Cowboys 32 – Eels 6
Crowd: 11,968
Like me, most Eels supporters probably want to get this over and done with and move onto Round 15. The Eels final visit to Darwin (under current deal) was not a good one to remember.
The numbers across the board don’t make for good reading, but it can make for good learning. Thurston was at his controlling best during this the game. Yes he played as we know he can, but he is second in line to Cameron Smith in ‘influencing’ referees – especially the two inexperienced refs that controlled Saturday night’s game.
Where I thought we lost the game was in the ruck. North Queensland controlled the ruck both when they had the ball and when they were in defence. Their play the ball speed was excellent. Quick play the balls to get the Eels on the back foot. Then when they were defending, they were laying in the ruck and keeping the Eels down for as long as they could so they could set their defensive line. By doing this they nullified our attack and basically we couldn’t go with them. In studying the replay, I noted that the Cowboys defenders would look up at the ref, wait, then get off when the refs told them to. Basically the refs would warn before blowing the whistle thus giving them extra time to get up. That extra second or two they had in the ruck just killed any Parra momentum and their line was set.
So let’s look at the stats that matter for Parramatta.
| Parramatta Eels | |||||
| H | Minute | Name | Event | Score | |
| 1 | 7 | K.Feldt | TRY | 0 – 4 | |
| 1 | 8 | J.Thurston | CONVERSION | 0 – 6 | |
| 1 | 29 | J.Thurston | PENALTY GOAL | 0 – 8 | |
| 1 | 34 | K.Feldt | TRY | 0 – 12 | |
| 1 | 35 | J.Thurston | CONVERSION MISS | 0 – 12 | |
| 1 | 40 | J.Thurston | PENALTY GOAL | 0 – 14 | |
| 2 | 45 | J.Thurston | TRY | 0 – 18 | |
| 2 | 46 | J.Thurston | CONVERSION | 0 – 20 | |
| 2 | 53 | C.Hess | TRY | 0 – 24 | |
| 2 | 55 | J.Thurston | CONVERSION | 0 – 26 | |
| 2 | 60 | A.Winterstein | TRY | 0 – 30 | |
| 2 | 62 | J.Thurston | CONVERSION | 0 – 32 | |
| 2 | 69 | B.Takairangi | TRY | 4 – 32 | |
| 2 | 70 | C.Gutherson | CONVERSION | 6 – 32 | |
Full Time Stats
| PAR | Team Stats | NQL |
| 45 | Possession (%) |
55 |
|
18/29 (62) |
Complete/Total Sets (%) | 29/35 (83) |
| 39:06 | Time – Opposition Half |
41:29 |
|
10:37 |
Time – Opposition 20 | 14:58 |
| 1746 | Metres Gained |
2135 |
|
4 |
Scrum Win | 7 |
| 0 | Goal Line Dropout |
0 |
|
7 |
Penalty Conceded | 4 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty |
0 |
These numbers back up the score line – we were just outplayed all over the park. Nothing to see here, nothing to analyse! Move On.
1st Half Stats
| PAR | Team Stats | NQL |
| 45 | Possession (%) |
55 |
|
7/13 (54) |
Complete/Total Sets (%) | 14/17 (82) |
| 24:43 | Time – Opposition Half |
15:39 |
|
4:19 |
Time – Opposition 20 | 5:37 |
| 794 | Metres Gained |
1017 |
|
3 |
Scrum Win | 3 |
| 0 | Goal Line Dropout |
0 |
|
6 |
Penalty Conceded | 2 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty |
0 |
These are interesting statistics to look at. Parramatta had less possession than the Cowboys and yet incredibly spent a lot of time in Cowboy country. Unfortunately there was nothing to show for it because dropping the ball tends to do that to your attack. Completing just over half their sets killed any momentum that the Eels should have built.
