The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks piled 48 points on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, but their two tries either side of halftime capture Craig Fitzgibbon’s side at their new-look best.

Once a team that struggled to breakdown the best defences without obvious cues, they used subtle variations to the same shape, in the same part of the field, to score two nice tries.

Players, teams and coaches will all have different names for them, but the Sharks used a diamond shape in both plays: Three players in the front with the middle player receiving the ball. He has the inside runner and a lead on the outside with the sweeping spine player out the back.

From the left post with six defenders on the long side, Nicho Hynes steps up, uses a lead inside four to put Will Kennedy on three. Importantly, the backrower, centre and winger have held their width before Jesse Ramien responds to the jam and runs a lead himself for the backrower.

The Sharks went back to what worked when presented with a tap start in good ball shortly after halftime.

They spent the early tackles in the set hammering the Manly middle. After dropping the right edge back rower back under and into the middle, the opportunity presents itself on the left. The third man can’t get out of the tackle quickly enough which forces Lehi Hopoate to plug himself in at A on the Sea Eagles left. That leaves them with only five from the middle against a stacked Sharks edge.

Addin Fonua-Blake does a great job to play early. Had he not, the jamming defender probably lands on Hynes there. Instead, he’s able to step back inside and play to the overlap outside him.

The Sharks look their best when the attack is slingshotting to the corner. With the inside runner on the diamond shape holding up the middle and the lead stopping the slide, they’re able to keep the space for Ronaldo Mulitalo and Sione Katoa to score untouched.

The Stats That Matter: The Parramatta Eels are improving as a footy side. They’re not getting the results to show it, but the eye test tells us they’re better now than to start the NRL season. It’s difficult enough for a new coach to install systems and processes. It’s made more difficult with the roster turnover and disruption the Eels have faced throughout the year.

Parramatta perhaps should have beaten the Penrith Panthers. They’d done a lot of the hard work, and as Jason Ryles said in his post-match press conference, the Eels won the parts of the game they value most.

He mentioned completion rate which obviously plays a part. You can’t win a footy game without completing sets. However, as I covered a few years ago at Stats Insider, simply completing sets doesn’t translate into regular wins either.

Line breaks tell a story, but only if you can ice the opportunities on the end of them. For Parramatta, they let a couple slip on Thursday night. But the interesting note Ryles made came in his mention of “yardage metres.”

Parramatta finished with more run metres, more post contact metres and, importantly, more metres per run overall. Still, Ryles made particular mention to yardage. It’s not something a footy fan at home has access to with any ease, but clubs can see where on the field metres are made, and Ryles seems to have put a particular focus on how the Eels get out of yardage.

The overall number isn’t always a great indication. Where sets start and finish play a big part in the total number. Opportunities to generate those metres from a yardage field position does, too. More total metres can be a bad sign if you’re constantly being asked to return the ball from deep inside your own half.

Clearly, based on the result, out-performing your opponent in yardage metres doesn’t make winning a certainty either. Still, it’s an indication of what the Eels value, and is something we can keep an eye on - particularly how they move in yardage - as they continue to make improvements to finish the NRL season.

Daly’s Team On The Line: Daly Cherry-Evans will have had a field goal on his mind as the Sydney Roosters tapped to start a seven-tackle set with three minutes to play. When the offload and second phase came crossing halfway, it was all about getting into position.

With the game on the line and an opportunity to win it, the veteran took over.

He may not have been the one touching the ball and playing forwards into position, but his fingerprints were left all over the set. There was no doubt who was getting the ball and where on the field he wanted it as Cherry-Evans pointed the Roosters up the field.

Exactly where he wanted it, outside the left post and the play-the-ball short of the 10 metre line, Cherry-Evans stepped up. Notably, Sam Walker stepped back.

Much of the preseason discussion was around how the pair would combine on the field. Who would lead, and how the other would respond. It took a few weeks to iron things out, but as the season goes on, Walker and Cherry-Evans are looking better and better.

This field goal set late in the game in which both played their role, but didn’t demand anything outside of it, is a great argument for their premiership chances as the NRL Finals approach.

I sat back in my chair and said “hooooly” watching this one:

I had heard a lot Teagan Levi since she arrived at the NRLW, but I hadn’t seen much of the competition so far this season. It looks as though her performances are justifying the hype. Her numbers pop off the page, too.

Gold Coast Titans NRLW matches, or at least the Levi-filled highlights, are appointment viewing at the moment.

Looking beyond the bright lights of the NRL to the lower grades, one player caught my eye this week.

You may have seen the highlights video going around on YouTube this week already…

Christopher Woodbridge went on to score a try after only three minutes and kicked the game-winning field goal for the Western Clydesdales to beat the Ipswich Jets 27-26 - only their fourth win of the Hostplus Cup season.

Unfortunately, Queensland Rugby League don’t want anybody to see any games, so don’t gave a great avenue for highlights…