Eight talking points from NRL Round 6

After five days of rugby league in Round 6, we are starting to get a clearer picture of where the 2019 NRL season is heading, with some big results on the weekend, but unfortunately, referees are back in the headlights. Here are my talking points from the round that was.

If you were part of the crackdown whingers, don’t start complaining now
Congratulations, NRL fans, and the NRL media. You’ve really gone and done it now.

Ignoring some of the questionable decisions from the weekend, like the one at the end of the Dragons-Manly game (even me, a Dragons fan, reckon the referees got that wrong), this point is written to focus on the style of games we are watching this year.

While the first couple of months of 2018 saw an enormous crackdown from the referees in policing the ruck, this year has seen completely the opposite approach.

It goes without saying it suits some teams more than others, but it’s almost beyond a joke to see the same people complaining about last year’s crackdown now beginning to complain about teams taking advantage of the seemingly new set of rules on display.

The first Good Friday game – featuring the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs, were played at horrendously slow speeds in the ruck, but the referees just refused to pull the whistle out. It’s not the first occurrence of such a game this year though.

Performances like that last year would have warranted probably more than 30 penalties being blown in the game, and while that makes it stop-start, that is a brand of rugby league I’d prefer to watch than players having a nap in the ruck every time their side is under a bit of pressure.

There were only 20 penalties during the game, which seems like a lot, but when you consider the number of infringements from both teams to slow the game down when they were under the pump, it probably doesn’t even cover 50 per cent.

Coaches are going to always work their game plan out to take maximum advantage of the way the rules are being refereed in any given season, and now, a month and a half into 2019, that’s exactly what we are starting to see.

I was on board with the crackdown last year, and would be again, but the most frustrating factor about the whole mess is that it’s not a crackdown. It’s simply applying the rules they are written in the book.

To think referees can have an influence on the game when they see fit and apply the rules as they see fit is a real black eye on the game, and if anyone thinks teams will just start to get off the ruck quicker and play fast-flowing rugby league without the referees telling them to, then you’re kidding yourself.

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

And you thought the Roosters were going to be stopped
Moving on from the referees and onto brighter topics, Friday’s second contest in Melbourne was everything a grand final rematch should be.

The Storm were blown out of the water in the first half, and just quietly, the second was probably the best they have put together so far this season, despite the fact they went into the contest unbeaten.

While Cameron Smith took over the second half to prove he is still at the top of the game, it was the Roosters stunning opening half an hour, then defensive energy, intensity and effort which stole the show, before Latrell Mitchell booted one of the best field goals you are ever likely to see.

The tri-colours are attempting to do something no team has done since the Broncos of the early 90s this season by going back to back, and right now, I’m struggling to see which team is going to stop them.

It is of course, very early, and a lot of water still has to pass under the bridge before we get near September, but to take on the toughest road trip in the competition without a number of star players and come away with a hard-fought, mentally tough golden point win tells you exactly where Trent Robinson has his club.

The only question really, is whether they are peaking too early, because between Luke Keary’s brilliance, James Tedesco picking up where he left off last year and their forwards domination, I’m not sure how many gears they have left to go up.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Goodbye Brisbane, and thanks for your time Mr Seibold
It’s panic stations at the Broncos. They have been ambling along, and there was the thought things were going to turn around, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

They were able to show a little bit of improvement, but nowhere near enough to start thinking about being anywhere near their best.

As it turns out, they fell to the Raiders, and after shipping Wayne Bennett out, have fallen to their worst start to a season as a club, winning just one of their first six matches.

There’s no disputing at this point that the Broncos have been atrocious at times on both ends of the ground, and their best footy hasn’t been anywhere near a level which is going to get the job done against most NRL teams.

As has been mentioned previously in this column, and in my season preview series, the concerns over Brisbane coming into the season are all coming to fruition.

Their forwards are too raw, their organisers non-existent, and Darius Boyd looks like he has gone on a season too long.

I don’t want to death-rattle a club like the Broncos this early in the season, because they are a generally successful club, but in their current state, winning an absolute minimum of 11 from their last 18 games, maybe 12, to make the finals, looks like it’s going to be a bridge too far.

It’s rare a coach is given his marching orders in the first year at a club, but Seibold won’t be far off feeling the pressure from a success-starved supporter group, who haven’t tasted premiership glory for 13 years – and for the Broncos, that’s a long time between drinks.

(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

This is the Titans we were expecting
I got knocked to the hills in the pre-season for having the Titans in a predicted spot of ninth. Fair enough, as well.

But what we have seen from the Gold Coast in the last week is what I was expecting in 2019, rather than what they dished up over the first month.

Now, we can’t take the last fortnight worth of results as gospel given the struggling nature of their opposition, but it’s their attack which is paving the way.

Ashley Taylor getting back to his best is an obvious assistance for the club, who have now scored 68 points in those two games.

Obviously, the Titans aren’t back yet, but their effort on Sunday against the Titans without Kevin Proctor, and, for the most part, Ryan James, was fantastic.

If James is injured long-term, they are going to be in a spot of bother, but the Titans showed a lot of promise at the back-end of 2018, and will aim to stay at the level they have produced in the last fortnight this season.

(Photo by Jason O’Brien/Getty Images)

Penrith show promise amongst their defensive fragilities
While the Broncos sit at the bottom – or near enough to – of the ladder, the Penrith Panthers, who were tipped for big things in 2018, haven’t been much better.

