It’s a public holiday for most of us, but for the Parramatta Eels it was training as usual at their North Parramatta base. In our own exercise of faith, Chris, Tom and I took ourselves down to the Old Saleyards service to bring you the rundown on how the Eels are preparing for their Easter Monday showdown with the Tigers.
How’s Peats Looking?
I managed to have a couple of words with Peats as he made his way into the grounds. He said that the injury is progressing well and he should be able to return in a couple of weeks.
Great Spirit And Energy Today
The team were in great spirits during their warm up. No doubt that Corey Norman is integral in the team spirit. He is constantly talking, laughing, and enjoying the company of his team mates. You can hear his laugh echoing around the complex as the players prepare for the field session. Every team needs blokes like Corey.
There was incredible energy on display today. The talk during the defensive work was unbelievably good. Communication is the key to an effective defence and this was not in short supply. All the players could be heard talking to the player next to them, with both Norman and Foran giving specific messages about what to expect from their opponents this week.
Foran – a prominent voice as the Eels prepared this week.
What Can We Expect From The Eels This Week?
The guarantee that I would make is that they won’t be taking the Tigers for granted. Parramatta are prepared for what the Tigers will throw at them and likewise the Eels have their own plans for challenging the Tigers’ defence. Our attack is looking better every week, and it was humming along nicely today. The integration of Foran into the backline is progressing well. Of interest, Joey Grima was doing a bit of ball skills work with the backs prior to the fieldwork proper. Quick hands was the order of the day.
The Opposed Session
The simulated match featured extended periods of defence alternating with similar periods of attack. Apart from instances where the referee ruled a penalty, BA determined where the attack would start from. For example, Arthur would call for a line drop out to simulate sustained defence or likewise call for a scrum to rehearse our defence against a set play.
Brad Arthur – very specific in his preparations for the Tigers’ match.
In attack there was an expectation for the forwards to hit the ball up hard and fast. If any player dropped their intensity, they got a quick reminder. The forwards were interchanged regularly throughout the session and there was plenty of individual instruction from BA to particular players.
Welcome Back
Good to see Joseph Ualesi training with the Wenty boys. Not sure when he will be back on the field but he looks fit and strong in his work.
On another note, I can assure fellow fans that Semi was not sporting a rising sun bandana today.
We walked away from training today feeling very confident about our chances on Monday. If a team’s performance can be predicted by attitude, we are in very good shape.
Sixties
All images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels
Thanks Sixties great stuff mate always look forward to reading your training reports.What chance do you give Beau of playing Monday.
Beau trained today but he’s under a bit of an injury cloud. He’ll likely be given up to match day to prove his fitness.
Gees I love reading your ‘well put together’ reports.
Thanks for your great efforts in giving up your time to keep the ‘true believers’ informed.
Appreciate that Parra Pete. At times the Eels seem like my religion!
Cheers 60’s looking forward to this game. Has been awhile since we’ve been able to link three wins together. Looking forward to stamping position in the top 8.
At the press conference last week, BA threw out the challenge to his team. “Are they comfortable or do they want to be winners?”
Great read mate. Thanks for taking the time. If it were up to me I would rest Beau Scott. It’s a long season and we want him fit and fresh for the back end and he may also be involved with SOO. Lets pace him with an eye on the semi finals
You dont rest players like scott just because you can it has to be for proper reasons .players like that dont take kindly to being stood down and thier advantage is thier toughness,”old footy saying “. If you cant play wounded you cant play 1st grade ” unfortunately there may be some doubt re scott but he will be allowed the time and the “call” as he should be ,i hope he plays but if not we have plenty ready for a turn
Thanks sixties, another informative and well put together read. I really think the next two weeks will tell us a bit about the teams intensity level and discipline. Cheers
Thanks mate. It’s no exaggeration to say it was one of the most intense opposed sessions that I’ve watched.
I agree with you Mitchy. We have had a tough draw so far. We have arguably played 3 top four sides. To go on a streak from here would set them alight. Give them a lot of confidence going into the SOO period. hopefully we will not loose too many for those games.
What a way to start the year! Definitely a challenge that’s been met!
Yes exactly John. I can recall we lost this same game last season and we wer very flat. I think we’ve got a different team this season in terms of discipline and defence (I hope)…they’re saying Tepai will be out, so it’s also a good test of depth. Even if Scott is not right.
Defence is the key this year. In the corressponding game last year we had that same pressure due to lack of ball but we were unable to sustain the pressure. Also in that game last year I believe we lost Semi and Champion thru serious injury. There may have been others but my memory is not that good.
On this front Scott has been good for the Eels, hope he is right for the Tigers game. Last week we gave the Dogs 6 sets in a row in that early part of the game. Whilst they were not all full sets of 6 tackles it was an enormous amount of pressure and showed a lot of determination in defence to hold them out.
We lost those players in the Bulldogs match last year. By the time of the Tigers game last year we had also lost Taka and were forced to play Manu at centre. Injury really impacted last year.
Great read 60’s, Tigers at ANZ hasn’t been the happy Easter we have been wanting for the past couple of years but I got a good feeling it will change this Monday.
There is a genuine intensity about Parra’s performances this year. I have to discount any historical statistics or results.
I agree. Totally different side this year on so many levels – players, experience, attitude, skill etc. Makes stats a bit irrelevant particularly the last few years.