Nathan Cleary brilliance, Will Pryce dropped, Australian afterthought: the NRL 7-tackle set
The NRL is back, baby.
Well, not that it went away, it was just overshadowed by a secondary competition – which admittedly, did end up alright in the end with an excellent State of Origin decider.
The run home starts here and there’s battles everywhere.
Melbourne look locked in at the top, but with Nathan Cleary back, don’t count out a late Panthers charge. Two spots in the top four are up for grabs, as are several spots in the finals, plus the chance for a home final.
Even the wooden spoon is in dispute…lol, jk, the Wests Tigers still exist. We’re on the home straight now – so let’s get into it.
A good week for..
The Melbourne Storm, who underlined their Premiership credentials with a slap down of the Roosters on Saturday night.
Amazingly, they started a home game as outsiders – despite AAMI Park being about the toughest destination in rugby league – and set about the Chooks as if personally offended by the bookies.
The Roosters have been the competition’s best in attack but weren’t allowed to get going at all, while the Storm did what they always do: defend as a group, allow their individuals to win it for them.
At the heart of it all was Jahrome Hughes, who must be very high in the Dally M rankings by now. Everyone lauds Craig Bellamy’s ability to raise the floor of his side, making the next man up instantly capable of competing.
But his knack of finding the best in his best, empowering then to actually go out and win the match for his side, is exceptional too.
A bad week for..
It’ll come across as rank Pommy bias, but Newcastle’s decision to drop Will Pryce and return Tyson Gamble to the halves ahead of a must-win match against the Broncos was baffling.
Pryce has added much-needed spark to the dreary Knights, and the potential for him to return alongside Kalyn Ponga offered a rare incentive to watch one of the dullest teams going around in action.
Instead, we got Gamble – the definition of solid but unspectacular – and Jackson Hastings, who is good at kick and control but often needs someone else to do the invention alongside him.
We’ve seen plenty of Gamble and clearly, he’s not that guy. We’ve not seen enough of Pryce, who might yet be.
The Broncos were absolutely there to be got at, but Newcastle didn’t throw a punch. They didn’t even carry Pryce on the bench, where he might have been able to have an impact later in the game as a point of difference.
Indeed, coach Adam O’Brien didn’t carry a back at all, which exploded in his face when Bradman Best did his hamstring in an entirely predictable way given he’d been carrying it for ages and was playing his second game in four days.
It was brainless stuff in the box and the Knights deserved everything they got.
Standout
Nathan Cleary, clearly. The game’s best player returned from a lengthy layoff and immediately reminded everyone why he’s so highly rated.
He laid on an assist for Sunia Turuva early on, channelling his inner Tom Brady with an overarm pass, but that was just a prelude for the masterclass to come.
Penrith trailed the Dolphins by 14 late on, but rallied to force Golden Point. Cleary kicked the penalty to take it to extra time, then on his side’s first possession, slammed home a 45m drop goal to win it.
It was already pretty epic, but even more so given that the star of the Phins side was halfback Isaiya Katoa, who had left the Panthers with his pathway blocked by Cleary and was set for a classic apprentice-beats-master storyline.
The Prince of Penrith was having none of it.
Washout
When Aidan Sezer joined the Wests Tigers, a few eyebrows were raised. After all, he’d hardly been setting the heather alight in the Super League and wasn’t overly missed when he decamped Australia in the first place.
The hope was that, as a grizzled veteran, he could do a year to bring through Lachlan Galvin, who everyone knew was the next big thing, and then hand over the reins to Jarome Luai.
At the moment, you’d never be able to guess who was the rookie and who is meant to be the experienced hand. Galvin continues to impress in a rank rotten side, while Sezer picked up another citation from the judiciary, his third of the year.
The Tigers’ discipline is awful and it’s not their young hotheads doing it: it’s blokes who should know a lot better.
Sezer got two weeks for a hip-drop to go with an earlier four weeks for, you guessed it, a hip-drop. He was also fined for one before that.
The only solace is that he left the UK prior to this year’s big crackdown. He mightn’t have played at all.
Everyone is talking about..
The run-in, which is finally gathering steam as Origin fades into the rearview mirror.
After wins at the weekend, Manly and North Queensland look fairly set for a top eight place, but might well have designs on the top four if Cronulla’s form slide continues.
Cleary’s heroics in defeating the Dolphins, leaves their finals spot in doubt, and the Dogs are in a similar boar after losing late at the Cowboys on Sunday evening.
Brisbane, St George Illawarra, Canberra and Newcastle are all in with a shout of a lower-end place while, from the clouds, Souths are an outside chance. New Zealand, who lost a close one in Canberra on Friday, are less likely.
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But nobody is mentioning..
The Kangaroos, who are and remain an afterthought to the bulk of the Australian media landscape. Where the UK media was fretting themselves into a frenzy during England’s international weekend with France, over here, it barely merited a mention.
There was a time when Origin was meant to be a trial for the national team, but so little effort is put into it these days that it doesn’t come up.
It’s entirely possible that coach Mal Meninga – who is on the telly constantly, but never asked about what is theoretically his day job – will pick James Tedesco, despite him not playing for NSW anymore – but nobody knows.
There’s a Pacific Championships at the end of the season with New Zealand – who, lest we forget, soundly beat the Kangaroos last year – and Tonga, who have provided consistently decent opposition and also beat Australia the last time they played.
It should be a huge drawcard…except we’ve no dates, no venues and thus no interest.
Forward pass
A big weekend is on the horizon next time out as the NRLW kicks off on Thursday.
There’s big British interest, with Georgia Roche starting the opener for last year’s champs Newcastle against perennial favourites the Roosters.
Fran Goldthorp will likely start in the 1 on Saturday for the Cowboys women – which never doesn’t sound strange – against a resurgent Sharks and Hollie-Mae Dodd will be saved until last with the Raiders facing the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
The NRLW is the gift that keeps giving for Aussie footy fans, with standards ever higher.
Last year’s was a bit of a drop-off, relatively speaking, as teams found their feet in an expanded competition, but this time should be more settled and, with another year in the legs, should be a belter.
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