It’s always a difficult task to write up a match review after a loss. The circumstances surrounding last night’s defeat make it an even harder assignment. In this instance, I’m going to try to find some balance by examining the performance of both teams. Wish me luck!
South Sydney
Having watched quite a bit of the Rabbitohs’ matches this year, I regarded this performance as their grittiest of the year. There was genuine steel in their defence and their execution in the red zone was top class. Have they been as fired up at any stage this season? Without doubt, Maguire had them pumped for a big effort after some lacklustre attitude in recent rounds.
Greg Inglis looked dangerous every time he found himself with the slightest space, and unfortunately this happened in the most crucial minutes of the match. Furthermore, the exploitation of Parramatta’s compact defensive line in the red zone reaped important rewards in keeping Souths in the contest.
Maguire would have been very proud of his team’s effort.
Maguire should also have been pleased with the second phase play from his forwards. Their big blokes were able to stand in the tackle on numerous occasions and pop a pass against a retreating and bent defensive line. The physicality and skill of the Rabbitohs pack was a crucial factor in tiring the Eels late in the match. After appearing to be out on their feet at different stages, their forwards found a second wind and finished strongly. The injection of Luke Keary off the bench, playing off the back of some extra space, worked equally well for Souths.
However, with all of that praise, the latitude afforded this physicality cannot be ignored. South Sydney really pushed the envelope last night using tactics that harkened back to the no holds barred days of the 1970s. This was a really grubby and niggling game. There were plenty of high shots, face massages and some extra work in the tackle. It was premeditated and effective.
Indeed, the biggest surprise was that in the modern NRL model, such tactics are normally regarded as being ill-disciplined with the team being hammered out of the match with a lop-sided penalty count and a slew of warnings about repeated infringements. If anything, Parramatta may have done themselves a disservice by being too disciplined. More on this in a brief refereeing analysis.
Parramatta
This was a real mixed bag from the Eels. I left the Stadium wondering whether it was 2015 revisited – a significant second half lead was squandered and it was again a difficult pill to swallow.
Without going to the video to analyse specific moments, there still appeared to be crucial aspects to Parramatta’s performance. I’m going to break it down into phases of the match.
Early
The Eels players looked a little out of sorts. It almost appeared as if their heads weren’t quite in the game and it took them some time to settle into their play. The attack was disjointed and defensively they gave away too many easy metres. Having a fortnight between matches can account for this. Throw in the events from the last fortnight and it spells trouble for a team coming out with a little too much emotion and not quite enough focus.
Middle
This was a good period. From the middle of the first half, to the middle of the second, Parramatta was back to the kind of footy that has typified this year. Great energy, good discipline, organised defence and solid execution in attack. The platform was laid for victory, both in their play and on the scoreboard.
Late
The energy disappeared from the Eels play. Missed or ineffective tackles permitted far too much second phase play from the Rabbitohs and far too much room for Inglis. Poor execution in attack combined with an equally poor kicking game to create the perfect recipe for inviting the Rabbitohs back into the match. The players looked exhausted with about ten minutes to go. The body language was not good and you could sense that there was little left in the tank.
Additional Factors
Unquestionably, the Eels players were roughed up by some questionable tactics. There were far too many high shots and Souths game plan seemed to gain genuine ascendency around the ruck later in the match.
The loss of Kenny Edwards cannot be underestimated. His aggression and x-factor moments have been crucial this year. At times Edwards plays like an additional half. With Foran’s absence already adding to some loss of game management, the Eels could ill-afford to lose Edwards so early in this encounter.
Kenny Edwards – a crucial injury early in this encounter.
As the sole genuine half, Corey Norman possibly overplayed his hand throughout the game. Souths had him well marked. Brad Takairangi is a highly skilled player who can do a job, but being in the halves is not his regular position. Again, his effectiveness was further diluted by the loss of Edwards.
Finally, an honest appraisal must include the acknowledgement of some crucial errors. Unfortunately, Danny Wicks provided a couple of these deep in our own quarter through a couple of dropped balls. They were real game changing moments.
Officiating
I will not throw the blame for Parramatta’s loss at any officials. Though I consider that there was some enormous latitude afforded to Souths in the tackles, it was still a game that was there to be won.
However, there is little doubt that the officiating continues to be inconsistent. The first two matches of this round have now seen the bunker try to stay out of tipping for high shot penalties. Whilst I applaud this on the whole, there’s been a couple of instances where it’s been difficult to understand how some shots have been missed by every official.
Moving Forward
Is that the season? I’m not looking at it from that perspective as the reality of the points loss will have both a table impact for the competition and a psychological impact on the players. My intention is to get behind the team at every opportunity. To be honest, it was disappointing that this match did not sell out, though those in attendance provided a stirring moment with their standing ovation tribute to Nathan Peats. The Cumberland Throw again acknowledges the wholehearted contribution of Nathan to our club and the place he’s won in the hearts of the fans.
I will continue to support the Eels on match days. I hope plenty of you do the same.
