Tag: recap

After one of the closest rounds in recent memory last week, round seven featured a cavalcade of blowouts.

The congested ladder was shaken up time and time again, with a new leader, a new lowest and still no real premiership favourite.

Here is our Round-Up.

1. Uncanny X-Man keeps going hard

Xavier Coates looks a different player this year and it’s going well beyond his highlight reel, as impressive as it’s been. 

Coates has three tries this season but every one of them has made a huge impact — the all-time effort against the Warriors in round two lit up the sporting world and his high-flying act against Brisbane a few weeks later earned Mark of the Week honours from the AFL. 

But his latest one, the match-winner against the Roosters, is the true measure of his improvement. 

Coates has always been a player capable of the incredible. He can fly high and perform acrobatic finishes in the corner, and he’s done so for a while now.

But this year Coates is playing tougher. He’s running harder, using every bit of his 194cm, 108kg frame, especially in yardage and in defence, two areas of the game that haven’t always been his strength.

To score the winner on Thursday night he barged through Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Connor Watson and Victor Radley, all tremendous defenders, to score. 

It’s the kind of finish he might not have made last year and that willingness to throw himself around physically has helped Coates become a far more well-rounded player for the Storm. 

ABC Player of the year awards:

3 – Jahrome Hughes (Storm)

2 – Xavier Coates (Storm)

1 – Lindsay Collins (Roosters)

2. Zac Lomax’s Origin case might soon be undeniable

In the space of seven weeks Zac Lomax has played some of the best football of his career in a position he doesn’t want to play, asked for a release from the Dragons, signed with another club and, incredibly, has entered New South Wales Origin calculations. 

Blues coach Michael Maguire has confirmed Lomax on his radar and the Temora product again showed why with a scintillating display against the Warriors.

Lomax scored a try, kicked five goals, booted a two-point field goal and was involved throughout the Dragons brilliant upset win over the Warriors. His four-pointer, a spectacular leaping effort early in the second half, was a mark of his seemingly unlimited talent. 

For a while now it seemed as though that talent might not be fully realised. But if Lomax keeps going like this the stages will only get bigger because he’s playing the kind of football that’s impossible to ignore. 

ABC Player of the year awards:

3 – Zac Lomax (Dragons)

2 – Ben Hunt (Dragons)

1 – Francis Molo (Dragons)

3. Young sensations and late bloomers dazzle for Dolphins

The Dolphins were without four of their best players for their trip to Darwin to play Parramatta and, just to make things a little more difficult, they also didn’t have coach Wayne Bennett after the veteran mentor was struck by illness. 

Any win over Parramatta in those circumstances would have been impressive but running out 44-16 winners made this one of the finest performances in the club’s nascent history and it was two contrasting players who led the way. 

Isaiya Katoa is fast becoming the side’s dominant attacking presence and the young halfback again orchestrated his side’s attack with a veteran’s touch in a superb showing of control and play making skill. At just 20 years old, he’s already going a long way towards justifying the hype which surrounded him in his junior days at the Panthers. 

Trai Fuller has never quite attracted the same attention, although that might change now. The 27-year-old has spent the last six seasons playing with Redcliffe in the Queensland Cup but this was just his second NRL game. You’d never have guessed it from his performance though as Fuller scored a try, set up another and looked sharp with every touch of the ball.

The Dolphins will need to navigate more rough waters as they wait for their stars to return but with Katoa and Fuller leading the way they’ll still be very dangerous for any team who dares to take them lightly. 

ABC Player of the year awards:

3 – Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins)

2 – Trai Fuller (Dolphins)

1 – Isaiya Katoa (Dolphins)

4. Panthers remain favourite in a messy comp

There have been those who have been quick to write off the Penrith Panthers as having fallen off, and while they may have lost a step, no-one else has established themselves as the primary challenger.

Cronulla and Melbourne are on top of the table with five wins, but are you really convinced by either of those sides — the scrappy Storm who refuse to win by more than single digits and the Sharks who got pumped 32-6 by the Tigers less than a month ago?