How the NRL encouraged momentum, up-turned the ladder & buried defence
The six-again rule has broken the competition
This season is not a glorious changing of the guard. It is a rules-driven distortion, with none of last year’s top four certain to play finals and Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane already gone while Canterbury scramble for air.
The common thread is obvious. Those clubs built themselves around defence, but the six-again rule has made momentum almost impossible to arrest once a side starts rolling. Penrith and the Warriors adapted quicker. The Roosters also cracked it early, which reflects well on Trent Robinson. Everybody else got steamrolled by the interpretation.
I recall the Roosters piling on 82 points only a few weeks ago. That is not balance. It is an alarm.
Now the proposed answer is another rule, this time around kick-offs, to repair the rule that failed. It might work in certain situations, but that misses the point. The NRL introduces rules without properly pressure-testing them through state competitions, then shifts the damage somewhere else when the consequences arrive.
Rugby league is attrition. It is two sides trying to break each other. Stop legislating that contest out of existence.
Taulagi picked the right moment to leave
Murray Taulagi’s French rugby move shocked me because it came from nowhere, but it makes complete sense. He has quit the NRL for up to three seasons, will make good money and has the physical game to succeed there.
I reckon he was nearing the end of his NRL career anyway, so this is smart timing rather than surrender. The new broadcast deal may eventually pump enough money into the salary cap to stop certain players leaving, but that full effect is probably still a couple of years away and Taulagi might be well spent by then.
France still carries risk. The language, loneliness and brutal employment culture can quickly tear the romance away, particularly when injuries strike. But the immediate financial benefit is real, and Taulagi has earned the right to take it.
The Cowboys now have to absorb the loss. They have kids coming through who should go all right, but replacing that presence is easier promised than delivered.
Horsburgh gives Perth exactly what it needs
Corey Horsburgh is a hard, necessary signing for the Perth Bears. He turns his fallout at Canberra into more money, the Raiders move on a player they had permitted to negotiate, and Perth secure the middle presence they desperately need.
That becomes even more important because negotiations with Junior Paulo have fallen over for now, although they could still be resurrected. Perth cannot enter its first season with a soft centre and expect goodwill to carry it. Horsburgh brings impact, edge and legitimacy.
The money now paid to middle forwards is no accident. Once teams shifted into left-and-right formations, winning the middle became the game’s economic engine: big men who land on elbows and knees create fast play-the-balls, which fracture defensive lines and release the expensive spine.
Melbourne sharpened that model after the 2010 salary-cap bust, retaining Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater while Craig Bellamy built role players around them. The front-rower now protects the entire attacking system, which is why he has become more valuable than the back-rower.
The winger is no longer cheap decoration
The modern winger does the work clubs once paid forwards to do, while the centre has arguably become the least important position in the game.
Wing used to be where clubs saved money. Not anymore. Kick returns launch sets, and teams now demand power, height and metres rather than somebody waiting politely for a try-scoring pass. Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri probably accelerated that revolution because they were built like forwards and still had genuine speed, while Wayne Bennett recognised the advantage their carries created.
Eric Grothe Sr. was considered a monster winger at 6-foot-1 and about 88 kilograms. By modern standards that is ordinary size; plenty of today’s wingers walk around in the mid-to-high 90s, while players across the game are pushing 110, 115 and even coming down from 125 kilograms.
The game has grown. The bodies have grown. Recruitment priorities had no choice but to follow.
Sarantinos leaves Parramatta better than he found it
Jim Sarantinos is leaving at the right time, and Parramatta should thank him rather than pretend stability arrived by accident.
The club was in turmoil when he came in around 2016, fresh from its salary-cap scandal, with the cap and much of the operation in a mess. Sarantinos imposed proper practices, helped deliver a brilliant centre-of-excellence facility and leaves after Parramatta reached a grand final.
I think he has taken the club as far as he can, which is not criticism. Good administrators repair organisations; smart ones recognise when a different voice must drive the next jump. He has given notice and will finish at the end of the year, allowing Parramatta to find somebody with fresh ideas rather than lurch into another crisis.
He has done a tremendous job. The next boss inherits responsibility, not rubble.
Lodge is fighting for his career now
Matt Lodge’s move to Brad Arthur’s Leeds is not a fresh adventure. It is a five-game audition to keep his career alive.
North Queensland released him immediately and his NRL career now appears finished. That is a hard ending for a player who was a superstar junior but never quite reached the level his ability promised, perhaps because being constantly told he was special fed the immaturity that damaged his early years.
There were disputes with coaches, and Craig Bellamy once moved him on immediately. Now Lodge potentially has only five games before the semifinals to earn another contract in England.
Talent opened every door. Conduct kept slamming them shut. This is probably the last one.
Finals pressure will expose the frauds
This is where the alibis start. The Roosters face Penrith without James Tedesco after losing 12 of their past 13 against them. Penrith are missing the man who straightens their attack and drives their defence. No hiding now. One side breaks the hoodoo. The other starts rehearsing excuses.
Canterbury are two points outside the eight and Souths are two points ahead. That makes their clash an audit, not another fixture. Stephen Crichton’s move to five-eighth has sharpened Canterbury and freed Lachlan Galvin to run. Fine. Prove it when the season is on the blade.
Manly have lost five straight and exhausted everybody’s trust. Brisbane are already gone and Adam Reynolds is injured. Reputations mean nothing now. Finals pressure strips away the marketing, the soft draws and the brave press conferences. The genuine sides stand up. The frauds get found out.
The Dragons still care; the Tigers look lost
The Dragons will beat the Tigers because one side is building for next year while the other no longer knows whether it is coming or going.
Dean Young has shifted the last-placed Dragons around, given players opportunities and created an energy that wooden-spoon sides rarely carry this late. They attacked Cronulla in the local derby and looked switched on from the opening exchanges, even though Cronulla eventually won.
The Tigers are the opposite. The environment does not look happy, their football is poor and failing to beat Parramatta after Parramatta’s previous performance exposed them. I cannot see them finding enough against St George Illawarra.
Cronulla should also be wary of Canberra, who can score quickly despite last week’s poor performance, while the Warriors should account for Brisbane without Adam Reynolds. Newcastle have been genuinely impressive and should continue that form against a Gold Coast side drifting into off-season mode a month early.
The Titans have some kids with potential and Josh Hannay has done a reasonable job, but they remain nowhere near the finished product.
