🏉 NRL Analysis - Cameron Ciraldo's transformative coaching

Better than the legal better than lego coops, the two eliminated terms. The Dog's best story of the season. Uh Cameron Serrella wented the season under a degree of pressure, probably self imposed, probably pressure on himself. Made he was He was fantastic. He's proven himself as the coach.

Every thought he was the worst defensive team last year. Shot to the top of the defensive sharts and for the majority of that game where the dominant team and probably should have gone on to win. He changed the style in terms of he went after let's say, character and workers and guys who could tackle, move, be effective as opposed to sort of talent and size. I thought, you know, there are a couple of I thought Kickout was tremendous. Like I thought, he's balanced between intimidation defensively

Yesterday in that second half.

They had a howling win behind their back, and all they needed to do in that second half when things got a bit crazy. Was kick earlier a couple of times forced Manly to come off their trial one more then give away a penalty, kick out, charge down and a couple of errors that allowed those two tries to Manly to win it. If they had a few more big game experience, I think there's a few different changes they probably.

Going to win that.

You're right, there were little moments in that second half I see, like Josh Current to push that time to the ground, your field positions like to give that away. That's aggression, just billing over an ill disciplined.

So Manly, we're never going to get out of there and end with that wind in their face. The only way they were going to get out was through errors and penalties from the Dogs, and that last play like a trick like that was the only way they're going to get out. If burn had had kicked earlier a couple of occasions, I think it's a different result.

Right the Knights. Like last season, the best football come at the back end of the year. But I think it's time for the Knights. It's time to take that next step.

Yeah, I agree, crept.

Into the finals, but still haven't been able to really establish themselves as a finals team, if that makes sense.

I don't go back as far as you, but I'll tell you what exc Calen Ponger. That is the best individual performance from a losing team in the final I have seen.

Been phenomenal.

He was so good.

He was Yeah, he was all forms of Superman for the Knights on the weekend was he was tremendous. And if they're going to do that next step, he needs a bit to help.

They need they need.

A half like I think, look, Cogger's probably got, you know, the fundamentals of the other half. It could be that ConTroll in seven kick and create and provide space. But they need someone else that's a little bit not as dynamic as Kailyn because there's no one else around.

But they need.

Someone to compliment Kaylan with the footwork, the speed, the break in the lines. Just something he can help on the other side of the rock, because if Kaitlin doesn't do it, and Bradman Best doesn't do it, there's not enough more athleticism in around that spine ball plan that can create that plan.

B Yeah, I'll tell you what. When plan it works with Kaylen.

That's right, it's so good, you know, off the big off season coming up capwise too, I mean off the field, a lot of stuff to do. That.

That's the thing that we don't have any insight too. Right.

It's easy for us to say, look, get a half or whatever, but they've obviously got some issues there. But if they are to take that next step, I think they need to find what out there, what their best spine is. I think Cogga's the obvious one, but there needs to be someone else that steps up that can compliment that.

Some of the selections were unusual, like this year. You know that they just chopped and changed with the spine, which made it very hard to form combinations and the core of the side, including I thought the Phoenix Crosslan was having a storm of a year in dummy halfs and then suddenly plucked out of there and put in seven.

I get why we critique coaches for chopping and changing, but also put it back on the players. No one stands up and grabs it. There's an opportunity there, Yep, there's the seven jersey, it's yours. Six weeks later you change, Well, something happened that play didn't grabbed that opportunity and then I get it. So maybe the carrot was there to be dangled and no one really took it.

For Dylan Lucas was the best place. Kal was the best player. I thought he was. He was terrific.

Yeah, very very good.

Dependth and the storm week one, how good? Well, how good? Honestly man so good. Before we talk about na Isaiah, I thought his performance was fantastic, very selfless performance because he had Jerome Lewy in career best form, Nathan coming back, and so I think in his own mind, I think you thought, well, you know, I don't need to be out there trying to create with my passing game still a little bit of it, but it was his running game.

Yeah, I think the word you use was selfless. And even the Melbourne Storm like that on the weekend, when one of your gun players is on play your role, let that person go and then when you get an opportunity you might be able to take advantage of it. But yeah, in terms of Isaiah, they always say that he's the distributor and the connector. Well, they just played the power game and punched the roosters first and they're on the back foot from where we go, and he

And Nathan he hasn't already or before, he certainly has entered that next realm.

When the best was there another realm for him to enter.

I don't maybe what you know, but when you sit there, oftentimes people say, right, who's the best?

Ever?

They go It was a Joey was a Wally is a JT you know. But Cameron Smith of course now he's in that discussion.

One thing I will say about Nathan is he understands his influence and impact for a guy that had a left shoulder injury, who's coming up against and all the

Like it was a his performance.

Physically was, but his spirit and sort of ability to tell everyone else what's happening it was pretty impressive as well.