2nd Half Stats
| PAR | Team Stats | NQL |
| 45 | Possession (%) |
55 |
|
11/16 (69) |
Complete/Total Sets (%) | 15/18 (83) |
| 14:23 | Time – Opposition Half |
25:50 |
|
6:18 |
Time – Opposition 20 | 9:21 |
| 951 | Metres Gained |
1118 |
|
1 |
Scrum Win | 4 |
| 0 | Goal Line Dropout |
0 |
|
1 |
Penalty Conceded | 2 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty |
0 |
The completion rates remained abysmal in the second half, with the Cowboys hammering home their advantage in both field position and on the scoreboard. This was perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the match. The Eels copped the rough end of decisions during the first half, and despite being behind on the scoreboard, the effort remained. During the second half, it all seemed directionless and it was not until late in the match that the team began to throw more direct plays at the Cowboys.
Attack
| Top 5 Runs | ||
| Name | R | |
| NQL | C.Hess | 16 |
| NQL | E.Lowe | 15 |
| PAR | D.Alvaro | 14 |
| NQL | J.Taumalolo | 13 |
| NQL | B.Spina | 13 |
| Top 5 Run Metres | ||
| Name | RM | |
| NQL | C.Hess | 145 |
| NQL | K.Linnett | 131 |
| PAR | M.Ma’u | 130 |
| NQL | J.Taumalolo | 129 |
| PAR | E.Lowe | 118 |
Plenty of blue and yellow in here but not of the Eels variety. Only 5 Eels made 100 or more metres and only 2 were forwards. North Queensland had 8 players with 100 plus metres and another with 99m. If you don’t hold the ball, you don’t get to make the metres!
| Manu Ma’u | 130m |
| Nathan Davis | 117m |
| Nathan Brown | 109m |
| Bevan French | 104m |
| Daniel Alvaro | 100m |
- Semi Radradra 99m
Eels Run Metres: 1263m
Cowboys Run Metres: 1412m
Defence
| Top 5 Tackles | ||
| Name | TAK | |
| NQL | J.Granville | 37 |
| PAR | N.Brown | 36 |
| PAR | K.Pritchard | 34 |
| NQL | S.Bolton | 33 |
| NQL | E.Lowe | 33 |
| Top 5 Missed Tackles | ||
| Name | MT | |
| PAR | M.Moses | 5 |
| NQL | M.Morgan | 3 |
| NQL | G.Cooper | 3 |
| NQL | J.Taumalolo | 3 |
| PAR | N.Brown | 3 |
These are lopsided defence numbers and it al comes down to poor discipline. Dropped balls and penalties reigned supreme for the Eels and gave the Cowboys easy metres and game ascendency.
Let this sink in – the Eels effectively gave the Cowboys an extra 11 sets with the ball. That’s an extra 11 sets for the Eels to defend against and it all comes down to errors and ill-discipline
Nine Eels players made 20 or more tackles with another 2 on 19.
Eels: 351 Tackles – 25 Missed Tackles
Cowboys: 287 Tackles – 20 Missed Tackles
This game is now history and we move on to Round 15 against the Dragons at ANZ.
The Eels will no doubt be chomping at the bit to get back out there and turn their form around with a strong showing against the Dragons.
Effectively this will be a 4 point game for the Eels as we have a bye in Round 16. So no doubt the boys will want to win this one and stay in reach of the 8.
STAT ATTACK PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MANU MA’U
This was a bit hard to pick this week as not many stood out against the Cowboys.
Manu though played a strong game, both in his runs and defence.
His runs were hard and stinging, bending the line with each carry. His defence carried a similar impact. The Eels forwards did not get the job done but Ma’u was there to lift the team and get some quality metres for our halves to work with.
Given the job that the forwards did during the last clash in Townsville, it was disappointing to not have the same platform laid this time round. Brown and Alvaro had their moments with some quality touches but that’s about it really.
Well done Manu!
| Possessions | 17 |
| Runs | 13 |
| Run Metres | 130m |
| Offloads | 1 |
| Line Breaks | 1 |
| Tackle Breaks | 1 |
| Tackles | 30 |
| Minutes Played | 80 |
Colmac
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.
Champion Data
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We’d like to quickly move onto next weeks game and put this one behind us.
I recall hearing similar only a few weeks ago after the Roosters drubbing. There are some worrying signs for this eels team mainly that our forward pack can mix it with teams on their day, but put them up against the big boys or top teams and they appear very second rate indeed. Apart from adding a couple of bigger bodies, I have no idea what the answers are? There are 1 or 2 favourite sons at this club who don’t seem to be the answer for this team in today’s game.
