Five Metre Gap: Rd 23 Wrap
Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, looking at the points you may have missed from round 23 of the NRL.
As ladder-leaders Brisbane romped to victory 32-6 over the Dragons on Friday night recruit Adam Blair was amongst the most dynamic forwards all night. Not only did he get through a mountain of work with 33 tackles and 11 runs which saw him rack up 103 metres he managed four off-loads, one of which was critical in the build up to Lachlan Maranta’s try. No other forward, bar St George Illawarra’s Trent Merrin, managed an off-load all night and Blair is proving a key player for Wayne Bennett’s side.
South Sydney hooker Issac Luke was influential for the Bunnies as they beat North Queensland 31-18 in Townsville. We already know Luke won’t feature in round 24 against the Bulldogs and the Kiwi rake could end up serving a longer sanction having plead not guilty to a shoulder charge which came only two minutes after he up-ended Lachlan Coote. This will be big loss for a player who laid on the ball for Jason Clark and Thomas Burgess to cross and made nine runs for 100 metres. Only once in his last four game has Luke failed to run for 100 metres or more. Despite the plaudits which were given to one of Luke’s potential replacements in the form of ex-Titan Paul Carter his dynamism will be missed against Canterbury at least. Also what’s worth remembering Luke’s ability to target experienced players like Johnathan Thurston could be missed against a relative rookie in Moses Mbye. Luke zipped passed Thurston on Thursday night when the halfback was caught napping catching a breath directly behind the markers before Souths’ final try.
Heading into Monday night’s game top four aspirants Cronulla had several recent high profile scalps but disappointed in failing to cross the stripe as they were beaten by Melbourne 30-2 in the Shire. More puzzling Ben Barba who has turned games off the bench this year wasn’t called upon until into the final quarter of the game. The former Bronco’s first play resulted in a shallow chip which allowed Melbourne to launch an attack into Cronulla’s half from which they ultimately scored. Not quite the desired impact for coach Shane Flanagan but with Jeff Robson not known for taking on the line and Jack Bird still inexperienced where does Flanagan turn to when the Sharks need creativity in coming weeks?
In what has become a weekly look at the impact of bench forwards it’s not a suspension or player rotation which saw our focus this weekend but a retirement due to concussion-related concerns. Penrith forward Nigel Plum, who had signalled his intention to retire at the end of this season, called an immediate halt to his top-flight rugby league career on Saturday night. Citing immediate concerns around his short-term memory Wagga Wagga native Plum made 34 tackles and ran for 107 metres as the Panthers saw off the New Zealand Warriors 24-10. An immediate replacement appears to be 28 year-old Jeremy Latimore who with 134 metres ran the most of any bench player in his 44 minutes on the park. Latimore also made 28 tackles. What Ivan Cleary does heading into 2016 is to be determined but in a side that was consistently impacted by injuries this season and will see the departure of forwards like Lewis Brown in the off-season a replacement for Plum is another challenge but this news gives Cleary a fast forward option to look at Latimore this weekend at least.
On the broader point of Plum’s departure after 150 NRL games plus numerous NSW Cup fixtures and an untold amount of training sessions Plum’s departure was hastened as it was a personal impact as opposed to not been able to do his job on the field. It brings into sharper focus the impact concussion is having as an issue in professional sport. Multiple NFL players have quite in the middle of multi-million deals in the last 12 months. But it’s not only NFL players also top college players. That’s college as in players who have yet to, as least officially, earn any income from their chosen sport. Food for thought for clubs and leagues.
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Hamish Neal
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