And look at it when I say this, I'm not insinuating players are soft, but there are some players that just can't quite play with injury. And then you got a bloke by Nathan and other players you could just compartmentalize, can get out there and play a few times in the game like Crean is doing. Oh surely you know that we ran ran the charge down fell on a loose ball. I'm thinking made Yeah, I was half expecting it up and hold it.

Just you watch it closely. There's issues there.

He does go to grab a ball at one stage pull it back, he does go to fall and rolls, so there's a couple of things that he's very much aware. But from the surface level he didn't give any indication. But there's still an injury because there was a couple of times where the ball was loose, they didn't actually extend to grab it.

Yeah, beautifully balanced spine. I mean clear is the centerpiece. You've got to dill in there would who can play like an extra forward, who just basically confustantly great.

He went up a level two millin like it's been a big if him with Origin. Played rep foot at the back end of last year and he had that leg injury, but he was he was great, Like there was something in the water out at Penrith for that.

First half over the oak Milk, Newcastle, Hexham shout out of the hexam hornets the storm.

On the other side.

You talk about the impact of Cleary, there's a couple of things in terms of Monsters in his career. When he's dialed in, he runs the ball early in contests. In his Big Origin debut, this is when he did first run early in the contest. Cameron Monster doesn't wait for the game, he goes to him. This was his debut in seventeen. Look at the time here Game three Origin Decider at Suncourt. Twenty seconds, second player of the game. He's running the football. And then on the weekend, what's

Yeah.

If there's one thing you try and stop with Melbourne, you have to stop their harves from running the football. But the bigger the game, the more monster runs. He had seventeen cars on the weekend. Wow, seventeen carriage.

You're right, early on he sets his compass. I'm going to run the football. Just that's my tip. That's all I'm going to do. You know it was coops. You know, I was sitting there watching the game yesterday. I'm sorry on Saturday, the Melbourne storm and look at the fourth crowd. I went, I went to Melbourne. It's run. That organization has done an incredible job. I remember going to Melbourne for the first time in the early nineties. Rugby league

Well, winning is king and consistency is the thing that underpins Melbourne Storm for Craig's tenure anyway, So he is the key to all that, is the consistent part of all that. And I'll tell you what, like Penrith through the first puncher made a statement in the first half twenty four nilm and what Melbourne responded with the next day was like, okay, well these two teams are on collision.

Got interviewed Nathan Clear at the start of the year the podcast and he said a turning point for that playing group was when they're beaten by Melbourne in the Grand Final. He said when they went back and had a look at the tape, he said it was clear to them that they were completely bullied. He said Melbourne played like men, were playing like boys. He said, they completely bullied us, and he said we made a decision right there, no one will bully this again. In fact,

That's why we spoke about this before. Paramatter should have done exactly the same thing when they lost to Penrith, but they didn't. They started going backwards and played the spoon ball and if the Broncos don't fix up their issues.

They should have.

Judged what went wrong in that Grand Final because Penrith did it. And they've gone like that since Melbourne of whenever they've lost one have worked out what went wrong and they've addressed it and gone that way. And that's where the separation in the ladder.

Yes, it'll be interesting that they meet each other in the Grand Final. It's almost full for you. And what's remarkable about both those clubs is we seen with the Broncos how tricky success can be. Coops. All the adulation, you know.

It's not trigger at all. It's it's team first. It's whatever helps the team trick better.

Not trigging for you with your personally grigging. I get that for some people. You know, every year it wasn't trigging for me. Too much success every year success, stop talking, stop laughing.

Every year every team decides they want to win the trophy, right, every decision you make at the training pack on the field should be based on that team lifting that not what can you get out.

Of the whole situation?

Sounds easy? Sounds yeah, manly that that particular playing group. I think that's their greatest win one of those games, not their greatest performance, but what they what they're up against, the whole crowd against them, and for most of the game, Dogs had the whip hand, And I think it's the sort of game that the belief can give you a lot of momentum going through the rest of the final series. Tom Travoievich early in the game Coups, I thought, he's not going to be able to get through this job.

When Crichton scored that try, you could see wanted to extend that arm rolled over. He was obviously in pain. Got another injection and more padding in at halftime. But someone like him, it's like the presence, right, the presence of Tom you have to respect, so you're going to mark him up defensively no matter what. And I loved what Cherry Evans and Brooks did. They used him up as a bit of a bait or a bit of a decoy, and ultimately they had to come up with players.

It's a blind pass.

Isn't a hell of a pass? Yeah? Yes, And if anyone was going to break.

Open the game, that's a great shot.

