Talking points
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South Sydney has notched 38 tries within 10 metres of the left touchline this year, much more than the Panthers, Roosters and Sharks (all 24) - That accounts for 36.5 per cent of their total tries, far in excess of Newcastle (27.4 per cent) as next best
- Tom Burgess, John Sutton and Angus Crichton make up three of the top four decoy runners in the NRL this year
- Statistics provided by Champion Data
Cody Walker confesses to not thinking much when that play is happening.
The one where the ball pings mesmerisingly across South Sydney's backline towards the left touchline, every man moving with alarming synchronicity. At times, it can be hypnotic. You can see it coming. Opposition defences know it's coming. But stopping it is an altogether different proposition.
Left leaning: South Sydney Rabbitohs celebrate a try against the Dragons last week.
And the man often pulling the strings as it unfolds?
"I don't think too much, to be fair," laughs Rabbitohs five-eighth Walker, one of the game's most instinctive players.
It only takes a bit of prodding and it's easy to believe the opposite: that Walker does think deeply about the game. That he does know every little nuance of South Sydney's pet play. That he will change it if there is a trigger telling him to do so.
Just this week, NSW's most successful State of Origin coach Phil Gould said the Rabbitohs had changed very little by way of their attacking patterns throughout the course of the year as he dissected the grand final qualifier against the Roosters, who own the league's best defence.
Generally by finals time, coaches of teams still scrapping in September have employed little variations to the tried and true that have gotten them this far.
According to the numbers, if Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold leant any further to the left he would be a candidate to lead the Greens at the next federal election.
In figures uncovered by Champion Data, of all the times the Rabbitohs have crossed the stripe for tries this year more than 36 per cent of those have come within 10 metres of the left touchline. Newcastle (27.4 per cent) has the next highest ratio.
It's happened 38 times in total this year for the Rabbitohs on that left wing, far in excess of the Panthers, Roosters and Sharks (all 24). Critics argue the Rabbitohs attack has been so skewed down the left side that most teams should have figured out how to collar it by now, but it is still so effective.
Two things stand out.
The Rabbitohs backline stands deep – frighteningly deep – when they run the play. It eliminates the option for a fast-charging defence to halt the play with a shooter out of the line to tackle a ball receiver standing shallow.
The second is the way the play generates width as it progresses. The left winger Robert Jennings, who has been the major beneficiary with 19 tries this season, often starts the movement well inside the touchline. It compels the defence to narrow its line. As the ball is shovelled across the backline the outside men – Jennings and Greg Inglis – arc for the corner post rather than running traditional straight lines, almost in a mini flying V formation.
Repeatedly, the defence appears to have numbered up correctly. But the width the play creates as it develops allows South Sydney players to get on the outside of their opposite number.
"There’s a lot more to it than what you see on TV," Jennings says. "I’m not always hugging the [sideline] and it all depends on how the [other] team is defending, where you have to position yourself.
"A lot of it is about assessing the defence of the opposition and how they’re defending. You’ve got to be in the right place for the set play to work. It could be one person missing out on their job and the play breaks down. Everyone has got to be on point and on the same page."
It could be one person missing out on their job and the play breaks down
Seibold's on-the-move mentality is best summed up in a statistic where players log numbers for nothing but trying to divert attention away from those with and about to receive the ball.
Of all the players in the NRL who have made decoy runs in 2018, three of the top four have come from the Rabbitohs. Bar Penrith's James Fisher-Harris (235), South Sydney have Tom Burgess (220), John Sutton (213) and Angus Crichton (204) up high.
The numbers typify the Rabbitohs team-first ethos where every man has a role in each attacking play. The ones who don't receive the ball are just as important as the ones who do receive it.
Those sparkling in the backline are at pains to point out how important the middle men are in generating field position and a quick play-the-ball to set up the play, which often ends with Jennings scrambling over in the corner.
But they insist they have variations.
"[The play] probably changes with different defensive systems," Walker says. "If [the opposition] hug the sideline we hit [fullback] AJ [Alex Johnston] and the two man pulls the trigger. That's a hard pass to make. Sometimes we need to tighten up the passes and make the defence make decisions for us.
"We've got a fair indication of when we attack the line if a certain defender is in a certain position. That's the cue to go long. There are certain cues you look at. If a particular player turns out it's my opportunity to run. If a certain person does this or does that it can change what I'm thinking.
"But a lot of teams are pretty aggressive from the two man, so the deeper you are the less likely they are going to come out and get you."
The Rabbitohs preference for that side of their attacking structure can be traced back to a sweltering summer.
At a time of year during pre-season when most other teams are only concerned about staying on their feet, the Rabbitohs were already thinking footballs. They were running hard, but not necessarily running themselves into the ground.
Seibold's psyche has always been about game simulation. He sent the Steedens to training before Christmas and asked his players to work on their shape under fatigue. Their left, in particular, looked lethal.
Inglis started to near a comeback and slotted in on that side. Walker scouted mostly there. Sutton started to turn back the clock. Seibold's assistant David Furner, the Rabbitohs attacking coach, helped put the finishing touches on it.
"That’s something I found, we were actually playing footy a lot earlier than in the past during that pre-season," centre Dane Gagai said of the intent to work on football rather than fitness.
Adds Walker: "All of our fitness work has been done in footy games. I certainly think that has played a huge role in why our attack is so good."
So good it's won the tag as the competition's best.
But is it enough to come out on top against the NRL's best defence?
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