2021 NRL Semi-Finals Recap & Review
And then there were four
Manly Sea-Eagles V Sydney Roosters
If ever there was a team that didn't have the capacity to deal with an angry Tom Trbojevic coming off the back of a 28 point flogging, it was the Roosters. From the first set of the game, the Roosters looked off the pace and downright tired. Who could blame them after the season they have had? The Sea-Eagles were clicking from minute one. A few six-again calls and a late shot from Matt Ikavalu led to an early try to Tom Turbo — combine that with a kick-off that went out on the full and the game was all but over.
I can say that now, but to the Roosters credit, I didn’t feel that way when watching the game. It was only after Daly Cherry-Evans went over untouched from a scrum with a beautiful left-foot step that I felt comfortable Manly were going to win.
The fact is, Manly had to win in this dominant fashion to bounce back from their horrid performance against Melbourne. If they are a team with Premiership hopes, they should have destroyed the Roosters and they did. Now it’s time to move on and get ready for a real challenge. Clubber Lang knocked them out in the first fight. Beating the Roosters was like Rocky beating Apollo in a beach sprint. Now it’s time to beat Clubber in the rematch. The Sea-Eagles are yet to beat the Panthers, Rabbitohs or Storm this season. They will have to beat two of them to win it all. It all starts this weekend.
As for the Roosters, well, thank god the 2021 season is over, right? Anyone involved with the club deserves to grab a beer and sit on the couch until they get a call for preseason in November. 2021 was the year from hell and every single one of the players and coaches deserve applause for what they accomplished this year. The Roosters, and in turn the Rugby League World, has bid farewell to some all-time great players this year. Boyd Cordner, Brett Morris and Jake Friend were incredible players for a long time but with their early departure has come the arrival of players like Sam Walker and Joseph Suaalii who look to be stars of the future.
Despite being the best player on premiership teams, I think James Tedesco had what was possibly his best season ever. Carrying his weakened team as Captain to a position I could not have possibly imagined when Luke Keary went down for the season. If you had told me they would be fifth and eight other crucial players would go down, I wouldn’t have believed you. It was an incredible year for the Roosters. If they’re healthy next year, everyone should be worried.
Top Performers:
Tom Trbojevic
It seems like a waste of time and letters to even bother putting his name down these days. If Manly wins, it’s a given that Tom was incredible and that didn’t change on Friday night. There is no player I have ever seen that just knows he is bigger, faster, stronger and just better than everyone and had the footy IQ to get the job done. There is nothing better to watch, and I can assume nothing more haunting for the defence, than when Trbojevic just decides he’s going to score, takes the ball off the ruck and charges through the defence to score. Two tries, 201 metres, a try assist, ten tackle-breaks.
Jake Trbojevic
I think Jake has had a fantastic season but one thing has annoyed me the entire time — he passes too much. While he is the best ballplaying lock in the competition and is possibly the most important cog in Manly’s offensive machine, they rely on him as a passer too much. Even though he averages 110m, that is how it feels when I watch him play. Nevertheless, he was fantastic against the Roosters. With 16 runs for 119m and a very rare (these days) short ball to Tom that led to Kieran Foran’s try, he seemed to get a better run-pass ratio. He is the best tackler in the comp, I’m not even going to mention his defensive impact.
Daly Cherry-Evans
Despite his left-to-right pass mechanics looking like George Constanza’s involuntary spasm, Cherry-Evans was instrumental to the Sea-Eagles victory. He needs to be at his best if Manly has any chance of success because if he isn’t, it’s too easy for teams to shut down the rest of the team, leaving Tom Turbo nothing to work with. Though he wasn’t at his best on Friday night, though that just shows how good he can be. A try, 1 linebreak, 2 linebreak assists and 1 try-assist along with 532m kicked — if he plays like that they can beat anyone.
Dylan Walker
He has been one of the Sea-Eagles best players since his switch to a utility role off the bench. Providing confidence, speed around the ruck and an influx of playmaking when he comes on, Walker made an instant impact against the Roosters. Making the break that led to Trbojevics second try and scoring one himself with a beautiful dummy.
Honourable Mention: Sean Keppie
In his first stint of 21 minutes, he was the best forward on the ground and laid the platform for the rest of the Eagles. He must continue to start.
Penrith Panthers V Parramatta Eels
There is no doubt about it, this is one of the best games I have watched. There is absolutely nothing better than low-scoring, high stakes rugby league. Add a rivalry into that and we get Panthers v Eels on a Saturday night,which finished with both teams looking like Rocky and Apollo in the final round of the first fight.
It is extremely rare these days that a game finishes with only two tries being scored. The closest scoreline I could find from this earlier this season was the Newcastle Knights V New Zealand Warriors game that ended 10-6. That game was close because of how poorly both teams played — not because they both played well.
Both Parramatta and Penrith put forward some of the best defensive efforts I have ever seen, with both teams rejecting the other even after multiple sets on their respective try-lines. It is games like these that it is melancholy that one team has to lose. However, with Parramatta having more ball, making more metres and forcing more drop-outs, Penrith didn’t win because of a penalty kick. They won because they were better, their defence was incredible… and Jarome Luai wasn’t sin-binned.
