Parramatta Eels 18
Penrith Panthers 12
The Good: |
The first 50 minutes or so were excellent, maybe our best 50 minutes overall this season. We controlled the ruck, set the tempo and completed our sets. All those great footy cliches. Spoiler alert – I actually thought everyone played pretty well today. |
The Bad: |
With that said, collectively, the last 30 minutes were pretty poor. I heard Brad Arthur say our second half completion rate was at something like 30%. That is woefully bad and indicative of a team that still has a lot of work to do. |
X-Factor: |
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that two of our tries (although still worth 4 points each) were very fortunate. One was the result of a comedy of errors from Bryce Cartwright (who I thought was one of our best today), the other from some freakish play from Clint Gutherson after Kaysa Pritchard darted from dummy half seemingly unaware it was the last tackle. Now if you take out those two tries (both Corey’s incidentally), we walk away from this game on the other end of the ledger and we’re all feeling very different right now. Of course, one could argue that Clint Gutherson didn’t knock the ball on for the Jennings ‘try’ and the end score with all the above considered is 12-12. Nevertheless, the moral of all this is that even beyond the last 30 minutes of ineptitude, and although we are still managing to string wins together, we’re still not world beaters just yet. |
The MVP: |
He was a bridesmaid for the honour last week, but I can’t deny our fullback a second week in a row. Clint Gutherson is the best value player on our team, and could very well be the best value player in the NRL (I’m happy to hear your nominees below). He’s approaching genuine go-to status for Parra these days, and seems to be rising to the occasion. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure – that’s lemonade, baby. |
The Starters
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1- Clinton GuthersonFullback, Parramatta Eels If you can kick the ball out on the full and somehow recover from dropping the ball in your own in-goal (by subsequently kicking it to your wing partner in maybe the freakiest play I’ve seen in an NRL game), but STILL get player of the match, you must have had a whale of game. Gutho certainly did. Lemon helped himself to 141 metres (from 14 hit ups), 1 line break, 2 tackle breaks and a try assist. But to be honest, the moments that don’t show up on the stats sheet is what most wins him my praise today – the kick ahead for Corey’s second try, the body-on-the-line dive on the ball as Cartwright toed it ahead in our 20, his constant talk at and organisation of our defensive line and his ability to show up all over the field whilst still managing to look the freshest player out there. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a brilliant performance. And speaking of fresh, Gutho also has a really great head of hair. |
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2- Semi RadradraLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels That try off the Norman kick was vintage Bula. So was a charging run at the Panthers’ line in the second half when we desperately needed some go forward. Over 100m (103) and the aforementioned try indicates the quality game the big Fijian had. |
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3- Michael JenningsLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels Oh how he wanted that try against his old team, and in my opinion, deserved it. With that said, although I would have given the green light, I can see why the Bunker overturned it. It still doesn’t spoil what I thought was another good, involved game from The Jet with his 9 hit ups and 3 tackle breaks. |
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4- Kirisome Auva’aRight Centre, Parramatta Eels What he lacks in defensive agility, Kirisome makes up for in sheer strength and power. At times acted like an extra forward on the many occasions in the second half we found ourselves working it out of our end, but I’m sure he knows the 3 errors is 3 too many. I will say that if I were developing a game plan to face Parra, I would be running at Kirisome and Hoff. We still look a little shaky on our right edge. Is it pronounced ‘a-ha-va’, ah-va-ha’ ‘ah-vow’ or ‘ahh-va’? Anyone? |
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5- Josh HoffmanRight Wing, Parramatta Eels Outside of an early drop from a Panthers’ bomb, I thought Hoff had a pretty solid game. The 3 tackle breaks is outstanding, only bettered by Corey for the team. With that said, Even Steven over here missed 3 tackles himself, so there’s still room for improvement. In other news, did you realise Hoff is 29? No, me neither. Hoff also was outstanding in two plays teaming up with Clint Gutherson, first the aforementioned freakish drop-kick-catch miracle in our in goal, and secondly a pass to the GuthBus to avoid a Panthers 40/20. Good stuff Hoff. |
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6- Brad TakairangiFive-Eighth, Parramatta Eels Only 40 minutes of game time thanks to a nasty knee injury that looks to keep him out for a couple of months. Had some deft kicks and nice touches whilst he was on though. Get well soon, mate. Kenny misses you already. |
