Parramatta Eels 20 – Canterbury Bulldogs 6 
The Good: |
The way our forwards stood up to a more renowned and celebrated Bulldogs pack. The recovering defence. Corey Norman’s dummy. Foran’s hamstrings. The performances signalling the 2016 arrivals of Jennings, Semi and Gutherson. Hang this game on the walls, kids. This was one for the ages. |
The Bad: |
That disappointing William Hopoate play (if I had a dollar every time …) took the wind out of an otherwise outstanding night out for the Blue and Gold. Also I thought the officiating was pretty poor, but who cares? We won. |
The X-Factor: |
No Peats, no Mau – no worries. The depth of our club, and the collective performances of every replacement player not named Luke Kelly this season has already been an encouraging indication of a club ready for a shot at sustained success. |
The MVP: |
I think it’s time we promote him to Fully Radradra.
That first try assist, the support after Norman’s dummy to score his first of the season were both special highlights. He then single handedly destroyed the Bulldogs up the middle all by himself. Heavens to Betsy. |
The Starters
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1- Michael GordonFullback, Parramatta Eels In my books he earned this A in the first half. He was then even better in the second. The kick return positioning, the defensive contributions and his support play in attack are all huge upgrades over fullbacks gone by. |
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2- Semi RadradraLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels There it is. First A+ game of the season. A rare treat. Simply outstanding. |
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3- Michael JenningsLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels Welcome to the age of Jennings. He’s arrived and the Blue and Gold suits him swimmingly. |
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4- Brad TakairangiRight Centre, Parramatta Eels A good showing. Solid defence, some much needed hit ups sprinkled with 3 offloads is a handy game. |
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5- Clinton GuthersonRight Wing, Parramatta Eels After a questionable opening game, and a straight up poor Round 2, Guthers earned this A last night – he was safe under the high ball, elusive in attack, and continues to improve in defence. Easily his best game in the Blue and Gold. |
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6- Corey NormanFive Eighth, Parramatta Eels The kicks were good, the half breaks impressive (8 runs for 94 metres) and the dummy was sublime, but what I most admired was his deliberate game management. We need to re-sign Normie at all costs. |
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7 – Kieran Foran (c)Halfback, Parramatta Eels Good game, strong leadership, hamstrings in tact – that’s another win for Captain Kieran. And what’s with the 8 runs for 81 metres? I just love seeing him out there, I suspect nearly as much as his team mates do. However, he does need to learn both the words to the team song and to keep his hands off the referee. |
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8- Junior PauloProp, Parramatta Eels Despite the rest of our pack struggling to make significant metres against the rightfully feared Dogs pack, Junior drops another 161 metres from 16 hit ups. He’s like a prototypical prop. Oh, and just the 4 offloads. He’ll be missed in 2017, but right now it’s 2016 and we love it. |
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9- Isaac De GoisHooker, Parramatta Eels A team high 39 tackles is a fitting tribute to the injured man he replaced. I suspect BA barely noticed the difference. I certainly didn’t. Well played Goisy. |
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10- Tim MannahProp, Parramatta Eels Another no nonsense game from the Club Captain. I think we all appreciated him colour coordinating his head bandage with the canary yellow shorts, too. |
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11- Kenny EdwardsBack Row, Parramatta Eels His game as a starter seemed to be more Manu’s straight running and aggression, than Kenny’s typical evasive role creater from the bench, but if a game plan ain’t broke, don’t fix it. One of our best “signings” for Season 2016, and considering the other candidates, that’s a ridiculous compliment. Last week it was JT, this week it was Hoppa – I could not be more fond for Kenny’s propensity to involve the opposition in our post try celebrations. Check Hoppa’s forced involvement after the Jennings’ try. |
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12- Beau ScottBack Row, Parramatta Eels Despite copping an injury that would have disabled a rhino, Beau predictably played on. BA stated he needed 10 mins into the second half from him – so that’s what he got. He’s been better each game. Hopefully right for next week. |
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13- Tepai MoreoaLock, Parramatta Eels Continues to blossom on both sides of the ball. Seems to have tempered his defensive aggressiveness in order to stay both in control on the park, but there’s nothing wrong with his game. “Maybe he was too concussed to know he should have stayed down.” was one of the more unusual comments of the night from the TCT box. |
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Interchange
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14- Kaysa PritchardInterchange, Parramatta Eels I just want more of him. Isaac wasn’t doing anything wrong, but Kamikaze throwing himself at the line is always a welcome sight to behold. |
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15- Peni TerepoInterchange, Parramatta Eels Someone deserves some serious credit for turning this guy from a fringe first grader into a serious weapon. Whether it’s Peni himself, or the retraining of his running technique by the coaching staff, he’s a new man, and we love it. |
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16- Danny WicksInterchange, Parramatta Eels Some great charges that pushed through the Bulldogs line, particularly when we needed them in the second half. 11 runs for 108 metres is yet another impressive night out. Zac Bailey would have to have been impressed. Ps – You still owe me 50 bucks, Wicksy. |
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17- David GowerInterchange, Parramatta Eels I cursed him for pushing a pass midway through the second half when we were desperately trying to come out of our own half. Outside of that one error, I thought he filled in well for Kenny’s bench spot. Another indication of the terrific depth we’re afforded this season. |
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Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels.
Stats courtesy of Champion Data via the Sportsfan site.
Great read Miatch. I was thoroughly impressed last night. Tough win and v proud. Thanks Miatch superb work
Ha it made it easier to not split hairs. Many of them would have got an A in any case. Terrific game.
Best managed game in what, 5 years? 10?
Can I please have a grade for Manu Ma’u mate? It just doesn’t feel right without it.
probably an A.
Miatch, can’t disagree with a single grading. I’ve been an eels man for too long to be confident going into last night with Peats and Manu out but how they played blew me away, more so that it was in consecutive weeks. Keep up the good work.
this has easily been my least disputed grade post.
it makes it easy when they were as terrific as they were last night.
Hold on, id like to dispute that its the least disputed.
I think Wicksy can lift his game another few levels, hes not ripping and tearing like he was last year, 100m is respectable from 11 runs, id just like to see him have some more aggression and attitude like Scott, i remember you saying mitch that any A grade from you equals a rep quality game, Danny is a fair bit away from that form imo.
None of our bench players deserved an A grade nor did Tim have an A grade game, id drop all those guys down to B’s.
cheers
It was a gimmick mate, because we won so well.
Yes Peni actually bent the Dogs defensive line in the second half, the very first time I have been able to say that, good game from him. Still thought Foran only played at 50%, I think he has mental problem rather than physical problem with his hamstring.
That’s the word free Foran. He hopes to get it to very close to 100% before the Tigers game. He might just be building confidence in it.
Peni has been pretty good, I’d like to see him push after contact – he has a tendency to get pushed back. Still, huge improvement.
A wonderful game from our boys, we beat the Bulldogs at their own game. Earning some of our points the middle of the field. Very very proud of them.
One of the best I’ve seen in years. Terrific win. Can’t wait for next week.
How about a grading for our coach. I believe that he has gone a long way in silencing his doubters the way this team is playing for each other.
Completely agree but I’d be too biased. I bloody love BA. I wouldn’t swap him for any coach in the NRL. Love how he deflects the issues from this week, how he always finds areas to improve, and how the players want to play for him.
Many doubters have had to eat humble pie in the early going. Long way to go but he’s looking good.
See? Too biased.