Weekend wrap of NRL vs Super League games

This weekend we had the rare pleasure of witnessing three NRL vs Super League matches. Unfortunately, the results seemed to highlight the ever-increasing gap between the NRL and the Super League, with the NRL teams winning all three.

However, it was still fantastic to see the likes of Ryan Hall, Kallum Watkins, Albert Kelly, Sam Tomkins and Morgan Escare light up rugby league fields on our shores. In fact, rugby league in February is just fantastic in and of itself.

As great as it was to see English rugby league teams play down under, these matches were also about gauging where each of the NRL teams are at with their preparation for the upcoming season. Here’s a bit of what we learned from each game.

Melbourne Storm vs Leeds Rhinos – World Club Challenge
With the exception of last year when Wigan beat Cronulla 22-6, the World Club Challenge has been dominated by NRL teams in the last few years. This match was no different with Melbourne coming out ahead 38-4. However, this scoreline doesn’t tell the full story.

Leeds came to play. In his pre-match interview with Brad Fittler, coach Brian McDermott spoke of running Melbourne around and throwing something different at them. He knew that they would have no chance if they tried to out-grind Melbourne by tucking the ball under the arm and going five hit-ups and a kick.

Leeds kept running the ball on the fifth tackle, often resulting in one of the three-quarters putting in a rushed kick. This game plan worked for the first 15 minutes. They scored first, they were more than matching Melbourne physically, and they were even arguably winning the battle for field position.

However, what tends to happen when non-specialist kickers do the bulk of general-play kicking is that eventually, a really poor kick will occur, completely flipping the field position battle on its head. Unfortunately for the Rhinos, that’s exactly what happened, and as soon as it did, Leeds were always going to come up short against a side as good as Melbourne.

The Storm were absolutely clinical in this match (apart from a few Cameron Smith passes hitting the ground – although we’ll excuse those as it’s the first hit-out of the season).

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

It’s pretty simple really. They have lightning quick outside backs. They have a monster forward pack with incredible discipline and concentration. And most importantly, they have the finest brain in rugby league directing them around the paddock in Cameron Smith. At this very early stage, the 2018 NRL Premiership is certainly theirs to lose.

I’m not saying they are unbeatable. But as Leeds found out, you need near-perfect execution as well as a bit of luck to even get close.

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Hull FC
This game had a lot of back and forth, with St George Illawarra utility Kurt Mann scoring the match-sealing try in the 76th minute for a final score of 24-18. Despite the closeness of the scoreline, the Dragons did score five tries to three, and had two disallowed. They can take a lot of positives out of the game.

Matt Dufty seems to have secured the Dragons’ number 1 jersey for the start of the season. He had a monster of a game, running for over 200 meters and chiming into the backline very effectively.

(AAP Image/Darren Pateman)

There is one issue with Dufty, and it will probably be an issue for the next few years while his body fully develops. That issue is his size. He is at risk of being manhandled at times. This showed particularly when he drifted across the field while executing sweeping backline plays.

The incredible pace with which he drifts, combined with his slight frame means he is at risk of being pushed into touch quite easily. Fortunately, the Hull FC defenders only got him once, although they came close on a number of other occasions.

Despite this weakness, he is clearly the best fullback at the club, and is 100 per cent worth persisting with. He simply needs to be mindful of the above weakness, and be sure to find the ground early if he feels himself drifting towards the sideline.

Of the Dragons’ big-name recruits, Ben Hunt was the most impressive. He played 65 minutes, providing mostly reliable service to the backs as well as some very nice touches with the boot (with a few exceptions).

James Graham only played 25 minutes. He made 12 tackles in that time in a typical display of effort, but wasn’t very effective with the ball making only 4 runs for 32 meters, and one unforced error.

Overall St George Illawarra were patchy, but promising. They let in some soft tries, but the worst mistakes I saw from them were by players who aren’t in the top 17 anyway.

Ben Hunt seemed to take a lot of the workload off Gareth Widdop, and they were able to avoid getting in each other’s way too much. I look forward to seeing their combination develop, and I think we will get a better read on the Dragons next week in the Charity Shield.

For Hull FC, they will not be happy with their tour Down Under. Individuals (such as Albert Kelly) will be happy with their performances, but as a team they left a lot to be desired. They looked clunky in attack and at times, lost in defence. They have lots of work to do if they want to challenge for this year’s Super League title.

(AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox)

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Wigan Warriors
Unlike the Dragons, Souths chose to rest many of their top line players for this clash. Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis, Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker, Angus Crichton and big-name recruit Dane Gagai were among those absent. As such, it is difficult to say with any certainty how Souths will go this year based on this performance.

However, they will still be pleased to have accounted for Wigan 18-8 without many of their top players. They will take a lot of confidence out of that going into next week’s Charity Shield clash with the Dragons in Mudgee.

Anthony Seibold will have some selection headaches after impressive performances from all of the fringe outside backs. Three out of five spots in the backline appear sorted. Greg Inglis will reclaim his fullback jersey. Alex Johnstone, despite impressing against Wigan at fullback, will likely occupy one wing spot, while Dane Gagai will presumably take up one centre spot.

(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

That leaves one wing spot and one centre spot remaining. After Saturday’s game, I would give Hymel Hunt the other centre spot, while allowing Robert Jennings, Campbell Graham and Richie Kennar to fight it out for the last wing spot in the Charity Shield.

The other contentious position for the Rabbitohs is hooker. Damien Cook was very impressive in his two stints on the field, while Robbie Farah had a mixed night, although he was required to switch from halfback to hooker throughout the game, making it difficult to put in a consistent performance.

The calls for Damien Cook to start ahead of Farah were loud last year. After Saturday’s match they are deafening. However, I would urge Anthony Seibold to keep Farah at 9 and Cook on the bench.

Farah is a reliable and experienced player, and is much better suited to starting a game than Cook. By the same token, Cook is explosive out of dummy half, and is much better suited to playing at the back end of each half when the forwards are tired and the gaps are wider.

By all means give Cook more minutes than Farah. But I believe that Farah starting and Cook off the bench is much better for the Rabbitohs’ team balance.

For Wigan, this was a very poor result. South Sydney are not one of the NRL’s more fancied teams this year and they were missing a lot of top players.

Wigan on the other hand are one of the Super League’s better teams. Their side is stacked with England representatives and other former top NRL players including Sam and Joel Tomkins, George Williams, Thomas Leuluai, Liam Farrell and England captain Sean O’Loughlin. On paper at least, they should have won this game comfortably.