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7- Corey NormanHalfback, Parramatta Eels Corey is still maturing as a game manager, but his running game is red hot at the moment. Grabbing 2 Johnny-on-the-spot tries would help his confidence, but you don’t score those if you’re not pushing up and pursuing the play. Surely we are not the only Eels fans noticing Corey’s unfortunate habit of getting tackled on the 4th, leaving him, our favoured kicker, unavailable to clear the ball? It felt like it happened maybe 4 times today – something BA is no doubt all over. As mentioned above, Corey lead the team with 5 tackle breaks and this no doubt helped him reach his 120 running metres. Good, Normy. |
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8- Suaia MatagiProp, Parramatta Eels You could tell he was up for this game against his old team. Fell short of the forward par 100m (88) but the 26 tackles and two tackle breaks are a nice bonus. |
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9- Kaysa PritchardHooker, Parramatta Eels Kaysa continues to improve, and is getting better at the crucial hit and stick, and controlling the speed of the ruck. In recent weeks, Kaysa has allowed the odd arm grab to make an unwelcome appearance in his defensive plays. However, today saw Kaysa make 50 tackles, with only 1 miss and 1 ineffective tackle. Those are very impressive defensive numbers. I thought his passing service was crisper today, too and he also found time for 3 offloads. I had to look up whether he took some time off this game – evidently he had a 6 minute break at some point. It all adds up to a pretty impressive 74 minute outing for Kritchard. |
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10- Tim Mannah (c)Prop, Parramatta Eels Finally, the Renaissance Man is back. A much more involved 38 minutes and a brilliant contribution to frustrating the Panthers’ ruck speed in his opening 20 minute spell marked a welcome return for Captain Amannahica. Tim’s 121 metres from 13 hit ups should make his doubters look even more foolish, along with his 19 tackles without miss or ineffect. While I’m at it, here’s a tweet I put out earlier this week. (You can add ‘Panthers: 1/1’ for this week to the bottom). |
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11- Manu Ma’uBack Row, Parramatta Eels Welcome back to the 100m club, you bald headed animal. Mau’s 102 metres from 13 hit ups coincided with his aggressive, no holds barred running style. Also made 28 tackles with only 1 ineffective. In other news, Police hold grave fears for Penrith local Nathan Cleary, who is missing after holding back Manu Ma’u on a kick chase in an NRL match earlier today. |
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12- Tepai MoreoaBack Row, Parramatta Eels In short, I think Tep has started to return to his best form since finalising his contract extension with Parra. The trademark big hits and great running lines a la 2015 are really starting to put his mark on each game again. Tep’s 94 metres from his 12 hitups, a tackle break and 28 tackles looked good today. Still, put a shirt on Tepai, you clown. |
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13- Nathan BrownLock, Parramatta Eels Another game, another outstanding running game from Shut It Down – 118 metres, 35 tackles, 16 hitups, 3 offloads, 3 tackle breaks and a partridge in a pear tree. Did you notice that even when we score, Nathan looks angry? I feel like he’d be the kinda guy to get angry at inanimate objects like elevators and stop signs. Great footy player, though. |
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Interchange
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14- Beau Scott (c)Interchange, Parramatta Eels I thought Beau Scott would pull out injured today. I obviously forgot that he is actually a robot and only distributes pain, never receiving it. To sum up, Beau made 80 metres, 33 tackles and 17 Panthers cry today. |
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16- Kenny EdwardsInterchange, Parramatta Eels My man is back, and I’m so happy about it. Although he made 20 solid tackles, I thought Kenny’s biggest impact was the attitude he seemed to bring to the side, taking every opportunity to inject emotion, talk and passion into whatever situation we found ourselves in – particularly crucial for that ugly last half an hour. It’s less than ideal finding out you’re playing five-eighth 20 minutes after you return from 7 weeks away from the game, and it wasn’t always pretty but kicks out of the full aside, Ken Doll got the job done. Welcome back, champ. |
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17- Siosaia VaveInterchange, Parramatta Eels A shorter stint today, but was still pretty effective. Siosaia got through 63 metres in his 7 hit ups, and still found time for a tackle break. He made 12 tackles of his own without a miss or ineffective tackle, too. Viva la Vave! Ps I could be wrong, but I think Siosaia had “Peni” written on his left wrist. That’s a nice touch. |
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Tell me your thoughts below, but for now, please excuse me while I go and rewatch the first 50 minutes of today’s game.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels. Stats courtesy of Champion Data.
I hope Gutherson plays with Parra for the rest of his career. He will captain this team one day.
Overall, much improved over the 80, even with the ugly end – and much better than the tigers game. Gotta love having the big Cuddler back!!
