Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The pragmatic, let’s-give-anything-a-try nature of the NRL under Peter V’landys showed its two sides in round 26.
On Thursday, the ad hoc trial of a new kick-off rule, with the option given to the team that has conceded a try, did not seem so much a bad idea as a pointless one.
The Broncos, who enjoyed eight opportunities to choose whether to kick or receive, did not seem to know what to do. The Storm’s Harry Grant and Cameron Munster didn’t like it, saying their team was disadvantaged.
Maybe 46 points weren’t enough for them.
The trial looks like it might go the way of the two-referee system.
On the other hand, the damn-the-torpedoes idea of giving Jai Arrow run-ons so he can become the 67th 100-game Rabbitoh was warmly and rightly applauded.
Other codes might send such a proposal away to a year of subcommittees and lawyers debating “justice” and “principle”, but after South Sydney’s request, the NRL just went ahead and did it, creating the image of the year: Wayne Bennett putting Arrow’s socks on before the game.
Beautiful initiatives and experimenting with rules show a responsiveness to popular demand, the type of nimble, what-the-hell informality that builds the league-wide feeling of involvement and, in the gesture to Arrow, leaves a memory for all.
Trell and back
Latrell Mitchell needs an unlikely Souths charge to the grand final to become a 100-gamer for the Rabbitohs this season. On Saturday, he came on for the first time in three months.
The Bunnies had the wobbles. He delivered 30 minutes of pure Trellavision: a thumping hit-up, an error, conversions made and missed, a reportable offence for trying to take someone’s head off and a magical tip-on for a Tallis Duncan try.
While Mitchell was on, Souths sealed their finals spot with three tries.
They are roughies, but it’s impossible to give them a chance against the big teams unless Mitchell is on the field and producing his genius.
Grim news for Roosters
The serious injury to a key player is a rugby league Grim Reaper that hovers over every club, swinging his scythe cruelly and randomly.
Until Saturday night, the Roosters had been luckier than most in 2026, but the likely season-ending syndesmosis injury to Sam Walker showed how the reaper eventually comes for everyone.
Two weeks ago, the Roosters were genuine contenders after beating Penrith, now they have suddenly lost the air in their tyres.
Walker’s late injury was not the cause of their defeat, but it will make a form bounce more difficult. They were already being trounced by the Dolphins, who only had 11 or 12 men on the field for the last quarter and rarely looked troubled.
The Dolphins’ win was more thorough than the scoreboard indicated and one of the most impressive performances of the year.
That said, Penrith and the Warriors have been premiership favourites since round one and nothing has changed.
Top eight not great
Manly and the Bulldogs were finally put out of their misery in round 26. After the seasons both clubs have had, only the shallowness of this year’s competition kept them alive so long.
Fozball may or may not be a thing, but the key to many of Manly’s wins has been catching an opponent having the proverbial “Barry Crocker”, and they certainly got that with the Dragons.
The Bulldogs remain a mystery, with a hotpot of personalities and politics that is simmering rather than blending. Lachlan Galvin has been their best player, yet since his arrival they have slumped from table-toppers to also-rans.
Meanwhile, the North Queensland Cowboys, in their ragged win over the Tigers that consigned Manly and Canterbury to the dustbin, firmed up their claim as the worst team to make a top eight in the NRL era.
The 2026 Cowboys have the rare achievement of a negative points differential, worse than the Sea Eagles and Storm, yet are still in the competition. Welcome to the expansionary future.
Could Eels return to Parra-dise?
Each season brings a team from the bottom of the ladder that finishes in a fashion that suggests they are on the way up.
Jason Ryles is steadily turning Parramatta into an honest outfit, hard to beat each week, well-drilled, playing to the potential of their limited roster.
Craig Fitzgibbon blamed Cronulla’s mentality on them possibly waiting for the finals, but on Sunday Parramatta beat them on their merits. (Cronulla, flighty and frustrating, the yo-yo team of 2026, are the opposite of honest.)
Jarome Luai is joining the Eels in 2027, a move that could go radically either way, but they will get a host of players back from injury to strengthen a list that Ryles has committed to backing.
A healthy crowd of 18,074 turned out to watch Parramatta win at home.
No need to give them false hope after their 40-year drought, but this season’s dark tunnel has ended with clear glimmers of light.
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Malcolm Knox is a journalist, author and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.
