THURSDAY 2^ND AUGUST 2017

ANZ STADIUM, HOMEBUSH, NSW

After a sublime performance against the Broncos in Round 21, momentum has definitely swung in the Eels favour.

No doubt the band wagon has started rolling and now the media has jumped on to talk up the Eels chances for 2017.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yes we genuinely could finish the home and away season strong with an ‘easy’ run home. But as we know as Eels fans, we can’t take anything for granted.

So this week let’s look at our opponents the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.

Last 10 Games

The past 10 matches between these two sides sees the Bulldogs hold a 6 – 4 advantage. But more importantly the Eels have taken the last 3 games between these two great rivals.

Score Aggregate

Eels – 147        Bulldogs – 212

Score Average

Eels – 14          Bulldogs – 21

Quick Facts

* The Eels and Bulldogs have played each other 141 times with the Bulldogs leading 75 to 61.

* At ANZ Stadium, they have played 27 times with the Dogs slightly ahead 15 wins to Parra’s 12.

* The Eels record at ANZ now stands at 71 games played with 34 wins and 36 losses,

* The Eels last ten games at ANZ sees them with an 8 – 2 win loss record.

* The Bulldogs overall at ANZ have played 211 games for 120 wins and 89 losses. Their last 10 games have yielded them 4 wins with 6 losses.

* 2017 – the Eels are in 6^th spot with 12 wins and 7 losses. The Eels are scoring 19.1 points p/g and conceding 19.3 points p/g.

* Eels have won 5 from 5 in their last 5 games.

* 2017 – the Bulldogs are in 13^th spot with 7 wins and 12 losses. The Dogs are scoring at 13.7 points p/g and letting in 18.8 points p/g.

* The Dogs have only won one game from their last 5.

* The Eels have scored 62 tries this year and have let in 61, whereas the Bulldogs have scored 46 tries and let in 59.

By Quarters (And GP)

The Eels will need to start well from the outset as the Dogs can finish their matches strongly. In the first clash this season, the Eels took an early lead and looked to have an easy game, but our game management went out the window and the match went into Golden Point. What should have been a comfortable victory nearly turned into a nightmare as we let the Dogs back into the second half. Receiving no penalties in that half certainly didn’t help but  that’s out of our control. Ball security and game management is and that’s what wins you games.

The Eels have led at half time 10 times and have not been beaten. The Bulldogs have only won 2 games when leading at halftime.  The Bulldogs have won 5 times when down at oranges. Eels have done this twice.

Attack:

*average per game (Ranking)

Defence:

*average per game (Ranking)

Discipline:

*average per game (Ranking)

The Dogs are still a dangerous side. Lots of things aren’t going their way but when they turn it on they can put points on.

The Bulldogs can get an offload away (2^nd best in the comp) and create second phase play, something the Eels will need to shut down very quickly. The Eels did this particularly well last week against the Broncos, but the best defence to this is to wrap the ball up and stop the offload getting away in the first place. The Eels are the 3^rd worse in the league with ineffective tackles, letting the offload get away.

Another good start to the Eels should see them take the game from the Dogs and continue our winning run to 6. The Eels game management of late has been building and the whole team is reaping those rewards. Keep this going and we will make an impact in the finals.

Yours in Blue and Gold,

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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