Professional sport is a high-pressure environment.
Every year, every player and coach is under the gun to perform their best. But every year the spotlight shines brighter on a few who have that extra bit of incentive to prove a point.
It may be a young player looking to make a name for himself, an off-contract player wanting to prove his worth for his next big contract or a success-starved coach desperately trying to keep his job under mounting pressure.
Here are the people for each club who have a point to prove in 2020.
Bulldogs
Opinions are divided on Lachlan Lewis’ short NRL career. Some call him a player of potential and a star of the future, while others think he’s a good defender but a one-trick pony in attack.
One thing that’s not up for debate is that with the season-ending injury to Kieran Foran, the Bulldogs need at least one of Lewis, Jack Cogger or Brandon Wakeham to stand up, take control of the team and transition from promising to become a genuine first-grader. The Lewis name probably puts a bit more pressure on ‘the Prince of Belmore’.
It’s no secret the Dogs have struggled to score points and get through the line over the last few seasons. They desperately need to find ways to break the line rather than grinding their way to field position and far more creativity when they do get into the red zone.
All of these things are specific areas where Lewis needs to improve his own game. While no one doubts his toughness – see his ongoing stoush with Sam Burgess last Good Friday – there are question marks whether he’s the man to lead the Bulldogs up from the foot of the table.
Roosters
Speaking of a young half looking to make a name for himself, is there anyone in the game with bigger shoes to fill than Kyle Flanagan?
When the Roosters signed Cooper Cronk there were questions asked about whether the move would damage his legacy. The general feeling was that anything less than a premiership across the two years would be a failure. Cronk delivered two including his piece de resistance in 2018 with a broken scapula.
So what are the expectations for the 21-year-old nine-gamer?
(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Certainly not what they were for Cronk, but no doubt Flanagan will be under the pump as the Roosters chase a third consecutive premiership. Not only is there pressure to replace Cronk but the Roosters will lose one of their main attacking weapons with Latrell Mitchell moving on to the Bondi club’s arch rivals. Mitchell has been a top-ten try-scorer in each of the past three seasons and there’s no obvious replacement.
Roosters fans demand success and rightly or wrongly Flanagan may be in the crosshairs if they don’t get it.
Sharks
Even with Paul Gallen and Matt Prior moving on, the Sharks have a tough pack. They have a big, mobile middle third and pace and skill down both edges. The query is on the spine and more specifically whether Matt Moylan and Shaun Johnson can spend enough time on the park to build combinations and lead the team to success.
In 2019, Johnson and Moylan didn’t spend more than three consecutive weeks in the team together. Johnson’s longest run in the side was ten weeks, while Moylan only managed five games on the trot. In their time on the park, Johnson had 16 try assists from his 18 games while Moylan had eight from 11, demonstrating their importance to the Sharks’ attack.
Both are brilliant players on their day but neither is renowned for their consistency. That’s made all the more challenging by being off the field. So while Johnson and Moylan are being nominated here at the Sharks, maybe it’s really the Cronulla medical staff most under the pump!
If Cronulla are to do anything in 2020, Moylan and Johnson need to be on the field, fit and firing.
Panthers
Unsurprisingly, the focus at the foot of the mountains will be the Clearys.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Ivan is in the unique position of having been poached, sacked and then re-poached by his current employer. Cleary’s had a 13-year coaching career with one grand final appearance and a 47 per cent win rate. While there’s a seemingly never-ending talent pool coming through at the Panthers, the onus is on having a coach who can turn generation next into a premiership threat rather than seeing them regularly dispersed throughout the NRL.
Nathan is a young gun halfback who is yet to truly fire since his breakthrough 2017 season. Cleary has his hands on the ball a lot at the Panthers and steers the team around the park but James Maloney has been the go-to man for points and creativity in attack.
With Maloney moving on, that pressure to create opportunities and points will sit squarely with Cleary. It will be fascinating to see how he responds. He’ll also have to do it with a new hooker and inexperienced halves partner and fullback.
It’s a big ask considering Cleary is only 22 himself, but when you have 79 games’ experience and have been a part of two winning Origin series, expectations get raised.
Al
Roar Rookie
I agree. And opposition teams could've been a bit unprepared last year expecting an 'easier' game against Manly based on 2018. The reality is there are no easy games but I think it does go through player's heads.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Thanks for that. I thought it may have been the case that they didn't play against each other but I'm surprised it was that long. I remember the try in a 1990 test match against England where Mal backed up a Ricky Stuart break from a scrum 10 or 15 metres out from their line. Mal had momentum.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Natural talent, while not being immeasurable, is seen in a player's actions on the field. What made Mal Meninga hard to tackle was his huge legs and therefore a lower centre of gravity. Les Boyd was another player who was very hard to tackle as he had a lower centre of gravity than Mal as his legs were huge and his upper body was not big like Mal. I understand the advantage of good low tackling as an example in the study of levers. Rugby League doesn't have many talls like in Aussie Rules or Basketball.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
DCE came off the bench for almost half the games and his stats aren't exceptional at all but compared to Cleary's they are.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Why not compare Cleary with new Toad captain Cherry at that level ..played double the number of SOO than Cleary for a measly 1 try and a dismal 3 try assists..probably the best half in the NRL world right now..what’s different ?
