Brits in the NRL: 2024 Edition

[AB90]

29 minutes ago, Click said:

That is very much taking the best players in SL and putting them against the NRL players - What about the rest of SL's players? You can't say that they are a similar bracket for a lot of them.

People here seem to forget that Super League is made up of circa 400 players in any given year.

[Dunbar]

On 19/06/2024 at 12:39, Click said:

I view the NRL sides as much more attacking, but also much more defensive than SL sides.

Players that fall off tackles here don't get as much attention, but in the NRL it is pin pointed and looked at extensively. 

As an example, I don't know if Luke Thompson changed his tackle technique from when he was originally in SL compared to when he moved to the NRL, as his defence was very weak there, but I can't recall it being weak when in SL (perhaps it was, but was just well hidden in St's pack)

I'm not sure I agree with this.  Players like Harry Grant and Viliame Kikau are in the top 10 missed tackle list for the NRL this year and I never hear anyone questioning their value as they are exceptional in attack.

Labels tend to stick and I think the Australian game is probably still labelled as a defensive minded competition due to past emphasis but today I think the opposite is true, I think that it is an attack minded competition. 

In part because of the clampdown on foul play, we have seen a whole new generation of attacking players who may have been deemed to be physically too small for the competition in previous years… but today, their attacking capability gets them in the side.

 

[Click]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

I'm not sure I agree with this.  Players like Harry Grant and Viliame Kikau are in the top 10 missed tackle list for the NRL this year and I never hear anyone questioning their value as they are exceptional in attack.

Labels tend to stick and I think the Australian game is probably still labelled as a defensive minded competition due to past emphasis but today I think the opposite is true, I think that it is an attack minded competition. 

In part because of the clampdown on foul play, we have seen a whole new generation of attacking players who may have been deemed to be physically too small for the competition in previous years… but today, their attacking capability gets them in the side.

 

I will concede that defence is certainly not as looked at as it once was 5 + years ago. 

I think they generally have a more focused approach and use statistics to improve what we know of the players/game. They constantly bring up Penrith's defensive record, etc when they're playing (or at least when I watch them). 

I think it is just their use of stats that sometimes make it harder to compare as we are inept at using them over here.

[DoubleD]

On 23/06/2024 at 20:49, JM2010 said:

Has he a chance of getting called up to the Cowboys first team?

Unlikely, he’s behind at least 4 other halves 

[JM2010]

5 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Unlikely, he’s behind at least 4 other halves 

I think I read somewhere he might be coming back next season 

[Damien]

To put Young's Roosters start into context:

 

 

[Dunbar]

8 hours ago, Damien said:

To put Young's Roosters start into context:

 

 

He has 55 tries in 63 games in the NRL.

To put this into context, only 80 players have scored a hundred tries or more in the history of the NRL or it's preceding competitions (ARL and Super League).

At just 22 years of age, he could achieve anything if he stays healthy.

[Dunbar]

Will Pryce has kept the #6 shirt for the Knights this week and in a bog boost for them, Kayln Ponga is named to return.  Ponga, Pryce and Hastings could be the spine that the Knights have been looking for.

The Raiders vs. Knights game will be a good one for spotting Brits in the NRL with Whitehead, Smithies, Pryce and Pearce-Paul all starting.

[JM2010]

Lewis Murphy named on the wing for the Roosters in NSW Cup. Hopefully he can string a few games together and show what he can do. I believe he is good enough to break into the NRL

[Dunbar]

Just caught up with this mornings games.

Young was pretty good in a solid Roosters win, carried the ball well and a few offloads and an early try.

In the Raiders Knights game Will Pryce was his Super League rocks and diamonds.  Some nice touches but also some awful passes under no pressure.

The English forwards were solid enough - KPP in particular has taken to the NRL like a duck to water with his physicality, he rarely gets dominated in the tackle.

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Just caught up with this mornings games.

Young was pretty good in a solid Roosters win, carried the ball well and a few offloads and an early try.

In the Raiders Knights game Will Pryce was his Super League rocks and diamonds.  Some nice touches but also some awful passes under no pressure.

The English forwards were solid enough - KPP in particular has taken to the NRL like a duck to water with his physicality, he rarely gets dominated in the tackle.

Yeah Pryce was very hot and cold. Kicking game was fantastic, had a few nice touches and was strong defensively. Though made a few crucial errors though that cost Newcastle. His passing game felt very rushed.

Edited July 7, 2024 by NRLandSL

[NRLandSL]

On 03/07/2024 at 02:59, JM2010 said:

Lewis Murphy named on the wing for the Roosters in NSW Cup. Hopefully he can string a few games together and show what he can do. I believe he is good enough to break into the NRL

He is beyond “good enough to break into the NRL”. He is good enough to become the best winger in the NRL one day. It was his first game in 10 weeks today coming back from injury. If he stays fit he will debut this season maybe in the next week or 2 given how many roosters outside backs are currently out..

[JM2010]

22 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

He is beyond “good enough to break into the NRL”. He is good enough to become the best winger in the NRL one day. It was his first game in 10 weeks today coming back from injury. If he stays fit he will debut this season maybe in the next week or 2 given how many roosters outside backs are currently out..

