Manly winger Jason Saab grew tired of catching kicks and being crunched by defenders, so he hatched a plan to deliberately head the ball forward if he got the chance.
Saab had commentators and fans confused when he positioned himself under a Jamal Fogarty kick midway through the first half of Sunday’s win over the Eels, then headed the ball forward with the sort of power that would have impressed any Premier League player.
Saab was unsure if the bold tactic would work, or whether he would be heckled for sending the ball deep into the crowd on the Brookvale Oval hill.
Under the rules, had a Sea Eagles teammate pounced on the loose ball and scored, it would have been a try, and Saab, a Manchester City supporter, would have been awarded the try assist. An NRL official confirmed heading the ball is the same as kicking the ball forward, and a knock-on must come off the hand or arm, not the head.
“With me being a kick target these days, if the ball falls short, opposition players let me catch it, tackle me, and I can’t do much with it,” Saab said.
“Obviously if you head the ball, it’s play on. I thought I’d head it forward and see what happens.
“Luckily it went the right way.
“I told ‘Shmole’ [Haumole Olakau’atu] last week, ‘You know what, I’m going to do that’. And he was like, ‘[assistant coach] Jim Dymock will love it if you do it’. Jimmy came in at half-time and was cheering. Jimmy’s whole game is off-the-cuff footy, and loves that sort of stuff.
“I’m glad it didn’t backfire. We didn’t get much out it of other than another 10m [towards the Eels try line]. A try assist would have been cool. I know it’s within the rules, so why not do it. I only thought about it last week.
“Because it’s not a round ball, it’s not like it’s the best percentage play. I could see a guy like [Penrith’s] Brian To’o doing something like this. I actually hope he does – I’d love to see him do it, just not next Sunday against us.”
Olakau’atu, who was at his rampaging best in the win over the Eels, said he completely forgot about his conversation with Saab, and could not believe it when he actually headed the ball.
“When it actually happened, I giggled,” Olakau’atu said.
“He helped us in a way because instead of him catching it on the 20m line, we tackled Parra five metres out from their own line. It was a smart play. I know the crowd loved it.”
Manly made it four in a row for caretaker coach Kieran Foran, and they were determined not to disappoint their home fans after dropping their first three games at 4 Pines Park.
They now take on premiership favourites Penrith on Sunday night, but are playing with confidence, and have one of the comnpetition’s form forwards in Olakau’atu. He was charged twice for careless high tackles in the game against the Eels, but can escape with a $3600 fine.
“I think the sky is the limit for him,” Foran said of Olakau’atu. “His performances at the moment are very special. He’s probably realised now how damaging he can be. For Haumole, it’s about having that internal belief.”
Olakau’atu said of Foran’s influence: “He tells me every day how good I am, how far I can go in terms of the sky being the limit.”
The 27-year-old is making a serious case to start on the right edge for NSW in the looming State of Origin series, with Jacob Preston and even South Sydney’s Tallis Duncan the other key contenders, especially with Penrith’s Liam Martin sidelined with a knee injury.
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