Eight talking points NRL Round 18

Another round is in the books. We have had punches, upsets, big wins, and the reunion of a legendary combination. Here are this week’s talking points.

Andrew McCullough went to the bin, but he could use a breather as well
Brisbane hooker was the latest to fall victim to the NRL’s punch and you’re in the bin rule on Sunday afternoon, and while I have serious questions about whether that rule should even exist, the new Queensland Maroons hooker is a little bit out of sorts at the moment.

His selection for the Maroons was a no-brainer really, but it appears to have done him more harm than good.

I don’t want to go too hard on McCullough, because he has still pulled out some good performances and this time last year, was one of the key reasons Brisbane sat at the top of the table.

But the Broncos 34-0 beatdown of the Titans last week was like chalk and cheese when put up against today. It’s got to be a concern for coach Wayne Bennett, who, no doubt will keep persevering with McCullough for the time being – unless he cops a suspension for striking.

I don’t doubt for a moment the Broncos hooker can turn things around and get out of the funk he has created, but he is playing in a less than consistent and perfect team with halves lumping some of the creative pressure on him. That’s going to make life even harder for the number nine.

The dreaded Origin loss has hurt players before back at clubland. The mental toll it takes to go into battle and come out, even for the winners is extreme.

You also have to remember this has been a rough 12 months for McCullough. The injury he sustained at the start of the year meant he virtually didn’t have a pre-season, only just making Round 1, which, fitness-wise, has to have an impact as well.

A few weeks off wouldn’t be the worst thing for McCullough right now. The Broncos do have a buffer inside the eight, so the hope would be he could get back to his best and be refreshed ahead of a finals push from the bottom half of the eight.

Also, on this incident. Why on the planet was Chris Satae sent to the sin bin? He didn’t throw a punch. It seems he got penalised because McCullough reacted.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Manly need to change their front row rotation
One thing is absolutely evident when the Sea Eagles play – they are a better team when Martin Taupau and Addin Fonua-Blake are on the park, particularly both of them at the same time.

But when they go and have a seat on the bench, as they often do at the same time, the Sea Eagles go forward turns into a trainwreck.

They regularly struggle to make it out of their own end, and when it comes to being able to batter teams as they have done a few times this season in the opening 20 minutes, it just hasn’t happened.

One of the keys to any NRL team playing well is consistency across the 80 minutes. When you start so well, maintaining the rage has to be the number one priority, but it’s where the Sea Eagles let themselves down – and where they let the Storm back into the game yesterday.

The problem with bringing one of their hard-running front rowers off the bench of course is a potentially slower start. Fonua-Blake and Taupau following each other up with big metres and offloads is flat out scary for defensive teams, as the Storm discovered on Saturday.

I don’t have the answer for the Sea Eagles, but they either need more off their bench or a more concerted effort across the 80 minutes, rather than using what appears to be every bit of gas in the tank during the first 20.

(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

The Farah and Marshall show is back
Well, this one hurt the Dragons. It’s not the beginning of the end for them, but it most certainly is the beginning of something which appears to be pretty special for the Tigers.

The men from Balmain put in a great display to knock over the Red V and at the top of the list when you think about the stars of the show were club legends Benji Marshall and Robie Farah.

The duo put in brilliant performances for the Tigers, who ended up hanging on with the victory.

While the final margin of victory was just the four points, the Tigers were realistically a lot better than the scoreboard showed.

A couple of late tries for the Dragons put them back in the contest and almost flipped the result on its head, but whenever it was needed, Farah or Marshall, joined by an in-form Luke Brooks and Moses Mbye, would put in a play to keep them above the game.

Marshall’s final kick for the corner, forcing the Dragons to bring it back off their own ten-metre line in the final 90 seconds just about summed up the afternoon. He couldn’t have executed the play any better, while just minutes before the half forced a number of dropouts in a row.

Farah was excellent out of dummy half as well, his creativity and short-range kicking game causing hell for the Red V’s defensive line.

Whether or not the Tigers can keep this form up (and keep Josh Reynolds out of the side) is anyone’s guess, but they picked up a crucial two points at Jubilee on Sunday to keep their finals hopes well and truly alive.

(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Pearce returns with a bang, but his Origin career is over
Kalyn Ponga might have been out, but the Knights looked like a different team on the weekend with Mitchell Pearce making his long-awaited return from injury to marshall them around in the halves.

He did a superb job of it as well, and while they were only playing the hapless Eels, the Knights will take whatever win they can get at the moment.

Pearce may take a couple of weeks to move back into his very best form and that’ll only be strengthened when Ponga returns.

While the Knights probably – almost certainly – aren’t going to make the finals this season, the final two months of the season are going to be critical in terms of building combinations ahead of 2019.

Pearce and Ponga are at the forefront of that list, but how they combine with the forwards, Connor Watson and Danny Levi is going to determine their 2019 season, so it’s important they start getting things together from now and finish this season with some confidence.

(Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)

South Sydney are premiership favourites
Following an 18-point victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, South Sydney have now won nine games on the trot and are now almost certainly the premiership favourites.

With the Dragons fading a little bit during the Origin period, the Storm still no where near their best and the Panthers unable to string wins together in a trot, the Rabbitohs are the club left at the top of the heap.

You would have been laughed at if you said the cardinal and mertyle were going to win the premiership before the season started and, granted, there is still a lot of water to pass under the bridge, but they look the goods right now.

South Sydney have it all when you look at their team across the park. A perfect mix of youth and experience, of speed and aggression and players who can just keep things ticking along.

Their left-hand side has been a revelation this season with Cody Walker and John Sutton leading the show inisde Greg Inglis and Robert Jennings, while Adam Reynolds is also in outstanding form guiding the team around the park.

Alex Johnston has continued to grow into his role at fullback, almost certainly locking it down as his best position by this point, while the forwards have been on a mission, the Burgess boys all seemingly in career-best form.

Finals experience may be the only deterent for the Rabbitohs, but then, besides the Storm, none of the top teams this season are looking like world beaters on that side of the coin either.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Ah, the Raiders and Warriors.
It’s nearly impossible to know what to make of the Raiders and Warriors at this point.

Let’s start with the Auckland-based Warriors. One week, they are losing, the next they come out and belt the Broncos away from home to move a little bit further inside the top eight.

While their finals spot is not quite locked down, it’s getting closer to being so. They started the season quickly, but the Warriors have settled into an all too familiar trend in recent weeks.

While it’s not all bad news, they had lost to the Sharks and Panthers in previous weeks with the demons of seasons gone by coming back to haunt them, even if it wasn’t quite as bad as it has been.

Their effort against the Broncos makes you sit up and take notice though. They dominated from the get go and looked more or less like the team who were just about on cruise control through the opening weeks of the competition.

The two losses they had in the last fortnight would have otherwise ended the Warriors in previous years, with a series of losses to follow. Their win on Sunday shows, if anything, that they will stay in things with their defence clicking along nicely.

The Raiders, on the other hand, were back at their attacking best. It was one of their better performances of the season as they overcame the Cowboys in a freezing cold Canberra.

They ran up 38 points in a stunningly good performance, but it’s their consistency which continues to irk fans.

If they could defend like they did last night and have any consistency about their attack, they would be right up the top of the NRL ladder.

Unfortunately, they struggle to do both of those things and while they have now won two straight, they could well struggle to make the finals, even if Blake Austin comes good consistently from now until the end of the season.

Aaron Woods looks a new man in the Shire
It’s been hard to get a read on the Sharks at times this year, but after two straight victories over the Warriors and Panthers at the end of the Origin period, they appear to be a club heading in the right direction.

What’s not hard to get a read on though is that recent front row recruit Aaron Woods is fitting in wonderfully at Cronulla.

He led the black, white and blue for all metres gained on Friday night in the round opener, finishing with over 150 in a powerful performance.

While the Panthers were understrength thanks to Origin, Woods has turned in a couple of strong performances in a row for the Sharks and looks nothing like the player he was when he left a struggling Bulldogs outfit just a matter of weeks ago.

Woods has plenty to prove over the second half of the season. After being snudded from the Origin arena, he needs to re-build to where his image was during his best days at the Tigers, becoming a damaging front rower once again who can lead his side from the front.

It does help playing in what is a fairly strong pack at the Sharks of course. With the side dominating contests more often than they aren’t, it means Woods can fit into that structure, but he has still been a big part of that in his first games at the club and will aim to keep it that way over the second half of the season and further forward into the finals.

(AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)

Is Sio Siua Taukeiaho the Roosters most valuable forward?
When Taukeiaho was injured last season, his loss impacted the Roosters greatly. Their go forward was restricted, they weren’t as intimidating in defence and essentially, they couldn’t find anyone to effectively replace the role of the big prop.

He is back to his best this season, with Taukeiaho helping the Roosters through the first half of the season.

While the tri-colours have been up and down like a yo-yo, they had won five of their first six before taking on the Titans, where Taukeiaho had another huge game. He wound up with over 150 metres and some solid passing at the line to set things up for the Roosters who dominated the clash.

His goalkicking adds another string to the bow. He has become quite strong at kicking off the tee as well, with the prop becoming an answer to a question every club has to answer.

Combined with his intimidating go forward and ball running, there is a genuine argument there now that Taukeiaho is not only the Roosters most valuable forward, but their X-Factor.

If they are going to have a run into the finals at the end of the season, you feel he has to be in good form helping to lay the platform for the likes of Cooper Cronk, Luke Keary and James Tedesco who as yet haven’t combined as they should have in 2018.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 18? Drop a comment below and let us know.