Date: Sunday 3^rd of April

Venue: Pirtek Stadium

Gates Open: 1:30pm

Kick off: 4:00pm (NYC U20s 1:45)

Head Referee: Grant Atkins

Assistant Referee: Alan Shortall

Head to head: Played 91, Eels 55, Panthers 35, drawn 1

Head to head odds: Eels ($ 1.47), Panthers ($ 2.75)

Broadcast: Live Channel 9: 4:00pm

Last four encounters:

1. Eels 10, Panthers 4 at TIO Stadium (2015)
2. Eels 26, Panthers 20 at Pepper Stadium (2015)
3. Panthers 38, Eels 12 at Sportingbet Stadium (2014)
4. Eels 32, Panthers 16 at Pirtek Stadium (2014) 

Preview: Well ladies and gentleman, the battle of the west is here again. Big brother, the 5th placed Parramatta Eels, take on little brother, the 14th placed Penrith Panthers. The fact that I refer to the Eels as big brother and the Panthers as little brother may cause a stir, but I have always had a way of deciding which is which. In the head to head clashes between these two teams, the Eels currently have the upper hand – thus I will refer to them as big brother. The Panthers enter this match on the back of a very close loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons in a game that could have gone either way. As for the Parramatta Eels, they enter this match on the back of a win against the Wests Tigers on Easter Monday. The Eels may have not been too impressive in attack but they were certainly very impressive in defence, holding the Tigers to nil, a rare feat in today’s modern game. The Eels now stand with a three from four record having won their last three straight games, whereas the Panthers are in need of another win, having won only one game this season. The battle of the west is always an interesting encounter and I encourage fans of both teams to get out to Pirtek Stadium and make it a memorable one.

Value Bet: My value bet for this one is to take the Eels at the line with a -6 point start at the nice odds of $ 1.91. As for the first try favourites for both teams, the Panthers have Josh Mansour and Dallin Watene Zelezniak both at $11 whereas the Eels have Semi Radradra at $ 5.50 and Michael Jennings at $ 11.

Interesting fact: Panthers captain Matt Moylan has had a strange connection to the Eels over his career. He made his debut against the Eels in 2013 and had an amazing game. Then, in 2015, Moylan had his season ended in a game against the Eels. Now, in another Parramatta encounter, he will make his first appearance for 2016 – this time as Panthers captain.

It will be a big week for: Junior Paulo.

Tim Mannah was ruled out midweek and is likely to miss up to three weeks with a rotator cuff injury. This means that Junior Paulo is effectively the new front row leader of the Eels and it’s big ask of a man so young. However, this season he has been arguably the best front rower in the competition so he should be up to the task of leading the Eels forward pack. In the Eels last start victory against the West Tigers, the big bloke was one of the best players on the park, scoring the lone try after running a great line off a Kieran Foran short ball. The powerhouse prop is one of those players who always stands a chance of grabbing a few tries throughout the season because of his destructive running style combined with his raw size and strength. Despite heading off to the Raiders at season’s end, Paulo has shown he is still 100% committed to his role at the Parramatta Eels and that is truly a great thing to see. Unlike other players who throw in a few deflated performances after signing to another club, Paulo is enjoying an outstanding start to the season.

Danger man: This week’s danger man is young gun Panthers five eighth Te Maire Martin. While the little known rookie made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the Broncos only a couple of weeks ago, it is evident from his NYC years that he is not just your run of the mill graduate. In both 2014 and 2015 Martin was named five eighth of the year whilst playing for the Wests Tigers U20s. He then went on to be signed by the Panthers for the 2016 season and has already made his mark on the NRL by helping the Panthers to defeat the Brisbane Broncos, scoring a try and kicking the winning field goal. Martin has already been earmarked as the next potential Benji Marshall, an idol of Martin’s. No doubt such wraps would humble the young Panthers half, but it’s easy to see why he would achieve such praise. In his grief showing in the NRL, the young Kiwi has showcased flair, enthusiasm and a dynamite side step – sounds very familiar doesn’t it!

Team lists:

Parramatta Eels (5^th coming into the round)

1. Michael Gordon
2. Semi Radradra
3. Michael Jennings
4. Brad Takairangi
5. Clinton Gutherson
6. Corey Norman
7. Kieran Foran (C)
8. Junior Paulo
9. Issac De Gois
10. Tim Mannah* (ruled out through injury)
11. Manu Ma’u
12. Beau Scott
13. Tepai Moeroa

14. Kaysa Pritchard
15. Peni Terepo
16. Danny Wicks
17. Kenny Edwards

18. David Gower

Coach: Brad Arthur

Late mail: Tim Mannah has been ruled out through a shoulder injury and will almost certainly be replaced by David Gower. Alvaro may even come into calculations after some impressive performances for Wenty.

