Introduction of new NRL rule makes momentum king in 2020
If there is one word that will define the 2020 NRL season it is momentum. Momentum has become the creator and the destroyer. It can turn periods, win games, create streaks and potentially even take a team to premiership success.
The ability to, in the words of Souths Sydney coach Wayne Bennett following the Rabbitohs come-frombehind win over Parramatta, “grab the moment”, has become so critical.
The introduction of the set restart has changed rugby league to its very core. The game is not only faster through the reduction of stopping and starting, but it is also exponentially faster in a team’s ability to build momentum.
It is no longer possible to grind out wins. Teams not playing their best cannot rely on shutting a game down, making it ugly and winning a slugfest, the way the Melbourne Storm have been able to do for a generation. Even they have moved on. In 2020, when you win momentum, you need to make it count on the scoreboard.
At one stage on Saturday night, there was a 10-minute period where South Sydney made 53 tackles to Parramatta’s three. The Eels scored three tries. Clint Gutherson led what looked an indomitable tidal wave after Parramatta had absorbed some early South Sydney pressure. They lost by 14.
South Sydney, of course, have understood and capitalised on this more than arguably any other team. When the new set restart rule was introduced there were plenty in the game who believed it would favour dynamic Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook more than any other player.
Souths coach Bennett was arguably the key football figure on Project Apollo and coaches are always looking for an edge. Cook’s ability to take advantage of the new rule did not bear immediate fruit but premierships are not won in June. Over the last three weeks, there has been no player better than the speedy Bunnies rake. As smart as he is fast, Cook has turned a single into an unrelenting Bunnies barrage. The questions and the tests for opponents on the back foot is relentless.
Souths piled on 60 against the defending premiers in the final round of the season. They scored 46 straight points to overrun the Knights. They added 30 in the second half to chase down an Eels team that finished above them on the ladder.
Momentum is not given, it is created. The new rule does not bestow momentum. It creates an opportunity for it. Souths have seized the moment better than any team this finals series. Carpe diem. Like Kingston Town sweeping home from the tail of the field, Souths have turned moments into a tidal wave of momentum built on confidence and belief that transcends games. Wayne Bennett has timed this to perfection.
Canberra have similarly focussed their tilt at going one better in 2020 by scoring in waves. They have absorbed when momentum is working against them knowing they have the killer instinct to pounce when required. Ricky Stuart is a sometimes-maligned coach but despite a large injury toll and a general lack of star power, he has instilled in his team of footballers an ability to grab the moment. This team lost nearly 10 games by a score or less just three years back.
On Friday night though, it was less about the Raiders getting momentum than preventing the Roosters from finding any. Some terrifying forward running from Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine ensured that the Raiders always played from in front.
Nobody could have forecast the challenges that were to face the Roosters as they chased the first hat-trick of premierships since Parramatta in 1983. The pandemic that swept the world did no team any favours but it was particularly difficult for a Roosters team not only operating in uncharted waters but attempting to replace one of the greatest halfbacks to play the game.
The Roosters lost in the opening week of their defence, the season stopped a round later and save for a period of dominance soon after the resumption, could not build any momentum. No contender had a worse run with injuries. The loss of Victor Radley killed the style that the Roosters wanted to play. They rarely managed to get their best 17 on the field and had troubles at halfback. Their skipper caused great concern with a string of head-knocks that clearly had the club worried.
Conceding 60 to rivals Souths in the final round of the season was stunning but it proved a portent of what was to come. A team that could not build any momentum of their own was being run over by teams that were riding a wave.
Parramatta, more than any team who reached the second week of the finals, seemed least prepared. No team shot themselves in the foot more, crystallised perfectly by Mitchell Moses’ missed penalty in front that would have levelled the scores against Souths. It astonishingly clattered off the post and was collected by Souths, who ran the length of the field and scored moments later.
The four teams remaining in title contention have not necessarily been the four best teams of 2020. But they are certainly the teams who have understood and capitalised on momentum better than any others.