There was some real heart-in-mouth moments against a spirited Bulldogs side last week, but following a Mitchell Moses field goal in extra time, our boys were able to come away with a well needed victory that now (thanks to Penrith’s capitulation against South Sydney), establishes a four-point buffer between our 8th placed Eels & the rest of the pack. So it begs the question, how are you feeling now Eels fans?
Personally, despite our patchy form this year, I couldn’t be more stoked with the circumstances of our season. It feels like our destiny is in our hands and that finals spot that has eluded us for so long, is now ours to lose. However, one can’t assume that it means our work is now done. Far from it. We’ve only just gotten to the base of our mountain, and the real challenge is a mental one, starting this week with an undermanned Storm outfit.
Heading into the back third of the regular season our boys face only two sides currently in the top eight in their last eight matches – the origin affected Storm this weekend in Melbourne; and two matches against the Brisbane Broncos (one home, one away).
It’s not unreasonable to think that every one of our matches from this point onwards are winnable, however there’s no such thing as a sure thing in this NRL competition. As we all know, upsets happen every week, and there are plenty of unexpected twists and turns in any given NRL season. Teams have on days, and they have off days. The key of course is to try and limit the disparity between those two performances as much as possible. It’s a quality our opponents this weekend have mastered, and why despite missing a plethora of star power from their line-up, they’re still a genuine threat of taking the game from under our noses.
So how do we combat this? What’s our answer?
Attitude. Enthusiasm. Commitment.
Stormin’ Norman: Eels five-eighth Corey Norman will be looking for a controlled performance against the competition leaders
It’s not unfair to suggest the Eels have lacked a killer instinct in finishing off their opponents this year, and although there have been some extenuating circumstances that have contributed their part in preventing us from racking up a score (our second half penalty counts, anyone?) the onus still has to be placed on our squad to apply their foot to their oppositions throat. That means forwards running in pairs with no fear. That means our halves rolling the ball into the in goal and suffocating the opposition with the weight of possession (Manly round 1). That means playing the percentages and continuing to get through our sets. That means moving up in one line with plenty of line speed.
They’re not qualities beyond our playing group, and we’ve seen it at times throughout the course of this season already, but it needs to become a part of our performances more regularly and our performances need to become more complete if we’re to challenge the top side comes September.
So as we take to AAMI Park this Saturday night, particularly going into another bye with a potential four point win up for grabs, we need to be ruthless with our attitude from the onset. It’s something our players will be very aware and conscious of. But knowing it and actioning it are two very different things, and it’s important that our most senior players, as well as our most involved players, are the ones driving this.
Never will a Storm side be so ripe for the picking, however it’s not an illusion we can fall to. After all, once glance at their forward pack and one can see that this is a side that is still gleaming with quality players and seasoned campaigners, and rugby league is ultimately a forwards game before it becomes any other game, so therein lies the massive battle we face this weekend.
Additionally, being the home side on a cold Melbourne Winter’s night will only help the Storm boys, and those youngsters have the talent and temperament to capitalize on any opportunities their forward pack creates, should we let our guard down for even a second. It’s why we have so many threats to analyse & monitor if we’re to take away the two points in this encounter and if we want to be that side making a run and challenging come the end of the year, we need to be ruthless in our attitude towards these threats.
Forwards Game: Tepai Moeroa, along with the rest of the Eels pack, will have to bring their A game to AAMI Park
Speaking of which, let’s have a look at who they are:
Jahrome Hughes: He’s been in the Queensland Cup system for a couple of years now, but there’s a lot to like about Jahrome Hughes. Fleet footed and with the ability to find a gap, Hughes displayed his dancing skills to score his maiden NRL try in his NRL debut. Although more home at five-eighth, Hughes has the ability to be the link man from the fullback position, and I have no doubt Bellamy will be trying to utilize him as the runner either side of the halves on backline movements to create space for Vunivalu & Addo-Carr on our extremities, especially given the way our outside defenders have been rushing in on the ball carriers recently. Given that fullback is an incredibly aerobically demanding position in the NRL, and Hughes lack of experience, it makes sense to make him do as much work off the ball as possible. Getting heavy oxygen from that cold Melbourne air down his throat will lead to plenty of fatigue, and in that lies the ability to not only shut him down, but pressure an inexperienced player into error. If I’m Norman & Moses (who have been in superb kicking form the last couple of games), I’m trying to find space in between he & Addo-Carr all night long.
