We’re getting to the business end of the NRL season as the contenders fight for top two, and the pretenders fight to be the best of the rest. Here are your talking points for NRL Round 19.
Two wrongs make a right for Canberra
Thursday night’s Eels-Raiders stoush was interesting for a number of reasons – Parra stumbled and again raised questions of where they stand in the 2021 NRL hierarchy, Canberra showed what might’ve been if they’d applied themselves earlier and Henry Perenara’s Bunker antics reminded us all that there’s what you saw with your own eyes, and what he saw with his eyes.
Supporters of both clubs had legitimate grievances in the closing stages of the game, with Raiders fans screaming Dylan Brown was offside for Jake Arthur’s kick which resulted in a 76th minute try to Maika Sivo.
Brown actually made the offload that created the try after the ball was contested, so god knows how it was let through.
Eels fans had their turn to fire up on what was basically the final play of the game when Canberra fullback Jordan Rapana cannonballed into Sivo to knock him out of play and save the 12-10 win for the green machine.
Should it have been a penalty try? There was no effort to use his arms.
Should it have been a shoulder charge? His shoulder never made contact. So, I guess we just call it a collision and move on?
Even though they had only 38 per cent possession, it would have been harsh for Canberra to go down after a heroic defensive effort missing key players Jack Wighton and Elliot Whitehead.
$10 million for ten years is unders for Payne Haas
On Saturday night when Penrith got away after halftime, Payne Haas was colossal to drag the Broncos nearer. 213 metres, 43 tackles and an incredible 14 busted tackles in 72 minutes on the field, his longest stint for the year.
Haas is a phenomenal player. You can see every week why Brisbane ponied up almost $600,000 a year for him as an 18-year-old in 2018. He’s on the Broncos’ books until 2024 but that’s not stopping half the competition from having a crack at getting him across.
The reports are he’s going to get offered a decade at over a million a year to re-up at Red Hill.
Speaking after Saturday’s game, Haas played down all the talk and deferred to his agent like all good valuable commodities should.
If Brisbane can get him at that deal, they’ve got a bargain. I’d pay him at least double.
Will Payne Haas sign an eight-figure deal in Brisbane? (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Is four years for Dale Finucane a good deal for Cronulla?
The Sharks hopped back into the top eight with a tough win over Canterbury, but the big news of Sunday was the announcement Cronulla had secured the services of Melbourne’s Dale Finucane for four years at a reported total of $2.5 million.
Finucane heads to the Shire alongside premiership teammate Nicho Hynes and gets more cash in his pocket after 146 games with the Storm.
It’s a great deal for Finucane, but is it a great deal for the Sharks?
He’ll be 30 when he gets to Cronulla and has had his injury worries over the last few years as calf troubles hit him hard, including about a month off after injuring himself filming drills for a sponsor.
Five clubs were reportedly in the chase for the New South Wales lock, which shows the esteem he’s held in.
There’s no doubt if his body holds up he’ll do the job for the Sharks, but four years a lifetime in rugby league.
Melbourne and Penrith played with one eye on next Saturday
The Storm fell across the line in Townsville, while Penrith had their troubles with Brisbane. But make no mistake, these grand final favourites were playing with one eye firmly on this Saturday’s top-of-the-table match-up.
I’ve written before about top four teams cruising when they’ve got enough points in the bank and these games were probably the best example.
The Cowboys and Broncos gave it everything they had, and while the Panthers and Storm weren’t disrespectful to their opponent, they just did what they had to do and nothing more. Great teams have that ability.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
This week, we’re unlikely to see the same amount of errors, sloppy attack and relaxed defence. Penrith missed 69 tackles, if you can believe that. And still kept Brisbane to 12 points.
I’m keyed up for a belter on Saturday.
It’s a bigger test for the Storm, who have laid waste to all in their path but notably battled in grinders against Penrith and Parramatta early in the year.
James Fisher-Harris for the Dally M?
When Dally M voting went behind closed doors after Round 12, the Panthers prop was in third place, five votes behind teammate Nathan Cleary and two behind Warriors fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
He has maintained his form and was great again on Saturday night, helping the Panthers squeak past Brisbane.
Fisher-Harris punched out 193 metres on 19 runs, made 48 tackles, if you don’t mind, and was a general nuisance around the try line keeping defenders guessing.
