Hi RLW and anyone else who may read this.

I share the frustration about full match replays not being available to watch. Now that the Semi Final games are set – I’d love to be able to go back and analyse some different aspects surrounding each of the team, such as:

-    Australia’s difficulty to win the tempo through the middle across all three of their games

-    New Zealand’s difficulty converting attacking opportunities into tries in their first game against Australia.

-    What caused Samoa’s errors in attack on the left side against Tonga

-    What caused Tonga to lose control in the second half against Samoa

But, as we don’t have the replays available, I’m going to ramble based on the things I can remember and took note of.

Now, this is my first RLWC as a new fan this year and I’ll openly admit there are aspects I’m still learning about; but I want to ask the question: was it a healthy choice for the Australian squad to spend three games experimenting with their lineup? Is this something they’ve done in the past?

It seems that changes to the team lineup each week have had a negative impact on Australia's ability to develop their attacking synergy. However, it should be fairly noted that their defence has been wonderful, and defence is what wins games.

Across the three games Australia has now played it’s curious to think about how they attacked the advantage line, (or didn't). Even though the middle of the three games had a very different team lineup - the front row rotation remained the same.

Perhaps it's a game plan tactic I'm not familiar with, but the Aussie forwards seem to try and find lines around the edges to attack rather than just hitting the line straight through the middle.

The Australian squad have elite forwards as expected for a rep team. Their front row choices in particular are all work horses, particularly in defence, but they seem to be just short of a forward or two that can really put some damage into the advantage line. They are still gaining plenty of metres and consistently putting out good carries, but they’re missing that explosive impact which is limiting their momentum through the middle.

The changes to the connecting positions – hooker, lock, fullback, and the halves combination – across the three weeks has not set Australia up to enter the semi finals as a settled, composed team.

In the Fiji game, it seemed like no one on the field was willing to take the lead, and almost as if they were all hesitant to do so and were waiting for Walker to do so in the halfback position. This was a key element that allowed Fiji to impose themselves so much against the Kangaroos – whereas New Zealand was able to prevent Fiji from doing this as they had both the explosive impact front rowers in JFH and Whyte, as well as the on field leadership dictating the flow.

Looking back at week one against New Zealand, Dearden came onto the field with a fire roaring and he immediately changed the direction of the game to the point he would’ve broken the Red Bull momentum tracker if it was during the regular season. His influence was absent in game two, and possibly he felt shut out at the five eighth position. They were also missing Munster, Yeo, and Grant, who each are a key link in connecting the Australian team. I’m not saying that he didn’t work hard and do his job, but Tedesco’s presence on the field felt somewhat lost during the Fiji game as well.

Ponga had a marvellous game in Round 1 and it would have been great to see him play the entire tournament. But good word has Keano Kini had a spectacular time stepping up in place of Ponga. I’m very excited to see his impact on the game in the semis against a side that will give a more competitive challenge to New Zealand. He is quick, creative and offers a versatile threat when NZ are inside the danger zone.

Without being able to look back on a full replay of their game against Australia – I don’t actually have too much to say about this team. They’ve played some great games against Fiji and Cook Islands, but to be fair, they were both expected to be shut out games.

I’ll argue all day that New Zealand were the better team in the first round. They just failed to convert their attacks into tries when it counted. Couple that with a few poor passes early on that allowed Bostock and Turbo to score field length tries from an intercept, and that was probably what cost them the game as each of those tries were avoidable.

While Australia have been playing with ZeroTackle's custom team maker each week of the tournament, New Zealand have been solidifying their composure and synergy as a single unit and they provide consistency across all areas of the field.

As for Tonga and Samoa, let’s look at some aspects from their game last night, which was a incredible showing

Tonga have an unwavering ability to hit the advantage line full force with each set. Their forward rotation is a cheat code that won the battle through the middle; while Samoa were the far quicker team out of dummy half and through ball movement, which allowed them to often catch the Tongan defence on the back foot.

Disregarding the scoreboard for this next statement, I believe Tonga won the first half, even if only just, while Samoa really dismantled the Tonga side in the second half and won those 40 minutes.

Tonga played largely as I expected, sticking to a grinding game plan built around winning the middle of the field through repeated direct carries. They initially had to work hard for field position, with Luai making it clear early that he intended to test Watene-Zelezniak under the high ball. Eventually, however, Samoa conceded an error and handed Tonga the territorial advantage they had been fighting for. I actually had concerns that Tonga would start the game unsettled, like they did against Lebanon, who brought the fight to the Tongan side in the first 20 minutes, however, Tonga started the game with the most composure they have had yet this tournament.

While Tonga are fantastic at hitting the middle, I’d like to see a little more ball movement to the edges in the later parts of the set to create some more threat on the edge. They have the potential to do this with two of the best centres in the game on field and a spare on the bench. If someone with better eyes than me can identify where the missing link is I’d love to know so I can watch for it next game. If I had to have a go at where I think it is, I’d respond with either the ruck speed or the ball movement speed via the halves distribution.