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I remember Anasta putting a strong shot on Menzies one time which was pretty hard to do. I remember being a bit surprised at the time.
The Barry
Roar Guru
They’re all fair comments, although young Anasta had a wicked step The other thing is desire and commitment, for all the muck about shenanigans that guys like Freddy or Joey or Lockyer got up to, you always hear stories about them doing extras at training and being first to get there and last to leave I think a lot of players grow up as teen superstars, arrive with a bang and then think it’s all going to just happen
Big Daddy
Guest
Of the teams you have outlined Canterbury are the only one that haven't a couple of out and out game changers. I think Corey Haraweira is on that cusp but he can't lift them on his own. The other teams have numerous players on their day that can turn a match. Tetevano and Capewell are really underated . Their only weak point appears to be 5/8 . Cronulla have lost nothing in the backs and it's their forwards that will decide how far they go. If Fifita and Graham get any injury they're a bit light on.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Mal retired in 1994 and Braith debuted in 2000 so of all the issues Anasta had as a player not being able to tackle Big Mal wasn’t one of them
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Toovey could tackle Meninga, I saw it live. As for natural talent , Fittler's ability to put a player thru the gap is one thing which separates many of the great players from the pack. It's a natural talent Fittler had in spades but Anasta was lacking in. Fittlers ability to step at speed is another major difference which is also a natural talent. If the could teach both of these things to players they would.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
It wasn't natural talent where Fittler differed from Anasta. Fittler was probably the only player who could tackle Mal Meninga and was nearly as hard to tackle as Big Mal. Braith was talented but could only act as a speed bump when and if he ever played against Mal.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
If you compare Maloney and Cleary at SOO level , Maloney is always up to something and his bag of tricks leads to tries. Cleary never really looks like scoring or setting them up. I can't pretend otherwise. It doesn't prove Cleary isn't a good SOO player because he contributes in many other ways but if he continues to be impotent in attack his SOO career will be cut short I believe.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
It's a fair comment regarding Manly but I'm of the opinion that the club were on their typical trajectory to a tilt at the title but 2018 was a blip rather than a reflection on the roster. I'm confident of a very big year from the club and it looks to be a happy camp but still with frustrating injury issues. A good run with injuries from now on and I can't see why they shouldn't mount a serious challenge.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Cleary didn't have an ordinary back line to work with in SOO though and he's not creating tries for anyone at that level. I seem to recall Ash Taylors try assists at the Titans a while back as being exceptional and he didn't have too many world class backs outside him either.
Nat
Roar Guru
I have the same reservations with Canberra.
KenW
Roar Rookie
To clarify as well, my question mark on Manly could be summarised as 'form or class?'. So many players had breakout years (or at least their best year in many seasons), which turned a team tipped for the bottom 4 into a top 4 contender. The question is how many of those players can bring this into next season. Was it form or class? We'll know soon enough.
KenW
Roar Rookie
1st round, I usually tip without too much regard for deep analysis or the predicted ladder. Home teams are the default and on that basis I'd be happy to go with Manly. But Melbourne have that ridiculous round 1 winning record (10 years+ isn't it?), so they'd get my tip. Beyond that my thoughts are I'm just looking forward to seeing some footy!
matth
Roar Guru
So with that list of teams that are hard to categorise, what are your thoughts on the Sea Eagles at home to the Storm this weekend?
Albo
Roar Rookie
Have you seen the ordinary Panthers backline that Cleary has had to work with ? There is no Teddy, Turbo , RTS, Mitchell, Manu , Xerri, Tupou , Fergo and the like, for Cleary to work with. Any wonder they over use Kikau as their main attacking weapon, except where Cleary can score on his own. I would like to see both Burton ( at 6) & Luai (at 3 or 1) included in the backline to add some flair and options for Cleary to work with. But I suspect Ivan will not agree, and he will run out another conservative backline with one centre who has made just two breaks in 7 seasons at Penrith and another centre who makes more errors and bombs more tries than any player in the NRL, a fullback who tries hard but can't create a try, and a winger who can eat some metres but doesn't score tries and is a liability in defence ? Its a wonder Nathan Cleary has been able to show any ability at all.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I think most teams slot into that “anywhere from 6th to 12” category I reckon Manly will do well. Sharks still have an awesome roster with so many points in them if things go well. Raiders look better than hey did this time last year. Not sure on Cowboys. A lot needs to improve for them based on last couple of years