The Dragons take on the Eels this weekend in a clash that comes at a very important time for both clubs. The Dragons were poor last week against the fired-up Bulldogs and they'll be very keen to reassert themselves as Top Four contenders, while the Eels can't afford to drop many more games if they are to maintain a strong hope of making the finals while teams like the Panthers and Raiders start to find form.
The biggest concern for the Eels at the moment is the defensive weakness of Mitchell Moses. Club legend Nathan Hindmarsh came out this week and suggested that Moses should make way for the previously successful combination of Corey Norman and Clinton Gutherson, while spending some time in reserve grade working on his one-on-one tackling.
Moses joined the Eels a couple of weeks ago after a dramatic mid-season split from the Tigers. While he is a great attacking player with a lot of potential, he has always been known to miss the occasional key tackle.
Cooper Cronk was recently asked by a young halfback for advice on what he needed to do to make it in the NRL. Cronk's response was: "You need to be able to tackle." That's coming from one of the greatest game-management halfbacks the game has ever seen. To him, the first priority of any halfback should be to work on their tackling. In the current game, you will become the No. 1 target for all opposition teams if it is known that you can't tackle. The greater your defensive weaknesses, the more the opposition will target you.
Coaches often assign a forward to help out a smaller half on the edge of the ruck, but the risk involved there is that the forward will miss his own man because he is so worried about the player lining up to run at his half. The whole defensive line can be weakened and open to a dummy and step or a pass back inside. It is something Moses has to fix if he is to be the great half I believe he can be; like most things in this game, it's going to take a lot of hard work at training to get his tackling technique right.
Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizell will be missing from the Dragons side, on State of Origin duty, while the Eels are close to full strength. I thought it was a rare performance from the Eels last week against the Cowboys, as they have been playing with a lot more physicality and courage. It's in the skill department that they have been struggling, and that's where they need Moses at his best.
The other big match of the weekend could have been one of the games of the season if not for State of Origin.
I expect the Storm and Cowboys to be right in among it when the finals start later this year, and this would have been a great opportunity to see how they line up against each other. While Origin will tear the heart out of this game, it does allow the coaching staff at both clubs the perfect opportunity to see how the talent of the future go under the pressure of an NRL match.
These clubs are both expert at developing players through their Under 20s to first grade, and this weekend will force them to use players that might be another 18 months from being ready for that step up. Still the players will get a good gauge of where their games are and will be able to go away and work on any issues in the lower grades.
North Queensland will debut a tall, running half in Kyle Laybutt, who has had a long apprenticeship after playing halfback in the Cowboys Under 20s. He is a local-grown product, and they'll be looking to him to play alongside Michael Morgan once Johnathan Thurston hangs up the boots. He comes into the side next to the experience Ray Thompson, and he should be able to play his natural game while Thompson does most of the organising. It is always hard for a young bloke to come into first grade and order the older players around.
The Storm will be using two hookers in Slade Griffin and Brandon Smith to cover for the best in the game, Cameron Smith. Not many hookers these days can handle the full 80 minutes so the older Griffin will start the game before Smith takes over. Smith scored a try against the Knights on debut and looks to have the potential to take over once Cameron Smith retires. It's a shame the game has been robbed of some of the superstars of the game, but there is still plenty of interest in how these future stars will go on the big stage.