Penrith Panthers (14^th coming into the round)

1. Matt Moylan (C)
2. Josh Mansour
3. Waqa Blake
4. Peta Hiku
5. Dallin Watene Zelezniak
6. Te Maire Martin
7. Jamie Soward
8. Sam McKendry
9. Peter Wallace
10. Reagan Campbell Gillard
11. Bryce Cartwright
12. Isaah Yeo
13. Trent Merrin

14. Tyrone Peachey
15. Leilani Latu
16. Suaia Matagi
17. James Fisher Harris

20. Elijah Taylor, 21. Jeremy Latimore

Coach: Anthony Griffin

Late mail: Bryce Cartwright suffered a nasty hand injury last Sunday against the Dragons but he is expected to overcome this to play. Matt Moylan is also certain to return from injury to make his 2016 season and captaincy debut.

2 key match ups:

1. Kieran Foran vs Jamie Soward:

The first key match up will feature a battle of the halfbacks, the Eels captain Kieran Foran up against the Panthers kicking ace Jamie Soward. Much like Foran, Soward is fairly new to the number seven jersey having worn the number six for both the Dragons and the Panthers. For players with the experience and talent of Foran and Soward, the switch between six and seven is only really a switch of jerseys, and they just make the roles of half and five eighth look that easy. Whilst Soward may not have had the best last couple of seasons, he is still amongst the top handful of halves in the game; some would even say Soward is in contention to be called upon for State of Origin this season.

Indeed, Soward has many strong attributes, none more prominent than his extraordinarily accurate long and short kicking game. He has the ability to literally kick opposition teams out of the game. The Eels back three of Michael Gordon, Semi Radradra and Clinton Gutherson will want to be on their games and positioned perfectly if they are to potentially neutralise the effect Soward could have on the outcome of the match. His best football may be just around the corner.

Eels captain and halfback Kieran Foran is having a stellar start to the 2016 season, despite having to manage a niggling hamstring complaint. His impact on this current Eels line up can already be seen as the Eels are yet to taste defeat with Foran as halfback. The Eels did not have their best attacking game against the Tigers, although Foran (along with Norman and De Gois) was able to steady the ship and help the Eels claim victory. Whilst there was only one try scored in that match, Foran did throw the last pass for that try and also the last pass for the Michael Jennings near try.

Come this Sunday, Foran will engage in his first battle of the west and the Eels will look for him to be at his consistent and methodical best – consistency being something that has been lacking in the Eels halves for the last twenty odd years. Foran is one of the game’s highest calibre players as he barely plays a bad game. As Sterlo has pointed out, such players have a minimal difference between their best game and their worst – making them highly sought after throughout the NRL.

2. Michael Gordon vs Matt Moylan:

The second key match up features a battle of the fullbacks as the Eels Mr. Consistent, Michael Gordon, squares off against Panthers superstar fullback and captain Matt Moylan. As mentioned, Moylan will lead the Panthers out of the sheds as their official captain. Ever since being  injured midway through last season, Moylan has been hampered by other niggling injuries. Prior to this, he was well and truly in the frame to play representative football for NSW and even Australia. With tags such as “the next Darren Lockyer’’, Moylan was certainly held in high regard.

Moylan has developed into a fullback who has the ball playing ability of a great five eighth or halfback whilst possessing speed, footwork and a great ability to read the game. Those talents make him a perfect fullback in the scheme of today’s modern game. Down the track it’s easy to see why a player like Moylan would be able to do a ‘’Darren Lockyer’’ and move to five eighth and still be one of the game’s elite players. Even though Moylan is just coming off an injury, the Eels will be wary of what he could potentially produce for his team, and he will be a marked man.

The Eels number one, Michael Gordon, is playing some superb football. Many who watched Gordon’s performance against the Wests Tigers on Monday would have rated him amongst the best players on the field. He ran for almost 200 metres and gave 110% effort for the whole 80 minutes. As one of the Eels many new signings in 2016, “Flash” has given the Eels much consistency at the back, something the Eels lacked last season in the absence of Jarryd Hayne. While the boots of Jarryd Hayne are nearly impossible to fill, Michael Gordon has done an excellent job.

What makes Gordon such a valuable signing for the Eels is his workload. The custodian gets through a mountain of work, both with the ball and without it. Whenever the Eels need a strong run out of their own end, Gordon is there. Whenever there is a half chance for a line break, Gordon is also there. Another string to his bow is his excellent goal kicking, something the Eels have missed since the retirement of club legend Luke Burt. Come Sunday, Gordon will square off against his former club and I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to put them to the sword and claim the two points for the Eels.

My tip: On form you would see the Parramatta Eels scoring a fairly comfortable victory in this one, but the battle of the west can often be unpredictable as the form guide gets thrown out of the window. The inclusion of Moylan will no doubt boost the Panthers’ attack, whilst the loss of Mannah could hinder the Eels’ go forward.

Looking at both these teams and trying to pick a winner, two things have me leaning towards tipping the Eels to win – the recent impotency of the Panthers attack (looking very lacklustre) and the recent form of the Eels defence (the best defensive side in the competition at the moment).

On the back of those two revelations I’m tipping an Eels victory, Eels 22, Panthers 6.

Man of the match: Beau Scott or Kieran Foran

Enjoy the game, GO THE EELS !!!

Nathan

Credit to the Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers for all images used.

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