Opinion
Origin is over for another year but the after-effects will have a lasting impact on the rest of the NRL season.
The short-term pain will be felt this weekend with more than a dozen Origin stars out of action.
Some, like Cameron Murray and Lindsay Collins, have no choice after being stood down a week due to the concussion protocols while seven Panthers, a few Cowboys and Broncos were not selected for club duty on Tuesday as coaches try to give their rep stars a mid-season breather.
The Penrith approach of treating Round 18 like a split round is interesting – tactically it makes sense.
They are up against the last-placed Wests Tigers so even if they lose, they’re not giving one of their fellow finals contenders a leg-up.
And if they are triumphant with their spare parts line-up, it’s a bonus two competition points for a team that is already three wins clear of the second-placed Cowboys at the top of the ladder.
Their opponents are also thinking left of centre with Benji Marshall to be given a run as coach in 2025 after serving an apprenticeship as assistant under Tim Sheens over the next two seasons.
Robbie Farah (left) and Benji Marshall. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
Sheens returning as coach is a band-aid solution and loooong-suffering Wests fans shouldn’t expect a swift turnaround next year even with Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i coming to the club.
But the Benji appointment for 2025 and beyond has the potential to attract some top-level talent to the club, a possibility which has been virtually non-existent in recent years as several marquee free agents have turned their nose up at TigerTown.
You can picture young Kiwi talent in particular jumping at the chance to be mentored by someone who was in all likelihood their childhood hero.
Here are the burning questions for each team heading into Round 18.
Is Tom Dearden most improved player in NRL?
The Broncos cut him adrift midway through last year and after a two-year stretch in which he was part of just two victories in 29 matches, questions were asked about whether he was a first-grade playmaker.
Todd Payten put faith in him to be five-eighth ahead of Scott Drinkwater alongside Chad Townsend this season and the confidence boost has done wonders, leading to Wednesday night’s eye-catching Origin debut for the Maroons.
It’s either Dearden or his hamstrung teammate Reuben Cotter for the title of most improved in 2022.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Is Jesse Ramien’s aggression becoming a liability?
Cronulla’s right centre has already spent three weeks on the sidelines this season for a high shot. He’s going to have another holiday if he keeps sailing close to the wind.
Centres can’t be passive in defence and the ability to rush in to make big hits can cause all sorts of second-guessing among rival playmakers – ask anyone who thought about shuffling a pass wide while Steve Matai was lurking on Manly’s edge.
But Ramien needs to ensure his aggression doesn’t cost his team penalties or worse.
Poor form or good business by Papali’i?
Reports emerged earlier this week that Isaiah Papali’i had met with Tigers officials to seek reassurance about joining them next year.
When he signed the lucrative three-season deal late last year, he should have known he was not walking into the most stable of NRL clubs, which was one of the main reasons why they were willing to pay top dollar for his services.
However, he was well within his rights to check in to see what was doing after Kiwi coach Michael Maguire’s presence was part of the reason he signed.
No harm, no foul at this stage but it’s bad enough when NRL players sign elsewhere in advance let alone when they back out of deals before they’ve even started. Just mention the words Titans and backflip in a sentence within earshot of Daly Cherry-Evans or Gold Coast fans and they still break out into a cold sweat.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Have Warriors made right choice with Andrew Webster?
The Penrith assistant coach’s signing last week barely caused a blip on the NRL news landscape. It’s a sad state of affairs for the Warriors when their coaching vacancy is seen as the worst option among prospective candidates when compared to the ongoing basket cases that have been Canterbury and the Wests Tigers.
Webster has pedigree with the club after previously spending a couple of years there as an assistant so there shouldn’t be a problem with him suddenly realising they are based in Auckland and asking for a release as several Australian players and coach Nathan Brown have done recently.
The last time the Warriors took a gamble on a little-known lower-grade coach was Daniel Anderson more than two decades ago and that turned out alright.
Is time running out for Roosters?
A 1-5 stretch in their past six games is their worst return since the nightmare 2016 season which was ruined by Mitchell Pearce’s eight-game ban for various off-field indiscretions.
Their loss to Penrith before last week’s bye leaves them mired in 10th with a 7-9 record and a less than even-money chance of forcing their way into the final eight.
Why don’t Dragons kick much? They are last in the NRL for attacking kicks at 121, which is seven less than the next worst, the Warriors.
They have a couple of centres in Zac Lomax and Moses Suli who should be decent targets and Ben Hunt kicking game can be potent, particularly close to the stripe.
How high can Sea Eagles fly?
Manly don’t have a particularly tough draw over the final eight rounds, facing only two teams currently in the top eight in Parramatta and Cronulla.
Running eighth with an 8-8 record, they are probably unlikely to make up the six-point deficit on the top four but should be able to keep the chasing pack at bay and comfortably qualify for the post-season.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
Do Knights fans have a genuine gripe about Kalyn Ponga’s club form?
