Navigating the turbulent mid-season waters thrown up by the Origin period won’t make premiership campaigns but it can certainly sink them.
Melbourne and Brisbane appear to be the hardest hit from Origin I with Storm winger Xavier Coates likely to be out for a couple of months with an ankle injury while Broncos duo Kotoni Staggs and Payne Haas have shoulder problems. Haas, along with Selwyn Cobbo and Pat Carrigan, will back up but Staggs is out.
Craig Bellamy has a long history of steering Melbourne through ‘stormy’ waters when the representative program takes its toll while Kevin Walters is in uncharted territory. The decision to rest Maroons forward Kurt Capewell altogether from his squad to face Canberra on Saturday may come back to haunt Brisbane if Staggs and Haas are also unavailable.
Even for the players who got through Wednesday night’s game without an apparent injury, it’s extremely hard for club coaches to know if their player(s) will be able to back up as the dreaded “second-day soreness” can often kick in, rendering even the fittest of players stiff as a board in the lead-up to game day.
And game one was played at a ferocious intensity, even by Origin standards.
Here are the burning questions for Round 14.
Friday
Cowboys v Dragons at QCB Stadium, 7.55pm (AEST)
Is Reuben Cotter the most improved player in the NRL? He’d only played 21 matches before this season as a couple of ACL tears stalled the start to his NRL career. Averaging 40 tackles, 125 running metres in 61 minutes per game this season has been impressive. The fact that he made 51 tackles and didn’t come off during the entire match in his Origin debut was phenomenal considering he’d only played the full 80 minutes twice previously in his 31-game NRL career. It’s good news for the Dragons that he is being rested in Round 14 after his epic Maroons effort.
Will Tariq Sims pay the price for his costly missed tackle? It was a moment he’d love to have back but the Dragons forward’s misread of Daly Cherry-Evans crabbing sideways from a scrum win was a massive momentum changer in Origin I. The St George Illawarra veteran is one of Brad Fittler’s favourites from the past couple of years but with the likes of Jake Trbojevic, Angus Crichton and Tyson Frizell missing out on the NSW team for the series opener, there will be plenty of pressure on Sims to retain his spot.
Saturday
Titans v Rabbitohs at Cbus Super Stadium, 3pm (AEST)
Is AJ Brimson heading down the Valentine Holmes path to the centres? He hasn’t quite made a fist of the switch to five-eighth and Jayden Campbell has shone at fullback but Brimson will head back there now that Campbell’s out for two months with a hamstring injury. With veteran Manly five-eighth Kieran Foran arriving next year to provide experience in the spine, Brimson could end up in the centres like Valentine Holmes at the Cowboys and it may turn out to be his best spot.
Why do coaches put Cameron Murray on the bench? At club, state or Test level, he is too good not to be in the starting back row somewhere. Jason Demetriou tried him from the bench in Round 2 in his second game back from shoulder surgery and conceded after the game that the move backfired. Brad Fittler pretty much admitted the same after Origin I. The Blues named Murray to start but switched him to the interchange and were too clever for their own good. Fittler said NSW were much better when Murray was on the field so don’t expect to see that move again in Origin II in Perth on June 26.
Roosters v Storm at SCG, 5.30pm (AEST)
Can Trent Robinson ever stick with his 1-17 line-up? In every match this year, the Roosters coach has made some sort of change to his listed team. The Roosters are yet to run out 1-17 the same as their team has been named on a Tuesday. Occasionally it’s been a switch due to an injury but for the most part, Robinson has kept his opposing coach guessing by making a late tinker, usually involving Drew Hutchison and Connor Watson swapping between the bench and hooker, or changing up his props between Lindsay Collins, Siosiua Taukeiaho and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. JWH is out again this weekend with a hamstring strain so maybe Robbo will keep his team intact – don’t bet on it. The ploy should be known as the Mitch Aubusson Ruse – the versatile club stalwart would more times than not be named in one position and end up somewhere different altogether by kick-off.
Will Young Tonumaipea start a trend? It happens a lot with women’s players and Tonumaipea is now following in their footsteps by linking with the Storm for the rest of the season after his commitments with the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby Pacific are over. It will never happen for stars in either code but if you’re a journeyman like the 29-year-old outside back and can cash in with a couple of short-term contracts over the course of a calendar year, why not?
