Nine talking points from NRL Round 10

The two league leaders have lost convincingly in an intriguing round of footy with a couple of other upsets throwing a spanner in the works. Here are my talking points for Round 10 of the 2018 NRL season.

Can we please say goodbye to Homebush and the Football Stadium?
Don’t get me wrong, Anzac Day created the best Sydney-based atmosphere you are going to see all season. It was at Allianz Stadium – better known as the Sydney Football Stadium.

The atmosphere in question was because it was absolutely jam-packed.

Unfortunately, Sydney and rugby league doesn’t have a ‘go to the game culture’ like Melbourne does with the AFL and for the other mountain of games hosted at the cities two biggest venues – add ANZ Stadium to the list – the atmosphere is dead.

That’s what happens when you have somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent capacity at a big ground. Sound echoes and it’s a bad look for both fans at the ground and those watching on TV.

If casual fans are flicking on a Saturday afternoon, they are more likely to settle on the AFL with tens of thousands in the background as compared to the NRL with tens of thousands of empty seats.

However, you don’t get that at suburban grounds. The atmosphere last Sunday at Kogarah last week for example, when the Dragons beat the Storm, was electric. I’m sure it would have been similar for the Tigers at Leichhardt on Thursday night. Getting 13,000 to a mid-week game is brilliant, but you can bet if the Tigers were playing the Cowboys at Homebush, the crowd would have been well under the 10,000 mark.

Sunday’s atmosphere, for the Rabbitohs and Dragons at Homebush was dead. 13,000 was the crowd, but that means there are 67,000 empty seats.

While TV money is a big part of what the NRL need, attendance is paramount to making sure fans get the best possible experience on game day, and while the facilities at suburban grounds may not be quite what you get at Homebush or the Football Stadium, those two grounds need to be reserved for the big matches.

I’d be open to having double-headers, public holiday matches and the like there, but the NRL need to pack out grounds, and the best way to do that is use suburban grounds on a more regular basis. Even Belmore, for example, should get more games for the Bulldogs.

It’s basic common sense.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

South Sydney are the real deal
Six weeks ago, I wasn’t sure about the Rabbitohs. I reckon most punters were in the same boat where you could see their potential, but were unsure if they were ever going to reach it.

Last week, I gave their left side attack comprising Cody Walker, Alex Johnston and John Sutton a massive wrap, but the whole team put in 110 per cent to beat the Dragons on Sunday, proving themselves to be a genuine contender this season.

Premiership? Probably not, but this Rabbitohs team are a mile better than anyone was tipping.

They spent a lot of time in defence against a Dragons team who seemed to be permanently camped on their line. While the Red V didn’t throw a great deal at Anthony Seibold’s men, that was more thanks to the rushing defence of the Bunnies, who had answers for everything the Gareth Widdop and Ben Hunt-led attack threw at them.

Looking at the raw stats of the game, you’d almost say the Dragons dominated. They had more possession, more run metres, less missed tackles. They won a lot of the key battles, but couldn’t find a way to crack the Rabbitohs.

While that left-hand side attack was strong again, they won the battle up the middle. The Burgess brothers were sensational, as was their interchange who ensured the hosts would continue to dominate the contest for the entirety, even without the ball more often than not.

When they did get their opportunities, they didn’t disappoint. It was a fast start which then translated into control over the contest.

Sure, you could point at the performance of the Dragons and say it was rubbish, but let’s not take anything away from Souths.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The statement the Roosters simply had to make
To say the Roosters have underperformed this year would be an understatement. A dramatic one at that.

Their loss on Anzac Day was poor, and their win over the Sea Eagles last week was almost a get out of jail free card – a vital two competition points, but still no closer to solving the issues confronting the club.

They finally seemed to click on Saturday in Auckland though, belting the Warriors 32-0.

It was a superb performance from the Roosters, but one they simply had to have given we are now in Round 10. To see their combinations start ticking on the back of a fast-moving and dominant forward pack was exactly what the doctor ordered for the tri-colours.

Tedesco had 225 running metres, while Cronk controlled the contest with his kicking and passing game, picking the right spots to put on plays and remaining patient when he needed to.

It wasn’t just their attack though – they defended well, keeping the Warriors attack in order and upped the ante whenever it looked like the Warriors were going to get into the contest.

While Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke were out, it was a statement and a grounding from which the Roosters can build. They travel to Brisbane next week and if this team are going to be premiership contenders, it’s time to start producing like that on a consistent basis.

What to make of Bryce Cartwright and the Titans?
The Bryce Cartwright situation on the Gold Coast is a concerning one. Dropped to the bench this week after a shocking couple of weeks in the halves, his performance wasn’t any better on the weekend.

While Cartwright has never been an exceptionally good defender, he has always managed to hold his own enough to be talked up as a high quality option for any club, entering the State of Origin discussion just a couple of years ago.

He always seemed to get by on being a brilliant attacker, but even that has disappeared on the Gold Coast. He looks a step too slow and out of sync with what the side are trying to produce and unable to execute the plays, while his defence has slid down the pole another few rungs.

You’d almost go as far as to say he is currently the most out of form player in the competition and well and truly the worst buy of the season by any club.

AJ Brimson’s debut was quality in the halves and it looks like it’ll be a spot he holds down for at least a few weeks, while Cartwright might be lucky to stay on the bench.

He is a big part of the problem for the Titans, who are at the wrong end of the ladder. He is far from the only problem, but with form on a downward spiral, a few weeks back in the Queensland Cup might be exactly what the second rower needs at the moment.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Newcastle need to toughen up through the middle
The Knights can blame their lack of form in the last two weeks on injuries, sure. For a team who have ‘won’ three straight wooden spoons to then lose their star half recruit for four months is going to be a killer blow.

