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Defending the Bulldogs left edge
We’ve mentioned the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs improving attack a few times already to begin the 2024 NRL regular season. They’re finding different ways to use Viliame Kikau on the left edge, either in a try scoring action or as the catalyst for points a few tackles earlier.
And so the game of rugby league cat-and-mouse begins.
While the Bulldogs tinker with a winning plan in attack, defending teams are already looking for ways to nullify Canterbury’s strike left edge.
In NRL Round 7, Newcastle showed their hand early to work hard from the inside and cut down Matt Burton’s time on the ball:
Dylan Lucas always knew Burton was his assignment here and gets a constant reminder from Tyson Gamble who points his backrower at the Bulldogs five-eighth. Some good support from Leo Thompson then covers Lucas’ inside when Burton turns it back underneath to Jacob Kiraz.
Here’s Gamble again pointing Lucas to get at Burton’s inside shoulder:
The Knights backrower not only cuts down Burton’s time to ballplay here but also crowds Kikau as an option cutting back against the grain.
The other benefit of Lucas working hard from the inside was how it released his outside men; Gamble and Enari Tuala were repeatedly allowed to slide early and get their bodies in front, one channel wider:
Now here’s where the cat-and-mouse games get really good.
The best evidence of Canterbury’s improvements this season is how they responded to what the Knights were doing off the ball in NRL Round 7. As fatigue set in and Newcastle’s linespeed and inside support faded, the Bulldogs adjusted to play a little more direct:
And in good-ball they set up wider on the right post to engage the defence through the middle before passing to Burton on the edge; just look at the space Canterbury create for Burton here:
It’s Brodie Jones in for Lucas and he doesn’t release his edge defenders like Lucas did in the previous examples. Holding too long on Josh Curran’s lead decoy, Jones can’t recover quickly enough to get at Burton’s inside shoulder.
With all the time in the world to sum things up, Burton pulls the Knights centre and winger in towards the ball before linking with Connor Tracey to put Josh Addo-Carr over in the corner.
I’m curious to see how Benji Marshall instructs his players to contain Canterbury’s left edge attack in NRL Round 9.
It’s impossible to know exactly where the Bulldogs points will be scored but Wests will be confident in where those scoring actions might begin. If the Tigers can nullify Kikau and limit the havoc and ruck speed he generates on that left edge, it will go a long way to containing the Bulldogs attack as a whole.
rugbyleaguewriters.com
We’ve mentioned the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs improving attack a few times already to begin the 2024 NRL regular season. They’re finding different ways to use Viliame Kikau on the left edge, either in a try scoring action or as the catalyst for points a few tackles earlier.
And so the game of rugby league cat-and-mouse begins.
While the Bulldogs tinker with a winning plan in attack, defending teams are already looking for ways to nullify Canterbury’s strike left edge.
In NRL Round 7, Newcastle showed their hand early to work hard from the inside and cut down Matt Burton’s time on the ball:
Dylan Lucas always knew Burton was his assignment here and gets a constant reminder from Tyson Gamble who points his backrower at the Bulldogs five-eighth. Some good support from Leo Thompson then covers Lucas’ inside when Burton turns it back underneath to Jacob Kiraz.
Here’s Gamble again pointing Lucas to get at Burton’s inside shoulder:
The Knights backrower not only cuts down Burton’s time to ballplay here but also crowds Kikau as an option cutting back against the grain.
The other benefit of Lucas working hard from the inside was how it released his outside men; Gamble and Enari Tuala were repeatedly allowed to slide early and get their bodies in front, one channel wider:
Now here’s where the cat-and-mouse games get really good.
The best evidence of Canterbury’s improvements this season is how they responded to what the Knights were doing off the ball in NRL Round 7. As fatigue set in and Newcastle’s linespeed and inside support faded, the Bulldogs adjusted to play a little more direct:
And in good-ball they set up wider on the right post to engage the defence through the middle before passing to Burton on the edge; just look at the space Canterbury create for Burton here:
It’s Brodie Jones in for Lucas and he doesn’t release his edge defenders like Lucas did in the previous examples. Holding too long on Josh Curran’s lead decoy, Jones can’t recover quickly enough to get at Burton’s inside shoulder.
With all the time in the world to sum things up, Burton pulls the Knights centre and winger in towards the ball before linking with Connor Tracey to put Josh Addo-Carr over in the corner.
I’m curious to see how Benji Marshall instructs his players to contain Canterbury’s left edge attack in NRL Round 9.
It’s impossible to know exactly where the Bulldogs points will be scored but Wests will be confident in where those scoring actions might begin. If the Tigers can nullify Kikau and limit the havoc and ruck speed he generates on that left edge, it will go a long way to containing the Bulldogs attack as a whole.
NRL Round 9 Notepad: Defending Canterbury's improving left edge & a new Walsh try - Rugby League Writers
We’ve mentioned the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs improving attack a few times already to begin the 2024 NRL regular season.
rugbyleaguewriters.com