Broncos v Raiders at Suncorp Stadium, 7.35pm (AEST)
Will Broncos fans cheer or jeer Payne Haas? He’s no longer under an injury cloud despite his shoulder problem flaring up in Origin I and when he does get onto Suncorp Stadium, will he be booed again like the last time when news had broken the day before about his request for a release? Haas’ management has since rescinded the request and the prop said he’s committed to seeing out his contract, which still has the not so insignificant term of two and a half more years before it expires. However, his long-term future is far from secure and Brisbane’s supporters may need more convincing before they turn those jeers back into cheers.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Xavier the Saviour, the X-factor or Savage Love? There are so many options for Raiders fans to write on their banners but one thing’s certain – this young fullback is a talent. Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has been reluctant to talk him up or give him too much game time but the 20-year-old Queenslander has given the Green Machine much-needed zing recently and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad could find himself as a centre or bench utility when he comes back from a hamstring problem in a few weeks.
Sunday
Tigers v Sea Eagles at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, 2pm (AEST)
Should Cameron Ciraldo beware the five-year deal? The Penrith assistant is reportedly being offered a contract to take over at the Wests Tigers next year until the end of 2027. Sounds like an offer too good to refuse for a first full-time NRL head coaching gig. It should give him job security to make long-term decisions that will rebuild the club in a gradual fashion, getting the Tigers out of the quick fix two or three-year cycle they’ve been in for more than a decade. But if a shorter offer were to come up at a team with a more attractive future, should Ciraldo potentially wait for that? Brisbane offered Anthony Seibold a five-year deal to get him away from Souths and it all went pear-shaped well before the end of the second season.
Cameron Ciraldo. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Are Sea Eagles good, bad or indifferent? This weekend will probably not shed much light on it but it’s still hard to say with certainty whether 10th-placed Manly (6-7) will surge up the ladder, stay on the top-eight fringe or fade away as the season progresses with Tom Trbojevic rehabbing after shoulder surgery. They have the luxury of three byes during the representative period – one during Origin II, another in Round 17 as well as last week’s one known as a game against the Warriors. Was that a harsh assessment? Probably. But was it accurate? Hard to argue otherwise at the moment.
Knights v Panthers at McDonald Jones Stadium, 4.05pm (AEST)
Did Knights need to sign Adam Elliott? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very good player who has rebuilt his career well at Canberra this season after a couple of off-field incidents soured the end of his stint at Canterbury. If he’s a complementary piece next year then all well and good but Newcastle need attacking spark out wide and a creative playmaker much more than another hard-working back-rower in a pack that already has Tyson Frizell, Kurt Mann, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, the Saifiti twins and David Klemmer.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Will Panthers avoid the mid-season shakes this time? It hardly mattered but went 2-2 in the four-game period around the Origin series last year – an under-strength line-up going down 26-6 to Wests Tigers and a fatigued post-Origin side edged out by a point by Cronulla. Stephen Crichton avoided a ban when he was fined for his dangerous throw on Cameron Munster and the other five Panthers didn’t appear to cop any injuries in Origin I so Ivan Cleary should have a full contingent on Sunday.
Warriors v Sharks at Moreton Daily Stadium, 6.15pm (AEST)
Should Warriors invest more in Kiwi talent? The Warriors have been forced to rejig their plans with Matt Lodge, Euan Aitken and now former coach Nathan Brown telling the club they didn’t want to commit to a return to Auckland next year. Aitken’s departure will be a loss, Lodge was a liability not living up to his hefty price tag while Brown looked like a coach who was frustrated by the magnitude of the task. There is more than enough Kiwi talent in the NRL and beyond to fill the Warriors’ roster but the problem has been identifying and retaining the young teenage talent in their pathways before the Australian franchises come calling with lucrative offers to cross the ditch. If interim appointment Stacey Jones becomes the full-time coach, it will surely help the Warriors in that mission given he’s a New Zealand league legend who has been part of the development system for nearly a decade.