Sixties
Images courtesy of the NRL and Parramatta Eels
I had to leave the game pretty much on the siren but would have liked to stay to applaud the effort of our boys.
It wasn’t near their best but you could see they were all pushing hard throughout.
Interesting comment about the niggle. We played a clean game (though apparently Beau has something to answer for in a trip which I missed.) Markedly, we had Scott, Edwards & De Gois all having HIA’s (read 15 minutes out of play) whilst Souths had a player noticeably knocked unconscious and continue on with seemingly no need for assessment. That same player continuing on to give high shots and head butts with no penalty. Combined I think those factors are worth 2 points.
Some you win, some you lose. I can cop that one knowing the circumstances surrounding the game. We can’t have too many more like that though.
I reckon we may have backed away from confronting them which was a mistake. You don’t want to give away a penalty, but maybe some responses to the facials and head work might have forced a penalty. At the very least it would have stopped the one way traffic allowed in that regard!
Hi Sixties, fair assessment and I felt that I watched the same game as you. I was listening to the 2GB call for most of the first half and the commentators were dismissive of the head high stuff and especially the Inglis elbow/forearm to Edwards…but then again Ray Charles could have done a better job on the actual call as the numbers are on the players backs for a reason and not for those clowns to call randoms at will. How Carter stayed on was a joke.
But at the end of the day they didn’t convert their opportunities into points and just seemed weary in the last 10-15. Emotion is draining and I think BA’s comment in the presser that he was glad that the week was over summed it up. I’ll be there next game and I hope that the fringe supporters are as well.
We can’t drop off in our support. The next match is a Monday night game against the Storm. This is not typically a big crowd drawing match or time. We need to get there in support.
I think the lesson we learned from 1977 is that you must retaliate. You cannot rely on the referee to do the right thing. I hope going forward that as soon as it appears obvious that the ref is going to allow elbows and high shots that we participate in the event. 1977 is the blueprint for going forward now that the Bunker is out of ruling on high shots. I am sure we will be better against the Storm as long as the NRL don’t rub out Scott and IDG. If they are rubbed out then lets just go back to a 1970’s style anyway. What have we got to lose? I would be quite prepared to have Manu in the bin for 10 if it meant he could unload on someone like Carter. A lot of the energy sapping emotion will have been released now.
Why can’t Tepai Moeroa play on the right edge in attack, and through the middle in defence, alternating with Beau Scott between those two positions? Tepai is a better runner on the edges, and through holes, and can offload the ball at speed; Beau is a more accomplished all-round defender with more intimidation and niggle in his game… (Horses for courses?)
Brad Takairangi is a wonderful footballer, though not easy to characterise in the modern game. In fact, he’s very much the ‘postmodern’ athlete in – what at times is – an uncompromisingly structured sport… (There: I’ve somewhat characterised him now!)
A nice summary 60’s. At 20-6 the game was ours and we seemed to take our foot off the pedal. Now at stages we had 3 forwards in the head bin which didn’t help but I’m with you about Danny Wicks, 2 of his dropped balls resulted in Souths tries and they were game changers in allowing Souths to gain momentum unfortunately.
Disappointingly it was by far Danny Wicks worst performance in the Blue & Gold apart from the dropped ball his go forward was very ordinary and not up to his usual standard one would think.
Coming into his game I was very confident of us winning against the bunnies. Having said that I was talking to a friend in the pub prior to the game, I told him we were going to win however I was nervous about the emotional effect on the players given the past to weeks. I remembered back to last year when Newcastle dedicated their game to Alex McKinnon and sadly for them the emtion of the day got to them and they were beaten by the Titans.
Notwithstanding the niggles and high shots put on by the Bunnies. other issues that I noticed was that as lready pointed out the game management was not there. Especially in the second half once we had that lead we should have been taking the pressure off playing low risk football and running down the clock by kicking for touch at the end of each set.
Early in the half and any time you have a good lead kicks for goal should be taken when penalties are awarded. I know that it is fashionable to go for the try but that is not always a low risk stategy. I have not seen the stats on it but teams refusing the shot and going for a try rarely get it.
By taking the shot at goal when you have a good lead runs down the clock and gets you the ball back. Corey wanted to take the shot early in the second half that would have given the Eels a 10 point lead. He was overruled. At the moment teams are happy to give a penalty away when defending their line comfortable in the fct that they will not give away 2 points.
I am not convinced but we may have missed Peats line speed in defence at times. Whether that is right or not it was missing a bit on Friday. Of course there could have been a bit of fatigue from the Bunnies physicality.
Yes the loss of Edwards was huge but more importantly Gutherson appeared to have little faith in Toutai doing a 1 on 1 tackle on GI. He continually left his wing to assist so that GI was able to slip the ball away giving their winger a easy run to the line.
How did the tackle on Edwards not get put on report? Even the commentators were making excuses for teflon coated GI. Wouldn’t surprise if not even mentioned by MRC but was probably a large contributing factor in Parra’s loss!