Kenny is still my favourite, but Gutho is quickly catching. What a turn around from that winger from Rounds 1 and 2 last year.
Quick. Extend him.
I think most of those grades are fair, but man Corey norman deserved at least an A- today surely. For the last few weeks I’ve been thinking Gutherson is the man we need to keep for a long time, and today he made me convinced of that thought, sign Gutherson to a 10 year deal B.A
Agreed re Gutho but I think Corey’s missteps regarding game management (what Brad referred to as ‘dumb footy’) dropped him down a peg.
Let me be clear, it certainly isn’t Corey’s respsonsibility alone and he was certainly not the only player not managing the game well; but in a pretty real sense he is our only half, so a lot of the burden does fall on him. With that said, two tries is always a terrific ROI.
Some players who have been down on form and criticised by many, including me, played much better today. Kaysa is starting to run more and our attack is looking so much better for it. Beau Scott and Timmy put so many Panthers on their backs when tackled which helped slow the play the balls down and control the ruck. Big improvement on the Tigers game.
Two trips up to Sydney in 5 days for my family but well worth it. Most importantly they seem to have that chemistry and desire back. Still much to work on but you cannot ask anymore than commitment and desire.
You’ve been at our last two wins? You could be the difference! How open are you to a trip to Townsville?
It does seem like something has clicked. We looked pretty poor against the Tigers for the middle section of last week, but that first try seemed to light a fire. Vs the Panthers had streaks of dumb footy but we seem engaged again. Hopefully we move on from the stupid footy.
I worry for Kaysa, he puts so much in to his defensive efforts. He’s injury prone and I just can’t see him lasting the season. He deserved a better mark for his efforts today with some real bone crunchers.
If we sign Peats they can do a tag team on the injury list, it should even it nicely.
I’m not sure if the aaavvvaaa’aaa pronunciation either. Can we agree to call him ‘the Aardvark’ and be done with it?
Yeah I agree he was terrific today.
What if we just call him Kirisome?
Gotta agree with your comments on Semi. We can only hope that we see more of his fearless hit ups, like that one in the second half.
As for Gutho, when you’re a footballer, a true footballer, you make things happen. Gutho does that every week. But it doesn’t just happen without hard work. BA has spoken plenty of times about Guth’s work ethic. Forty and I were talking to BA just before Parra made the announcement of Guth signing with the club. His recruitment may not have caused much of a ripple with fans at the time, but I can assure you that BA was a very happy bloke. He knew what Guth would bring.
He has already exceeded my expectations and he’s only just beginning. Personally I’m glad he no longer has the pressure of being our answer at 6, and his last two weeks have shown that carefree style that makes him so damn good.
Good, Gutho.
Mitch I think if anyone was ever going to deserve an A, it had to be Nathan Brown – outstanding in my opinion.
Nathan came here as an aggressive inconsistent bench player who enjoyed the niggle, and I doubt if anyone could have predicted his phenomenal improvement.
Plays very long minutes with skill, determination and courage – he’s undoubtedly our new leader. Crédit to Arthur for recognising his potential.
A+
Ps. # never talk down to the miatch man ; )
Brown has been an incredibly reliable presence through the middle for us. Shades of peak James Graham even in his ability to create hesitation in ruck defenders with the threat of his run or a late pass at the line. He has honed that mongrel edge finely too. No brain-snaps or boneheaded penalties – just plenty of punishment for the opposition.
He is entering the age where middle forwards start to peak and I would love to have him around for a long time based on what he is doing for us!
he’s one of my favourite players – that line where the difference between his best and his worst is pretty minimal. we just know what we’re going to get from Browny each week.
of our current crop I’d be seeing him, Gutho, Corey, Kenny and Manu as my long term core. Moses too, depending on how it works next year.
I totally agree re Brown. Its no surprise to think back at our big sets from each game to see that it generally starts with a charge from him.
The team needs to start leveraging off that a little more.
Brad is spot on about Gutherson he is some sort of footballer and he is still very young.
agreed Joe – playing really well this season, whatever he’s called upon to do. one of our very best.
It will be interesting to see where Gutherson shifts once the Bev is back. If the rumblings re martin to tigers mid season are true, and in turn we get Moses early, i think you will find Hoffman shifts to center, Bev to wing and Keep the our lord and savior at fullback.
One point of concern that i have is the defensive capabilities of both French and Clint when defending a line break. Both players have been consistently caught out when trying to defend a player who has broken through the line. Its almost embarrassing at times, but can be put down to their inexperience.