However, they can’t blame their softness up the middle on the loss of Mitchell Pearce. He doesn’t do all the tackling in the middle third of the field.

That blame belongs with the forwards, who let in some incredibly soft tries early on against the Panthers on Friday evening.

The tries to Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Tyrone Peachey, both in the first quarter of an hour, were almost embarrassing for the Knights. At that point of the game, the forwards are supposed to be up for it, full of energy and ready to rip in.

Instead, the visitors were able to race away to an early lead and with it, you felt the match. Newcastle need a lot to go right for them at the moment to win games with the aforementioned injuries and a halves combination not quite sure of themselves or their place in the side, so letting in soft tries isn’t going to solve the issues facing the club.

Even when Pearce does return, defence like that is simply unacceptable. They were better for the remaining 65 minutes, but they had to play catch up football, which can be shown in their error counts and visualised in a rushed attack which simply wasn’t good enough when they did get opportunities.

The second half began with the Knights dominating the game. They spent the better part of 20 minutes camped on the Penrith line, but could only find one try in that time period before James Maloney put them away.

This isn’t Melbourne
The 2018 version of the Storm are not the Storm if that makes any sense.

Melbourne are still a strong side, but even after beating the Titans on the weekend – and undermanned and struggling Titans I might add – there is cause for concern.

The last fortnight has been error-ridden for the Storm. While nine doesn’t seem all that bad against the Gold Coast, they were pretty ordinary in their loss to the Dragons at Kogarah last week and still have a lot to work on if they are to get back to the top of the tree, aiming to defend their premiership.

It should mentioned, they aren’t playing badly. But the errors and seemingly a lack of confidence in what they are trying to do up on the attack is a problem.

A team with Cameron Smith and Billy Slater in it shouldn’t be struggling to put all the pieces together. They should be dominating, and maybe a part of it is we are judging based on the standards they set last year. It should be noted they won’t get back to that, but there is still improvement left for Craig Bellamy’s men, as there is for most teams in the competition.

(AAP Image/Craig Golding)

The Raiders might be built on defence, but playing negatively won’t work for them
Well, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. The Raiders, built on defence, but that’s exactly what their run over the last month has been based on. An ability to defend like their lives depend on it and scrap for the rest of their team.

It was there again during the first half against the Sharks and the green machine seemed to be on course for yet another win, but then they put the cue in the rack so to speak.

The Raiders last try was in the 30th minute, with the Sharks running on three between then and fulltime to take an eight-point win – one they probably deserved.

While the injury to Blake Austin didn’t help the Raiders in their decision to turn to negative football, their defence is only as good as their attack. If they can return the pressure up the other end and ensure their forwards get enough of a breather on the attack, their defence becomes that much more effective.

The green machine are going to have bumps in the road this season, but what they have produced over the last few weeks was a willingness to defend, which led to a better attack. There was no better example than in their 18-8 win over the Cowboys in Townsville.

They turned up for each other all night and made the Cowboys pay for any errors at the other end.

That wasn’t there during the second half against the Sharks and it’s something they will need to rediscover before taking on the Dragons next weekend.

The Eels have no confidence, and it shows
Even after a pair of victories which began to right the blue and gold ship, things have fallen apart again. The loss against Cronulla last weekend seemed to take plenty out of them and they simply had nothing against the Bulldogs on Friday.

Last week, I wrote about how they needed to take something from the Sharks loss, which, to be fair, they should have done. After playing so poorly for 70 minutes, they turned it on at the back end to score three tries and even without competition points, take some momentum with them.

The momentum they so desperately needed to take was missing in a sloppy affair against the Bulldogs though.

The Eels have no confidence. Their attack lacked any flare or substance in the eight-point beating – a game they should have won given the way it played out.

Even more worrying than their lack of attacking ability near the Bulldogs line was their forwards and the lack of running they had. The return of Nathan Brown can’t come soon enough for the blue and gold, with the team beaten up the middle. Post contact metres in a lot of cases is a telling stat, and the Eels were over 140 metres behind their arch-rivals.

The Eels one issue leading into the 2018 season seemed to be a lack of aggression in the forward pack and it’s showing now more than ever. For a team who needs to get back to basics, it all starts with winning the battle in the middle and they simply aren’t doing that.

Regardless, another two losses leave them with a terrible record of just two and eight, with the 2018 season more or less gone. Winning 10 of their final 14 seems just about impossible from here.

James Maloney is a very smart footballer
We all know the ability of Maloney to turn teams into winners. He has done it at the Warriors, Roosters, Sharks and is now in the process of doing it to the Panthers.

It was the cool, calm, level head he showed during the second half against Newcastle showing exactly why he is one of the best at what he does as well.

There is a reason he has won premierships and been in grand finals at three different clubs.

As mentioned above, the Knights were dominating the early exchanges of the second half on Friday against an undermanned Panthers outfit, but it was Maloney who reversed the momentum.

When Penrith finally got back onto the attack, Maloney seemed to be set for a spread to the left from about ten metres out in the middle of a set. With a six-point lead and 20 minutes on the clock though, he backed his side and kicked the most awkward looking field goal you will ever see.

It ensured the Knights couldn’t draw the game with one converted try, making them play catch up footy again. It also gave the Panthers more time in possession, which they promptly used to march up field and kick a penalty goal, taking the lead to nine, more time off the clock and giving them the ball back again.

Maloney then controlled the game on the back of a rolling forward pack, taking Penrith to the win and second place on the ladder.

Playing with such an undermanned team, Maloney needs so much credit for what he has done during the first ten rounds of this season.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 10? Drop a comment and let us know.