SUNDAY 23rd JULY 2017
ANZ STADIUM, HOMEBUSH, NSW
The byes are done and now the business end of the season starts. Seven games stand between the Eels and finals football. These are seven games that we can win and not just cement a spot in the 8, but become a real premiership threat.
It all starts this week against a struggling Tigers line up. The only thing that will beat us in this game is complacency. It’s an all too familiar feeling amongst the Eels fans when the boys come up against a team they are expected to beat.
Let’s have a look at the history between these two sides.
Last 10 Games
| Season | Round | Date | Eels | Tigers | Venue name | Result |
| 2017 | 7 | 17-Apr-2017 | 26 | 22 | ANZ Stadium | Eels win by 4 points |
| 2016 | 21 | 30-Jul-2016 | 8 | 23 | ANZ Stadium | Wests Tigers win by 15 points |
| 2016 | 4 | 28-Mar-2016 | 8 | 0 | ANZ Stadium | Eels win by 8 points |
| 2015 | 17 | 06-Jul-2015 | 28 | 16 | ANZ Stadium | Eels win by 12 points |
| 2015 | 5 | 06-Apr-2015 | 6 | 22 | ANZ Stadium | Wests Tigers win by 16 points |
| 2014 | 7 | 21-Apr-2014 | 18 | 21 | ANZ Stadium | Wests Tigers win by 3 points |
| 2013 | 22 | 09-Aug-2013 | 26 | 22 | Pirtek Stadium | Eels win by 4 points |
| 2013 | 3 | 22-Mar-2013 | 18 | 31 | Leichhardt Oval | Wests Tigers win by 13 points |
| 2012 | 22 | 06-Aug-2012 | 26 | 51 | Campbelltown Stadium | Wests Tigers win by 25 points |
| 2012 | 8 | 29-Apr-2012 | 30 | 31 | Pirtek Stadium | Wests Tigers win by 1 point |
These last 10 games sees the Tigers with an 6 – 4 advantage.
Score Aggregate
Eels – 194 Tigers – 239
Score Average
Eels – 19 Tigers – 24
Head to Head
The Eels and Tigers have played each other 34 times with the Eels holding an 19 – 14 advantage.
At ANZ Stadium, they have played each other 11 times and the Eels have a healthy lead with 8 wins to 3.
The Eels record at ANZ now stands at 69 matches with a 32 – 36 record. The Eels last 10 games at ANZ has yielded a 7 wins and 3 losses.
As for the Tigers, they have played 76 times at ANZ winning 33 and losing 43 win. Their past 10 games there have yielded a 50% win record.
As for 2017, the Eels sit in 7th spot with 10 wins and 7 losses – scoring at 18.6 points p/g and conceding 19.8 points.
For the Tigers, they sit 15th with 4 wins and 13 losses, scoring at 15.7 points p/g and conceding 25.6 points.
Four Quarter Footy (And a Golden Point)
| 0 – 20 | 20 – 40 | 40 – 60 | 60 – 80 | GP | |
| Eels | 10 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Tigers | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
The Eels have a massive advantage coming out for the kick off for either half. The 1st and 3rd quarters for the Eels could see them pile on the points. Ideally, the Eels need to keep the foot on the throat in this game and really put it to the Tigers. We could have done it to the Storm, but we released the pressure. If not for good game management at key moments, that scrappy period could have invited the young Storm outfit into the contest.
Attack:
*average per game (Ranking)
| Eels | Tigers | |
| Runs | 155 (10th) | 156 (8th) |
| Run Metres | 1454 (11th) | 1444 (12th) |
| Line Breaks | 3.8 (10th) | 3.3 (14th) |
| Offloads | 9.1 (12th) | 10.9 (4th) |
| Tackle Breaks | 20.6 (12th) | 22.5 (11th) |
| Possession % | 49.4 (13th) | 49.5 (10th) |
| Complete Sets | 25.9 (14th) | 26.0 (12th) |
Defence:
*average per game (Ranking)
| Eels | Tigers | |
| Tackles | 324 (6th) | 327 (5th) |
| Missed Tackles | 23.5 (6th) | 27.5 (15th) |
| Ineffective Tackles | 16.1 (11th) | 15.7 (9th) |
Discipline:
*average per game (Ranking)
| Eels | Tigers | |
| Errors | 10.2 (8th) | 10.6 (13th) |
| Penalties Conceded | 6.8 (12th) | 5.1 (1st) |
| Incomplete Sets | 8.8 (9th) | 9.7 (15th) |
The attack and defence statistics tell the story of these two teams. This season, the Eels attack does just enough to get the Eels across the line in their victories. The Tigers attack has produced similar figures to the Eels, but a consistently high missed tackle count makes winning games a difficult proposition.
