Trends come and go in rugby league but there are two at the moment that I feel are here to stay on a permanent basis.
It probably won’t surprise but one centres on attack and the other, defence.
League’s decision to take the humble corner post out of play when tries are being attempted/scored has been quite a revelation.
Wingers are scoring some of the most spectacular tries the code has ever seen and I reckon they’ll get even better at it as the year goes on.
Jason Nightingale’s phenomenal effort to score against Cronulla in Round 4 was astounding.
With the try-line looming, Jason launched himself way above the ground and around the corner post to plant the ball in astonishing fashion.
If you haven’t seen it, check it out.
But the Dragons winger hasn’t been on his ‘Pat Malone’. Wingers all around the country have been turning try-scoring into an acrobatic art form for the past couple of seasons.
Canberra’s Blake Ferguson, Manly’s Jorge Taufua, Melbourne’s Matt Duffie and Brisbane’s Josh Hoffman (and a host of others) have added an exciting new dimension to try-scoring which takes low-diving cover defenders out of play.
Give them the ball and a mere sniff of a try from 10 metres out and these guys will weave their magic. I think it makes our code even more spectacular and cannot wait for the weeks and months ahead as the highlights reel grows and grows.
As a recently-retired winger, I am really excited that the guys out on the flanks are coming into their own again as potential match-winners. League wingers have exceptional skills – not only can they catch the ball AFL fashion, they can plant it for points better than any code in the world.
The other trend I wanted to touch on today is defence.
And I have heard it said when the scribes are referring to Melbourne Storm that defence is the ‘new’ attack.
There has been a surprising number of nil score-lines this year. According to my stats, six teams have been kept scoreless in the five completed rounds.
In the entire 2012 season, this only happened seven times. In 2011 only six teams were kept to zero, in 2010 there were four and in 2009 the number was eight.
What does that tell us?
It pretty much says that defence breeds attitude and that attitude brings premierships.
Look at the honour rolls for the above-mentioned years and you will note that Melbourne, Manly, St George-Illawarra and Canterbury sent out the best drilled defensive units and either won the grand final or finished runner-up.
Sure, defence is a basic part of the game but the statistics don’t lie. If you want to know which team will win this year’s title – and probably the next few – look for watertight defences more so than fancy attacks.
In closing, there was so much to like about Round 5 – congrats to all of the teams which sprang upsets – and I’d like to nominate Parramatta up-and-comer Kelepi Tanginoa as my Man of the Week.
This young man is a product of the prolific Cabramatta junior club and made a huge contribution to the Eels’ gritty win over Cronulla at Parra Stadium. I understand he can play lock, second-row and centre.
Kelepi’s all-round skills and terrific work-rate really caught my eye. He shapes as a brilliant developer under coach Ricky Stuart and is the type of local product the Eels have been craving for several seasons.
Are there more where he came from?
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All the team list information for Round 9.
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