The Eels take a trip to the nation’s capital with their 2017 campaign striking a bit of turbulence over the past 2 weeks. No doubt they’ll want to get the season back on track as soon as possible and what better time than down in Canberra against the highly rated “Green Machine”.

Although this will be no easy task, a good win for the Eels could just prove to be the filip for a return of both confidence and momentum. Let’s cross the fingers that the might of the Blue and Gold creates an impression in this match and sets course for a string of victories.

Here’s a run down of some recent history:

This isn’t great reading, so take a breath and ready yourself. Over the last 10 games the Eels have only beaten the Raiders 3 times. The score aggregates over the past 10 games sees the Eels scoring 194 points to the Raiders 224 – giving an average of Canberra 22 to Eels 19.

In total these two teams have played each other 53 times with Canberra holding a 27/26 win record. Unfortunately, the record for the Eels at GIO Stadium is a sad state of affairs. Parramatta have only taken the walked away victorious in 4 out of 19 games played there. Ominously, in the last 10 times in Canberra the Eels have only chalked up a single victory.

Where It Can Be Won or Lost?

Again the Eels fare well in the opening exchanges with a better win ratio then the Raiders in those opening 20 minutes. The 20 – 40 minute period sees both teams even as well as the opening 20 of the second half. Where Parramatta is falling is in the final 20 minutes with 3 losses and a draw in this time period. It seems like this is a part of the game that we are starting to feel the fatigue and burn of a game.

Last week our inability to shut down the offload was a big killer. In the opening rounds we covered an offload without any damage. But in the last 2 games it’s really killing us. The Raiders have offloaders galore with big forwards and edge runners.

With the Eels employing a compressed defensive line, no doubt the Raiders will be wanting to shift the ball wide early. Smart defensive choices need to be made. We can’t afford to shoot out of the line (especially on our right edge) to give Canberra the Sydney Heads to run through. We need to maintain the line and the speed, which will nullify the Raiders charge. The Raiders love a slow line speed from their opposition, this gives them time and space for their big men to wind up and create havoc.

No doubt the team has concentrated on getting the basics right this week. Improved handling and ball control will be crucial in mounting pressure on the Raiders defence. We can’t afford another week where the completion rate sits in the low 60s.

The Sharks controlled the ruck well last week with slow release in tackles killing off the quick play the balls that the Eels use to gain ascendancy.

I can see this as a tight game which can go either way. I’m looking forward to this match as I think we will see a very much improved effort from the boys to get the 2017 campaign back on track. Both teams have exciting attacking weapons all over the park, so depending on weather, this could turn into a very high quality game.

Colmac

Champion Data

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.

– Colmac

Champion Data

Follow @championdatanrl

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