Eleven talking points from NRL Round 9

The NRL is ready for a breather with the representative round break, but before we get there we have another set of talkinng points to sink our teeth into after another big weekend of action.

Is Mitchell Pearce really the Blues best option for Origin?
Surely not. New South Wales can’t sidestep their way back into a side with Mitchell Pearce in it. It’s not going up and it’s not moving forward – it’s only looking back at a dark past. A past which involves one of 11 series wins.

Pearce hasn’t been a part of all of those, but it’s little coincidence the one series he missed, the Blues won.

Pearce is in superb club form and there’s no doubting that. The Roosters are sitting near the top of the table and his kicking game is on fire. He is hitting the mark every time and even kicked a field goal against the Dragons.

Anyway, the point is that it’s not the first time Pearce has been in good club form. He has done it before, only to fail at Origin.

But for Pearce to be overlooked, there have to be other options and unfortunately, it’s hard to see Laurie Daley turning to any of them.

Chad Townsend – maybe but probably not despite his combination with James Maloney, while the Raiders duo of Blake Austin and Aiden Sezer could be considered, but aren’t in great form.

If they aren’t in great form, then incumbents Matt Moylan and Adam Reynolds are in horrific form.

Pearce might be the answer, but no one is jumping out and saying ‘pick me.’ It’s like picking the least rusty fork with which to stab yourself in the eye. No one is winning – apart from Queensland of course.

Can Johnathan Thurston fix the Cowboys?
Of course he can, I hear you say. He is the greatest of all time. All will be well with the world when he returns. Right?

Wrong. Hear me out.

I have serious concerns about whether the Cowboys will make the eight this year. Coming into the season you would have been told to stick your opinion where the sun doesn’t shine if you had of said that. It doesn’t seem so crazy now.

The Cowboys, on the back of a pretty woeful performance against the Eels on Friday are now out of the top eight and despite injuries, it’s effort that’s the concerning factor.

Their defence looked gassed on multiple occasions against the Eels. Michael Jennings burnt them, Corey Norman burnt them and Clint Gutherson had a field day. Thurston isn’t going to be able to come in and fix that.

Nor is he going to be able to fix their inability to play for 80 minutes – they are team skills, not individual ones.

While Thurston might be able to fix their floundering offence, he is getting on and given the Cowboys have played six of their nine games at home, it’s going to be an uphill road to September.

I’m making the call now – The Cowboys won’t make the finals in 2017. You heard it hear first.

How long until Michael Maguire gets the boot?
Speaking of Adam Reynolds and his South Sydney Rabbitohs – wow are they in ordinary form. While the Sea Eagles were always going to be primed for a big performance against them, the Rabbitohs looked absolutely shell-shocked.

It was almost as if they hadn’t been on a training paddock in three weeks and didn’t know each other. Poor defence, poor attack, bad execution and a generally low-key effort.

Apart from a few bright spots, it’s beginning to sum up the South Sydney season. They are struggling – big time.

Michael Maguire is an interesting point though. He has been rumoured to have fallen out with the dressing room before this, over the years, but you have to remember only three years ago he won a premiership.

The fact South Sydney were close to full strength on the weekend though and still had 40 points run in against them – Maguire’s days, even if he lasts until the end of the year, are looking numbered at Redfern.

Sin-bin’s back, back again
The most inconsistently used device in a referee’s arsenal made its re-appearance on the weekend, with Kenny Edwards first sent to the bin for a slap, before Daniel Tupou was sent for a professional foul against the Warriors.

While it’s good to see it actually being used, we need to see consistency moving forward.

At the start of the season, it seemed the referees were going to do just that – use it on a consistent basis. Since then though, it’s gone through a hiatus for a few weeks where referees seem almost afraid to put players in the bin.

With a couple this weekend though, let’s hope its back for good and will be used for every professional foul, regardless of the game situation, which referee or any other factors that might come into play.

Foot of the mountains, foot of the table and 60 minutes to sum up the Panthers season
The scoreboard flattered Penrith in the end on Thursday night, but their first 60 minutes was among the worst performances we have seen from any team so far this season.

The Panthers were woeful. They looked like they wanted to be anywhere else bar Suncorp Stadium as the Broncos ran in 22 first-half points – and it could have been more before they went in again early in the second.

Penrith fans would have been disappointed with the level of defence and missed tackles if they were watching their Holden Cup team, such was the poorness of it all, while their rare attacking opportunities went up in smoke, much like Phil Gould’s five-year plan.

