Mitchell Moses will be all the talk for both teams coming into the now traditional Easter Monday classic fixture. Might as well give him a cheesy TLT headline in honour of it all!
NRL Team List
With the team starting down the barrel of a fifth straight loss, Brad Arthur has stood resolute with his playing group, making no unenforced changes this week. Several of the player-swaps in the late reshuffle in Round 6 have become ratified in a more official capacity. Clinton Gutherson returns at fullback, Kirisome Auva’a reprises his role at right centre and Brad Takairangi will don the #6 while Nathan Brown gets his first TLT starting jersey.
Daniel Alvaro will replace the injured Frank Pritchard while Tepai Moeroa is named in the starting team after dropping back to the bench on game day last week.
Shadow bench staples David Gower, George Jennings and Marata Niukore again feature in the extended squad while Will Smith makes his first appearance here after returning from injury last week.
Sixties and I have both broken down the current form slump the team is engulfed in at length in recent days so there is little more to add here. We all know Monday looms as a crucial fixture for the Eels after a torrid month on the job. The Tigers will return to Sydney triumphant after a shock upset of the North Queensland Cowboys and will be brimming with confidence as they play in the glow that comes in the honeymoon period of nearly all new coaches. A win, be it flashy or gritty, really needs to be the result we pull out to put a halt to a long and frustrating slide.
Parramatta Eels side
1. Clinton Gutherson
2. Semi Radradra
3. Michael Jennings
4. Kirisome Auva’a
5. Josh Hoffman
6. Brad Takairangi
7. Corey Norman
8. Suaia Matagi
9. Kaysa Pritchard
10. Tim Mannah
11. Manu Ma’u
12. Tepai Moeroa
13. Nathan Brown
Interchange
14. Beau Scott
15. Peni Terepo
16. Daniel Alvaro
17. Siosaia Vave
18. David Gower
19. George Jennings
20. Marata Niukore
21. Will Smith
Intrust Super Premiership
Wenty careened to their fifth loss of the season as they went down to the high-flying Wyong Roos on the weekend. It has been a horror start for the boys in black and white but there is some good news – they are slowly getting their jersey numbers sorted!
Will Smith slides back to the #1 to handle the custodial duties for the Magpies this week while George Jennings pushes one inside to centre to accommodate John Folau on the wing.
Troy Dargan is back, fresh from piloting the NYC team to a good win over the Warriors. He will partner Jamal Fogarty in the halves. Alex Twal and Joseph Ualesi earn recalls into the starting team following circumstance involving injury and promotion for team mates.
The extended bench features Sam Gorman and Scott Schulte, one of whom you would expect would drop off come game day.
Wentworthville Magpies side
1. Will Smith
20. Bureta Faraimo
3. Nathan Davis
4. George Jennings
5. John Folau
6. Troy Dargan
7. Jamal Fogarty
8. Alex Twal
9. Cody Nelson
10. Joseph Ualesi
11. Jack Morris
12. Marata Niukore
13. David Gower
Interchange
21. James Hasson
15. Kelepi Tanginoa
16. Cameron King
17. Scott Schulte
18. Sam Gorman
Holden Cup Team List
The Eels were impressive, but far from flawless, in consigning the Warriors to their sixth straight loss of the season. Luke Burt has rewarded the positive showing by making no changes barring the one enforced roster move with Troy Dargan promoted to ISP duties. Kamren Cryer returns to partner Dean Matterson in the halves as a result.
The Eels currently sit outside the Top 8 on F/A but can really start to build from here if they apply themselves. The talent in this young team is evident but they will need to be diligent in their approaches to games as the season wears on to keep themselves in the tougher struggles. It will be one of the more unique pleasures of the season to see these boys grow and develop from game to game.
To sign off from this week’s TLT I will leave you with this snippet from NRL.com on powerhouse Parramatta winger Greg Leleisiuao. Leleisiuao has been singularly impressive since making his club debut in Round 3 following a return from injury and the Warriors found him simply had no answer to him on the weekend. Look for him to press for ISP honours soon.
“Eels winger Greg Leleisiuao had a field day against the struggling Warriors, scoring a try, running for 247 metres and breaking a whopping 18 tackles as his side claimed a comfortable win on the road.”
Parramatta Eels Holden Cup side
1. Anthony Layoun
2. Greg Leleisiuao
3. Tuimavave Afualo
4. Dane Aukafolau
5. John Fonua
6. Dean Matterson
7. Kamren Cryer
8. Sean Keppie
9. Denzal Tonise
10. Tangi Hokai
11. Filia Utoikamanu
12. Salesi Faingaa
13. Ray Stone
Interchange
14. Reed Mahoney
15. Mitch Butfield
16. Frank Salu
17. Oregon Kaufusi
18. Dom Murphy
19. Noel Aukafolau
20. Haze Dunster
21. Beni Valu
22. Austin Dias
23. Nick Okladnikov
Very nervous week mate tbh and I really am not sure about this game. I really think it could be a tough game as Wests give us a decent game and will have high spirits from last week. I am not sure and only hope we can come up with a win as if not pressure will increase…..🇦🇺👍🏻
Tigers are always a tricky proposition for us, even when we are in form. Something about the way they play meshes badly with our team. I can’t say that I have a great deal of confidence in our chances given our last four starts but at least in the last two weeks we gave ourselves a very rough chance of winning. Do the same again but with better effort and execution…maybe catch a fortunate bounce or two and we might be in business in getting this monkey off our back.