When it all comes down to it, this should be a relatively easy victory for the Eels. The Eels are running with a 4 wins 1 loss in their past 5 games whilst the Tigers are 1 and 4 from their past 5 games.
Keeping Tedesco quiet will be the main focus of the Eels. In my opinion, Aaron Woods isn’t a decent front rower and can’t knock the froth off a cappuccino. His metres come from running the ball close to the line (backwards) then ‘ball playing (errmmm yeah)’.
The Tigers can surge during matches but this really should be nullified with quality starts in both halves by the Eels.
I am liking the Fun Facts I have seen on Twitter saying Moses has won more games with Parra since coming over to the Eels than the Tigers have won all year and also that Mitchell is still the Tigers leading point scorer.
Yours in Blue and Gold (well predominantly Gold this week)
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.
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Colmac, stats as usual are interesting, but more so your comments re Woods which are pretty well spot on really, (I just hope I don’t come to eat my words) when one really looks at his overall game play. For someone that promised so much and when his mind seems to be on he can play, and takes some pulling down, but its not consistant enough, which suggests he could fit in well at the dogs.
Tedesco, could well be the player to watch, also Tim Grant who is wanting an extension to stay with the Tig’s. Looking for to watching the game and an eels win.
Colmac was very forthright in his comments about Woods Colin. (I edited the post this week and added in the backwards comment). Woods strength likes in his ability to offload in traffic but his charges have become backwards ambles. When he first hit the NRL I called him overrated. Then he improved and I began to think I was wrong. He has definitely regressed this year, but perhaps the prospect of playing an ex-teammate might motivate him. I’d treat him the same as any other forward – get the job done!
Sixties, sometimes, and I don’t like any aspect of this being tall poppy talk, that many players and we have had our share at the eels break into the top grade and seem to stay there without a lot of questions about how they actually got there. Sometimes, they seem to just do enough to stay under the radar with the occassional bursts of showing there are talents there, and I think with Woods that may well be the case.
His abilitiy to make ground backwards is perhaps the best of all the walkers in the game, and if he was able to use that ability to selectively get the ball away it could be dynamic, but its in the terms of consistency that makes the best players. In the same way, a ball players consistency is being able to draw the defence and get it away when least expected, at the eels non better in my mind than the Bear, and later Dymock, naming just 2.
So to me, its a shame that Woods has not gone on further, but as you say playing an ex team mate on Sunday may just be enough to have him on fire and the eels have to contend with that. The other aspect with him is that he could have a point to prove with the Tigers, to show them in what’s left of the season what they will be missing.
I will also be very interested in seeing how Twal plays against the eels.
Expecting a quality game though.
How is it possible, in today’s “book ’em, Ref, they’re a less favoured team” NRL environment, that the lowly 15th placed Tigers are conceding the fewest penalties per game of any club?
I thought the same Rob. Caught me by surprise.
The NRL are trying to sell them off after all.
None of those stats are flattering for Parra, the most telling is the progressive slide in performance as the match progresses. Good teams pick up their intensity as the match progresses and unless Parra correct that we’ll continue to be a mid table team.
The addition of bigger forwards might be the answer but BA, as yet, does not seem very active in the market. One hopes that the cheque book has not been put away as the two we have will not be enough imo. Evans doesn’t fill me with joy unless he returns to his form of several years ago and Meehan is a work in progress and may not progress past this year. He might also be one brain snap away from being sacked from a club again.
Glenn, its one thing to have a cheque book and a balance in the bank to use it, but I wonder at what point if there are not a lot of players available that are really worth chasing and better than what we have now?
Seems that the prop position is where the lacking may be, but looking at the names that are shown on Zero Tackle of props off contract end of this year, there does not appear to be any great ones there, at least from my limited knowledge of the majority of them.
Evans has started to show some form in the last couple of matches, and if he can lift in the same way as Nathan Brown has since coming to the Eels, he will be a good signing, With Terepo back and fully fit along with a couple of the younger players in the lower ranks, I tend to look pretty optimistically at next year.
Meehan has his future in his hands and looking at some of the eels gallery shots of him at training he is starting to look fitter now, and thing is that the club has a pretty fair record of lifting the bad boys out of their problem areas as well. Mixing I would suggest with the likes of Manu in particular can only be positive for him, should he really want it.
Wests play a free flowing type game and enjoy offloads – that’s the key. We have to slow them up and lock up the ball; kick to grass and corners and limit Tedesco. Simple stuff; and play out sets. We need to show we are building for semis each week; and just do the simple things well and we will win.
Woods…..i wont comment.
Mitchy, reason I believe the game will be a cracker, hopefully we will see the eels play their attacking game and at a fast rate to begin with, but not let the pressure valve off, which will be very much the key, incremental progress upwards without lessening the slack, good fishing tactics.