While they were robbed of a try in the first minutes of the contest, the Panthers never turned up to play and were handed an absolute shellacking, and it sums up their season.

Sitting with a record of two and seven if simply not good enough, let alone for a side who have enough talent to be challenging in September.

Something is badly wrong at the foot of the mountains.

The Broncos won’t lose another game before State of Origin
I’ve been pretty hard on the Broncos this season, which is something I have been told enough in the comments. I’ve been that way though because they genuinely haven’t impressed me that much.

What the Broncos do deserve credit for, apart from their smashings of the Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers, is their ability to get it done without playing fantastic football.

They have hung in matches, won plenty of close ones and now sit in the top four with a record of six and three as we head into the representative round break. That’s a superb effort to come out in so many close ones, and is typical of any Wayne Bennett-coached side.

What winning those close ones does tell you is that they are playing well at the death, despite what happened against the Panthers on Thursday when they let the visitors back into the match.

The run into Origin now sees them play the Sea Eagles, Tigers and Warriors, and it’s tough to see them losing. The side need every competition point possible before origin, and they should have another six in the bag before then – what would be good to see from a Broncos point of view though, is dominant wins, rather than scrapping it out at the depth and more of the attack witnessed against the Roosters and Panthers.

The Warriors sensational scramble defence
Well, I never thought I would be typing those words at any point this season. They were simply sensational against the Roosters during the second half.

The Roosters spent the better part of 15 minutes attacking right on their line and should have scored three or four times, but the Warriors came up with some brilliant tackles, scramble defence and managed to hang on.

In the end, it bought them the win as they got a penalty goal victory in the final minute. The Warriors of old would have let in three tries and been blown out.

While it’s hard to say this is going to be the new Warriors, they have to start somewhere and consistently defending like that with the attacking weapons they have could be the catalyst behind a push deep into September.

Could the Raiders miss the eight?
Keeping with the theme of setting myself up for failure this week, let’s explore the Raiders. Hell, we have already been through the Rabbitohs, Cowboys and Panthers just about writing them all off.

I’m not prepared to write the Raiders off in the same way, but there is a genuine chance they won’t play finals footy in 2017.

Their form is not where it needs to be, their consistency is non-existent and the loss to Canterbury heading into representative weekend hurts. It looked to be an attitude problem one, rather than an execution one and they need to work hard over the next fortnight, returning to the field with a renewed energy.

The Raiders do need a spark from somewhere. Aiden Sezer is solid, but Blake Austin isn’t nearly doing enough and their explosive combination of Joseph Leilua and Jordan Rapana have plenty to do.

I still think the Raiders are premiership contenders, but they need to turn it around in a hurry and worry about making the eight first.

Consistency, not flashiness now the key for the Titans
The Titans are starting to get the band marching now. A win against reigning premiers the Sharks away from home, then a smashing of the Knights yesterday.

It’s amazing how being at full strength can turn a team’s luck around.

The Titans never really should have been on the bottom of the table and you wouldn’t have known it watching them play understrength.

But after beating the Sharks last week with another gutsy performance, their attack was finally allowed to flourish during the second half of the match on Saturday against Newcastle, with Jarryd Hayne, Nathan Peats, Tyrone Roberts and youngster Ashley Taylor combining brilliantly.

While the Titans scored a lot of points on Saturday, they need to stick what’s worked for them – building their game around the defence and going from there, taking whatever opportunities to score that come from their effort.

The Sharks are there and abouts, but need to fire up after rep round
The Sharks spent a fortnight where they didn’t concede a try and it looked like everything was starting to come together for the reigning premiers push at going back-to-back.

Unfortunately, it’s starting to fall over for them. After the loss to the Titans last week, they then only just got over the Wests Tigers and put a performance that was enough to get the job done, but nothing more.

The Sharks are still playing well enough, but the last fortnight has been a bit tough for them and they need to come out after the week off and pick up some wins heading into Origin.

Melbourne are so far ahead of the competition it isn’t funny
No matter what you think of the referees, or decisions that came out of the Storm-Dragons contest on Sunday, there is no doubting how far the Storm are ahead of the NRL.

They are flying at the top of the table, and with their attack now flowing – which it wasn’t early in the season – on top of their incredible defence, it’s difficult to see how any team is going to be able to match it with them.

While they were beaten by Cronulla a few weeks ago, this is a team going on all cylinders, and the only problem appears to be the fact they may have peaked too early in the competition.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 9? Drop a comment and let us know as we head into the representative round break.