In a word, yes. In another word, kinda. They have every right to be peeved when he plays the house down at Origin level but appears to lack the same intensity at club level, particularly after the drawn-out contract saga before he finally inked a multimillion-dollar long-term extension.
But the problem is more nuanced than that. He will never be the alpha male in a team or even the first-choice playmaker. Even during his Origin III man of the match performance, he let Daly Cherry-Evans carry the load and chimed in at opportune times to rip the Blues to shreds.
If the Knights want to get the best out of Ponga, they need to find a dominant playmaker who can carry the burden of being the on-field general so the fullback can deliver the attacking raids of quality.
Why not try some young players? Avoiding the spoon is the Gold Coast’s only realistic motivation from now on in so giving the likes of winger JoJo Fifita a run is a zero risk proposition.
Aaron Booth is not so young at 26 but the former Storm hooker at least has a bit of attacking spark which is desperately needed on the Coast.
Erin Clark is a solid defender and decent option as a bench utility forward but has only managed three line break assists from dummy-half in 16 appearances this season.
Should Patrick Carrigan be in World Cup squad?
At the start of the year and beginning of the Origin series you’d have to say he was a long shot but the Brisbane forward was relentless across his first three matches for Queensland and the Wally Lewis Medal was a fitting reward for his toil.
Cooper Cronk said on Fox League after Origin III that players either rise, sink or swim when they are elevated to rep level and Carrigan went stroke for stroke with the game’s elite and barring injury, should not only be on the plane to England but also in the Kangaroos’ first-choice 17.
Benji Marshall coaching punt worth a shot?
When all else fails, think outside the box. The Tigers are one of only two clubs who have not tried a rookie coach in their past three full-time appointments.
The Mick Potter, Jason Taylor, Ivan Cleary and Michael Maguire stints yielded precisely zero finals appearances over the past decade so it’s time to take a different tack.
The worst thing the club could have done was try another coach who has had varying success elsewhere, like Shane Flanagan or Paul Green.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Can Panthers go wrong resting all their stars at once?
Unlikely. The decision by Ivan Cleary to give all seven NSW players the week off against the Wests Tigers is probably a better way to mete out the rest rather than spreading it out over the course of a month or two in the closing rounds.
The Panthers have had an almost trouble-free run with injuries and the law of averages says their luck is due to change at some point down the track.
Was Brandon Smith penalty too harsh?
Three weeks for calling the referee “a cheating bastard” was perhaps a game too harsh from the NRL judiciary. Smith clearly overstepped the mark and the NRL should at all costs protect the authority of the referees but this was not a calculated sledge, just a stupid thing that was said by a player who should know better.
Their language is not as colourful but coaches insinuate much worse in post-match media conferences, perhaps they should be banned from matches as well rather than cop financial sanctions.
Time for Raiders to overhaul roster?
The team is too reliant on Jack Wighton. With Josh Hodgson, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Ryan Sutton and to a lesser extent, Adam Elliott, coming off the books, there should be scope for Canberra to bring in some fresh blood.
Xavier Savage looks set to be their long-term fullback but Tom Starling hasn’t quite kicked on at hooker so that’s the area they need to bolster to improve next year. If they need to offload a few under-performing veterans to create cap space, now’s the time to do it.
What was Matt Burton supposed to do?
Former Blues skipper Kurt Gidley raised a good point in his column for The Roar on Thursday when he pondered how the match officials expected Burton to respond after Dane Gagai swung a punch at him.
He could take a beating to get his team a one-man advantage and be accused of shying away from a fight or stand up for himself and show NSW were not going to be bullied and their only comparative reward was the penalty?
The last person to not fight back and appeal to the ref was poor old Ben Ross when Gorden Tallis unleashed his fists of fury in an infamous fight way back in 2003 and that option on a footy field is dangerous to say the least.
Even then, Ross also copped a stint in the sin bin even though he barely landed a blow after the Tallis thrashing machine went ballistic.
Did Richie Kennar score a hat-trick or a treble?
It’s a tough gig being a fringe NRL player. The journeyman winger touched down three times for the Rabbitohs in his first match in more than a year last Friday in Newcastle but is back among the reserves this weekend.
When a player scores three tries in a match is it only a hat-trick when they are in succession like in cricket? Kennar scored his first two back-to-back but Cody Walker spoiled his sequence before his third.
Outrageous from the Broncos skipper on 'a wooden leg!'
The Wests Tigers threw the ball around like it was a grenade with the final kick sitting up perfectly for Charlie Staines to collect…
It was already going horrendously for Benji Marshall and the Tigers, 22-0 down at the hour mark, when their captain walked off the field.…
Samuela Fainu thought he pulled off a great tackle on Corey Oates, the problem was he was running for a quick restart, instead, he…
Api Koroisau thought he slammed the ball down for a try but on review, the bunker said there was separation and ruled no try.…
Deine Mariner had a shocker dropping the last pass with the line open, but he made up for it moments later with a diving…
