Five Metre Gap: Round 1 Wrap
Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, Hamish Neal looks at the points you may have missed from the opening round of the NRL season.
South Sydney opened their title defence with a runaway 36-6 win over Brisbane, and a play we can probably expect to see a lot more of in 2015. Dylan Walker beat three defenders to cross for the opening four-pointer but significantly halfback Adam Reynolds cut out new recruit Glenn Stewart who it appeared as if the Broncos defenders were expecting to get the ball. Despite the 31 year-old not having dotted down since the 2012 season his mere presence on the right side was enough for some defenders to back away giving Walker room on the outside to round and score. This combination will be hugely beneficial for Michael Maguire’s side.
Early in the weekend fantasy fans were left lamenting as many prominent hookers failed to rack up the numbers they normally would. For instance Issac Luke (29 tackles), Nathan Peats (17) fell short of expectations in that department and that was before the weekend had officially even started. But both their sides did win convincingly. Worryingly for Peats fantasy owners the 24 year-old split time with former Shark Isaac De Gois who was on the ground for 39 minutes. However this rotation paid off big time for Parramatta fans and coach Brad Arthur as they destroyed Manly to the tune of 42-12.
New Sydney Rooster Blake Ferguson missed two of his 23 tackle attempts in a pretty tidy defensive effort as the Tricolours restricted the Cowboys to one try in their 28-4 triumph in Townsville. The 24 year-old who dotted down 36 times in 60 games for the Canberra Raiders, his most recent NRL side, will no doubt return to try-scoring form but his defence in Trent Robinson’s side will be almost as important as his ability to cross the stripe.
Speaking of tackling whilst his ability to break tackles is renowned Bulldogs pivot Josh Reynolds offered little else to his team, and fantasy players for that matter, this weekend. The 25 year-old Origin player was a moving turnstile missing seven tackles as the Panthers poured plenty of traffic his way before they eventually clung on to see off Canterbury 24-18 at the foot of the mountains. With the afore-mentioned Roosters positive start to round one should the trends continue it would be hard to see Reynolds retain his origin position, especially if his attacking abilities are blunted by continual defensive responsibilities.
After five years at Superleague side St Helens Iosia Soliola returned to the NRL with great impact for Canberra as they edged the Sharks 24-20. The 28 year-old made 34 tackles and produced 16 runs for Ricky Stuart’s side to rack up a workhorse easily. Whilst the figures alone are impressive the title-winning experience the former international provides to a Canberra pack lacking ‘winners’ could be critical.
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Hamish Neal
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