Five Metre Gap: Rd 18 Wrap
Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, looking at the points you may have missed from round 18 action in the NRL. Parramatta, North Queensland, South Sydney and the Tigers were on the bye.
Newcastle had more than twice the amount of ball in the ‘red zone’ (last 20 metres) compared to the Raiders on Friday night in Canberra, at one stage it was 23 tackles to 10, but did little on attack as they were humbled 36-22. As recent weeks have shown it’s what you do with the ball when on attack that matters not so much the volume of possession. This was further proved by the fact Rick Stone’s side actually had a better completion rate 85% (33/39) compared to Canberra 78% (28/36). Knights halfback Tyrone Roberts ran five times, as much as Canberra duo Blake Austin and Sam Williams combined, but combined with the clever kicking game of the Green Machine, Canberra was far more efficient in every facet of the game.
Warriors’ rake Nathan Friend was at his acrobatic best in the lead-up to Tuimoala Lolohea’s second try on Sunday as the Auckland-based outfit beat Melbourne 28-14. In addition to his spectacular play Friend was again solid with 33 tackles but was on the field for the least amount of time (57 minutes) for the dummy half in the last month. Friend managed to bust four tackles in round 16 when he played 80 minutes, the week prior in a 65-minute effort Friend broke three tackles but significantly ran for 103 metres in a game when he scored a try as the Warriors thrashed the Gold Coast. The last month tells me Friend, 34, can still be effective in first grade and this coincides with the news he will not be taking up a new deal with the Warriors who have recruited Kiwi hooker Issac Luke. Playing eighty minutes or off the bench with another bench pivot/hooker Friend could help an NRL side in 2016. I’m thinking Newcastle or one of his former sides the Gold Coast.
Despite a less than glamorous start to his Brisbane career former Kiwi prop Adam Blair landed in one of those ‘dud buy’ columns over the weekend in News Limited publications. This is despite a pretty good last month. As the Broncos went unbeaten through the Origin period the All Star has been a pillar in Wayne Bennett’s team and made 28 tackles on the weekend to go with his 17 runs which notched 137 runs. From the attacking point of view he outperformed Sam Thaiday significantly and only made three less tackles playing 54 minutes compared to the Queensland forward’s 56 minutes. In the previous game when Josh McGuire got injured Blair was again called upon and ran for 140 metres. Against Melbourne in round 14 McGuire did outperform Blair in attacking and defensive stats, 50 tackles to 40, but that game was very much focused on defence as Melbourne constantly threatened the Brisbane line so the middle forwards were all crucial and all very good that day. Across those last three games the former Tiger has also been very reliable making only one error and missing just two tackles. Maybe not a best buy, but a more than solid real life (and NRLCEO) NRL prop.
In the wake of NSW getting vanquished by Queensland in the State of Origin series last week almost every Blues player seemed fair game for the axe in 10 months time and Titans centre James Roberts was a touted replacement. The former Penrith man has un-tapped attacking ability but a former NSW fullback, Brett Stewart, showed Roberts still has a way to go defensively. On Monday night as Manly saw off the Gold Coast 38-6. Roberts, along with teammate Daniel Mortimer, were shown up by Stewart as he scythed between the duo 40 metres from the Titans line to set-up Manly’s fourth try of the night. Mortimer shuffled too far inside and Roberts shifted to the outside of his player which allowed Stewart to bolt through and away to lay on the pass for Jorge Taufua. Substitute Greg Inglis/Billy Slater for the runner and Darius Boyd for the support player and it’s a bit of proof Roberts might need some defensive work to combat Queensland in Origin should be get a go in 2016.
Junior Kangaroos halfback Drew Hutchinson went through a torrid NRL debut as the Dragons were beaten 28-8 by Cronulla on Sunday. The playmaker, coming in for the injured Benji Marshall, had to make a very high amount of tackles for a player in the halves, 28. Hutchinson did miss four but that was as many as English international teammate Gareth Widdop and a fair better success rate as Widdop only made 13 tackles. So it’s probably a defensive pass mark but hard to assess the attack given he was behind a pack that was thoroughly dominated as the Sharks ran for 1765 metres compared to St George Illawarra’s 1336 metres. It wasn’t the worst week for Hutchinson as the 20 year-old was involved in the NSW side who beat Queensland in the Under 20 Origin fixture 32-16.
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Hamish Neal
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