NRL Analysis: How To Get The Defence To Travel

The Penrith Panthers built a dynasty of putting fatigue into the defence and waiting for it to crack. As the game sped up and teams looked to play as fast as possible, the Panthers countered that by playing for as long as possible.

Dominate possession, tire out the opposition middle, and wait for the opportunities to open up. Every team looks to do it in some capacity these days. Depending on how teams make their numbers, treat shortsides or control tackles can determine what approach a team might take.

The Parramatta Eels have played their best footy in recent years when moving the ball to the edges and playing back through the middle. We might have finally started to see the best version in Round 10.

Notably, this set is against a 12-man Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks defence, but it captures a key concept of how teams want to move the defensive line to generate fatigue. Shaun Johnson also expertly sums it up in the commentary box¹ .

It starts with Parramatta shifting the ball from the right edge to the left straight from the kickoff. It won’t be a coincidence that they got the ball wide enough for Sam Tuivaiti² to make a line straight for Nicho Hynes.

As the Eels start to move the ball back to the right edge, they also move the Sharks forwards and bring Blayke Brailey and Tom Hazelton into the second tackle.

Junior Paulo busts through an armsy Billy Burns tackle on the third to bring Hazelton and Brailey back into another. As the Eels make it back to the right edge, roughly where Mitchell Moses fielded the kickoff in the first place, the space starts to open up through the middle of the field.

Having just poked his nose through them once, Paulo is back at the space between Brailey and Burns. The diminutive hooker can’t slow down the big prop, and Burns isn’t able to collect the ball as he scrambles to help his teammate.

J’maine Hopgood’s dummy against a disjointed line on the second phase is enough to send Briton Nikora off track, while another ineffective Burns tackle results in an offload for Moses to send Dylan Brown under the posts.

“We’ve got the best seat in the house to watch defenders have to travel,” said Johnson after Brown dotted down.

What does he mean by that?

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