Fisher-Harris has the most run metres and post-contact metres of any forward in the competition, and his impact bending the line is more than helpful for Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Matt Burton to go about their work.
I know, it’s a long shot to think he’ll take the Dally M. No front rower has ever won the award. But I love the big boppers and Fisher-Harris would be a more-than-worthy winner.
Canterbury’s roster looks great… in 2022
Since the infamous 0-66 trouncing by Manly, Canterbury have given a decent account of themselves over the last three weeks. Even though the final score of 44-24 against Cronulla looked bad, I don’t think it was a real reflection of how much of a crack the Dogs had.
The Bulldogs have done a lot of shopping this year as they look to dig themselves out of a long, long malaise.
They’ve got speed with Matt Dufty and Josh Addo-Carr, rugby league nous and flexibility with Matt Burton from Penrith, another decent centre from the Panthers in Brent Naden and now some grunt in the forwards with this week’s announcement of Tevita Pangai Jr for three years from next season.
Tevita Pangai Jr will join the Dogs in 2022 (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
There’s also an expectation multiple COVID-19 protocol breacher Paul Vaughan will head to Belmore once the Dogs sort out the technicalities of his eight-game suspension and negotiate a whopping reduction on his former $800,000-ish salary.
Add these recruits to the existing talent like Jake Averillo, Jeremy Marshall-King, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Nick Cotric, Luke Thompson and Josh Jackson, and you’ve got yourself the bones of a pretty good NRL roster right there.
Also in the door is rugby league provocateur/sage/clown/genius Phil Gould, purportedly to help the club sort itself out from its bootlaces to its player development pathways.
So, Barrett is getting the players he wants, he’s getting the support he wants. There will be high expectations next year.
Can he manage these personalities?
Defence is already a critical issue, and there’s not many noted hard hitters on the way in…
At least two of these recruits were unwanted at their current club for a variety of reasons, on and off the field. Is Barrett the man to put the necessary discipline and coordination into his renewed roster?
The Dragons are slain
Remember when the Dragons were 4-1 after five games in 2021, including towelling up Manly, Newcastle and Parramatta?
No, me either.
The Dragons are in serious trouble, beaten up by the Titans and now hanging around the bottom of the eight by the strength of their fingernails.
The coronavirus barbecue has no doubt had an impact. St George Illawarra now have a players’ apology page on their website, including the iconic rugby league line, “Any further apologies will appear in this article in due course.”
But the long and short of it is that like their contemporaries at Wests, Newcastle and Canberra, the Dragons just ain’t good enough in 2021 and there are big questions over where they go from here.
What stood out for you in Round 19, Roarers? Hopefully you’re still getting your league watching in around all this Olympics stuff!
Joey
Guest
Each game without Cleary, we’ve had May instead. Without him the handbrake gets released. Down on troops all over the place, but they’ll be up. Don’t underestimate the bad blood of last October’s most dispirited GF in history. Let’s also not suddenly come down with Alzheimer’s about Qld’s worst team ever doing ok. The JJ Gilltinan is on the line and Panthers won’t be letting it go without a fight.
AJ Mithen
Expert
Folks, I take back my high hopes for this Saturday’s Storm/Panthers do… The Panthers are missing: Nathan Cleary Brian To’o Isaah Yeo James Fisher-Harris Tyrone May Storm by a thousand
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Earlier in the half the ball gets spread along the Raiders backline and an errant pass gets kicked out of the air by Hudson Young. Soliola is 2 men inside Young and as no one was expecting kick, he is infront of him. The ball goes in the ingoal where Gutherson fields it and is trapped because Soliola (who was more offside than brown appears to be later) is there to stop him with HY. Should have been Eels penalty but instead it is an Eels drop out. Raiders score 3 tackles later.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha… this years dogs breakfast has us done like a dinner…
kk
Roar Pro
Good points RLF. Two teams speak Steeden. The others are learning.
Joey
Guest
Given another end of season Origin series, would be hard to argue that Panthers would not be currently still undefeated on a record 18 straight ( If you are happy with Cleary, they beat Tigers and Sharks). Compare to 17 straight of last year, and enough to say that the ‘21 team has improved. Just need Nathan playing.
AJ Mithen
Expert
rrrriiiiiiight.