If anyone's going to break up the game, it had to be Cherry Evans. His second half was enormous, that scrum play, and then the other one was the coler try. The fact is they had a big breeze in front of them and they weren't going to kick themselves to victory. They had to come up with something. On the fifth play, he runs a ball risk first reward with that offload and then this is basically the try that wins in the match. So Gola was speakers on the outside of

I said this on the Sunday Night Show. He's a bit of a fun fact for you, is that back in the nineteenth in the seventies, well up until about nine to eighty one eighty two, that's no try because you could not score a try with one boot. If you lost a boot, there was no try. You had to score a try in full uniform.

What happens if you lost two boots?

No try, no tie. We don't talk cowboys shortly roosters.

I thought, what did you make of them?

I thought, emotionally, I thought they left in the barriers. That's you know. And lotentimes people will say to you, sports psychologists will get there and say, you know, before games, you just got to keep yourself nice and calm, well balanced. I disagree.

Sometimes, you know, we use that analogy of a heavyweight boxer and you pumped up, you walk out in the ring and then one on the just throws a jab, hitching the nose in your eyes water. It was almost like that, Like Fisher, Harris and Leota. It's like they got together before the game said this is our last roll together. Yep, let's do this, and just walked out there and threw the first bunch and it put them on the back.

Floor before we have a look at the first set of six. Easy to say in hindsight, but at the time, I know Spencer comes off the bench regularly. But Spencer really he spoke through the week with a lot of intent and given the fact that finals it's so essential to be up emotionally, I thought he should have started to match him and to match those the lead and Fisher Harris, and to not get on the field until it was twenty two nil. You actually his first run

Yeah. I get that.

But then sort of leading into the game, you're thinking, Okay, how can we win this?

What is Spencer that?

Like his performances in Origin were they were devastating off the bench. Maybe the concept was that, you know, if you can hold that game tight and Spencer comes out, starts skittling defenders, gives a little bit of momentum.

But hindsight's of.

Course, we saw the Bulldogs the way they started really physical, really up from emotionally. They're probably the Rooster's first set defensively, and defense is what it's what it's all about, you know, because when you're when you measure intent and desperation by the energy you exert in defense. See like for me, they're lacking aggression here, but this is the big one. So they hit, they make their way to halfway. It's a good set. But loure this Nathan Cleary, come on,

That play freaking Watch that again. Watch the position to do, Watch the position of doing edwards, because I think they've actually spotted something here in the Rooster's sort of last play defense. He's sitting here, he's ready to run. He is ready to run. That's the first set of a big game. You're normally going to kick and chase he's in a position to run here. He's only going to

So pretty impressive.

There Sharks where they're disappointing. Yeh know, there was the kickoff, but at the end of the day, those things can happen. You've got to be able to number one defend that error and number two forget about it and get on with the game.

It pops the balloon a first thing like that.

But I thought they did well to get back in and that tried just before halftime.

Melbourne's dominance in the first half, it was hard to believe it was fourteen ten. Yeah, but what do you make of their footy? I thought their football there was a lack of decisiveness. And we said about this a lot about the Sharks. Sharks play their best football when they play direct, nice and north south power based aggression. And you said before about Munster. If you want to play a certain way, you've got to start. You've got to set your compass right. Munster, he's a runner of

It's pretty nice.

That's very nice. Now, but this, you know, and you're starting to get sideways. So next play again, first receiver plays across. Then they come back into the middle with nick a another first receiver play and they end up making Look this next play they go again and have another play and they make some meterage. But my problem is coops for me just set their compass wrong.

Yeah. The thing there I pick up on that is a lot of first receiver play at particularly early in a big game. The line speed or you know that the opposition get involved and defensively pushes that first receiver sideways, and if it's a half, it's first receiver most likely not going to run. Therefore that advantage line gets taken away a bit. It's probably why Isa does a lot of first receiver stuff because if that line speed comes up, he can.

Just run the frond the ball. That's right.

Set them their compass more north south because they use their He's got to skill that not too many other people have. But when you put it half up to touch the ball off the first receiver to get momentum, that line speed can really stifle them.

And you know three off.

One of the things we've said about the Sharks is do less. That's a perfect example of trying to do too much in a set of seats.

What do you make of Niko.

You can see he's down, down in confidence. Well, we'll look. I'll say this, it's your group. Put Nathan Cleary in there, and I don't know how much impact Nathan would have had given the fact that they were just smashed in the artist battle.

Yeah, it's a nice direct play for the first try the ball on Telly. Think his mindset was right there. But this is the toughest competition in the world. Nothing given to you. So my advice is to Nicko's keep going. Yeah, don't balk now, this is a huge kind of test. You know what, Nico, go watch some monster clips, Go watch him North South early in the game. Nico, go to dummy half and run the football on the second

I'd sit him and trendle down and say, Tricky, I want you to run the show. I want you with the true shot caller, Nika. I want you to play in the halves like a fullback. That's what I want you to do. I want you to play your fullback game and just run the football. I want you to relax, float around the field. And I think that would leave he had a lot of pressure in the build up to the game in his own mind.

