Date: Saturday July 30^th

Venue: ANZ Stadium

Gates Open: 3:10pm

Kick off:  5:30pm (NYC U20s 3:15pm)

Head Referee: Henry Perenara

Assistant Referee: Chris Butler

Head to head: Played 32, Eels 18, Tigers 13, drawn 1

Head to head odds: Tigers ($1.38), Eels ($ 3.15)

Broadcast: Live Fox Sports one: 5:30

 

Last four encounters:

 

1. Eels 8, Tigers 0 at ANZ Stadium (2016)
2. Eels 28, Tigers 16 at ANZ Stadium (2015)
3. Tigers 22, Eels 6 at ANZ Stadium (2015)
4. Tigers 21, Eels 18 at ANZ Stadium (2014)

 

Preview:

This round twenty-one encounter will feature the 14^th placed Parramatta Eels up against the 10^th placed Wests Tigers. Earlier in this season this would have rated as a blockbuster game given the line ups these teams could have boasted. “What could have been” is particularly true for the Eels who have now been greatly weakened due to a range of circumstances.

The Eels have lost the likes of Kieran Foran, Corey Norman, Nathan Peats, Semi Radradra, Junior Paulo, Anthony Watmough, Ryan Morgan, Manu Ma’u and Michael Jennings through releases, suspensions and injuries. As an Eels fan, it is very easy to feel as if this season has truly been the season from hell.

As for the Wests Tigers, this is a must win game as they need to win as many games as they can in order to play finals footy. The Tigers are widely expected to defeat the Eels here, but Rugby League can be a very funny game as any team can beat another at any time.

On the evidence of past encounters, this one should be a cracker!

 

Value Bet:

This week’s value bet is for Eels centre Brad Takairangi to claim the first try at an outrageous $20. The big centre has scored his fair share of tries this season including a few first tries.

In the first try market, the Eels have Bevan French at $7 and Vai Toutai at $12, whilst the Tigers have James Tedesco at $5.50.

 

Interesting fact:

The last four encounters between the Eels and Tigers have been held at ANZ Stadium. Over these past four games the Eels and Tigers have both won two games each. With the Easter Monday encounter between the Eels and Tigers set to become a set fixture, we may see a lot more Eels and Tigers games at ANZ Stadium.

  

It will be a big game for:

This week’s encounter between the Eels and the Tigers shapes as being a big one for Eels make-shift five eighth Clint Gutherson.

At the start of this season, if you told an Eels supporter that in round twenty-one Clint Gutherson would be playing five eighth and Jeff Robson would be the halfback, they probably would have looked at you in shock. After all, Kieran Foran and Corey Norman were supposed to be the starting halves and both Mitch Cornish and Luke Kelly were seen as steady back ups if an injury or suspension were to occur.

Gutherson is now the Eels starting five eighth and at this stage in the season he is their best option. After originally starting the year on the wing, Gutho has really made a good fist of playing in the halves with mid season signing Jeff Robson, despite the fact that the Eels are yet to win a game with the Gutherson and Robson combination.

As a five eighth, Gutherson has proven to be a more than reliable fill in as he hasn’t looked uncomfortable or out of place. He has an above average kicking game for an outside back and his dummy can be quite deceptive. Gutherson has speed and a lot of it and only needs half a gap to cut open an opposition defensive line. The Eels will need him to do just that this Saturday afternoon against the Tigers.

 

 

Danger man:

This week’s danger man shouldn’t come as any surprise as it is Tigers superstar fullback James Tedesco.

Tedesco has had a simply outstanding season. Despite being injured for a number of weeks he has been able to claim the NSW number one jersey, with Josh Dugan and Matt Moylan both moved to other positions to help accommodate the livewire Tedesco.

The biggest weapon in Tedesco’s arsenal is that he is probably among the fastest players in the game. He has the ability to bust tackles at will with this speed and has proven very capable of finding the try line, notching up twelve tries this season. In fact, out of the players in this match, Tedesco boasts the 2^nd best try scoring strike rate (for this season), beaten only by Eels rookie sensation Bevan French who has amassed ten tries this season from only seven games.

Shutting down Tedesco would surely be a huge part of Brad Arthur’s match plan.

 

 

Parramatta Eels (14^th coming into the round *12 points deducted)

 

1. Michael Gordon
2. Vai Toutai
3. Manu Ma’u
4. Brad Takairangi
5. Bevan French
6. Clint Gutherson
7. Jeff Robson
8. Danny Wicks
9. Issac De Gois
10. Tim Mannah
11. Kenny Edwards
12. Tepai Moeroa
13. Beau Scott (C)

 

14. Rory O’ Brien
15. Peni Terepo
16. David Gower
17. Daniel Alvaro

 

Coach: Brad Arthur

 

Late mail: Manu Ma’u has been ruled out through suspension and will miss this game, so expect John Folau to move into the centres. Jays a Pritchard could be an addition to the bench.

