TV hides the blemishes, but NRL living large thanks to halo effect
By Roy Masters
April 20, 2024 — 9.00am
A close game is not necessarily a high-quality game, especially when viewed at the ground, as opposed to watching on television.
This was evident when Wests Tigers hosted the Dragons last Sunday before a full house at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, squandering an opportunity to impress a vast local population by playing intelligent football.
Benji Marshall’s team trailed by only 10 points when they took zero advantage of a set in front of the posts and, instead of persevering with clever forward play, swung the ball right, then left. It is “windscreen wiper” football, where a team spins the ball from sideline to sideline, without any movement forward, demanding minimum adjustment from the defence to counter it.
Captain and hooker Apisai Koroisau had earlier shown the way, hypnotising the Dragons’ defence to send a short ball to the rampaging Stefano Utoikamanu in the 14th minute. The crowd gasped at the cleverness but saw little of it during the next 66 minutes and the Tigers missed an opportunity to show the fans why they should fill Campbelltown again when they meet the Broncos in Anzac Round.
Still, a 24-12 finish meant the game presented well on TV, joining the other relatively close scores we have seen over the first quarter of the season.
The NRL and TV deserve much credit for this exhilarating start.
Rugby League Central has constructed the draw in such a way that the top teams have played each other early and the bottom teams have also met. Last year’s top three (Panthers, Broncos, Storm) had all played each other by round five. The fifth-placed Dolphins have played the Dragons, the Titans, the Tigers and had a bye, all by round five.
Las Vegas Sunday, when the US gambling capital hosted four glamour clubs in the opening round, produced record TV ratings for the time slots in Australia. The US games have also had a halo effect, with big crowds and high TV ratings extending into later rounds.
That has been assisted by a draw that has avoided as many potential early-season blowouts as possible, together with TV commentators talking up the play.
The Raiders have added to the excitement by defying expectations, especially after the departure of Jack Wighton to the Rabbitohs. They are third on the ladder after round six, defeating more favoured teams, such as Newcastle and Parramatta.
The common factor among the winning teams is a pair of clever halves and the Raiders’ resurrection has been led by Jamal Fogarty, a 30-year-old thrice rejected by the Titans. Conversely, South Sydney, sitting at the bottom of the ladder, are spluttering because their halves, especially the experienced Cody Walker, are struggling to impose themselves.
Even the top teams can lose cohesion when they are missing their best halves. The Storm’s only defeat so far was against Newcastle when half Jahrome Hughes was suspended and five-eighth Cameron Munster was sidelined with injury.
Television lifts the dullest of contests. Those who watched from their lounge rooms as the Roosters and Storm made 24 errors and conceded 17 penalties on Thursday night had a better experience than those at Allianz Stadium.
The TV camera, by focussing on the ruck that separates the lines of attack and defence, fits the play neatly into the screen. This is a phenomenon I observed very early in my coaching career when I left Leichhardt Oval after a spluttering, error-ridden midweek Amco Cup match, fearful of how it would be a turn-off for viewers, only to be amazed when I watched the delayed telecast to see how much the players had improved in the time it took to return to the club.
However, the NRL draw is now approaching what looks to be a vanilla period when the top teams will play the less skilful ones. The Anzac Round has three potential blowouts in the Storm-Rabbitohs, Warriors-Titans and Broncos-Tigers.
Raiders boss Ricky Stuart – who swallows losses as if they were castor oil – will be looking for revenge against Cronulla. Other than the round-nine Las Vegas rematch between the Broncos and Roosters, there are no obvious blockbusters during the next couple of rounds.
Nevertheless, injuries, suspensions, bunker blunders, sin bins and HIAs will produce upsets over a month of possible one-sided contests.
But then comes Magic Round mid-May and, with all teams playing in Brisbane before big crowds, most teams should lift. Curiously, the NRL staged potentially the best match in terms of quality at 1.50pm on a Sunday, when last year’s fourth-placed team, the Warriors, meet the premiers. You can excuse this glitch in a draw which must be a permutation nightmare for the NRL’s boffins, forcing their computer to occasionally gag on its bytes.
The first State of Origin match comes less than three weeks after Magic Round, meaning that if the quality of play survives the next few weeks, the NRL will have reached mid-season in stellar condition.
The Las Vegas venture was essentially about the pursuit of the US wagering dollar but the best gamble the NRL pulled off was to showcase its big games early, producing a halo effect, especially on TV.
The schedulers of the NRL’s draw deserve much credit for an exhilarating start to the season by successfully building on the Las Vegas showcase.
www.smh.com.au