One little thing where you can say, if the Sharks kick off, the halfback always sort of goes the wing defensively. If that media kickoff, Nico, you go park yourself at your normal position, fly down there and.

Make it tackle. Yeah, just like a bit like Nathan did with his sore shoulder.

Just fly down in front of the line and get in a aggressive mindset, and on your first kick return instead of dishes off.

To one of the outside backs.

Have we Goops, let's talk about next week. Arli Aunt's I love that both games. Darliance tasting back to the early nineties when early nineties, when they had the major, seventy four people would descend from all over Australia to go there.

It need a big crowd for the Sharks Scows. I think the Bruces Marely would be big.

Yep, yeah, yeah, I think so. Sharks Cowboys. Where do the Cowboys sit? Coops?

Oh they were so good again on the weekend. But we've said this a thousand times. I could not sit here honestly and say I know what the Cowboys going to do on the weekend.

But I will say this.

I think what I liked from the weekend of the Cowboys is when there was a moment the Cowboys players were there. I thought Carle felt at a tremendous game. US intercept try off Kalin. If that goes the other way, Newcastle score, He's tapped back for ultimately the match winner for Cotta to score. There's just a couple of moments sort of feel like the Cowboys players are putting their jersey in the picture. And I think this comes down the styles of Sharks for the Cowboys, because they both

He's playing really.

Good foot, He's playing really good She's all I did.

He He's not east the west, straight up and down.

Good idea, right, make it? But what you will people with North Corners Land and you know Dairy Farmers Stadium up there? What about? What about this right? Waiting for a statue Cale phelp? How much he's done for the club? Everything? Statue of him putting that ball down the Grand Final? You like it?

Yeah? I like it. He's probably already got one at home of himself.

Maybe he does. You've heard he for wins. Who wins that game? Sharks, Cowboys for their reckon.

I think the Cowboys are probably the favorite here. I don't know if I'm out of my mind saying this, but I'm going to go to Sharks and the favorite. I'm going to say Sharks. I'm going to say Craig Fitzgibbon has them breathing fire. And I'm going to double down on Nicker. I'm going to I'm going to double down and doubling down otherwise it's going to be a huge off season.

So sis given Sharks and Nico. They lose this again.

There'll be eight finals games in a row. I think Sharks, I'm backing to get it right. It's really funny. Both of these sides, I think will be the most difficult size you to read on the season, and both sides very quite often a great performance is followed by a blood shirt and vice versa.

Yeah, it's almost like the poor performance makes them focus in on the simple things that make them.

A good footy dear. Yeah, and I think the Sharks.

I think the Sharks mainly Roosters going to be a terrific game.

What are you thinking?

I think mainly how do they win? Do you put me on the spot here? I do like Manly. I like what I thought. Homoli was very good yesterday, very very strong. Tom. I reckon he'll be closer to one. It will be closer the experience of d C. I like Manly.

Yeah. I think if Mainly are to win, you've got to sort of The Roosters give away penalties, they turn over the ball at different stages, so like Jerry Evans struck against the Dogs, when they get an opportunity, I think they need to strike And I don't think it's through the middle. I think it's some of their lateral movement and their speed involved. And Tom needs to be thereabout. He needs to be taking some flies off other people,

Oh.

I think that's where it sits.

Ya know.

They can't be caught behind the start again.

You'd imagine he moved straight into starting front row and potentially his last game for the Roosters.

There should be a lot of.

Likepression and physicality to start of the game.

Yeah, just on me. I wonder how how good books he felt after the game. Luke Brooks, he should have just been he'd have been buzzing to get that first finals game and get up the win and play the way he did.

And he had some nice touches early on, like he ran the ball and you know, defensively was on. But when they stood up at the back end like the dogs, I thought, frontload a lot of energy and they're fatigue just started creeping in where it probably shouldn't have and it cost them at the wrong time. And you've got to tip your cap to Cherry Evans scored one basically set up the match.

Winner, finished with what do you think? What do you think of must awful? I'm getting mistaken with Tom Selleck in the street all the time. That's awful there it is.

That is a revolting wink.

And look that's my good side too, that's the good.

Signally sorry for Trisha every morning.

If that's the good side.

I could look at miss Off all day. Yeah, I'm down the beach club, right, it gets weird. I go down to the local. I sit there sometimes and I'm having a bet. And then on the other side, Maddey John Shall come on and I'm just look at it and they look at this play. All the blokes, the old boys stand there go. Mate, unbelievable. God is so busy.

You know.

We've told me, look, you're on the TV. I don't tell much to replace.

Maybe the last time is your house. There was ninety seven Grand Final on replay too.

It was mate, was like shrine.

You made me bow in the presence of greatness to the jersey and the ring and everything too.

We're playing Oasis. It's full tilt. And then Trisha come outside and told me, told me to turn off album sisters grow on the cubs

Mhm