{"id":288690,"date":"2023-09-05T02:04:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T02:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=288690"},"modified":"2023-09-05T02:04:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T02:04:25","slug":"pick-the-play-are-you-smart-enough-to-be-an-nrl-playmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/pick-the-play-are-you-smart-enough-to-be-an-nrl-playmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Pick the play: Are you smart enough to be an NRL playmaker?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>By <\/span><span><span><span>Nathanael Scott<\/span> and <span>Dan Walsh<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.9806%2C$multiply_0.5855%2C$ratio_1%2C$width_1059%2C$x_412%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/729535ff3552cb05790d766396b3f866450355aa\" height=\"620\" width=\"620\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker and Nathan Cleary.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Save articles for later<\/h3>\n<p>Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n<p>Seven-figure salaries. Pressure. Praise. Hype and hysteria \u2013 all that and more is often your lot in life as an NRL playmaker.<\/p>\n<p>Not least this weekend, when seasons go on the line in the first week of the finals. Or, in the case of South Sydney, when a campaign that fell off a cliff is analysed from every possible angle.<\/p>\n<p>So take a walk in the shoes of Nathan Cleary, step into Adam Reynolds\u2019 No.7 jumper, and try your hand at Cody Walker\u2019s ball-playing caper. See if you can predict which option they take in these plays.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The little master<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adam Reynolds, who is getting quicker between the ears every year even as his little legs trend in the opposite direction, had plenty of time to work his magic with this midfield play against the Warriors. So, what option does he take?<\/p>\n<p>Then against the Dragons in good-ball territory, the veteran half is pushing Brisbane\u2019s attack right and towards the 20-metre line. The Broncos have emphasised players in motion all year, giving Reynolds several teammates to work with. What\u2019s the play?<\/p>\n<p><strong>The young gun under the pump<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like most of his South Sydney teammates, emerging half Lachlan Ilias was under the microscope during the back half of the season, to the point Reynolds has questioned whether Souths\u2019 game plan suits his successor. Earlier in the year though, in significantly happier times, he was pressing a sliding Broncos edge defence with space, time and options aplenty. What does the youngster do next?<\/p>\n<p><strong>The magic touch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At his best, no one does this better than Cody Walker. A Storm defence that surges, slides and then shuffles back is all the Rabbitohs veteran needs to cause havoc \u2013 how does he do it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Panthers precision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Nathan Cleary and that mesmerising, metronomic Panthers system, a set-piece to start. And one of the NRL\u2019s better rule changes of recent years (there have been but a few) is the ability to shift a scrum to multiple points on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Against Canberra earlier this year, Penrith set up one such restart 10 metres out from the Raiders line, just to the right of the uprights. Brian To\u2019o feeds the scrum (who says wingers just hang around footballers?), Tyrone Peachey collects the ball off the deck at lock, and Cleary swings into action. What happens next?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pulling the Chooks to pieces <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now to the NSW, Australia and Panthers No.7 in an almost identical position against the Roosters. Cleary is taking the ball at first receiver again, this time from a play-the-ball, 20 metres out from the Roosters line. Notice champion fullback James Tedesco on red alert at the back, with good reason. What happens next?<\/p>\n<p><b>Stream the NRL Premiership 2023 live and free on <\/b><b>9Now<\/b><b>. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b><b><i>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b><b><i>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/pick-the-play-are-you-smart-enough-to-be-an-nrl-playmaker-20230809-p5dv6e.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nathanael Scott and Dan Walsh Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker and Nathan Cleary. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Seven-figure salaries. Pressure. Praise. Hype and hysteria \u2013 all that and more is often your lot in life as an NRL playmaker. Not least this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pick the play: Are you smart enough to be an NRL playmaker? - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/pick-the-play-are-you-smart-enough-to-be-an-nrl-playmaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pick the play: Are you smart enough to be an NRL playmaker? - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nathanael Scott and Dan Walsh Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker and Nathan Cleary. 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