The most interesting thing I noticed about the NRL action over the weekend was the move by both the Dragons and South Sydney to move a key player from the left side of the field to fullback. In both cases, this was the impetus for victory.
When South Sydney shifted Greg Inglis to fullback in their win over the Panthers, he quickly became a lethal attacking weapon. He was the most influential player on the field.
You often hear people say: ‘why don’t they get the ball to Inglis more often?’ But the reality is that it’s not that easy.
In the centres, he’s getting marked by two or three players. It’s difficult to transfer the ball to him in space.
The same applies for Brett Morris at the Dragons.
In his usual position on the wing, Morris is primarily a dummy half runner or he sits at the end of a sweeping backline play. But when he was given more room to move on the weekend, he was dangerous every time he touched the ball.
It’s a good reminder that, as coaches, we tend to pigeonhole players into certain positions. But the truth is, if you’re a great player, you can pretty much play anywhere and do it well.
And when you have such wonderful broken field runners like Morris and Inglis, they become more dangerous the more opportunities you give them.
In league, fullback and hooker are the two most physically demanding positions on the field. The fullback is generally one of the fittest players in your squad.
While Inglis would be big for fullback, with Nathan Merritt out injured for the Rabbitohs, he makes a strong case to be left back there. Reading between the lines, I think this is where coach Michael Maguire wants him to play.
As for the rest of the teams, it’s still too early to nominate a clear standout.
Melbourne and Canterbury are the only unbeaten teams, but I reckon other sides would still fancy their chances against them. I haven’t seen a team that looks unbeatable yet this season.
Despite struggling with ball control early, my old coach Brian Smith and the Roosters have still got two wins on the board. Smithy is tactically very good, but the Roosters have a bunch of new players, and lots of younger ones amongst them. So it’ll take them a little while to get going. But once they hit their straps, they will have a very good year.
For the rest, we’ll have a better sense in another 5 or 6 weeks of who to call the early favourites.
Former Dragons coach and player Nathan Brown joins The Roar today to write an exclusive weekly NRL column. Brown, who played 172 games for the Dragons and coached them for a further 142 games, is currently the head coach at the Huddersfield Giants in the UK Super League.
PLANKO
Guest
For Halfback DCE & Hooker Ballin .... On a birth certificate you can change your name , your sex how about where you were born ? Just a thought !
The Barry
Roar Guru
Graeme O'Grady
Dave
Guest
Interesting column! I've always thought that teams need to use their best players in the busiest positions and wondered why they often didn''t do that.. Was great to see Inglis and Morris at f/b. These guys need room to move. Hopefully more of it. And more good observations by Brownie..
Chop
Guest
Sheek I reckon it need to go even further and go back to 6 permanent replacements. that would give good players a bit more room and reduce the amount of gang tackles. If they have to go forward and then 10 metres back for 80min instead of 20min then there would be more room for the better players to express themselves.
Dropa
Guest
the Brown polish
Dropa
Guest
thre Brown polish
Toa
Guest
oh.... fiction football says David Taylor, Feliti Mateo, Jarred Hayne, luke Lewis are likely candidates to cover all positions..I guess Nathan's right players are pigeon holed.
eagleJack
Guest
Toa, I think you are probably taking the statement a little too literally as I very much doubt Brownie was implying a winger could interchange into the front row with ease. So the answer is no. However, on current form, and I guess a little fantasy, I believe that Tony Williams could easily cover every position on the field and at a rep standard level. 1,2,3,4,5 - Yes most definitely. 6,7 - he won Man of the Match honours in the 2009 Qld Cup GF playing 5/8. Great hands, adept passing/kicking game. 8,10,11,12,13 - Absolutely - kills it in the backrow now and would be able to switch to the front row admirably. 9 - Question mark on this one but why not! The trouble with T-Rex is to achieve this greatness he needs to be on the field which is a slight problem at the moment!
sheek
Guest
Welcome to The Roar Nathan. Problem easily fixed. Reduce the number of interchanges from 12 back to 10 then eventually 8. This will remove the lumbering behemoths who can come on & back slam small backs for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Eventually the big, slower, dumber players will tire & the little, nippy, thinking players will come into their own, wreaking havoc. Just like they used to do 20, 30, 40 years ago..... (And all this from a guy who these days resembles a big, slower, dumber behemoth)!
NF
Guest
Excellent another league expert on the roar, considering the influx of experts from other codes it's about time RL got another one on board.
Toa
Guest
"But the truth is, if you’re a great player, you can pretty much play anywhere and do it well." without the fantasy fare,assumptions & predictions in real time there aren't to many players {if any}that you can claim to be great. Has there ever been an all rounder who has played every position at NRL level with distinction?
Chris Chard
Expert
Ha ha, I'll pay all that! I actually found a pair of Torpedoes in the bargain bin at Amart Allsports last year during their stocktake for $5. Was going to buy them for a laugh at Oztag but they were like a XXXL :( Skins are the new Torpedoes (be warned!) CC
Aidan
Roar Pro
Hey CC, I know your questions are directed at Brownie but I can't resist throwing in my own 2 cents. 1. You can never have too many pairs of torpedoes- 2. The Dragons may be onto something when it comes to the number of rakes they have. Rakes are like torpedoes. 3. Ridge was held- Brownie may have missed it though- his blond locks may have obscured his view.
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi Brownie, great to see you on The Roar Ok, now for the hard hitters; 1- I Watched you go around on Chooseady night football on Fox last night, a 94 game of Saints vs Wests in Adelaide. Seriously, what was doing with all those red pairs of torpedoes? And what would be the next place you'd like to see the game expanded to in Aus? 2- How many hookers in one team is too many? It seems the Dragons are running out with a half dozen rakes at the moment 3- Honestly, was Matthew Ridge held in the '96 GF? Cheers Brownie, CC
Will Sinclair
Guest
Well I love both games, and I think Inglis would be a great rugby fullback. Of course, he probably lacks the intelligence to play rugby union, where players are forced to think on their feet rather than memorise the coaches play manual...
Will Sinclair
Guest
Totally agree on reducing the interchanges - an absolute must in my opinion. I'll never forget hearing Ricky Stuart talk a few years ago about sending some players for a post-match work-out because they came off the field as fresh as a daisy. In a gladitorial sport like league, that's absolute rubbish.
Will Sinclair
Guest
Of course all clubs wrestle... But certain clubs (not looking South at all in any way) would come right back to field if they were forced to stop/reduce their wrestling.
Danny
Guest
He was an amazing rugby fullback the few times I saw him play there as a schoolboy. He is a beautiful footballer, the amount of space he would get on a rah rah field he would be amazing. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
stevie
Guest
Will agree with a lot of things you say however I still think there needs to be some incentive for a good dominant tackle. One thing I have heard from some of the experts is to reduce the substitutes. I agree with this as I think this will help speed up the game later in the game and the little quick men will be able to work their magjic more as there will be a lot more tired forwards.
MG Burbank
Roar Guru
The game overall is in great shape. There is plenty of dynamic attacking football in most games. We need to address the play-the-ball but the last thing we want is touch football or Sevens with 44-34 being the average score. 13 players is fine- arm wrestles are also exciting. What we need to do is reduce the prevalence of gang tackles and wrestling on the ground and reward effective, dominant solo tacklers.