Rugby league immortal Andrew Johns has revealed how he would go about beating the Penrith Panthers as they look to win their fifth-consecutive premiership.
Ahead of their preliminary final clash with the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, Johns explained how he would upset the Panthers' rhythm by limiting the opportunities of their dominant back three.
"To get to Nathan, you’ve got to stop their back three," he said on a recent episode of Immortal Behaviour.
"So I’d be kicking the ball out [of bounds]."
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By continuously kicking the ball into touch, Johns argued, teams can slow the tempo, cut off Penrith's momentum, and give their own forwards some time to rest.
"Tell your forwards, ‘I want you to work that hard, I’m going to give you a breather,’ then kick it out and slow the game down," he continued.
That tactic, Johns explained, would eliminate the damaging carries from Brian To'o and his fellow outside backs who consistently propel the Panthers downfield.
"It takes Brian To’o’s play-twos out of it," he said.
"Their outside backs get them forward and, off the back of their go-forward, Lindsay Smith lays a line and Nathan kicks to the corner, kicks to the corner, kicks to the corner."
That cycle has allowed Penrith to pin their opponents down into a corner and force them into an error.
"If you can take the wingers out of it, you can stop their go-forward," Johns said.
Johns' prescription focuses less on attacking brilliance and more on patience, discipline and wrestling control of the game away from Penrith.
Those principles are at odds with the way that the Broncos have played all season. They've relied heavily on moments of brilliance from their superstars and have struggled to consistently put an entire 80-minutes together.
At Suncorp, with a grand final spot at stake, tapping into a style that goes against their instinctive, free-flowing approach could ultimately be the Broncos' best path forward.