We have to talk about Volkman. Mirroring Dearden in game one, he came on and completely shifted the momentum of the Samoan attacking sets. He completely changed how the Samoan spine was operating, pushing Luai out to the edge for the extra passing threat. Tonga was unable to counter adjust to this change and spent the time that Volkman was on the field struggling to regain control of the match.

In this highlight video, skip to 3:44, and turn the speed down to 0.25%, unless you are able to see these things at full speed. I however, needed to slow it down and watch it basically step for step to see what was really happening here when Volkman scores.

Watch the sequence of offloads. Tonga fail to shut them down in the tackle and, as the ball continues to move, the defensive line is forced into a right-left-right zig-zag pattern. Each offload pulls defenders another step out of position and is disrupting their ability to setup up their stance to make a tackle directly. It’s forcing them to have to make a tackle coming in from the side.

Volkman, playing eyes up footy, receives the ball and switches on his foot work, forcing the defenders moving across to him to commit to their leftward movement and creating a gap when Volkman steps back to the inside. Hopoate is the last to attempt a try saving tackle, but his footing isn’t set for him to effectively get in front of Volkman, who ducks under and steps through with ease.

I've already blocked out time in my calendar for when the full replay inevitably resurfaces in 2030. I'll be watching it again to figure out exactly what both teams got right, and where they got it wrong.

Both Tonga and Samoa answered many questions last night, but also left me with plenty of reason to ask more before their respective match ups this week against Australia and New Zealand. I am looking forward to each of these games, and I’d personally like to see a Tonga vs New Zealand Grand Final, however, any Grand Final match up will be good, but the one that least excites me is Australia vs New Zealand.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. I’d love to know what your thoughts are about Australia playing musical chairs with their lineup over the last three weeks. Was it worthwhile, or detrimental?

Cheers,

Jimmy

Readers of the preview won’t have been too surprised to see how the Sydney Roosters scored their first try of the night…

We see more passes from the Roosters out of yardage. They aren’t always traditional shifts like we’d see from the Newcastle Knights1 or Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, but short passes between forwards or with James Tedesco stepping in as a distributor around the ruck.

It hasn’t got much better for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks since then. The 18-10 scoreline perhaps flatters them a little bit. With Nicho Hynes out inside five minutes and Mawene Hiroti soon joining him on the injury list, the Sharks are not only down to two bench middles, but two left on the bench in total.

They have points in them. The two tries in as many minutes and three linebreaks to the Roosters' four in the first half are proof of that. However, for a team that can get a bit loose defensively at times, it’s going to be difficult for them to keep up with this fast-moving Roosters side deep into the second half.

Reece Robson averages 55 running metres per game and already has 70 metres in this one. Meanwhile, James Tedesco is finding plenty of joy around the ruck, both as a runner and a distributor. Those darts through the middle will continue to take their toll and, with Daly Cherry-Evans managing the game, create opportunities for the Roosters on the edges soon enough.

Side notes:

• - The Roosters kick-chase has been excellent. One big, thick line is meeting the Sharks on every long kick.

  • - Addin Fonua-Blake has been excellent in his role for the Sharks with 121 metres.

The Rabbitohs might be feeling the better of the two teams going into the break…

Knights dominated the 40 minutes but pushed a few too many passes, kicks on line breaks and Marzhew ending up in touch. They should have scored a lot more than 10 points after playing with 56% possession for the first ~25 minutes.

They’ll clean those issues up in the second half, but we can trust South Sydney will have a plan after halftime, too. They’ve completed at 96% to stay in the fight and will find points with or without Cody Walker at that rate.

Newcastle well on top, but could come to rue those blown chances and the opportunities that might have come on the back of more patient play. Souths will be full of confidence down only four after such a poor start.

The big backrower has been named on the bench to make his return this week. Having not played since Round 15, it looks as though Trent Robinson with ease him into things.

Salesi Foketi will start on the edge, but don't be surprised to see him shift into the middle. Robinson can save an interchange by bringing Crichton on for a middle and moving Foketi in for a spell. Foketi's future is in the middle of the field where he carries the ball strong while being able to act as more of a ball-player than we've seen at NRL level so far in his career.

That column seems about right. I'm surprised there hasn't been a comparative look by everyone at NRL vs NRLW, given the latter has no six-agains. As much as I appreciate fast footy, it does seem some nuance has gone out of the game. Arguably, people will still embrace a slower game, but one with closer results, more variety in attack and less tries, making each try more meaningful :)

Joey Manu has been confirmed as the seventh signing for the PNG Chiefs ahead of their 2028 NRL season.

Is the number in which he has been announced a hint as to where on the field he will play?

Manu isn't a traditional #7. On paper, it's not a great fit alongside Jarome Luai. Still, they've made a few comments and hinted at the importance of this particular number in the list of signingsup until now.

Chiefs Football Manager, Michael Chammas, didn't single out a position when speaking on the signing, but alluded to the possibility of him being available to fill a few - perhaps even halfback.

"He is a world-class footballer with versatility across several positions and can change a game in a single moment with the skills he possesses."

We will need to see how the rest of the roster shapes up over the next 12 months, but at this stage, there is a chance Manu - who will be 32 in 2028 - might fill the halfback position early on.