Joey
Guest
The draw has been a “Dog’s breakfast” for years, so in that light should have been suiting Canterbury to a tee. :p
RLFan
Roar Rookie
The reason we did not see Cotric shine for the Bulldogs is because he was playing outside Hoppa who has forgotten how to pass the ball. He was good in defence though and probably would have saved a couple of the tries that Okunbar let through on Sunday. Also, still waiting to see how next years team will go - looks good on paper, but defence has been a big problem in many games this year and needs to improve a lot for 2022 to be a successful year. Agree that the Penrith Storm match will not be the blockbuster which is being sold to us. Penrith have too many important players out - the absence of Cleary alone has made a massive difference to their attack.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I take your point… and normally agree but look at how far apart those two teams are. It’s not even close and it’s not at all a matter of one or two teams falling away or jumping out of the ground Penrith were minor premiers and grand finalists last year and were expected to do similar this year. They’re exactly on the ladder where they were expected to be Same with Melbourne. Same with Souths. Roosters. Parramatta Those teams being top 5 on the ladder isn’t a surprise, it’s roughly where they finished last year and where the odds at the start of the season said they were going to land Is there any team who’s miles above or miles below where you would have expected them to finish at the start of the season? So how do the Dragons get to round 19 without playing Penrith and Souths at all? They’ve played Storm, Roosters and Eels once apiece The Dogs who finished well below the Dragons last year and were expected to finish below them this year play those same five teams eight It’s a soft draw to this point of the season. There’s just no two ways about it…
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
JAC won't get away with tackling the bomb catcher in the air again either. I'm sure it's been pointed out to the bunker. I said a few weeks back that defenses were allowing Hynes too much freedom and the Cows showed how to nullify him and others. Get stuck in to him and attack him rather than let him wind up and manipulate the defense. Easier said than done all the time perhaps. Manly x Storm is one to look forward to Joe but the Storm are now clear favorites for the title but that can alter in the next two months.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I never use the term ''soft draw'' for the reasons you outline. The Pennies have been close to unbeatable for much of the last two years but most teams would have liked to play them in recent weeks instead of the hard hitting Raiders who were considered a soft target a few weeks back. Saints have been unbeatable at times over the last few years early in the season and then plodders later on so they are either hard or soft depending on when you play them in a given season.
Joey
Guest
That is a fair point, but the ones that make the soft-draw call, often need to work out how they come to that conclusion. You can really only say a draw was soft in comparison to where teams finished the previous year, not just based on how the current year has panned out. Eg Manly were team #13 last year. Based on that, both Dragons and Dogs play them twice this year, pre-season you would be crying soft draw. Suddenly, no. Only a soft draw if you played Raiders and Knights twice, although how so? Because they were both in the top 8 last year.
Joey
Guest
Haven’t forensically analysed it, but from what I saw, the kick was from a fair way out. Brown had started downfield. Did he directly make a play at the ball or ball carrier - no. But was he , as an oncoming attacker, in the vision of the defender going up for the ball? More than likely. Was he inside 10m at that point? I would have thought so. What’s the point of arguing though? The ref gets it so continually wrong the rest of the game, they wouldn’t be showing consistency if they didn’t also get it wrong on the try scoring plays.
Joey
Guest
Just felt like a spot of fishing. Consider yourself tagged and released.
AJ Mithen
Expert
Be cool, Joey. Settle down. It’s just some tongue in cheek phrasing.
The Barry
Roar Guru
All true but irrelevant to what I’ve written. I’m not suggesting for a millisecond that the Dogs are better than the Dragons. But there’s not a shadow of doubt the Dragons ladder position is inflated by a ridiculously soft draw to this point How a team can get to round 19 and not have played two of the top three teams once is beyond me…
Joey
Guest
A shadow would be a vast improvement on what they are dishing up. I mean, how are Luai and Burton even finding themselves passing the ball from dummy half every so often ? It’s like no one is totally clear what position they are playing. No intent to promote the ball is the biggest thing for me, though. I almost couldn’t believe it into the second half when one of the forwards 1/ looked to offload and then 2/ actually released it. Would be absolute genius if they are just playing silly buggers and aiming to pretend to the Storm, they’ve forgotten how to play. More inclined to believe though that with all the head knocks, they really can’t remember how to do it.
Joey
Guest
Been pretty clear that ever since they let the Slater Origin howler go, they’ve had to pretty much make out to us all that half a yard or so offside is nothing to worry about. Gaslight is all into thinking we always believed that close enough was good enough.
Joey
Guest
As the saying goes, Staggs probably owes him money.