Round 25 Drink of choice – Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
Two weeks after Wayne Bennett provided this little gem the Eels have disposed of the Broncos in an ultimately less-than-clinical 52-32 romp. Despite the best efforts of the Ashley Klein and a bizarre call of the game from the Fox Sports commentary team, who were adamant throughout that a Brisbane comeback was building, the Eels prevailed to secure a temporary berth in the Top 4 once more. Even after dropping a cool 52 points on the Broncos it wasn’t anywhere near a perfect win and that is a genuine positive for mine. With that in mind let’s break down all the action from the second leg of Parra’s 2-0 sweep of the Brisbane Broncos!
Brisbane’s near ‘perfect discipline’ matched only by their error rate
Not a single penalty to the Eels in the first half despite dominating the ruck and the scoreboard. #JustParraThings -F
— The Cumberland Throw (@EelsTCT) August 24, 2017
Parra had a penalty yet? -M#NRLBroncosEels
— The Cumberland Throw (@EelsTCT) August 24, 2017
THERE IT IS! 53rd minute. -M#NRLBroncosEels https://t.co/5Y03VYKpya
— The Cumberland Throw (@EelsTCT) August 24, 2017
10-2. That was the staggeringly disproportionate penalty count in favour of the Broncos tonight. Despite completely dominating proceedings – in both the ruck and the scoreboard – throughout the night the Eels had to wait until the 53min for their first penalty of the game. Only one more would follow as well, for a 2-on-1 strip against Michael Jennings, in one of the most shockingly one sided refereeing performances of the year.
Yes Parramatta certainly benefited once from the ineptitude of Ashley Klein in the lead up to Brad Takairangi’s try but I challenge you to go back and find another game in the modern history of the NRL where a team dropped 50+ points on their opposition while conceding a penalty differential of -8. The Broncos were simply incapable of conceding a penalty for second efforts in tackles, lifting tackled players or getting their hands all over the ball. I would say that the entire thing is truly incomprehensible but this is the NRL where we Parramatta fans have come to expect that sort of reaming by the officials.
Fortunately the Broncos were inversely every bit as poor in their ball handling as they were excellent in their ‘discipline’ – conceding a whopping 12 errors to Parramatta’s 4. The Eels made them pay dearly for it as well with Kirisome Auva’a and Michael Jennings cashing in for two of the easiest tries of their careers. Speaking of ‘Somi’…
Kirisome Auva’a – NRL Record Holder
‘Somi’ might need to send Adam Blair a bouquet of flowers (or a case of beer, whatever is proper NRL etiquette) after the Brisbane firebrand laid up the fastest try in NRL history on a silver platter to the nuggety Parramatta winger. While Auva’a showed good awareness to swoop onto the errant offload, the error from Blair truly set the tone for the match as the Eels raced out a 24-point lead. Kirisome crossed the line at 00:13 and that is a record that will take some breaking!
Parramatta dance around one NRL hoodoo while the Broncos succumb to another
There are two iron-clad rules in the history of the NRL since its inception in 1998:
- No team was won the premiership from outside the Top 4
- No team has won the premiership after conceding 50 points or more in the regulation season
With their comfortable victory over the Broncos tonight the Eels keep their hopes of a Top 4 finish very much alive. Conversely the Broncos now need to fight a significant chunk of history after bleeding 52pts to Parramatta. These sorts of sports hoodoos are destined to eventually be broken of course…but it is nice to be on the right side of them for the moment!
Doctor Semi & Mr Radradra
Fans got to see the best and worst of one Semi Radradra tonight. On the one hand there was his amazing 4-try haul which featured two imperious length of the field efforts where he put numerous defenders on a poster (to steal a NBA-ism) – both of which will surely feature prominently in 2017 highlight reels.
However there were also his efforts in the first and final tries to the Broncos. Semi’s poor misread from the Brisbane scrum win practically made the decision for Darius Boyd while he only needed to bat the ball over the sideline to prevent James Roberts setting Corey Oates up for the final try of the match.
While there isn’t a winger in the NRL that I would trade for Semi, his defensive lapses and surprisingly unpolished finishing ability close to the try line rear their heads often enough to frustrate!
Still, it is very, very nice to have Semi back in game-breaking touch with the ball in hand. He is one of the few players in the game that it is nearly impossible for opposition coaches to game plan around (refer to Round 18 and Bellamy, Craig).
Edwards in the wars but only really a victim of stray fire
Much was made of the rematch between Kenny Edwards and the likes of Josh McGuire and Adam Blair but the supposed short fuse between rival enforcers never really caught alight. Edwards did cop a loose hand from Maguire in the eye but it certainly lacked malice on first viewing. Rather it was the efforts of Corey Oates looking for a quick play-the-ball that did the most damage to Kenny. Oates kicked out with both feet trying to fight free on his tacklers and he caught Edwards on the forehead with his heel. It lead to a stint in the concussion protocol for Kenny and put the dampener on a quietly strong game.
Even with the reduced playing time, Edwards found a way to impact the game with a superb switch up play on the right blindside. Rather than finding Mitchell Moses on the sweep Edwards popped a short ball to Michael Jennings who strolled over untouched. This was a play that the Eels have been holding on to some time in my opinion and now when teams do their tape on our short side plays they will need to pay greater respect to the short options – creating more space for Moses!
Lax finish means Eels won’t rest on their laurels
Or at least that is the hope! Right back in the intro this is what I was referring to about how the fact that the victory tonight was far from perfect might actually be a boon in disguise. This win confirms to the team that while they indeed have the firepower to dismantle rival Top 4 teams, by the same token that they can not afford to take the foot off the throat.
I am sure everyone that watched the telecast witnessed that iconic moment when Brad Arthur gently displaced a number of empty water bottles with his fist following the final try to Corey Oates. That was all I needed to see to know the team will be copping as much criticism as praise in their video session next week!
