Venue: Pirtek Stadium

Gates Open: 4:40pm

Kick off: 7:00pm (NYC 4:45pm)

Head Referee: Adam Gee

Assistant Referee: Gavin Reynolds

Head to head: Played 30, Eels 14, Dragons 14, Drawn 2

Head to head odds: Eels ($ 1.55), Dragons ($ 2.45)

Broadcast: Live Fox Sports – Coverage from 7:00pm

 

Last four encounters:

 

1. Eels 16, Dragons 12 at Pirtek Stadium (2015)
2. Eels 36, Dragons 0 at Pirtek Stadium (2014)
3. Eels 26, Dragons 22 at Parramatta Stadium (2013)
4. Dragons 32, Eels 12 at WIN Stadium (2013)

 

Preview:

This week’s round twenty- five encounter is the second to last of the home and away season and will see the 15^th placed Parramatta Eels square off against the 11^th placed St George Illawarra Dragons. Both teams are out of the running to play finals football this season so essentially both the Eels and Dragons are playing for pride. This could be a very strong motivating factor for the Dragons considering the Dragons were handed a big loss at the hands of the Sydney Roosters last weekend, 42 points to 6. Whilst the Eels lost to the Canberra Raiders they earned plenty of admirers in defeat and even led for most of the game. With the historical significance of this match, it deserves to be played in front of a full stadium.

Value Bet:

My value bet for this is for the Eels to score a victory against the Dragons by a margin of 13 points or more at $2.88. In the the first try market, the Eels have Semi Radradra at $6.50 and Bevan French out at $10, whereas the Dragons have Kurt Mann, Jason Nightingale and Euan Aitken all at $11.

 

Interesting fact:

The Eels have won three out of their four past encounters with the Dragons. The Dragons have not defeated the Eels since 2013.

  

It will be a big game for: Semi Radradra.

In the Eels last start loss to the Canberra Raiders, Radradra made his return from injury after sitting on the sidelines for just over a month. It was a successful return from injury as he ran for a staggering 217 metres, made 3 line breaks, 14 runs and scored 1 try. On those statistics alone you could say Radradra has well and truly staked his claim to play test football for Australia at the end of the year.

Those 217 running metres made Radradra the highest metre earner in that match, with his closest rival being Raiders forward Josh Papalii who ran for a still impressive 168 metres. Radradra has the ability to score a try or break the defensive line at almost any point in the game. Having Michael Jennings inside him makes him even more of a threat to the opposition than he would be just by himself. The Eels will be hoping Semi Radradra can continue a positive return to form and inspire a victory over the struggling St George Illawarra Dragons.

 

 

Danger man: Josh Dugan.

Just like Eels Fijian flyer Semi Radradra, Dugan made his return from injury last weekend against the Sydney Roosters but he did look a tad underdone. Dugan was returning from a broken jaw suffered in State of Origin three at the hands of Maroons superstar Greg Inglis.

In Dugan’s absence, the Dragons attack has looked a bit more lacklustre than usual. Dugan is a world class NRL player and when he is on the field the Dragons are a much better team. He is an attacking weapon, but not so much of a ball playing fullback – so the Dragons and the NSW Blues have both experimented with him in the centres. Nonetheless, the Dragons look a far more dangerous team with Josh Dugan at the back as opposed to Jason Nightingale or Kurt Mann. The Eels would have most likely marked Dugan as a real danger as a good game from him could result in a Dragons victory. The Eels will go a long way to winning this one if they can keep him quiet.

 

 

 

Team lists:

 

Parramatta Eels (15^th coming into the round, *12 points deducted)

 

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

 

14. Kaysa Pritchard
15. Kenny Edwards
16. Peni Terepo
17. Daniel Alvaro

 

18. David Gower

 

Coach: Brad Arthur

 

Late mail: No late changes expected for the Eels, so they should take the field as named.

 

St George Illawarra Dragons (11^th coming into the round)

 

1. Josh Dugan
2. Kurt Mann
3. Euan Aitken
4. Tim Lafai
5. Jason Nightingale
6. Gareth Widdop
7. Drew Hutchinson
8. Lesson Ah Mau
9. Mitch Rein
10. Mike Cooper
11. Tyson Frizell
12. Joel Thompson
13. Jack De Belin

 

15. Will Matthews
16. Jacob Host
17. Jake Marketo
18. Luciano Leilua

 

Coach: Paul McGregor

 

Late mail: Benji Marshall has been dropped with this week’s match and Drew Hutchinson has been listed to replace him.

