NRL Round 4 Review: Clinical Cleary, Tinkering Titans & Two Old Boys Have Still Got It

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NRL Film Room - Round 4 Highlights

Quick Hits

The Feature Reel: Try of the Week

Nathan Cleary sees the game unlike any player in the NRL, and managed to turn what looked like a failed planned set into points in Round 4.

It starts from a midfield scrum 20 metres out. Watching it a few times, it looks as though Thomas Jenkins gets pushed closer to the sideline than Cleary and the Panthers would have liked. You can see, as soon as the ball is fed, Cleary flips from the long side to the short side, looking to take advantage of any slow-traveling forwards.

Penrith get a good look with only two Eels players down the short side, but it’s narrow.

Instead, Mitch Kenny plays it back towards the middle to the spot I’m guessing Penrith wanted Jenkins to land.

Cleary is already moving back to first receiver on the long side, but spots an opportunity. The third man out of the tackle is late and not in his usual position in defence.

Triangles are the most dangerous shape in rugby league, and at the slightest sign of one in the defensive line, Cleary pounced to put Isaiah Papali’i through on Sean Russell’s inside shoulder to score.

Round 4 NRL Notes

Sea Eagles v Roosters

• The Numbers Tell The Story: The scoreline somewhat flatters the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the end, who did tackle well for much of the match before the pressure broke them down.

• 30 Seconds In: On just play two of the game, the Sea Eagles turned to what they do best: Shifting the ball out of yardage. A delay was mentioned pre-game with lightening striking and puddles pooling on the field. Nonetheless, the Sea Eagles made the most of the Sydney Roosters tight defence in yardage to skin them on the edge and score the opener.

• Roosters Halves: It’s going to take time for Daly Cherry-Evans and Sam Walker to find their feet as a pairing. Notably, they didn’t look that cohesive despite scoring 33 points and the match never really looking in doubt. They both floated to both sides, which appeared to cause some confusion. At times, it looked as though the decision on first reciever is who got there first. It’s difficult to get a great read on it from a television screen, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of clarity between them, and therefore the players around them. It will come, though. They’re both instinctive players who rely on each other as much as those around them anticipating what is to come.

• “Holy Shit”: That’s all I had as live commentary of this try.

• Putting Points On The Board: The Roosters played with plenty of possession and territory, but struggled to turn it into points for almost an hour. Robert Toia and Mark Nawaqanitawase produced moments of individual brilliance to score. Sometimes just giving them the ball is the right play. Still, the Chooks looked clunky inside 20 with Cherry-Evans, Walker, James Tedesco and Reece Robson still working out their flow attacking the line.

Raiders v Sharks

• Raiders Concede Two: What were you thinking, Corey Horsburgh? A sin bin for taking a player out inside 10 metres after a tap might be the most consistent call in rugby league. Even Ricky Stuart mentioned it was the right decision from the officials…
  
  Cronulla took advantage. Their second try while Horsburgh sat in the bin is the blueprint for attacking against 12 men. Where the Dragons desperately searched down their left edge last week with a one-man advantage, the Sharks attacked the middle. They compressed the defence, stressed the line, and waited for the cue to present itself out wide.

• Defending Shortsides: How the Sharks look to defend shortsides is on the watchlist in the coming weeks. The Raiders saw something throughout their preview to direct them down there. Canberra scored their first down a narrow shortside. They would have had a second down an even more narrow shortside if not for Will Kennedy at the back for the Sharks. The Raiders are a shortside team - there isn’t one too short for them to consider taking. Still, it seemed to be a particular target all afternoon.

Titans v Dragons

• Brimson Defending In The Centres: While centre might not be his best position, the Gold Coast Titans needed to change things up as they look to fit AJ Brimson in the side. But with that comes opportunity for the opposition, and the Dragons certainly made Brimson a target in the line. Consistently setting up around the left post, Kyle Flanagan attacked the space around the makeshift centre. Brimson jammed as Tyrel Sloan scored the first. He sat on his heels to create an always-dangerous triangle in the line on the Dragons next visit inside the Titans 20m line. Even on the Philip Sami intercept try, Brimson bit hard on the lead to produce a third different defensive look in ten minutes.
  
