Five Metre Gap: Rd 13 Wrap
Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, looking at the points you may have missed from round 13 of the NRL. All 16 teams were in action.
Into the top eight after their second win on the spin the Bulldogs have certainly played the role of entertainers in the last two weekends they have been in action scoring 70 points as they picked up wins over Canberra and St George Illawarra. The latter side having been top of the table until Monday’s 29-16 defeat. Significantly Des Hasler’s side, whilst getting behind late in both games, have done so with little risk making only 12 errors combined. On attack they are proving enterprising but disciplined. However, for purposes of balance, they did miss 48 tackles in both these games. Certainly something to work on.
Speaking of errors the Sydney Roosters, now sixth on 14 points after 12 games, fell to Cronulla 10-4 on Sunday afternoon. Trent Robinson’s side completed only 22 from 57 sets for a miserable 59% completion rate as they were vanquished by a side who had already beaten them this season. In that round five encounter at Allianz Stadium they completed only 26 of 34 sets and made 12 errors. Coupled with the 19 errors made on Sunday in the shire that’s 31 mistakes this season against one team. By way of comparison in their prior two games combined they had made 23 mistakes. Aidan Guerra, James Maloney and Michael Jennings were targeted by the Sharks on attack and despite the fact Shane Flanagan’s side scored only one try they did have other good chances with two chances ruled out via the video officials and other opportunities to ice the match after Luke Lewis’ 46th minute try.
On Saturday the New Zealand Warriors’ record against Perth’s former NRL franchise the Western Reds and their pseudo-current franchise, South Sydney, got worse with a 36-4 hammering. Now having registered seven losses on the trot in Western Australia the Warriors were humbled aside from a 26 minute try. Shaun Johnson ran only once in the first half and three times in the whole match. Whilst a lot of this is a result of the position on the field set-up by his forwards the halfback’s own kicking game and variety was found wanting. Chad Townsend made four runs to go with his halves partner but he doesn’t get as well protected – in defence he made 28 tackles this weekend. Therefore, more attacking responsibility should be on Johnson as he is, in theory, fresher to attack given he made only nine tackles.
Having leaked 242 points by the time the game was over and with four wins for the season things weren’t great for the Wests Tigers heading into Friday night and it ended in another lose. It wasn’t so much about the missed tackles in the first half which led to conceding points to the Gold Coast, who won 27-20, but the complete misreading of play by their defenders and the Titans picking the weak spot. Rookie Delouise Hoeter was caught out after the visitor’s got on the outside of him in attack to score through Kane Elgey and later James Roberts. Luke Brooks appeared to be caught out by decoys before Elgey dotted down as well. Whilst the left-side defensive combination for Jason Taylor’s side is new the fact the players hadn’t seen the traffic coming again after halfback Elgey scored would be particularly galling for Taylor. Ironically after the Friday night games, when Brisbane had a victory over Manly the Gold Coast have now won as many games in Sydney this year as Manly have won all season. Daly Cherry-Evans looking forward to playing well in Sydney for the next eight years?
Finally, a great unknown of the last fortnight in the NRL has been the use of Daniel Alvaro. The Parramatta prop played only six minutes in round 12 when the Eels edged an injury-ravaged Penrith outfit 26-20 but then not at all on Monday night as the Cowboys ran down the Eels to win 36-30 for their tenth consecutive triumph this season. Given Coach Brad Arthur rarely plays a starting prop for more than 60 minutes a game and as Tim Mannah was injured during Monday night’s fixture it’s baffling to see how the Mittagong junior hasn’t got much of a look in during the last fortnight. Especially if his teammates are tired and missing tackles whilst the opponent scores five tries in ten minutes. Could the 22 year-old make way for a bench impact utility player next weekend? Would he be better off developing by going back to the NSW Cup and actually playing?
Read more of Hamish’s blogs here (From the sideline of sport)
Hamish Neal
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