New Zealand Warriors v Parramatta Eels
Mt Smart Stadium
Sunday 2:00PM

The Eels will make the trip over the Tasman Sea in less than ideal circumstances following an injury at training to Bevan French’s posterior crucial ligament that will sideline the electric fullback for around a month. There are plenty of clues as to how the Sunday reshuffle will play out given who took to the field for Wenty today in their loss to Wyong but we shall save them for another section!

It has been a hectic week for the Eels – in a good way mind you. A glut of signing news erupted on Wednesday afternoon headlined by the revelation that Mitchell Moses wanted to join the Eels effective immediately. By the time this week was done Kane Evans and Nathan Peats had also been strongly linked to Parramatta. As exciting as that intense flurry of signing news was it will be good to re-focus on the footy as the Eels look to snap a 3-game losing streak against the Warriors.

Parramatta touched the Warriors up at Mt Smart in Round 26 of last season to put an positive exclamation mark on a torrid year. Clinton Gutherson and Bevan French tormented the home team while Isaac De Gois scored a rare double – including a try from a scrum won against the feed. While the Eels will be without the services of the latter two players they are looking much healthier across the team otherwise.

Despite a costly slow start against the Canberra Raiders in Round 5, Parramatta finally returned to a semblance of form in the second half and seriously rattled the premiership heavyweights. If they can carry that momentum into this week then the Eels will stand a very good chance of knocking over the Warriors.

The History

Late Mail

With George Jennings and David Gower taking part in Wenty’s loss to Wyong today, the Eels are left with Peni Terepo and Kirisome Auva’a to help fill the hole left by Bevan’s injury. Jennings is named to the 19-man squad that is eligible to play on Sunday but it is my understanding that by taking part in the Intrust Super Premiership game he is now excluded from selection for a NRL game this round.

Auva’a has been named to the right wing as a result in what will be his club debut for the Eels. Josh Hoffman has been officially billed to take over the custodial duties in the absence of French but there is at least one other roster formation the Eels can entertain – albeit at a greater disruption overall.

Given that Kirisome is relatively unfamiliar with the wing Brad Arthur could look to slot Brad Takairangi into the halves to partner Corey Norman while Gutherson pushes to fullback and Auva’a takes on his preferred role in the centres. Given the expected imminent arrival of Mitchell Moses, in conjunction with the mid-term injury to French, this could provide less disruption in a longer term view than the alternative presented officially.

Danger Man – Keiran Foran

Fate works in funny ways and it especially loves to set up unique story lines in sport. Just as Mitchell Moses is asking for a release the week before the Eels play his current club in the Wests Tigers, so too do the Eels face one of their own this week. Keiran Foran made his long awaited debut for the New Zealand Warriors in their scrappy Round 5 win over the Gold Coast Titans. While his team mates might still be playing with the classic Warriors’ erratic nature, Foran hit the ground running and played a well measured hand to get New Zealand home.

Foran’s ability to play fast and direct will test the right edge for the Eels, which has shown plenty of flimsiness in recent weeks. His steadiness in defence also gives us one less target to pick out in attack. Mostly though, it is Foran’s ability to elevate the games of his surrounding team mates that will need to be respected. New Zealand are a team that can usually be exploited for their inconsistencies in both attack and defence but Foran helps safeguard against that to an extent.

Game Changer – Clinton Gutherson

Whether he is playing at five-eighth or fullback, tomorrow will be an important game for Clinton Gutherson due to the absence of Bevan French. There is no doubt that Corey Norman will take on the role of primary play-maker but Gutherson will need to take up some of the slack that is left without our preferred edge finisher in the line up.

Gutherson was stellar in his last hit-out against the Warriors, to the point that the oft-heavily home biased New Zealand commentators took to dubbing him ‘King Gutho’ in a tribute to Wally Lewis. Despite the catch cries of many fans and even with the recruitment of Moses, I personally do not feel that Gutherson has been an issue for the Eels in the halves. His versatility has proven to be his greatest strength and weakness but rather than the common ‘jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none’ I think Gutherson’s time in the halves will better him significantly in the long term at centre. In fact, in recent weeks I have struggled to find a player comparison for young Clinton before it dawned on me in a minor fit of irony given the two clubs involved…Jamie Lyon is the player that comps best to Gutherson.

A fantastic defender with an awkward but consistently effective running style along with a splash of serious upside in play-making, Gutherson can be a unique weapon for the Eels in the centres and a damn good back-up half.

Much like how Foran will present a threat to the Eels with his ability to play direct, so too will Gutherson push the defence of the Warriors to their limit with his running game. If our forwards do the requisite amount of work to get us in the game, Gutherson will thrive alongside Norman.

The Game Plan

I feel like you don’t need to over complicated the plan against the Warriors. We have been our own worst enemies in recent weeks so the focus should really be on completing good, honest sets and limiting the boneheaded turnovers in our own half. If we give ourselves any sort of respectable platform to work with, the rest will come. In fact, some of deficiencies in defence have been exacerbated by the how much and where we are turning the ball over.

Of course the Warriors will test us in that regard. They are fielding the first choice New Zealand international spine and have a bevvy of talented outside backs to boot. Still, if the Eels can remain disciplined in defence and find ways to keep churning over the advantage line in attack then they will likely be favourites in this clash.

The Outlook

There were genuinely positive signs in loss to the Raiders, along with some cautionary signs if we are to be fair. The loss of Bevan French will prove to be disruptive to the Eels but in Hoffman and Gutherson they have two dependable backups to fall back upon. The trip over the Tasman has rarely proven to be kind to Parramatta but they did shake the monkey off the back in Round 26 of last season. I am tipping the Eels to emerge victorious from an interesting week of signings and injuries. Eels 26-16.

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