  Brimson has all of the skills to be dangerous with the ball. He bounces out as well as any centre in the game already. His ability to move while the ball is in the air will produce points sooner rather than later. However, Brimson’s future in the centres will be measured by his defence in the coming weeks.

• The Campbell/Ilias Combination: Jayden Campbell is the most influencial player in the Titans squad at the moment. Regardless of the number on his back, or role he’s assigned in the halves, the 26-year-old is the main man. His numbers don’t do his performance on Sunday night entirely justice. He may have only managed 59 running metres, but he threatened every time he tucked the ball under his arm. He generated quick play-the-balls and created opportunities for others with his running game. When passing, he laid on two try assists.
  

  There is still some work to be done on his combination with Lachlan Ilias. Campbell finished with more touches, and while that is better for the Titans, it leaves Ilias without opportunity. He’s a more traditional halfback, and if he’s to play second fiddle in regards to touches and directing the team, Ilias is at risk of becoming a bit of a passenger.

• Dragons Missing The Detail: You don’t always learn a lot from post-game press conferences, but the way Damien Cook put the performance on the players this week suggests they back the work of Shane Flanagan and his staff.

Player Spotlight - Jason Taumalolo

Jason Taumalolo is quietly putting together a strong start to the 2026 NRL season.

He’s not putting up the numbers he has done in the past, but for 32 years old, he’s still producing at a high level and putting the North Queensland Cowboys on his back when required.

Taumalolo punched out another 153 metres in Round 4, backing up his 173 metres against the Titans in Round 3. Todd Payten has been managing his minutes for a few seasons now with the back end of his career in mind. Still signed for another year beyond this one, that minute-management is paying off for Taumalolo to still be a valuable contributor to North Queensland’s yardage game.

The Pipeline - Te Hurinui Twidle, Parramatta Eels

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

You can’t go past Te Hurinui Twidle after he scored four tries for the Parramatta Eels in their 26-all draw with the Penrith Panthers in the NSW Cup this week.

Into his second season in reserve grade, Apa is growing in reputation as one of the most dangerous attacking players in the competition.

He finished a long shift to score his first on the edge. Anticipating Ronald Volkman running it on the last, he pushed up in support to score his second. Twidle completed his first half hattrick with a try timilar to the first - weighing up his options on the edge and making the right decision to dummy-and-run.

Saving his best for last, Twidle returned an ugly Panthers last play to the house to level up the scores.

Twidle isn’t without improvements to make. He’s is a target under the high-ball and conceded one try this week on the back of a drop. Still, he’s one to keep an eye on for the Eels, particularly with Isaiah Iongi going down in Round 4.

Member Mailbag

After the initial introduction of set restarts saw the proliferation of smaller ball-playing locks such as Dylan Walker and Connor Watson and given that we have seen players such as Euan Aitken and Jack Cogger spend time as middle forwards this year, do you think we will see more teams move towards picking smaller, lighter, more mobile players as middle forwards?

I think we’re already starting to see it balance out across the competition. Almost every team employs some sort of smaller player through the middle, whether it be to start or off the bench. However, the benefit of quicker and mobile forwards in the middle comes at a cost. They become targets in the defensive line and a spot for the opposition team to generate momentum.

The Dragons were caught out a couple of times with Damien Cook and Jacob Liddle on the field together last season. Bailey Hayward has seen his role at the Bulldogs increase at the expense of Reed Mahoney for a reason. Ryley Smith is making a lot of tackles in his stints to start this season.

There is a place for smaller middles in every team, but they aren’t about to become the majority. Defence is still what wins footy games and those smaller bodies only make it more difficult.