He has got all the attributes to he a top winger. How did he play today in his first game back?

[NRLandSL]

2 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

He has got all the attributes to he a top winger. How did he play today in his first game back?

Wasn’t able to watch. Been very good though in the few games he has played this year. 

We know how good he was for Wakefield. There’s only a handful of wingers in rugby league more athletic than Murphy. Again he has everything it takes to become a world class winger, the only thing standing in his way are injuries.

[DavidM]

Will Pryce some decent play but to many poor errors at that level , they should persist with him though there’s something about him I reckon . Frustrating watching KPP . Way underused for mine , dummy runner or ignored as a running threat , only 9 runs in total . He has an offload he can bend the line they need to use him more but I always feel the Knights attack is often to basic structured and repetitive . Ponga is there point of difference really . Whitehead a Trojan for Canberra in a struggling team , they’ll really miss him . I think Smithies has plateaud a bit 

[StandOffHalf]

Smithies needs to run a bit more IMO. He's got a bit fond of shifting the ball on out the back.

Agreed about Pryce. He has weaknesses, but I think Hastings, him, and Ponga are probably the best pairing.

[Copa]

Matty Nicholson to Canberra.

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2024/07/12/raiders-sign-matty-nicholson?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1F3xDV7M6sM4GeNmtKlG4oW8gkKm4ZvGnkmgJZoJjDa09j2ZMa5Odez2o_aem_fph6B7GlQQfO4yGgv5ZSlw

[Just Browny]

Not a surprising outcome and we can't feel any bitterness.

Nicholson is only 20 and still has some growing to do before we will know if he is a very good player or a great one. He certainly has the defensive attributes and decent pace, and there have been signs this year of him adding a bit more power to his game.

I really hope he does well in the NRL and that expectations are set at the right level as he is still very young for a forward.

[Damien]

On 08/07/2024 at 19:11, StandOffHalf said:

Smithies needs to run a bit more IMO. He's got a bit fond of shifting the ball on out the back.

Agreed about Pryce. He has weaknesses, but I think Hastings, him, and Ponga are probably the best pairing.

Same happened with James Graham who forgot he was a prop in his later years and began to shift the ball out the back way too much.

[Dunbar]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

Same happened with James Graham who forgot he was a prop in his later years and began to shift the ball out the back way too much.

That's interesting, I thought it was the other way around.

When he first went to the NRL with the Bulldogs he transformed middle forward play with his hands and ability to shift the ball and get halves attacking on the edges.  Now every team has ball handling middles.

But at the end, particularly with the Dragons, he hardly threw a pass and turned into a running prop.  I thought his game fell away because he put one of his skills back in the locker.

[JM2010]

Smithies is a tackling machine and a tough player. He probably just needs to run a bit more and pass the ball at the line rather than just handing it on for the sake of it

[StandOffHalf]

4 hours ago, Dunbar said:

That's interesting, I thought it was the other way around.

When he first went to the NRL with the Bulldogs he transformed middle forward play with his hands and ability to shift the ball and get halves attacking on the edges.  Now every team has ball handling middles.

But at the end, particularly with the Dragons, he hardly threw a pass and turned into a running prop.  I thought his game fell away because he put one of his skills back in the locker.

That's how I saw Graham as well. His tip-on plays at the line were a real point of difference.

The lock is more of a link man traditionally, so having a prop who can tip a short ball on having drawn defenders worked really well. That was a great part to Graham's play.

[Farmduck]

13 hours ago, Damien said:

Same happened with James Graham who forgot he was a prop in his later years and began to shift the ball out the back way too much.

I think the original idea was to stop tacklers ganging up on that runner first off the PTB. But when it's overused it just gives the defense time to come up an extra 5m on the eventual ball carrier. One of those tactics that should only be used every fourth or fifth time or when there really is something on out wide. There are also times when the defence around the PTB may be disorganised so passing is the worse option for a forward at forst receiver and a straight run could have been more productive.

Either way I think Smithies does it too much.

[Dunbar]

5 hours ago, Farmduck said:

I think the original idea was to stop tacklers ganging up on that runner first off the PTB. But when it's overused it just gives the defense time to come up an extra 5m on the eventual ball carrier. One of those tactics that should only be used every fourth or fifth time or when there really is something on out wide. There are also times when the defence around the PTB may be disorganised so passing is the worse option for a forward at forst receiver and a straight run could have been more productive.

Either way I think Smithies does it too much.

Smithies will simply be playing to his coaches instructions. 

If all the Raiders plays are based around a middle shift to attack wider on the edges then a middle is charged with that shift and if it Smithies job he is going to do it.  He hasn't just decided unanimously that he will be the Raiders chief playmaker. 

However, I do agree that if he mixes it up with a run then he is more effective. Players like Murray and Yeo do this well. I do think it is more on the coach than the player though.

Edited July 13, 2024 by Dunbar

[Dunbar]

Will Pryce was named at #6 for today's game but a later withdrawal and replaced by Tyson Gamble.