams are in awful form neither will be the colossal underdog that the Tigers were against the Roosters.

The Knights sans Rick Stone travel to the spiritual home of St George at Kogorah where they will face a Dragons team that is utterly dead in the water, having scored only seven tries in their last five games. Will the traditional post-coach sacking boost be enough to keep the Knights alive for one more week?

Meanwhile, the Titans host the Eels in what may be the game that finally kills off Monday Night Football. This will be one for the true rugby league disciples.

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