  

Wests Tigers (10^th coming into the round)

 

1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Tim Simona
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Jordan Rankin
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods
9. Dene Halatau
10. Sauaso Sue
11. Josh Aloiai
12. Chris Lawrence
13. Elijah Taylor

 

14. Kyle Lovett
15. Ava Seumanufagai
16. Tim Grant
17. Joel Edwards

 

Coach: Jason Taylor

 

Late mail: No changes for the Tigers, as they are expected to be 1 to 17.

  

Two key match ups:

 

Michael Gordon vs James Tedesco:

The first key match up is a battle between the fullbacks as Eels cool hand Michael Gordon squares off against Tigers superstar James Tedesco.

The 2016 season is coming to an end and for the Eels this will also end Michael Gordon’s time at the Eels. Gordon started the season very strongly and looked like he may extend on his one year contract at the Eels. However, half way through the season, Gordon signed with the Sydney Roosters after being informed he could look elsewhere by the Parramatta club.

Over the past few weeks Gordon hasn’t been as impressive as he was in the early rounds, especially with his kicking duties. However, it would be hard to blame Gordon for any wrong doing or poor form as the Eels are now severely undermanned. That said, Gordon will want to finish his Eels career in the best way possible. He is still a very reliable and valued player as evidenced by the Roosters securing his services.

Undoubtedly, Gordon’s greatest asset is his positional play, especially in defence. This was an area of concern for the Eels in 2015 and”Flash” has done a great job of correcting this problem. No doubt Eels fans are extremely grateful for his services in what has been a very tough season.

In contrast, Wests Tigers superstar custodian James Tedesco is in superlative attacking form. I could literally sit here all day explaining how good he is and the potential he has to become even greater. For a player like Tedesco the sky truly is the limit. Given his time spent on the sidelines through injury, one wonders how much further along his career could be without this disruption.

Whenever teams come up against the Wests Tigers they traditionally highlight two players to keep quiet, one of them being Tedesco, the other being Robbie Farah.  After Farah’s recent dumping to reserve grade it heightens the Eels’ need to shut down Tedesco. Success in this endeavour will go a long way towards securing victory for the Eels.

 

 

Tim Mannah vs Aaron Woods:

The second key match up is an encounter between the props, as Eels veteran Tim Mannah does battle with Tigers cult hero Aaron Woods.

If you were to select an early winner for prop forward of the year Aaron Woods would be at the very top of your list. The scruffy Tigers hard man has earned a reputation as being one of the games best young talents and it’s hard to argue with that considering the average metres (150) Woods makes per game.

The Tigers are a team that tends to play a lot of second phase football and Woods has the potential to ignite this style of play with his great offloads. When you have the likes of James Tedesco, David Nofoaluma, Mitchell Mosses and Luke Brooks running off those offloads it can send alarm bells ringing for opposition teams. Woods often attracts numbers to a tackle, taking up to three or four defenders out of the line.

If the Eels are to have any success in attempting to beat this flamboyant Tigers outfit they must be able to limit the impact Aaron Woods has on the game. This means they must be able to shut down his offloads and the resultant second phase play.

Aaron Woods is also a player who shapes as being a real leader of the Tigers, or even the Blues, in the future (even more so given the likely departure of Robbie Farah). He is a player that leads from the front and controls the middle. Rugby League is often won in the engine room, so shutting Woods down would surely be the second prong of the Eels defensive plan.

Against Woods, the Parramatta Eels have club captain Tim Mannah who has had a mixed season due to injury. When Mannah has been on the field for the Eels this year he has been quite effective, making the hard metres and taking some good carries as he always has in the past.

Despite only being 28 years of age, Mannah is classified as an Eels veteran, playing his 8th season of first grade and fast approaching 200 games for the club (currently sitting on 174). At this point in time Mannah is the Eels longest serving current player, a special feat given all the club cleanouts Mannah has survived. Loyalty is a rare thing in today’s modern game, and it’s not often that you see one player play out his entire career at one club. I’m sure if the Eels are happy to keep him on Mannah would be more than happy to do that. If the Eels are to defeat the Wests Tigers this coming Saturday they will need the likes of Tim Mannah to put in a strong performance.

 

 

My Tip:

I’ll keep my tip for this one short and sweet. I see the Eels upsetting the Tigers. Call it blind faith or bias but I truly believe the Eels are a chance of upsetting the Tigers. If the Eels can keep their defence in check they may cause the Tigers major problems. The Eels have remained capable of scoring points as we saw when they nearly defeated the Panthers at Pepper Stadium a few weeks ago. This ANZ encounter is also an Eels home game so I believe the Eels are in with a genuine chance.

Put me down for an Eels victory, Eels 22, Tigers 20.

 

Man of the match: Clint Gutherson or James Tedesco

 

Enjoy the game, GO THE EELS !!!

Nathan