NRL 2026 Four Point Focus: Breaking Down A Raiders Tap Start

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The Four Point Focus breaks down a try from every round of the 2025 NRL season, highlighting the context, shape, trigger and the lessons learned. It’s viewed with an eye on 2026 as we look for trends, breakout players and hints of what might be to come next season.

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Point 1 - The Context

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs completed an incredible comeback in Round 10. They used their ball-players through the middle to stretch the Canberra Raiders defence and move the ball wider and quicker after halftime.

“You could see early into the second half that the Bulldogs first receiver was moving the ball on earlier.”

But lost in the aftermath of the eventual comeback was a perfectly executed tap set, which ended with Hudson Young crashing over to score.

Point 2 - The Shape

Rather than a shape, we’re looking at a set start.

We recently looked at how the Sydney Roosters double bluffed their scrum start to score in Round 7. This time, we’re looking at a tap start.

It’s one of the most dangerous moments of a game for an attacking team as they get to execute a scripted set designed to either maximise their strengths, target a weakness in the opponent or, ideally, a combination of both.

The Canberra Raiders used a weakness in the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs middle to create an opportunity for their strength on the edges.

A diminutive Bulldogs middle helped to inspire one of the best comebacks of the 2025 NRL season in the end. However, it provided the Raiders with an opportunity to capitalise early, as they did in this tap set.

In hitting Bailey Hayward and Reed Mahoney in back-to-back tackles, the Raiders generate the ruck speed through smaller bodies to earn the look they want down the left edge.

One quick ruck turns into two. The defensive line isn’t numbered up and the attack is playing at speed over the advantage line.

Ata Matiota angles in behind the ruck on the third tackle to keep generating speed before pulling up at the line and finding Josh Papalii. As Mariota makes his pass, Jamal Fogarty changes his line out the back to take possession of Papalii’s wrap pass.

From there, it’s a simple read-and-react for Fogarty, who looks to engage the three-man and make the decision on his pass based on the centre outside him.

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