The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks scored two beauties on Sunday afternoon and showed how one try can become two.

Running Addin Fonua-Blake at the inside shoulder of the four-man is always a strong play whether he breaks through to score or not.

While this line produced points, it also provided the cue for another try later in the game. Ashton Ward jams on Nicho Hynes as the man inside him shrinks onto Fonua-Blake. Hynes, who is playing some of the best football of his career, takes note.

When presented with a play-the-ball from a similar field position, the Sharks set up their shape with a variation. They swing Will Kennedy around and use him as the decoy on Ward’s jam.

Jye Gray follows in Ward as he should. Campbell Graham closes out the next man. It forces the more difficult pass out of Hynes, but he’s good enough to make it (with a bit of luck) for Ronaldo Mulitalo to score.

I’ve spent a couple of seasons speaking about how the Sharks struggle to score points outside of the obvious cues. With how they’re now creating good looks, this is the best version of the Sharks attack we’ve seen under Craig Fitzgibbon.

"It's one of our darkest days if not the darkest day." There isn't a lot to cover on the Sydney Roosters thrashing of the North Queensland Cowboys.

Anybody following the game from an analytical perspective stopped taking notes after halftime. Todd Payten himself said they wouldn't even review it.

What else is there to add beyond what Payten already did in the press conference?

"As coach of this club, it's one of our darkest days if not the darkest day. I'd like to apologize to our members and fans that turned up here today and those that watch it at home. It's just not good enough."

Reuben Cotter added his own take:

"Embarrassing. It's the most embarrassing game I've ever been a part of I reckon. We just didn't we didn't turn up physically and we were loose all across the park."

It's a Cowboys performance so bad that it's difficult to take anything away for the Roosters. We will learn more about Trent Robinson's side next week against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

*This first appeared in the RLW Community where I’ll be adding a few notes and recaps throughout the round of footy.

How The Spine Splits Touches: The St George Illawarra Dragons are improving, but the spine is still a work in progress. Daniel Atkinson being dropped didn’t help cohesion. Luke Metcalf, Kodi Nikorima and Scott Drinkwater all signed and to, presumably, start next season leaves everybody else uncertain of their future to an extent.

It showed itself on the field a little bit against the Dolphins as it became difficult to tell who led this team around the field.

Clint Gutherson had some fine moments stepping in at first receiver down the short side. Lykan King-Togia is the most dangerous of the three when going downhill. While it looked as though Kyle Flanagan approached the game as a genuine half, those around him didn’t follow.

It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Atkinson in for Flanagan this week. If nothing else, he is on the bigger and longer contract and the Dragons need to see what they have got to work with moving forward. With Atkinson, Flanagan, King-Togia, Metcalf, Nikorima, Kade Reed and Joey O’Niell all set to start the 2027 NRL season at the club, it’s more than likely that one or two will be given the option to look elsewhere.

It’s Sometimes That Simple: Having just covered the creativity and detail of the Sharks attack above, it’s worth pointing out that sometimes the obvious cue is the right one.

They’ll often bring Ronaldo Mulitalo in field on the last play to chase kicks through the middle. He’s an elite aerial threat. With the diminutive Jye Gray shifted into the centres, all of the Sharks players knew where the last-play kick needed to go.

There is a risky element to it. The Sharks are cramped over on the right side of the field and had Gray come down with the ball, he’s more than capable of returning the ball 100 metres the other way. Still, three middles point towards their flying winger and trust he will make the play.

I’ve been waiting for this breakout game from Salesi Foketi for a little while now…

After seeing him rip through New South Wales Cup last season, it felt like a matter of time before he became a first grade regular. My guess is that the speculation around Spencer Leniu’s future at the club beyond 2027 has something to do with Foketi’s trajectory.

Still, it’s been a slow burn for the 20-year-old who has featured 17 times for the Sydney Roosters this season, but only twice for more than 40 minutes before his 80-minute performance against the Cowboys in Round 22.

Obviously, there is the 82-point caveat to his 80-minute performance. Ball-in-play will have been low, and the defensive intensity simply wasn’t there from the Cowboys, or needed from the Roosters. Nonetheless, Foketi displayed all his talents with the ball and gave Trent Robinson a bit of a selection headache.

I’ll be keeping an eye on Foketi’s minutes from here. This could be the launchpad for a bigger role, and how he measures up against Leniu will be of particular interest.

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

The Canberra Raiders aren’t short of options in the outside backs.

I covered Mark Tuialii a couple of weeks ago: The 20-year-old will instantly bring comparisons to BJ Leilua when he debuts in first grade, and the commentators see his left-arm fend into right-arm flick pass for the first time.

With Sione Finau on my list, I wanted to add a little bit of time before hyping up Raiders outside backs so close together, but with another three tries on the weekend to take his tally up to 14 for the season, we need to highlight him now.

Would you believe it, NSWRL.com.au have managed to put Bears v Knights highlights under the Panthers v Raiders banner, but, thankfully, I have plenty of other examples of Finau in full flight. Most notably, his try to level the scores in the 78th minute against the Bulldogs a few weeks ago:

Finau has featured at NRL level, playing seven games for the Dragons between 2023-2025. However, into his age 24 season, he could still end up as a key player on a first grade roster given how well he’s playing this year.