The Knights Game Cycle, Carrigan At Lock & Galvin Thoughts

How many people took the early mark on Thursday night and turned the Newcastle Knights v Manly Warringah Sea Eagles game off at halftime?

It looked like more of the same for the Knights as they entered the sheds 16-0 behind, but a second-half fight back forced golden point, and for the opportunity for a four-game rookie to produce a career highlight.

• The Knights Attack

• Round 14 Notepad

  • Carrigan Back In #13

  • Charlie Murray On Debut

  • Galvin Thoughts

The Knights Attack

“Game cycle.”

It’s been a term that has popped up a few times this season, and Kalyn Ponga mentioned it again in his pre-match interview.

That game cycle translated into an eighth scoreless first half already this season and boo’s from the crowd as they walked off the field for oranges.

It’s a cycle that relies on the opposition making an error and giving up cheap field position. However, with a squad down on middles, those opportunities inside the opposition 20-metre line are few and far between throughout the first 40 minutes. When presented with one following a Tolutau Koula, I sat up to see what the Knights would do with the midfield scrum.

1. Jayden Brailey missed the feed at the back of the scrum, providing the defence with more time to move forward.

2. Needing to reset, he played a forward back to the middle of the field.

3. We’d seen the Knights through a dangerous shape down their left earlier. The hooker shapes to drop a player under to the ruck with a lead outside him, he finds the halfback who provides Kalyn Ponga with early ball on the three-man. Unfortunately, it ended in the same fashion as the last: A James Schiller error.

“The people that booed, they don’t know anything about rugby league.” - Adam O’Brien

But even if the booing fans don’t, the players believe in the cycle for a reason. When it works, the Knights are difficult to stop.

“We showed a fair bit of fight in that second half. We had a fair bit of trust and belief in our processes.” - Kalyn Ponga

Having given up 58% possession in the first half, Newcastle cleaned up their errors to earn 50% of it in the second. It’s all they needed to pile up 26 points.

The fatigue they looked to bring into the game through their patience and low-risk style early paid dividends, alongside a couple of Sea Eagles reshuffles in the backline, to see them finish the stronger of the two teams in the end.

With cleaner possessions and the field position that comes with it, the Knights could finally start to fire a couple of shots and put their best attacking players in dangerous actions.

Finally earning some time with the football, we could see the Knights put Kalyn Ponga into promising spots all the way up the field.

As mentioned earlier with their plan to put Ponga outside Daly Cherry-Evans, Ponga ended up in precisely that position in the buildup to James Schillers try in the corner to level the scores at 16-all.

His speed outside the veteran puts the two defenders outside him in difficult positions, and while it wasn’t the best looking shift to Greg Marzhew on the wing, they have created the fractured line to generate a linebreak.

Newcastle’s early-game cycle clearly needs some work. Eight scoreless first halves is a stat I couldn’t quite believe when I heard it the first time. But while they need to tinker with things to start matches, this comeback win will inspire confidence in the process and offer hope for a rapid improvement when key players return to the field.

The Knights, currently 14th on the NRL ladder, could be just one win outside of the Top 8 by the end of Round 14…

Round 14 Notepad

With State of Origin Game 1 behind us, we’re back to a full NRL slate and a few things to keep an eye on. It’s Patrick Carrigan back at lock, Charlie Murray on debut and Lachlan Galvin’s role for me this week.

Carrigan Back In #13

Like Michael Maguire, I liked the idea of Kobe Hetherington starting the NRL season in the lock position¹ . He’s a strong defender and can act as a link man with Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan on either side of him. However, following a poor start to the year, Maguire has changed things up.

Carrigan is back in the #13 jersey for Round 14 and it will be interesting to see how things change.

For future reference when we come back to this in a few weeks: Carrigan has broken only 11 tackles in 12 games, averages 178 running metres and 26.6 touches per game.

I highlighted the overreliance we’re starting to put on locks being able to move the ball before Round 1:

“Lock forwards are so effective in moving the ball through the middle because they are a run-threat first. They compress the line through the middle to create space and gain advantages out wide.”

Asked about smaller lock forwards - specifically Kurt Mann and Bailey Hayward - I doubled down on what makes a run-first middle so dangerous. Despite him not wearing the jersey, I still put Carrigan among the best locks in the game, anticipating a change sooner or later:

“The best big-minute lock forwards in the NRL are run-threats first: Isaah Yeo, Cameron Murray, Pat Carrigan , Victor Radley, and Erin Clark.”

With Reece Walsh returning to swing down both edges, we’re going to get a good look at the influence Carrigan has on the middle. His threat as a ball-carrier for close to 200 metres per game shrinks the defence. Add Haas hanging off his hip, and the pair can engage four defenders through the middle of the field from a wide field position.

From there, Walsh’s acceleration and ability to ball-play at speed can be best put to use.

The Broncos have slipped out of the Top 8, but a win this week can bring them back into the fold. I’m ancitipating a significant improvement and for Carrigan’s work in the middle to play a leading role.

Charlie Murray On Debut

The Wests Tigers are sending out middle forward C. Murray to make his NRL debut on Saturday.

Interstingly, there are some similarities to the South Sydney Rabbitohs version.

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