They have been embarrassingly bad over the opening six weeks, as a matter of fact.

This is a club who, by many, were expected to make the top four, and while the signs were better in attack during the first half against the Sharks, it all has to be taken with a grain of salt on two reasons.

First up, all their points were scored with the wind at their back. Second up, their defence at times was flat out poor.

Now, that’s going to seem pretty harsh given the club actually defended their line quite well as the Sharks put the hammer down in the last 20 minutes, but some of their work prior to that in the middle third, as it was against the Gold Coast Titans the week prior, was unbelievably poor.

Couple that with the errors they seem hell bound on making every week, and it’s no wonder the men from the foot of the mountains are sitting just outside the bottom four.

Despite that, they had some positives to take from the game, the main one being Nathan Cleary and James Maloney swapped back to their correct sides of the field and putting on a show in the first half.

Maloney’s long-range kicking game in particular was fantastic.

The other one was the work of some of their forwards. Ivan Cleary finally bit the bullet to insert James Tamou as the skipper, and he stood up well, while James Fisher-Harris continues to go from strength to strength.

Their pack isn’t the best in the game, but it’s getting there, and having Villame Kikau back at full strength in coming weeks would also be a huge aid to the struggling club.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The Cowboys and Rabbitohs win, but does it actually mean anything?
The answer, of course, is yes. It means two important competition points, but there are issues to address for both sides.

It means more for the Cowboys, who were in the bottom four and have struggled to get over the Jason Taumalolo injury.

Despite that, they might have actually played better in the Round 5 loss to the Storm at home than they did in the Round 6 win over the Warriors on the road.

Don’t get me wrong, Paul Green and his side will be just happy to get two gritty points on the table as they try to arrest the slide, but they can’t let it paper over some fairly obvious cracks moving forward. Particularly, their backline simply isn’t strong enough.

Even when the forwards do dominate, the backs don’t seem to have the answers, and outside of Michael Morgan, it’s not a problem they look like they have the cattle to fix this season.

The Rabbitohs, on the other hand, have only played one good game this season. It’s a scary thing to say, given they are five and one, but it’s true. The longer they go on winning without playing well, the more they remind you of the 2018 Roosters.

Of course, it means Souths aren’t at risk of peaking too early, but it does mean they might settle into a rut of reasonably poor footy pulling out results. On one foot, it’s the sign of a great footy team they are able to do that, but on the other, they need to improve, or will get hammered by good teams, something they haven’t had to play many of since Round 2.

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The importance of a good goalkicker, and the fullback problem facing Manly
This is a double-barrelled point, because honestly, they came out of the same game and there was no point splitting them.

Let’s quickly address Manly, who almost pulled off a huge upset in the Gong, where they haven’t won for 15 years.

Their effort and intensity, despite missing Tom Trbojevic, was impressive to see. Even if their attack was a little bit clunky at times, and even if they should have won with the possession they had at different points, the Sea Eagles are clearly clicking along a lot better under Des Hasler than they were under Trent Barrett during 2018.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and make the eight, but they could well escape the clutches of the bottom four by the time it’s all said and done.

However, they have a huge issue to address before they think about winning games. Replacing Tom Trbojevic at fullback is no easy task, but if Brendan Elliott is the second best fullback at the club, then the recruitment team have some serious questions to answer.

I’m not going to claim to have all the answers, but Manly are at the point where trying anything will be better than trying nothing, because the constant dropped balls, lack of metres to start sets and poor defensive decisions are costing them.

Whether it’s giving Reuben Garrick a run in the number one, finding someone in reserve grade or going completely out of left field, Manly must make a change.

Which brings this to the Dragons, who also must make a change.

It’s a tricky situation for coach Paul McGregor, because it would be a completely unforced change, brought about by necessity, rather than a player’s failing form.

At the moment, Tim Lafai is proving to all he isn’t a good enough goal kicker to be first choice at NRL level. His misses against the Sea Eagles on Saturday night almost cost the Red V. Big time.

They didn’t in the end, but somehow, McGregor needs to find a spot for Zac Lomax. He was originally slated to play on the wing in pre-season, but struggled there during the trials and has since played limited minutes from the bench since the injury to captain Gareth Widdop, which pushed Matt Dufty to starting fullback.

Lomax is also a fullback, but the problem is none of Dufty, Lafai, Euan Aitken, Mikaele Ravalawa and Jordan Pereira deserve to be dropped. Yet, if they go on with that sort of goal kicking display, it’ll cost the Red V sooner rather than later.

(AAP Image/Craig Golding)

Could we see Clint Gutherson in sky blue?
Let’s clear one thing up. Gutherson isn’t going to be in the Blues starting 13 come State of Origin time.

However, the Eels are one of the form sides of the competition in the early going this year, and with four from six, Gutherson is one of the big reasons why.

He was phenomenal against the Tigers on Monday afternoon as the Eels crunched them in the opening of Bankwest Stadium, burning the defence twice to set up a couple of long-range tries inside the first half.

What was particularly impressive, for mine at least, showing just how far he has come as a player though, was his ability to shut down Mahe Fonua in open space playing fullback.

He has good versatility, and is a real option to play from the bench for the Blues, especially when you consider most of the forward pack will play big minutes, and therefore, naming a back on the bench will work just fine.

Tyrone Peachey filled the void last year, and while he has more positions, he doesn’t have the form, or arguably, the attacking spark, which Gutherson provides. Don’t be surprised to get the king of Parramatta get a call-up.

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