Origin Player: Billy Slater is a notable absentee from the Storm’s line-up
Josh Addo-Carr: If Vunivalu is Melbourne’s answer to Semi Radradra, Josh Addo-Carr is the Storm version of Bevan French (wing model of course). Blessed with electrifying acceleration, Addo-Carr can finish off with even the tiniest of space. You can’t afford him any room on a backline movement from 20 metres out, because chances are, in the Melbourne attacking structure, he’ll burn you. What he does struggle with however, is rucking it out of trouble and he has been known to have difficulty under the high-ball from time-to-time. As suggested earlier, kicking towards the space between he Hughes is a must for our long kicking game, and could prove a tactical master-piece should we wish to chance our hand with some bombs. Load the cannons, Mr. Moses.
Curtis Scott: This guy is going to be something really special. An ultra-talented outside back who as he continues to grow into is body will only become more threatening & damaging at the top level. He changes direction effortlessly, can get through a hole and has pace to burn. He’s the ideal outside back to have in development systems in Melbourne. I have no doubt in five years’ time that we will all be singing his praises (pending injury, off-field drama et al). For now however, he is an experienced NRL player who doesn’t have the luxury of Cronk & Munster feeding him timely ball. It’s up to our players to teach him what playing against seasoned first graders is really like. I’m looking to Michael Jennings to work this guy over defensively, and to burn him with the ball if he has some space to move in.
Suliasi Vunivalu: He’s the answer to our own Semi Radrada – a prolific try-scorer who gets his teams sets on the front footy with plenty of metres & a sight to behold in open pasture. We know what to expect with this guy, so it’s all about limiting his ability to produce the results that are now a standard performance for him. Kicking away from him is one way of doing this. Having Semi well positioned & attacking the ball of the kicks he defends is another. Outside of that it’s just up to our defenders to work him over as best they can. Yeah, he’ll make some metres and have plenty of carries, we just have to determine how effective they are and where it is he makes those carries from.
Fijian Flanks: Semi vs Suliasi
Brodie Croft: What maturity this teenager plays with. So calm and collected to plot the field goal in extra time, which won his side the Cowboys game, the Storm’s most recent origin affected game. Diminutive in stature, but a giant in terms of potential, Croft’s kicking game is something we will have to place the ultimate pressure on. As seen by Cooper Cronk’s absence against the Sharks a few weeks ago, when the kicking responsibilities were placed on Ryley Jacks & Cameron Munster, the Storm struggled to generate field position following their fifth tackle. It was only the injection of some timely Cameron Smith kicks that helped them get on the front foot again. As the only noted kicker in their side, our defenders must rush (but please don’t tackle late!) Croft on every opportunity. He will be the player controlling the majority of their long kicking game (whereas Jacks will chime in on occasion, but mainly play it short off the boot), so it’s up to our defenders to ensure he doesn’t get the time to pick his moments. Our back three are all generally quite good positionally, and pressuring Croft’s long kicking game could go a very long way to asserting ourselves with our attacking field position.
Jesse Bromwich & NA-S: Two of the biggest humans on the rugby league field today. One is a seasoned campaigner and a New Zealand International, considered one of the best props in the competition; the other is one of the most promising forward prospects going around. Both of them a big bodied humans who if given the opportunity, could roll right through us and give the Storm plenty of easy field position. They are a massive challenge for our middle defensively this weekend and should not be taken lightly. Fortunately for us, Bromwich has had some injury concerns and although likely to play, may not be at 100%. Nelson Asofa-Solomona is very much in the infancy of his career and inconsistency is still a part of his game. We must get into the face of these two and wrap the ball up, otherwise they will make metres and generate second-phase play all night long. If we are to walk away with a win, it will be large in part of our ability to negate these two offensively.
