The race to the NRL finals is heating up, with the Penrith Panthers locked in for the top minor spot, but every other spot in the top eight is still up for grabs.
There are still 11 teams with a chance going into September, but for five others – Bulldogs, Warriors, Knights, Titans and Tigers – there is already an eye on next year.
This does not mean that the next six rounds should be cancelled.
Here are the key issues teams out of contention should address before the regular season ends.
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16TH: TIGERS — How is their first-choice halves combination?
With Apisai Koroisau and Isaiah Papalii on the way, there are already reasons for Tigers fans to be optimistic heading into next season. At the moment, however, there is still no clarity on what the club’s first-choice midfield pairing looks like.
Complicating the situation further is what appears to be a season-ending calf injury to halfback Luke Brooks. Although, if the Tigers aren’t sold on Brooks at halfback for next season and look to move him in the offseason, the next six weeks could be a glimpse into the future.
Luke Brooks’ season could be over. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Jock Madden has just six starts to his name, all of them at five-eighth, and is out of contract at the end of the year. So you’d think that if Madden was part of the Tigers’ future plans it would have been shut down by now.
Madden is reportedly the favorite to take over at halfback, which would be the strongest indication even if the Tigers don’t see Jackson Hastings as their No. 7 next year.
Hastings may be playing as a forward, but he’s still getting his hands on the ball more than Adam Doueihi and Brooks. Hastings has averaged 62 possessions in the last fortnight, compared to 50 for Brooks and 34 for Doueihi.
To put that into context, Isaah Yeo leads all other blocking forwards for average touches per game and gets just 31. Of course, in Yeo’s case, it’s quality over quantity on a team from Penrith who has no problem racking up points with one of the best spines in the league.
Hastings is operating as if he is still the side’s half-back, minus the kick, with Doueihi and Brooks playing five-eighths on opposite sides of the field.
Hastings works as a lock to play ball. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
It’s an interesting strategy and one that could free up more time and space for the Tigers’ playmakers to shine, with Hastings having a hand in four of his five tries against the Cowboys.
The big question, and one the Tigers must answer before next season, is whether it’s sustainable for Hastings to take on so much responsibility. Of course, the summer could give Hastings enough time to further improve his fitness to cope with the increased workload that comes with defending in the middle.
The Tigers look set to stick with it right now and the result against North Queensland on Sunday was promising. But they’re about to enter a new era under the coaching of Tim Sheens, and they have to wonder if Brooks is part of that long-term vision.
The next six weeks without him could go a long way to answering that question.
15: TITANS — It’s not all Fifita, put him in a position to dominate
Billy Moore called on the Titans to let David Fifita go last week, accusing the $1.2 million Gold Coast man of not going after the ball enough.
But it’s not always that simple, as Cameron Smith and Greg Alexander argued SEN 1170 radio last week.
The pair pushed for Moore’s position, instead blaming Titans players and coach Justin Holbrook for not putting Fifita in a position to dominate.
“Forget the pile of money,” Smith said.
“He’s not a battering ram. He can’t get past four or five people when he’s running in the middle of a defensive line. He’s good outside and they just need to get him a quality ball so we can do his stuff.”
David Fifita is a weapon… but how do the Titans get the most out of him? (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Compared to other second-rowers in the league, Fifita’s 15 possessions per game ranked near the top with the likes of Hudson Young (16) and Mitchell Barnett (17) leading the way. These stats are also somewhat skewed as Barnett, for example, has spent some time playing centre-back for Newcastle.
However, it doesn’t matter how many times Fifita touches the ball if they aren’t quality touches, with Alexander providing something of a blueprint to follow.
“If I were Justin Holbrook, I would tell him [Fifita] whenever there’s a quick play on the ball anywhere in your vicinity, get the ball,” Alexander said.
“Whether you have to jump to dummy half or just take one out. But a quick game with Fifita coming at you as you pull back, that’s when he’d be unstoppable. They seem to give him the ball when there’s four or five players on him.”
Smith is one of the smartest minds in the game and pointed to the way North Queensland used Jason Taumalolo in the past as another example of bouncing back.
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“They have a hitting weapon with the football and they don’t try to set it up,” Smith said.
“If you look at how the Cowboys played when Taumalolo was at his destructive best, they used to line him up where he would be like a Matt Scott. [run] followed by another strut and then perhaps as one [Gavin] Cooper plays fast to the ball from a [Johnathan] Thurston passes and then it would be Taumalolo at the back with a quick ball game.
“So you would retire, you would reach the referee, you would turn around and Jason Taumalolo, he would come towards you with the football in his hand. They have to meet it with better quality football.”
The arrival of Kieran Foran next year should only help the cause as the Titans have been crying out for an experienced boss who knows how to get the best out of their outside men.
For now, however, Gold Coast must use the rest of the season experimenting with new moves to free up their million dollars.
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14TH: KNIGHTS — What’s the fix for the “rut” half and could it involve a Ponga switch?
Right now, the biggest question for the Cavaliers is whether to sit Kalyn Ponga for the rest of the year. All signs point to the answer being yes at this stage.
It’s unfortunate timing as it may have denied Newcastle the chance to experiment with the halves situation ahead of next season.
Newcastle have tried playing Ponga at five-eighth before but were quick to return the 24-year-old to full-back, where he has spent most of his career.
At the end of last year, Ponga shut down talk of a permanent move to five-eighths, telling reporters he had “put that to bed” and would rather “work on my craft in the back”.
Should the Cavaliers move Kalyn Ponga to the five-eighth? (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
But how The Daily Telegraph David Riccio argued he could be the answer to Newcastle’s midfield headache, which has only deepened since the departure of Mitchell Pearce.
“[The Knights need to move Ponga] to get out of that rut they’ve been in and around the halves,” Riccio said Triple M.
“We saw all the starters over the summer in terms of going after Luke Brooks. We saw Anthony Milford picked up in the middle of the year, they’ve played Phoenix Crossland, Jake Clifford. It’s just been this high turnover of a similar style and standard players. They have a $1.1 million fullback.”
Riccio argued that some of the league’s best teams, the Panthers, Sharks and Cowboys, have had success this year without big-money backs.
A player like Dylan Edwards could be just what Newcastle need: a solid, reliable defender with a strong running game who can also organize the defensive line.
At the end of the day, the Knights are more likely to find that type of player for less money on the open market than a true difference-maker in the halves to replace Anthony Milford.
Now, that’s easier said than done considering it’s so late and there are still few quality full-backs left on the market.
How do the Knights get Ponga to play like he does in Queensland? Image: NRL photosSource: Provided
A left-field target for 2024, however, could be Manly’s Reuben Garrick, who has proved an impressive replacement for Tom Trbojevic and is out of contract at the end of 2023.
Of course, there are calls for Newcastle to put more emphasis on their route system and develop the response in the halves, but that will take time.
In the short term, Riccio said it might be worth considering moving Ponga to five-eighth next year.
“For the structure of your salary cap, I’m a firm believer that the Cavaliers need to move Kalyn Ponga to five-eighth,” Riccio added.
“We’ve seen full-backs make that transition and Ponga has played five-eighth in the past. The more times Kalyn Ponga taps her foot, the more devastating the Knights become. Everything revolves around Kalyn, but the defender is waiting for the foot.”
That’s not something Newcastle can experiment with for the rest of the season, but manager Adam O’Brien can keep it in mind as the club figure out what the halves picture will look like next year.
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