Set of Six: Why the NRL needs to change the Dally M's

Are the Dally M Award no longer fit for purpose? Also this week: Gus Gould sparks the NRL’s next great rivalry (hopefully), the ongoing soap opera at Wests Tigers, and the Rookie of the Year.

So… what is a shoulder charge, exactly?

In another example of the mystifying NRL judiciary process, Sam Burgess escaped a two-week ban after being cited by the match review committee for a shoulder charge on Bulldog Greg Eastwood. The conclusion was almost certainly the right decision given the incident in question. Indeed, the bigger mystery was why Burgess was cited in the first place, given the tackle didn’t remotely resemble the aggressive Sonny Bill style shoulder charge that the ban was designed to outlaw.

The NRL is obviously trying to clean up the game, but when it is nearly impossible to define what an illegal act such a shoulder charge looks like, something is amiss. There is an obvious disconnect between what the match review committee saw and how the judiciary interpreted the incident after hearing evidence – if these two bodies of experts are at odds with what constitutes a shoulder charge then how can the average fan figure it out?

Is this the NRL’s next great rivalry?

The history of the NRL is built on epic rivalries. Fibros versus Silvertails. The Dogs of War versus Sterlo’s Eels in the 1980’s. Alan Langer belting out ‘St George can’t play’ while hoisting the trophy. It’s these sorts of indelible images that burn themselves into the minds of league fans and makes rugby league the game it is.

These days there is a serious dearth of compelling rivalries in the NRL outside of Brisbane-North Queensland, but it looks like the Cronulla Sharks and Penrith Panthers are doing their best to bring back a little bit of animosity. The bad blood started when Penrith supremo Phil Gould suggested that Cronulla won a ‘soft’ Premiership, a comment the Sharks used as fuel to deliver a clinical smack down in their first showdown of the season. Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan followed it up post-match by suggesting that Gould’s comments were a result of the Panthers getting ‘rissoled’ in last year’s final series.

https://twitter.com/mm_newscorpaus/status/854487062069694464

This budding feud has all the hallmarks of a classic – two teams with contrasting playing styles and fan bases, an established team with a Premiership under their belt versus a group of exciting upstarts with designs on winning a title of their own. Hopefully the product on the field can live up to the stoush off it. While the teams don’t meet again during the regular season, hopefully they draw each other in the finals when the stakes are at their highest. It would be worth just for the press conferences alone.

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Are the Tigers finally going to make a call on Mitch Moses?

Another week and NRL fans have had to endure another seven days of speculation about where Mitchell Moses might be playing next week. Moses is still waiting on confirmation on whether the Tigers will let him move to Parramatta mid-season. Coupled with rumours that fellow ‘Big Four’ members Aaron Woods and James Tedesco are also moving on, Concord Oval has seen more soap opera than Summer Bay this season.

Assuming Tigers coach Ivan Cleary will actually block Mitchell Moses’ in-season move to Parramatta (and it’s not just a part of some brinkmanship to extract some form of compensation from the Eels) it seems like that part of the saga of the ‘Big Four’ is nearing its conclusion. Moses should move to Parramatta next season and spend the rest of the season with the rest of the ‘Big Four’ trying to help the Tigers towards respectability.

For Wests there was very little upside to letting Moses go early – there doesn’t appear to be a ready-made replacement in-house and the joint venture desperately to record some wins. It’s a fact of life that many NRL players find themselves suiting up for a club knowing they are going to move onto a rival club next season but the vast majority are professional enough to go about their business regardless. For Cleary’s part, taking a tough stance goes a long way towards establishing the sort of culture he is sure to demand at the Tigers – no single player is bigger than the club.

What’s the deal with the Dally M’s?

The Dally M’s are based on an antiquated system more suited to an under 10s carnival day than an elite professional competition. A total of six points are assigned per game with the best player receiving three. There is a slew of problems with this system – talented teammates cannibalise each other’s points totals and it allocates the same amount of points to a match regardless of quality or importance. By allocating a fixed total per match it rewards consistency over excellence and influence.

It might be easy to understand, but the current system does a terrible job of deciding who the best player in the NRL is. The Dally Ms rarely throw up a controversial result because the results are usually so bland – with the points totals public until round 16 the result is usually predictable. Because there is so little chance of the result surprising it sucks much of the drama (and consequently the interest) out of the Dally M Awards show.

For a sport that thrives on off-field drama as much as the product on the field the NRL is seriously missing a trick with the current set up. Imagine the weeks of debate that would ensue as talking heads battled over whether a prop can truly the ‘most valuable’ player, whether a strong finish to season outweighed season-long consistency or if Cooper Cronk could be a serious MVP candidate while playing alongside Cameron Smith.

The most interesting thing the debate around an MVP award would produce is illuminating what people value in rugby league – individual brilliance versus the ability to make teammates better, brilliant attack versus stolid allround play. Literally hours of programming has been filled with the likes of Buzz Rothfield and Phil Gould tearing strips off each other on the flimsiest of premises – at least this would give them an argument worth having. That’s even before someone started a debate about who gave a vote to Gould or Rothfield in the first place. Changing the Dally M voting structure is a no brainer.

Who is Rookie of the Year?

Speaking of awards season, it’s probably not too early to discuss who is in line to be crowned NRL Rookie of the Year. Seven rounds deep there has been a bevy of impressive young players make their mark on the comp but it’s hard to go past a rookie putting up serious minutes for a contender at one of the game’s most crucial positions.

The Sharks still miss arch-grub Michael Ennis, but the skilled Jayden Brailey has done his best to make them forget the Menace. With only a handful of first-grade games under his belt, 21-year-old Brailey has already shown hints of being a decade-long starter and future Origin player. Filling the gap at rake was a massive question mark over Cronulla’s attempts to repeat as premiers and Brailey has gone a long way to providing an answer.

And to top of the day, we wish our youngster a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We're behind you Brailz!#SharksForever 🦈 #NRLStormSharks pic.twitter.com/aTGLYdQk6X

— Cronulla Sharks (@cronullasharks) April 9, 2017

Runner-up goes to Manly’s Brian Kelly who has made a great fist of playing centre on an over-achieving Sea Eagles side, one of the few outside backs in recent memory to make a smooth transition from under 20’s to first grade. Honourable mention goes to the armada of other young outside backs making an impact on the NRL this year including Canberra’s Nick Cotric, North Queensland’s Kalyn Ponga and Gideon Gela-Mosby, South Sydney’s Braidon Burns and Canterbury’s Marcelo Montoya.

Match of the Round: Eels vs Panthers

The battle of the west is usually one of the season’s most riveting clashes and this edition should be no different. Both teams started the season with aspirations of playing finals football (and contending for a Premiership in the Panthers’ case) but both have stumbled early and are in desperate need of a win.

Both teams have been hobbled by injuries to crucial players, with Penrith hoping that young gun Bryce Cartwright can finally make his back from his long-running ankle injury this week. Parramatta fought back to record a come-from-behind victory over the Tigers last week and will be looking to record back-to-back wins for the first time since Round 2.

At their best, both teams feature a host of inventive attacking players and revel in playing a free-flowing style that should provide loads of fireworks. Whoever loses this match will face falling out of touch with the eight – look for desperation to push the Panthers to the victory, but expect an entertaining contest regardless of the outcome.

Picks (Last Week 6-2, Season Record 35-21): Raiders over Sea Eagles / Broncos over Rabbitohs / Panthers over Eels / Cowboys over Knights / Sharks over Titans / Bulldogs over Tigers / Dragons over Roosters / Storm over Warriors.

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