Middle Man: Containing Jesse Bromwich will go a long way to winning the forwards battle
Dale Finucane: The unheralded stalwart of the Storm’s pack, is Dale Finucane. Statistically he is an incredibly effective player, as well as incredibly consistent. He’s one of Bellamy’s first picked players each week and tightens up the middle defensively so well. On the verge of NSW Origin selection, Finucane is one of those players who can set the pace with his attitude. It’s important not to give a player like him the opportunity to set a platform, because he will only grow in stature as the game goes on. Effect the tackles on the Storm’s other middle forwards, and we will remove his ability to make any real significant impact.
Felise Kaufusi & Tohu Harris: Two very great hole runners. Felise has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 12-18 months. A player who once struggled to get through half a game, now churns out fantastic stats across 80 minutes on the regular. He’s also proven to be quite a handy try scorer in recent times. Tohu Harris on the other hand, who like Jesse Bromwich, is likely to play albeit not at 100%, is just a hard man to tackle. He’s got that big, athletic forward build that’s just hard to handle, and some very handy skills to boot. A taller Kenny Edwards, if you will. Our edge defenders will have to be on all night, particular in terms of shutting down the ball carrier. These guys will hit, spin & offload; as well as poke their heads through. Mitchell Moses is going to need extra support with either one of these blokes running at him all night.
In Form: Felise Kaufusi will run at the Eels left edge all night long
We’ve slowly been getting better with our play throughout 2017, and although we’re yet to produce a full 80 minute performance, the patches where we have been producing our better plays have improved in quality.
The backline movement for Semi Radrada’s try against the Bulldogs was absolutely beautiful. Some incredibly well executed passes from Cameron King, Mitchell Moses, Corey Norman & Clint Gutherson put our big Fijan winger over in a faultless shift play; our kicking game against bigger packs in Canterbury & the Dragons started our defensive sets in the best possible way; and the disjointed right side defence has slowly found some mojo following some strategic positional changes.
It’s now time for us to build on those patches of form and turn it into a polished performance. We don’t have to stack on the points for us to do so. In fact I have no expectation that we will score 30+ (although it would be nice), it just won’t be easy to do so. Melbourne’s forward pack will ensure that this game will be significantly challenging from start to finish. All I look for us to do is to play for as much of the 80 minutes as possible, and to play as smart as possible. To play controlled, disciplined rugby league and as much of it as possible in Melbourne’s half.
Attitude. Enthusiasm. Commitment.
That for 80 minutes, will be enough to warrant a good performance. That for 80 minutes will be enough to come away with the points and that for 80 minutes is what we should look for.
We do that and we get the job done.
Clint
All images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels, NRL.com and Getty Images.
Good post Clint. Its easy to think with so many of the main playing group out for SOO that the team could think it will be an easy game, thankfully some of the player comments are saying that the Storm is still a big task, they do not underestimate them. With as you say a strong forward pack and perhaps two of the best wingers in the competition especially in the high ball department, this is going to be a hard game.
You mention the Manly game that we won, and the tactics used I hope the players are shown that game and a repeat performance would go a long way towards getting the points, and I believe that they can repeat that performance.
Attitude. Enthusiasm. Commitment. – 100% but also the need for aggression and focus on the job ahead.
Always good to hear from you Colin. How have you been?
I don’t think for a minute that our players or staff assume this will be an easy game, but I’m sure they all see this as a game they must win. It’s a dichotomy of sorts, but we really just need to separate ourselves from the fact they’re missing players to rep football.
If I were the coach I’d be drilling into them all week about controlling the tempo of the match and dictating terms to them. You do that with two things: Good linespeed and a great kick-chase. We start with those basics and build our way into the game. Even if it’s 0-0 after 30 minutes, just keep hammering away at them until one crack appears. We should not be of the mindset of improving our for-and-against, just the mindset of completing & generating repeat sets with the football. The points will come if that remains our focus.
As you said Colin, we require focus. Can’t switch off for even a second.
