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Whiskey Musings – Round 15: Kicking Master Class, Counter-Attack See Eels Home

Round 15 Drink of choice – Stronachie 10 Year Old Single Malt

The Eels have put a horror trip to the Northern Territory well and truly behind them with a rousing 24-10 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons. In a game where the Dragons dominated two core attacking categories (Offloads: 14-5, Linebreaks: 5-1) the Eels maintained near complete control over the game on the back of a masterful kicking display from Corey Norman and to a lesser extent, Mitchell Moses. Unable to buy a penalty from the officials until the 71st minute (despite dominating the ruck for the majority of the game) the work from the boots of the two Parramatta halves placed unrelenting pressure on the Dragons and laid the platform for a gritty defensive victory.

On the back of the stirring Round 15 triumph the Eels will finally head into their first bye of the season. The break is desperately needed for Parramatta who added two more players in Kaysa Pritchard and Beau Scott to an already extensive injury toll. On that sobering note, let’s take a gander at what transpired as the Eels improved their record to 8-7.

 

Fortune favours The King

Fresh after prising the custodial role from Bevan FrenchClinton Gutherson has turned in another outstanding performance for the Eels. Funnily enough, it wasn’t so much that Gutherson put on a clinic at the back but rather that he continues to make his own luck no matter where he plays. The King’s first opportunistic try came on the back of a deflected offload from Kenny Edwards where Gutherson claimed the ricochet and sliced through the line to score.

However, it was his second try that will make the season highlight package. The Dragons showed an early interest in attacking our vulnerable right edge today and regularly worked the ball that way late in their tackle count. This backfired spectacularly in the 25th minute when Gutherson trapped a kick from Kalifa Faifai Loa at the last line of defence. The Eels’ custodian scooped the loose ball up and showed surprising acceleration and top-end speed to zip through the broken line of defenders and score in a devastating counter-punch that took the Eels to a twelve point lead.

The King wasn’t quite as flashy in the second half but 238m from 20 runs and 6 tackle busts speak to the quality of his overall effort.

 

French ain’t no one season wonder

Brad Arthur praised Bevan French in the post-match press conference for his attitude and diligence in handling the positional change this week and you can’t fault the head coach for laying on the praise thick and heavy. The numbers do not tell the whole story at all this week with the 1 run for 11 metres and 10 tackles (3 missed) likely having you believe that French was almost invisible out there today. He was anything but!

Two turnover tackles resultant from textbook wing defence and hustle plays, the latter of which directly led to the Michael Jennings try, were massively influential to the victory. French indirectly forced another late error when he crunched Kalifa Faifai Loa which in turn saw Cameron McInnes lose the ball at hooker after hitting the foot of Faifai Loa as he passed the ball.

French would then go on to score our final try of the evening and it was a doozey. The sophomore sensation strung together breathtaking acceleration and agility along with pin-point hand-eye coordination to latch on to an attacking kick from Mitchell Moses before pirouetting through the tackle attempt of Jason Nightingale to slam the ball down.

Arthur closed out his post-match comments on French by concluding that Bevan’s best position long-term is still at fullback. With both Gutherson and French starring in the victory today it is a heck of a problem to have.

 

Kicking game a class above

Corey Norman produced a rare shocker last week after racing back from a medial cruciate ligament injury but he was at his scheming and probing best this time around. While there wasn’t any eye-catching line breaks or line break assists for the Eels’ marquee playmaker, Norman put on an absolute clinic from the boot – practically winning the game for Parramatta with his relentless ability to find the grass. Mitchell Moses chimed in beautifully as the secondary option as fans finally got to bear witness to the joys of a well-rounded kicking game.

The only thing missing was a 40/20 but beyond that this is honestly THE reference game for both Norman and Moses for when they want to freshen up on the finer aspects of their kicking repertoire.

 

Venom in defence dents the vaunted Dragons’ pack

While Brad Arthur might have been frustrated at the number of offloads the Eels allowed through the game, he would have been proud of the aggression shown in defence by his charges. Spearheaded almost unbelievably by Bevan French, the Eels laid the pain on their opposition today. Manu Ma’u launched himself spectacularly at Gareth Widdop, taking the play-maker off his feet while Semi Radradra knocked Jack De Belin into next week with a highlight reel driving tackle late in the game.