One thing to me is if this game ends up with a loss and BA just does his usual match interview and then makes no changes the following week then he has got to joking.
At least there is a sign that he’s prepared to add some new blood to the extended bench, and maybe we might see a surprise on Monday there.
I’m getting frustrated with BAs selections to partner normz. Fogarty is sitting in wenty at least put a half in to partner up. Or shift hoffman to fullback so you’re not disrupting the halves. It didn’t work last week or last year. I just dont understand why BA keeps doing it. Yeah sure Fogarty might have some defensive issues but at least the kid wont be playing out of position.
Fogarty has to first warrant selection in order to come into first grade calculations. He is miles off the mark in my estimation.
I take less umbrage than others about the 3-part shuffle currently in place because it feels like it has an eye towards being less disruptive for Round 8 and onwards. You can also better cover for the defensive issues of Takairangi the closer to the ruck he is.
Forties, spot on re Fogarty. I watched the Wenty game on Saturday & while he did some fair things and has a pretty good boot in open play and line kicking in penalties, he is a while off a top spot at the moment.
He still had some defensive issues but from what I saw he has improved a bit but unless desperation hits I cannot see him in the top grade this year.
While Taka is not a natural 5/8 he did fill in there last year and did some nice line kicks that on at least one occasion led to a try, he’s just one player out of 17 that has the need to lift and get his game back on track and like the others in the squad they’re the only ones who can do it.
can i say the most of the moderaters on the cumberland throw seem to see things through rose coloured glasses,the great training, nothing tosay about training drills ect, so the other teams dont know , well after the last 4 weeks other teams have worked us out big time, we are unfit, to slow and show now aggression, wait on the 10 metre line to tackle, put all our defence into the middle field and got no idea in the centres,cory looks lost on game plan , i dont mind losing to the better teams but titians, warriors, lose this week im sure b a will be under pressure to keep his job, weve got the front office right but player buying dunno
Interesting reply Peter!
It’s funny how as a supporters site that we:
1. Support our team
2. Don’t tell other teams about the manner in which the team is planning for their match.
Mate, the greatest pressure that BA will feel will be how demanding he will be on himself to find an answer to arresting the slump.
None of us like our team losing and we have been critical about the last few weeks. But if your expecting this site to turn on its team, you’ve come to the wrong place mate.
Peter might also want to check out the two articles on the front page that proceeded this one for a great dose of those ‘rose coloured glasses’.
All are welcome to come to TCT and level all forms of critical discussion at the club. However, if you come here carrying such an obvious card and are looking for a fight then you aren’t going to enjoy your stay. We have had plenty of robust discussion about the state of the team over the last three days and all of it has been done in fantastic spirit and manner.
I’m a regular of other supporter sites in League Unlimited and 1 Eyed Eel and enjoy both sites for what they offer and they will gladly cater to your needs.
Here here sixties!
Good to hear Greg Leleisiuao getting some raps. I was telling anyone who would listen to me on here during the preseason how good he is.
He is the man to take Semi spot next year …… or Hoffman for that matter
I feel like Hoffman is copping a bit of a bum wrap at the moment. Wingers are easy to zone in on as the issue when an edge is bleeding points but I think our issues on the right point towards the interior. He has also been given limited opportunities to finish given our propensity to attack down our left. I’m not going to sit here and tell you he has been amazing but he has been doing his job competently.
We are on the same page with Leleisiuao though. He has thoroughly impressed me over recent rounds and most importantly he has shown willingness and ability in defence. Given the current fan climate surrounding our juniors involving more than a smattering of torches and pitchforks, I am extremely reluctant to pump the tyres of any young prospect but he has earned a solid double thumbs up.
My only addition to this is that GL simply looks a cut above this grade.
Anyone on here know when the club may announce the signings tweeted about last week.
Hoping for something to soothe the lows.
There would be the issue as to whether contracts have been signed or whether it’s simply an agreement that’s been made. After a contract has been signed there’s protocols such as cooling off periods. There might even be scenarios as to whether the player or his management have asked for the announcement to be held off or maybe the club wants to make announcements at a particular time or in a particular way.
I guess that’s like a long winded way of saying, “who knows?”
To all the Fogarty lovers. Is he actually top 25? If not then he is not even in the running at this time of the year. He would need to be very special for us to waste second tier allowances.