Roar Guru
Opinion
It has been discussed ad nauseam since the beginning of the season, as fans and commentators alike revel in the joy of the prodigal game returning.
The six-again rule has made the game faster and more gruelling. The defensive gridlock that had begun to grip the game and had caused wars of attrition to become the norm has been replaced with free and fast-flowing footy.
With fewer stoppages due to penalties and set restarts prolonging periods in defence, the tired big men through the middle can sometimes barely get to marker, let alone stop a quick dummy-half scoot from the likes of Damien Cook.
The hooker position is one of the most vital in the sport. The most overlooked skill that a hooker can possess is passing.
Rugby league is incredibly fast, and defences are incredibly strong.
Every split second is meaningful. It is the difference between a set play putting a winger over in the corner, or falling apart in a heap. It is the difference between a raging Jason Taumalolo getting over the advantage line with full momentum, or the defenders meeting him early as he pauses to catch a pass behind his shoulder.
Yet time and again we have hookers who show flashes of brilliance yet cannot put the right pass on the right chest at the right time.
A perfect example is Jake Granville. Emerging through the ranks of the Queensland Cup as a fleet-footed outside back, he found his home at nine, winning the 2015 NRL premiership with the Cowboys.
However, as he has aged and as the game has progressed, those same opportunities are no longer being taken and he is left as a hooker who can’t get his team on the front foot in another way: with a set of perfect passes.
Cameron Smith is the greatest hooker of all time. It is the one position where there is no debate. In Game 3 of the 2017 State of Origin series, he showed exactly why. He couldn’t put a pass in the wrong place.
As he arrived at the play the ball, he had a plan, and he executed it. Set after set, he got the ball into the right hands to start every tackle. Usually that is where his involvement in the play ends, but that is all it takes for a player of that calibre to influence a result.
As we continue in this newfound glory of non-stop action, teams must look at their number nines and drill into them the importance of the perfect pass setting up a perfect play.