Stacey Jones is a Kiwi rugby league legend. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
Who’s going to sign Royce Hunt? The powerful prop is off contract at season’s end and after stepping up into a starting role for the past month while Braden Hamlin-Uele’s been out injured, he deserves another deal at the Sharks or elsewhere in the NRL. One of the rare first-graders who hails from Western Australia, the 26-year-old from Kalgoorlie has fought back to NRL level after a painful dislocated kneecap sidelined him for the best part of a year during the pandemic.
Monday
Bulldogs v Eels at Accor Stadium, 4pm (AEST)
Is Jake Averillo a fullback? He very well could be. The 21-year-old doesn’t have the playmaking chops to be a halfback and he’s tended to not be involved enough at centre this season so caretaker coach Mick Potter has thrown him the No.1 jersey. Being able to chime in on either side on attack should suit his game while he definitely has the pace to cover enough ground at the back in defence and on kick-returns.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Do the Eels need to be woken up when September comes? Since they upset Penrith in Round 9 to prove they’re in with a shot in this year’s title race, the Eels have lost 31-24 to the Roosters, scraped past a Manly side which had to deal with Tom Trbojevic’s shoulder injury in controversial fashion and then sparked up to beat Canberra after conceding three first-half tries. They’re by far from going through the motions but Parra look like a team that’s either comfortable and pacing themselves over the course of a long season or perhaps too comfortable and one that will be in need of a rev-up later in the year when the whips really start cracking.
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Womblat
Guest
So Haas' management backed down from their money demands AND aren't seeking a release? What a huge blink THAT is. That's the player management equivalent of Matt Damon turning down lead role and 10% profit for Avatar. It's still an awful look for him and I expect he'll get booed for some time yet before he does a Maximus and his performances win back the crowd.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Unlikely. Bennett has gone with the interesting recruitment policy of only signing forwards and wingers.
Gags
Roar Rookie
Doggies need to give Jake a good go at fullback. I like what I saw from one game so give him a chance. Don’t make the same mistake we did with Meaney
sheek
Roar Guru
I really don’t have much time for Haas either as a player or person. Firstly, big guys like him & Fifita aren’t value for many. The potential destruction they might cause in a game is what? About 10%. Meanwhile, guys like Munster & Cleary are creating or scoring points more consistently with their wizardry. Yeah, we need strong, tough guys to soften the opposition. But not on 10, or at the max 20 minutes productivity. Bring back less interchange & get rid of these behemoths. They can try weightlifting, wrestling, or rugby even. That slow, dull game still caters for behemoths. Secondly, then there’s Haas wanting more money. Don’t we all! Many of these Pacifika heritage players are under enormous pressure to provide an income to a posse of immediate & extended family. But it’s not the role of any one club to pay for everyone else plus the player. They are only obliged to pay the wages of the player concerned. And some clubs do the extra mile helping players whose families fall on hard times. But they don’t have to. Haas says he wants gambling & booze advertising removed from his jersey. I certainly agree with this. It’s a double standard of society & sport that we accept gambling & booze advertising, both of which are responsible for serious society issues. But is Haas & all the other pro players willing to accept less money for principle? Of course not. It’s all very well to have ethics & values, as long as you’re not the one who has to suffer for your integrity.
3 R M
Roar Rookie
Cotter is a known quantity in NQ Paul. At hooker under hannay he played a few 80s and a 90 I think. The improvement this year is in his ball play and PCM. When the King said 18 months ago that he'd never seen a hooker with his contact in defence I think Qld has had him marked since then. He is actually a good hooker and better than a fair few in the NRL just Robbo is better. He was picked for Aus schoolboys as a hooker to play lock just like the cowboys for the same reason, to have him in the middle because of his tenacious defence and workrate, he is tireless . He took a lot out of origin I think and Cam and Alf may have schooled him in some of the dark arts ... So the real improvement is yet to come.
Nat
Roar Guru
Well, haas did just wear the blues jumper as well so he’s doing himself no favours! :stoked: I doubt he will be boo’d. He made a mistake, either directly or indirectly but he appears to have acknowledged that and the Broncos will rein it in. I will at least. Cleary should have a rest and maybe Yeo (if concussion protocols apply). He’s too important for both state and club to risk getting beaten up only a few days apart. Newcastle are no pushovers but they have some big boys so it’s a fairly big risk to take.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad could end up at the Dolphins