Storm like many other successful clubs have a set general pattern, they determine themselves to wear down their opposition, tutored very well be a very good coach, every person has their role, in most respects the only way to beat them is to better them at their own game, especially with their kicking game, to me its a matter of ensuring each of our kickers are in position no matter where the play is at, that means having to be very cluey in regard to reading where the storm is trying to push to especially in defence.
Watching them play, they not only try to control the direction of the game in attack but also in defence, they seem to attack just as strong when defending as they do with the ball. The other aspect is the speed in which they can recover especially in defence, more often though when a kick is not expected, when the opposition is constantly just running at them set after set, they respond very quickly but an unexpected kick in the play is what seems to catch them out the most.
That in itself is how they control the tempo, and somehow as you say the eels have to do the very same thing, a storm on the storm. Likewise they should not be looking at the scoreboard at any time, just be playing out each defensive and each attacking set and stop them from scoring, which also means the control of no penalties, don’t hold them down in tackles rather let them up quicker as that also tires them. I notice that there are forwards out there who seem to stay down longer in a tackle before getting up as it gives their side a bit more rest and to set their play up, an early release means their attacking play is not properly set.
I reckon that’s exactly how it panned out Clint. Great comment!
Awesome article Clint. Attitude, commitment and enthusiasm are the traits we need from them every week. We at the pointy end of the season now and this game like it’s been said before is season defining. I’m still waiting for an 80 min performance, a performance convincing of a side that will threaten for a title and change the perception of our team as a whole and prove to the doubters that we can be the real deal.
Thanks for the sentiment Jack and for swinging by! You’re right, they should be at the forefront of every performance. I just think that it’s especially important today given the traditional media-hype around ‘weakened’ origin-affected teams.
Look at the Roosters-Rabbitohs game last night. I wrote this article before that game took place, but therein lies a perfect example of how NOT to play a side missing it’s top players. Souths were on the high of their victory last week and thought they could finesse their way past the Roosters. Top players or not, the Roosters, like the Storm, still have a great defensive structure that their whole squad plays and trains to. You have to earn the right to promote the football, as we will have to do so tonight.
Sure they’ll have some inexperience out wide, but let’s look to exploit that AFTER we’ve earned the field position to do so, by playing nice and direct. That’s how we’ll get our 80 minute performance.
How would you approach tonight’s game if you were coach, Jack?
Great analysis Clint. It’s incredible that even with 6 players missing, the Storm will offer so much, especially their forwards. At full strength they are the benchmark. With players missing, they are still a challenge. What a club!
They’re a reflection of the strong leadership their club has, aren’t they Anon? Slater, Cronk, Smith and Bellamy. You don’t survive at the Storm if you don’t meet their standards and it’s why all the teams they’ve been involved with have been so successful.
As a side note, and I digress a little because this always comes up when talking about the Storm. I hate it when media, players and fans alike use that overly cliched term ‘clinical’ to describe them. Phil Gould said it once and now everyone runs with it to describe a close-to error performance by any team (same with the word ‘clunky’ for a disjointed performance). The Storm aren’t clinical, they just have higher standards with their expectations than any other team in the competition. Bellamy upholds them, and their leadership drives them through the playing group. Just as a team lacking that polish aren’t clunky, their timing is out of sync & they haven’t perfected their combinations, likely because their senior players haven’t effectively upheld the expectations of the coach across the playing group when out on the field.
Clint, therein the first paragraph is the real key to their success, Storm keeps the players they want to keep, and they are ones that instantly learn their position/role within the team and what they are meant to do, those that can do that have a good career, those that don’t and play outside of what the coaches want, and expect of them don’t last long.
Tonight the eels like the Storm line up without SOO players. Also the Eels, unlike the Storm, will not line up tonight with any current internationals (assuming Manu is out) and we also have other key players out thru injury.
However there will be no excuses for the Eels tonight if they get beat. I for one am confident that despite all of our setbacks we will win tonight with commitment and a great kicking game
Well predicted, and also, well noted that we are not at our strongest.