 Two Key Match Ups:

Bevan French vs Josh Dugan:

This Monday night’s encounter will mark the first time this season Eels rookie sensation Bevan French has been named to start at fullback. Over the past couple of weeks French has been interchanging with veteran fullback Michael Gordon, and despite being in the five jersey last week, he played as the Eels Fullback.

French is no doubt going to be a player of the future and some astute judges have earmarked French as the next big thing and has even been compared to the likes of Billy Slater and Anthony Milford. In amassing thirteen tries this season from just eleven games, it’s easy to understand why there is such hype around this rookie. Whilst French debuted too late to be considered for rookie of the year, one had to wonder what could have been if French was named to start for the Eels from round one this season.

Cast your minds back to the Auckland nines earlier in this year’s NRL pre season, the Parramatta Eels were crowned the 2016 Auckland nines champions and one could argue Bevan French (along with Corey Norman) was the shining light of the tournament, French was the Auckland nines top try scorer and many people, myself included thought French may just sneak into the Eels first grade team for round one. However this wasn’t to be and French would spend the first half of the 2016 NRL season in both NYC U20s and NSW Cup until injuries precipitated his debut.

As of right now French would arguably stand as one of the fastest players in the game (up with Josh Addo Carr and James Roberts) and this attribute of speed alone makes French a dangerous prospect for the Dragons. If the Dragons defense, especially around the centre of the field isn’t up to scratch, someone like French could have a field day at the Dragon’s defenders expense.

On Monday, French will be opposing Josh Dugan. In the Dragons last start loss to the Roosters, Dugan was not very impressive, though not many Dragons players were. On his day he is among the best fullbacks in the NRL and the Eels would do well to remember this. He has very impressive ball running skills, close to the opposition try line he is a massive threat and always a chance of scoring a try, and it often takes more than one defender to wrap up him up. As the Dragons primary attacking weapon, he is bound to feature prominently in the Eels tip sheets.

 

 

Manu Ma’u vs Tyson Frizell:

This year Tyson Frizell finally fulfilled his potential and made his debut for the Blues (NSW) in game two of this year’s State of Origin series. He even managed to score a try on debut and even delivered one of the best chases seen in Origin history on Queensland winger Dane Gagai. Frizell may just be one of the fastest and best back rowers in the game. Weighing in at 108 Kilograms and standing at 185 centimetres tall, he is a very hard man to wrap up in defence and is a constant menace in attack. Much like Josh Dugan as highlighted in the previous key match up, Frizell also has an offload and his passing game isn’t too shabby either. It’s not hard to see why Frizell has earned so many admirers. Though the Dragons have delivered some disappointing performances this season, a constant has been Frizell’s efforts. The Eels would have no doubt identified Frizell as a man to keep an eye on, and a man they would like to shut down and keep quiet.

Similar to Frizell, Eels hard man Manu Ma’u is a strong ball runner, who’s hard to wrap up in attack and can deliver a key offload or pass if need be. Ma’u has been a shining light for the Eels and this season has found himself quite often switching between playing centre and back row. This speaks volumes about his versatility, which has been extremely handy for the Eels in second half of this season given the amount of injuries suffered in the Eels backline.

Earlier this season Ma’u claimed his very first New Zealand rep jersey. Ma’u Kiwi’s were unable to come away with the victory but he delivered an impressive performance and this could likely be the first of many occasions he will be selected for the Kiwis.

For the first time in a couple of rounds, the Eels will field a full strength back row, with both Beau Scott and Tepai Moeroa selected to return from injury. Along with Scott and Moeroa the Eels will be hoping Ma’u can deliver a blockbuster game as they attempt to defeat the Dragons.

 

 

My tip:

Reading through my preview by now you would understand who my tip is for this one. Put simply, I believe the Eels will score a comfortable win against the Dragons. Over the course of the past two months the Dragons have been fairly disappointing and scoring points has looked a problem. Obviously you need to score points to win games.

On the other hand, despite being undermanned, the Eels have competed in most games and managed to score a fair share of points.

Based on that I am tipping an Eels victory. Put me down for an Eels win –  Eels 28, Dragons 10.

 

Man of the match: Bevan French or Michael Jennings

 

Enjoy the game, GO THE EELS !!!

Nathan