There is no doubt about it — Moses being held back was a huge miss by the referee, two touch judges and the bunker. I seriously don’t understand how they missed it. To be fair, I didn’t see it either… but it isn’t my job to adjudicate the game. It doesn’t even happen behind the play, Moses is about 1.5m behind Ferguson as he is taken out of the play. I don’t think there is any room for debate, this is an offence that would have landed Penrith’s five-eight in the sin-bin and left them with only twelve players. It was such a ridiculously close game and it is hard to argue that Parramatta doesn’t find a way to score while they have the extra man or Penrith exhaust so much energy defending with twelve that the Eels can score late in the game. It didn’t happen. Penrith moves on to face Melbourne.
If it is true that Penrith’s trainer called for the game to be stopped for Mitch Kenny’s lower leg injury — before he had even inspected his injury — is blatant cheating. I think Penrith deserve a heavy penalty for this indescretion and while I don’t think they should be stripped of their win — I would if it was a regular-season game they had won. The game should only be stopped for serious injuries (compound fracture, stretcher needed etc) and HIA’s. It is unforgivable to use the rules, based around player safety, to your advantage and goes against the fabric of our game — as does laying down and holding your neck after every tackle, but that’s a problem for another article (looking at you Fergy Ferg).
Despite everything I have just said, I still think the better team won. Luai wasn’t sin-binned. Parramatta had a thousand oppurtunities to score and couldn’t get it done. I am sure there are things for Penrith to complain about but we/they aren’t looking for them because they won. It’s just the way it goes sometimes. Parramatta can leave the season with their head held high after an admirable performance in an incredible game. Time to move on.
Top Performers:
Mitchell Moses
I wrote in my preview that Moses had his work cut out for him coming up against Nathan Cleary — having to match it with the best kicking game in the NRL. Moses did exactly that. If his kicking game was anything less than great, Parramatta would have been grinded to death under the pressure of Cleary’s. While you could place the blame for not being able to crack the Penrith defence on the head of the halfback, I would congratulate the defence rather than damning the attack. With 90m ran, 703m kicked from 21 kicks and Parramatta’s only try-assist, Moses was huge.
Junior Paulo
Speaking of huge, no one is bigger than Junior and no one played bigger than he did on Saturday night. 19 runs for 151m, 6 tackle breaks and 37 tackles (1 miss) in 59 minutes, in a game built around forwards, Junior stood up. It was a shame his night ended the way it did.
Clint Gutherson
There is nothing better than a captains knock and with the effort Gutherson puts into every game, it is no surprise that he performed at the highest level in his teams most important game of the season. 28 runs for 248m and a forced drop-out, no stat shows the effort plays that Gutherson made. Every time Penrith looked like they might make a break or score, Gutherson was there. He made eleven tackles and missed none. I would say a high percentage of those eleven had to be made.
Haze Dunster
it isn’t often that players with little experience shine on the biggest stage they have encountered so far in their careers. There is no doubt that this was the biggest game Haze had ever played in — and it was his best performance. Running 200m from 17 runs with 1 linebreak and 7 tackle breaks. He got them on the front foot of every set.
Isaah Yeo
Probably Penrith’s best player.
Yeo might be the second-best lock in the game but after his performance against the Eels, Cameron Murray will have to prove his worth against Manly. Every time it looked like Penrith were struggling, or someone threw a bad offload and someone had to pick it up, Yeo was there to pick it up and find a way to get past the advantage line. Playing the full 80 minutes (next to Marata Niukore, the only forward to do so) Yeo was in everything for the Panthers.
Tevita Pangai Junior
No one stood out to me more than Pangai Junior did when he came onto the field. In his 32 minutes, Pangai had 17 runs, making 137 metres (59 post-contact, the most by any player), 3 offloads and 24 tackles (0 missed). He was absolutely colossal.
James Fisher-Harris
While he didn’t make the metres that you might expect, much like Clint Gutherson, it is the effort of Fisher-Harris that blew my mind. Still making 105m from 13 runs, JFH made an enormous 48 tackles (2 missed), the most by any player in the game. The battle was going to be won through defence and Fisher-Harris was one of the biggest reasons Penrith came out of that war victorious.
Nathan Cleary
While it wasn’t the greatest game I have ever seen him play, great games have become commonplace for Nathan Cleary and he was nothing short of great on the weekend. He delivered one of the best kicks of the season that popped up straight into the arms of Kurt Capewell for Penrith’s only try of the game. With 23 kicks for 806 metres and 2 forced drop-outs, Cleary did exactly what his team needed him to do.
An awesome weekend of footy is behind us and I expect another one is waiting for us with the Prelims. I’ll see you later in the week for my preview. While you’re sitting on the toilet or before you put your phone away and close your eyes, subscribe so you can get everything I write straight into your email. Why search or click a link when you don’t have to? Don’t want to clutter your email? I get it. Click the share buttong below and share outofmyleague with everyone you know to show your support. Cheers!