It was the sort of defensive effort you were hoping for the Eels to produce directly after their heroic victory over the Warriors in Round 13 – as opposed to the drubbing we suffered at the hands of the Cowboys.

A late barge-over try to Paul Vaughan may have elicited some sighs and groans from fans but I am fairly confident that the elbow injury sustained by Beau Scott in that tackle was the major contributing factor to the try.

 

Thoughts go out to Kaysa Pritchard

Kaysa Pritchard, for all of his earlier struggles, was producing something of a breakout season to date. After an injury disrupted start to his NRL career, today’s game marked his 15th consecutive cap of the season and he had recently been playing the best football of his young career. Today was a stark reminder of just how brutally unforgiving this great game can be when he was buckled over awkwardly in a tackle.

Whether it was a ruptured ACL or a dislocated knee cap (or any other serious knee injury), Kaysa was visibly distressed and had to be aided off the field by the Medicab before he was taken directly to the hospital via an ambulance. It goes without saying that the entirety of TCT sends their best wishes to our young rake. It seems likely that Kaysa has a long road back from injury ahead of him but he is an absolute warrior and I have no doubt that he will tear into the rehabilitation process.

 

The bye we needed to have

Every so often you hear the old line trotted out that ‘this was the loss we needed to have’ but in Parramatta’s case our belated first bye could not be more timely given our injury woes. With Kaysa Pritchard facing a likely season ending injury and Beau Scott picking up an elbow injury, the Eels are simply running out of first-grade options. Our Round 16 bye will alleviate the injury strain somewhat with Josh Hoffman, David Gower and Nathan Davis scheduled to return to active duty the following week but now there is a massive question over what happens at #9 and #14 for the Eels.

Cameron King and Cody Nelson are both internal options in our reserve grade squad while Reed Mahoney has impressed in the Holden Cup this season. The Eels could also look to the player market for a mid-season acquisition but the pickings are sparse. Courtesy of the bye, Parramatta now have two weeks (well less if you factor in training time) to find the answer to that riddle. Will Smith has quietly impressed in his new found role as our utility but finding him the right foil will be crucial in piloting the Eels to their first finals appearance in over seven years.

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12 thoughts on “Whiskey Musings – Round 15: Kicking Master Class, Counter-Attack See Eels Home

  1. Parrasupporter

    If you read watch the Vaughn try you’ll see Scott was clutching at his elbow after the previous tackle, Widdop saw this and sent Vaughan straight at him in which Scott did his best but the damage had been done to that elbow.

  2. Chief

    French’s seamless transition really surprised and really continued where he left off last season.
    Norman and Moses’s cohesion improved greatly and seemed to understand when to demand possession.

    Think we may go with Smith at 9, although IDG has been training.
    Anyone know if he is a chance ?

    1. Colin Hussey

      Chief, having the coach move MJ to that side of the field really helped French and Moses with his abilities in defence a real master stroke by the coach and no doubt he encouraged MJ to accept the move as in the best interests of the team, I think it was close to or his best game for the eels yet.

    2. The rev aka Snedden

      Thought you have the inside word chief ….you must do you knew of guth at fullback n French on the wing. Yes I still read what goes on at the other site ….lol say hi to snake n fongy kind regards the rev.

  3. Colin Hussey

    It was a wonderful gutsy win, had me on edge the whole time and my wife was wondering about me regarding the refereeing as per usual with the showcase man/face of the NRL refs, who missed the chicken wing on Ma’u or was it Edwards early on?

    When Kaysa went down, my heart sank, how many blows can this young player suffer in his career? just when he is showing the goods with consistency, and making the 9 spot his own? My concern is that its the same knee that has been the trouble now for a while I just hope that he gets the best surgeon and treatment and comes back stronger.

    I wonder if we really have to panic though, as Smith once again more than capably filled in for Kaysa, he along with King and Nelson are on contracts that finish at the end of this year, having not been too impressed so far with either of them I would think Smith may get an extension, and lets also start seriously looking in our own backyard for the future.

  4. AB

    Really interesting to see the teams defence with Jennings on the right, Gutho at the back and French on the wing. It’s actually what a lot of parra fans have been calling for. I know it’s only the first game with this combo but it looked the most effective of all line ups this year.
    Apart from that it’s the best I’ve seen the team play for the full 80 minutes this year.

