‘Alarming’ trend Thurston says could decide NRL premiership winner
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Is Hugo Savala the most under-pressure man in the NRL this weekend?
It’s certainly not a form question. Savala is one of the most impressive young stars in the competition, at the end of only his second season with the Roosters.
Hugo Savala has been thrust into main kicking duty for the Roosters. Getty Images
But Sam Walker’s ankle injury means Savala has been thrown into the deep end as the side’s main goalkicker.
It also means the Chooks are one of three remaining clubs without a top-10 NRL goalkicker. Statistically, anyway.
“That’s alarming. Those teams without a specialist kicker need to be putting in a lot of work with their routine to gain the confidence they need so when they stand over the ball, they know it’s going through the sticks,” league icon Jonathan Thurston tells nine.com.au.
“That could be the difference between going through to the next week or losing the match for your team. And as a goal kicker, I know how that feels.”
According to Nine’s NRL stats guru David Middleton, Dolphins flyer Jamayne Isaako is on top of the competition, booting 107 goals at 84.3 per cent this season. Nathan Cleary was next with 96 goals at 85 per cent, followed by Nicho Hynes with 93 goals at 81.6 per cent.
Concerningly for the Roosters, Warriors and Knights, it’s daylight between those three and the fit kickers from their teams.
Walker was fifth. Savala, Cody Ramsey and Toby Rodwell are the only other Roosters players to have kicked at goal this year. Raiders No.7 Ethan Sanders was fourth.
For the record, the top-10 was completed by Nick Meaney (66 at 82.5 per cent), Jamal Fogarty (66 at 71.7 per cent), Jayden Campbell (65 at 77.4 per cent), Valentine Holmes (54 at 77.1 per cent) and Mitch Moses (54 at 71.1 per cent),
While neither the Warriors nor Knights have a player in the top-10, it can be largely attributed to multiple players sharing the load. Both clubs have players kicking at a percentage that would have them inside or around the top-10 with a higher volume.
For the Wahs, kicking duties were Tanah Boyd’s (40 goals at 70.2 per cent) until his season ended with an ACL injury. Taine Taupiki (30 at 85.7 per cent), Chanel Harris-Tavita (22 at 68.8 per cent) and Adam Pompey (15 at 75 per cent) have shared the load since.
Sandon Smith (53 at 71.6 per cent) and Kalyn Ponga (37 at 72.5) have shared duties for the Knights.
While goalkicking is no doubt important throughout the season, it's even more so in finals footy when teams are more evenly matched.
In the last decade, 32 finals matches have been decided by six points or less. Four have gone to golden point. Notably, the Cowboys have been involved in three of those golden point finals matches, and won each of them.
For Savala, he has been a goalkicker throughout his career. In the 2024 NSW Cup, he kicked 48 goals at 73.8 per cent for the season.
But two years playing behind Walker, not getting the reps, his processes would no doubt be a bit rusty.
"That's a huge responsibility. He seems like a confident kid from everything that I've seen from him, hopefully that confidence shows this weekend for them when he's put in those pressure moments," Thurston said.
"But pressure does funny things to you. Sometimes people can handle it and sometimes people can't.
"Finals are a whole different beast."
Sam Walker was one of the leading goalkickers in the competition until his injury. Getty Images
Thurston said there are scenarios where inexperience might be an advantage. To use his example, having missed THAT sideline kick in the 2015 grand final, the next time he had a similar kick in a final, it would have been easy to remember what happened last time.
But having never been burned by such an experience, Savala's confidence levels could be higher. It's all about trusting their own game.
"It goes both ways, right? Some people (when they) stand over the top of the ball, they have their own process that they trust. Some others might just be see ball, kick ball through the sticks," Thurston said.
"Others have got a lot more of a tight routine and process that they trust. When you're at that young age, the only way you learn is through experiences. And when you get those experiences, and you nail those experiences, the confidence runs high.
“But also, if you miss that kick, that can certainly screw with your head as well at a young age.
“The boys that I’ve been in contact with that are at that young age, they’re very quick to flush things as well and move on.”
Middleton's stats showed the Dolphins and Panthers are vulnerable should either Cleary or Isaako go down injured.
And given Cleary is currently fighting a foot injury, that's not out of the realms of possibility. He has been covered this season by Paul Alamoti, but he's currently on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and is racing to return this season.
Jack Cole has been kicking in NSW Cup. If he's on the field, he would likely be the man to kick. If he's not in the side, there aren't many other options.
Jamayne Isaako is leading the goalkicking tally and is also No.4 on the try-scorers list. Getty
Isaiya Katoa is the only other Phin to have taken a shot this year. His tally? One. Jack Bostock and Selwyn Cobbo have both kicked a little bit throughout their careers, but Katoa and Herbie Farnworth have both at times been leading kickers and would be the two likely candidates should Isaako be out of action.
There is no doubt coaches would have contingency plans already in place for these exact scenarios.
But as the season reaches a crescendo, going up in sixes is virtually mandatory.
