Eels 20 defeat Sea Eagles 12

Eels:

Tries – 3

C.Norman (11 min), B. French (26 min), C. Gutherson (49min)

Goals – 4

Gutherson (12min, 27min) 2/3 Conversions

Gutherson 2/2 (17m, 65m) Penalty Goals

 

Here we go aga………. Oops wrong post.

How good was it to have the footy back??? The weather wasn’t brilliant but it did hold off for the main part and it was good to see the ball movement by the Eels. In contrast Manly seemed like they were playing with a cake of soap at times.

So let’s have a look at the stats that matter. Do they tell the story of the game?

 

 

Parramatta dominated in all factions of the game. Most notably time in Opposition half and Opposition 20.

I have two concerns from the stats:

a) The Eels spent plenty of time in Manly’s 20 and couldn’t convert that into points. That said, I will give Manly credit for their online defence, especially when they had 5 or 6 line drop outs to defend.

b) The Eels on line defence was a bit ordinary with Manly’s two tries coming with relative ease. But I have no doubt Brad Arthur would be jumping all over this aspect.

Let’s have a look at the each half of the match separately.

Half Time Score: Eels 14 – Sea Eagles 6

1^st Half

 

 

In the first half Manly spent over 50% of game time in our half but poor handling cost them any chance of building real pressure. Manly’s first try seemed very easy and would have had Brad Arthur quite concerned with our online defence.

Fortunately, Parramatta’s good game management plus Manly’s inability to hold onto the ball and ill discpline did not see the maroon and white’s put any more questions to our goal line defence.

Parramatta’s opening half tries came from superb individual efforts. Corey Norman opened the Eels account with a  little grubber and regather. followed by a show of strength to get him to the line. Then in the 26^th minute we saw a marvellous offload in the dying moments of the tackle from Manu Ma’u to Bevan French who crossed the line and beat off a Tom Trbojevic tackle to plant the ball.

A very high completion rate in wet and humid conditions saw the Eels take an 8 point lead into the break.

 

2^nd Half

 

 

The second half was all Parramatta, although it wasn’t really reflected on the scoreboard. Parramatta smashed the Eagles in all aspects of the game after the break, it was just a shame we couldn’t convert that domination into points.

That middle period of the 2^nd half saw the Eels put a mountain of pressure and repeat sets on the Manly side. Their defence held strong and this has to be commended. Barrett would have been well pleased with that effort and should feel buoyed about their commitment in defence. Defence is always a measure of a team’s attitude, so the Sea Eagles can still take some positives out of this loss.

So if we view Sunday’s match as a bit of first game rust, we should surely expect a much improved attacking Eels outfit in the weeks to come.

Attack:

 

 

Indicative of our tremendous team ethos, it was pleasing to see the forwards sharing the work load. We saw impressive efforts from not only the starting forwards but our bench as well. Monster carries from new Eels Suaia Matagai saw him and Martin Taupau entertain Lottoland with their great rivalry on the pitch. You have to love that type of hard hitting footy.

Lets examine the run metres.

Six Eels passed the 100 metre mark.

Tim Mannah	177m
Michael Jennings	156m
Semi Radradra	147m
Nathan Brown	134m
Daniel Alvaro	127m
Suaia Matagai	120m

Other stand out attacking figures were Corey Norman with 17 kicks for 414 metres and Clint Gutherson with 5 kicks for 124 metres.

 

Defence:

 

 

Parramatta forced Manly to make an additional 100 tackles in the game. In doing so, the Eels completed 253 tackles to Manly’s 350. Five Eels made 20 plus tackles with once again the forwards sharing the work load. We have to applaud this all round team effort.

In the missed tackle count, Parra missed 24 tackles to Manly’s 34. Considering the heavy conditions, the effort from both teams was commendable.

 

Looking ahead! Round 2 sees the Eels travel down to the ’Gong to face an impressive Dragons outfit. Were the Dragons that good or Penrith that terrible?

All we know is that Parra will be much better for this hit out against a determined Sea Eagles outfit and will ask the Dragons a lot more questions than the Panthers did.

 

STAT ATTACK: MAN OF THE MATCH

TIM MANNAH

 

 

Superb captains knock from the skipper.

I guess a lot of us thought how Tim would go with our new front row signings

Tim answered all those questions and then some with a spectacular performance.

His runs had venom, and his defence was stinging. He definitely led from the front and showed his fellow forwards how it’s done.

Looking trim, taught and terrific and ready for fatherhood, Tim will be looking at a monster season ahead.

Minutes Played	51
Possessions	20
Runs	18
Run Metres	177m
Tackles	29
Tackle Breaks	1

 

Stats courtesy of Champion Data. All these stats and more can be viewed on our match centre at http://mc.championdata.com/nrl/ including live game stats. Or download the Telstra Sportsfan app and/or Triple M NRL app.

– Colmac

Champion Data

Follow @championdatanrl

mc.championdata.com/nrl/

Credit to the Parramatta Eels for images used.