I’m very disappointed with our second halves and fitness must be looked at because we just don’t seem to be able to play 80 minutes. Even our past couple of wins we have let teams back into the contest in the second half.
Makes for gloomy reading in many ways, the question is who were the refs, their names do not ring a bell as being NRL refs that I am familiar with.
There has been a lot of hulla bulloo about refs this weekend especially with the Uaitie try, Archer comes out to put the blitz under the bunker for overruling the linesman who called for the bunker, and Klein cops nothing.
Surely there comes a time where the NRL has to have someone with the intestinal fortutide to come up and point out the crap of the refs. Flanno has apologised for his Referee Smith statement, but it was a true call, no different with favoured players from certain clubs.
If Archer is not prepared to bring up the issues, then the NRL needs to, if there is a reason why crowds are down, I believe I would be on a safe bet in saying many previous attending supporters have had enough of the incompetence of the ref’s, if they were even handed in their rulings it may be another matter.
Could not agree more Col; i heard P Kent on the wkend radio; and he made strong point about penalties etc, if players stand off side for games then refs will not ping them all game. He mentioned Smith in his comments, and related this to all teams and not just him. I would be introducing something like sin bin more often for continuous penalties. I believe this is why we do not see wide camera viewing of the game; I recall foxtel saying they were introducing the line to show teams being on or offside?
As for Parra we were poor in some areas; but the penalties hurt (2-6 in one half; then 2-1 in second? ) that does not add up. I also got peeved seeing Moses cop late tackles after kicks and yet Thurston seems protected. It should be all on for this or all of.
Mitchy, JT has to be protected as it would hurt the SOO melodrama if he was ruled out because of one of those hits. To the refs. Who’s Moses?
Sadly that’s how I see it, of the games I have watched this year and snippets, there has been a lot of cheap/late shots on him and others in our team without penalties, but we have done similar as well so until we can get our paddock sorted out, its hard to complain, although when its inconsistent then we have a case and the Ref;s boss given a written report and to provide feed back.
That Manly no try/try should have seen Klein and the bunker refs lose their jobs for some time, not just a slap with a feather by a one match stand down, but have them stand in front of a large screen TV Set and watch the amount of penalties given and then what they have not in the match
Col, Klein is one of the worst refs we have seen imo; but i think Col it goes deeper. I think it is the way in which the refs are coached etc. They try and let games flow, but then we see inconsistent penalties. i.e. recall the one against Taka against the warriors. I did not see any clarification for this one? Archer normally does his excuse announcement.
I personally was hoping Brown smacked Hess in the head over the shot on Moses, as that could have made our boys fire up albeit with 12 men.
Mitchy, love that aspect of getting them fired up, agree 1000%
Wheres mitchs player gradings this week?
It was another game where they just never looked like they were in the hunt. Sure the refereeing wasn’t of the highest standard but the poor completion rate wasn’t down to that.
Thurston isn’t being spoken about as the next immortal for no good reason and the influence he had on that game, in many aspects, was unreal. More so considering he’d been out for several weeks. That he came back against Parra was bad timing for us, but whoever decided to play the Cowboys in Darwin needs to be relieved of that type of responsibility for ever and a day.
I had hoped that I wouldn’t see another game like the roosters this year but for a similar recurrence so soon is concerning. I agree with Col that the game was lost at the ruck but that has been a weakness all year.
Even with the byes still to come a 50:50 win loss as they are now won’t be enough given the high negative for and against and I just don’t get the feeling that there is a run of wins on the way. I hope I’m wrong.
Yes trapped me too; the roosters game was shocking to watch.
Trapped, I think a lot of us feel exactly the same way, would love to see us go out with a bang though. As long as they are firing all they can one cannot complain, having a go and showing it is all that is expected, has happened with us and other teams, just needs to have something to bring constructive/lega, but destructive game plays against the opposition.
The way things are now, I do not think many teams have any fear factor of the eels, and that needs to change pronto.