Breaking down Sexton’s debut
It’s early days and his performance came against a decimated South Sydney Rabbitohs side, but Toby Sexton’s Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs debut is a testament to his work in reserve grade this year, and once again shows the importance of allowing young players the opportunity to work on their craft away from the NRL.
Playing 10 games for the Tweed Seagulls this year, Sexton displayed the improvements he has made at Queensland Cup level on Saturday night. There is a lot more to come, too.
Let’s start with how he engaged the line.
Albeit against 12 men, the principles and execution are on point here as Sexton digs in and targets the space around the three-in defender, creating the numbers advantage out wide.
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Two minutes later, a similar action translated into points as Sexton again targeted the space around Lachlan Ilias to make the most of the numbers advantage out wide.
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Digging into the line and playing late wasn’t Sexton’s strongest area to start his NRL career but he has come a long way over the last 12 months. It’s only a minor detail and he isn’t credited with the try assist, but engaging the right defenders and playing the pass at the right time is crucial. Pass too early and the defence can slide and scramble across in cover. Engage two defenders with a lead runner off your hip and it’s a different outcome.
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I don’t want to say “unleashed” because it feels as though anybody said to be unleashed is never, in fact, unleashed. Sexton can free up Matt Burton and maximise his running game, though.
It will be interesting to see how the numbers shape up across the rest of the season, but Burton finished up with 38 touches (well below his 45.9 season average), 161 running metres and 119 kicking metres in Round 19.
Burton used the extra time and space he had with the ball to take the line on and run for his most metres since joining the club last season. Playing off the ball, his 119 kicking metres is his lowest mark as a Bulldogs.
There are plenty of examples of how Burton will get more out of his running game playing alongside Sexton but this one captures how the Bulldogs played for it and how dangerous he can be on the second layer of the attack.
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Pulling the defence to the right edge before shifting back through the middle, Sexton again attacks the space around the three-in defender to present Burton with half a gap. Burton’s acceleration is exceptional and he’s a lot stronger than he looks in contact. There is a prime Jack Wighton feel to how he could feature as a ball-runner.
The Bulldogs rank 16th in the supports through 19 rounds but did a good job of putting bodies around Sexton when he had the ball on Saturday night. As he continues to improve in his distribution, Sexton will have more opportunities to run the ball as he did this week. The 129 running metres he managed against the Rabbitohs is the second-most of his 23-game NRL career.
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Sexton and the Bulldogs are off to a good start and there is a lot of room for improvement. The 22-year-old’s kicking game wasn’t at the standard it usually is and a lot of his passes behind the lead runner were too low and out in front of Burton. The pair will get their timing right in the coming weeks.
In what is fairly typical Bulldogs fashion in recent years, they look primed to finish another season strong but fall short of the NRL Finals. Still, their success over the remaining weeks won’t be measured in wins and losses, but in how well the new-look spine combines. They’ve certainly started down the right track.