  5. Trev

    A good win and good report Forty, but what a shame that two very gutsy players may be sidelined for a while. Beau injured his elbow when tackling DeBelin in the tackle before Vaughn’s try and still tried valiantly to prevent Vaughn from scoring (one tough player). If ever I wanted a player to succeed it would be Kaysa as he personifies courage, attitude, enthusiasm and just keeps fighting back from injury. His game has improved immensely as the season has progressed, (mostly due to increased game time), despite playing with a different revolving spine week after week.I really hope he is okay, the injury not too serious, and he is back playing sooner rather than later. Smith looks more than capable as a backup hooker. I commented in a previous post about his attributes i.e. (speed, crisp pass, good defense, supports well) and he knows the structures and players well enough. Forty you and I and others on here have a good opinion of Reed Mahoney, and he is one I certainly hope stays with the Eels as he has a tremendous, competitive attitude. He has the line speed and tackling technique of IDG, (possibly the biggest loss for the Eels this year as his defense really motivated the team as well as saving them energy wasted in the wrestle), plus a very good pass, support play and reads a game well. Mahoney is only slightly built at the moment, (unlike the young Smith from the Storm or Tonise from the Eels), but if he can build that frame of his a bit he could turn into a top notch player. He and Ray Stone hunted in tandem for the U20’s, so it would be interesting to see them both playing together in the higher grades, if the opportunity presents itself. Although Bevan French is down on pace at the moment, he is still quick enough to cause problems for the defense. He shows courage in attacking the high ball, has superb hands, reads the game well, and is on the verge of taking the hitman title from Manu Mau! Seriously!! Okay, maybe not yet, but what a great effort from Bevan against the Dragons. Can’t wait to see more of it. Tim Mannah might not get many accolades, but he certainly doesn’t let the team down. His defense is very good and every charge into the line yesterday was at full speed, (didn’t seem to be favouring his shoulder). Just wondering if Tepai will be back for the next game,(should help if Beau is out). I was very pleased to see the aggression displayed towards the end of the game. Great attitude. If they can keep showing up like that despite the adversity then we shouldn’t have cause to be disappointed. Cheers, Trev.

  6. John Eel

    It has been noted freely that the Dragons got plenty of offloads away and this is seen correctly as a defensive lapse. Let me say though that the desire for second phase play by the Dragons also lead to tries. Have not had a chance to look at the game again yet but at least 2 tries resulted from turnovers.

    I would also like to add that the second half “Game Management” was very heartening. When you see it done that professionally it gives you a lot of confidence going forward

  7. Nick

    Great game I would have to say that even though there were quite a few standouts throughout our team it was i think a team performance that got the win.. It seems like within the first 10 minutes of a game you can tell if our heads are in it and we are a chance of winning or not. The tackles were made to hurt not just complete the tackle, runners were trying to run over the defensive line not just at it. We need to play with that commitment every game to be a chance

    I am wondering if we have found the correct formula Guth at fulback, French on the wing. Jennings on the right side helping out moses and French in defence seem to have a good balance. IMO it doesnt mean the argument of who should be FB is done just at this time with the players current form we benefit more having guth get his hands on the ball more. the only question mark i would still have is on the other side with taka’s defence i am a big fan but in recent years it seems like injuries have taken there tole and he may be half a pace slower than he was. perhaps Hoff or Auva can play center on that side with semi. The tricky part for BA is that Taka is a great footballer i think you want him in the team somewhere

    It is going to be a headace going into the future for BA as i believe both Guth and French’s are FB’s that is both players best position.

    Onto KP very sad to see him go down injured he has had bad luck in the past. I have been fairly critical of him this season but he has improved as the season has gone on. Will Smith did a good job filling in aftger KP went off. In the second half you almost forgot he was there gave solid service from dummy half and that kick to the corner was very nice. I agree he would need someone to share the role going forward i dont think he is an 80 minute player i am not sure what BA will do there.

    1. Anonymous

      It’s so tough to see Kaysa face another serious injury. He’s taken some knocks this year and bounced back every time. I’m sure he’ll do likewise this time, but surely he’s due for a change of luck?

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