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are our final regulation season opponents and they are on something of a tear themselves. Unfavourable results mostly involving the Sharks could still see the Eels missing the Top 4 but tonight’s win backed up by a committed victory over the plucky Bunnies gives us a very real shot at a second life in the finals.
The Final Word
The attacking footy was by and large superb tonight. The Eels attacked and counter-attacked with venom and the Broncos simply did not have an answer. Our line speed and aggressiveness in defence was solid outside of our red zone but there were a number of soft tries scored with the result secured. Awful officiating compounded this issue and indeed I am pretty certain the majority of points scored by the Broncos came off the back of penalties. A 10-2 penalty count against the team unloading 52pts on their opposition is just mind boggling to me but again, this is the NRL.
And on that bombshell I will sign off for tonight. See you next week!
It’s hard not to think I’m too one eyed when I see penalty after penalty not being given, then having the captain spoken to about 3 in a row in front.
I must see a totally different game to the refs.
There’s gotta be an investigation!
What was Kleins caper in telling Timmy at the end of the game to go talk to his guys. he told him like 3 or 4 times ‘Go talk to them’ ‘Go On’ and Timmy just ignored him. Well done Tim. You could see at stages of the second half Tim and Corey frustrated at the referees.
A similar thing I guess is that I believe like most from NSW that Slater is a bit of a grub but when you say it to people from up North they are shocked and can’t see it.
I say this all the time too! You can add Cameron Smith and his “wrestling” arm-twisting, crusher-tackling, forward passing ways to that as well!
It will be so GOOD if we beat Melbourne in the final showdown, almost as good as beating Manly.
Yes Rob, almost as good but really. Nothing’s as good as beating Manly! In fact, I get a huge buzz when anyone beats Manly and am currently enjoying multiple double victory rounds on the trot when we win and they lose!
The tactic of late from Cameron Smith is to end up in the ruck after the tackle so that the attacking team can’t play the ball immediately slowing it down
As a glass half full kind of guy, congratulations to the NRL. It seems they have at least sorted out refereeing inconsistency. We’ve now been subjected to some of the consistently worst officiating in memory.
As for Norman being berated by the ref to “talk to his team” I desperately wanted to tell the ref to “F#@k off, we have a coach that provides instructions to our team….thanks anyway.” I guess I would have got 10 in the bin
A very strange game. The win was great. When you beat the Broncos it is always great. But the second half is going to have BA filthy at the video session Monday. Would like to be a fly on the wall.
I must say the commentary on this game on Fox Sports was as biased as the one sided penalty count. It was down right appalling.
Brenton Speed is a duck out of water with calling Rugby League, Brandy Alexander just hates us, but thats well known for a long time now. And Kevin Walters cannot commentate at all. Did he actually praise the Eels at all tonight?
I actually switched over to Channel 9, oops advert, back to Fox I go. Walters was so painful tonight. I thought he was going to start crying when Semi juggled that ball to score and also the Will Smith ‘shoulder of the prince’ pass to set up Taka. I guess lucky we didn’t also have to put up with Corey Parker on a Broncos game too.
This was an absolute dreadful commentary effort, a disgrace. Im not a fan of Blocker Roach’s commentary efforts but they are well above Kevin Walter’s.
He has no idea. He is lucky to be Qld coach and be winning. But hey anyone could be the Qld coach and win with that squad. No wonder he isnt putting his hand up for the Titans job as he will be found out.
I lost count to how many times these ‘experts’ said there is plenty of time for a Broncos come back.
Maybe I am the one being biased, but even my mate tonight, who is a Sharks fan said how bad and biased the commentating was tonight.
Nine wasn’t much better, Gould was convinced we’d collapse the whole game, it wasn’t until we reached 50 he begrudgingly admitted the Broncos were done.
Thanks Col I am glad I wasn’t the only one to be peed off with the commentary. Col Walters never said a word after a Parra try but added his bias commentary after every ponies try. Holy smoke how one eyed can you be did these so called experts think that no one would notice, I am a New South Welshman. Gee I should be over the moon but I would like to be face to face and let them have a bit of a Sydney spray. Thanks again Col
Col I watched the channel 9 broadcast and it was similar there with Lockyer and to a lesser extent Lewis. However Gould picked the Eels to win, all the others went for the Broncs. He was rubbing it in all game and did not let it go.
In fact he had a lot of complimentary things to say about the Eels. I have recorded it on Fox so I will watch it again in the morning
I think you were watching a different game to me, Gould was riding the Broncos comeback hard all night and seemed very sad when he was forced to compliment us.
I agree. Hopefully our 45th minute fade means we won’t be complacent next week.
Good read Forty, I hope to see you before next week though. Perhaps at Ringrose on Sunday?
The funny thing about our lack of a penalty in the first half for me was………Personally I wasn’t aware of it until we received our first penalty and it was roundly touted as extraordinary by the ch. 9 commentators. More to the point Gus Gould made considerable mention of the fact that we had been so dominant despite of the lopsided penalty count.
I too nearly knocked over my Chivas and Green Tea (triple nip) when no one thought to kick the loose ball into touch on that last play and had been disappointed that the Bronc’s had scored numerous soft tries after receiving one or more penalties to piggyback them into that position in the first place. I think it better to have conceded those last two soft tries than not as it would have been more difficult for Brad to be openly critical of our defense had the game finished at 52 to 22?
Once again Forty, thanks for the platform to cheer, vent and rejoice. All at the same time!
Most commentators / NRL experts don’t rate the Eels, there’s a general perception that we’re not real title contenders. This inferior rating probably also plays out with the refs – like refs giving penalties due to a vocal home ground crowd. And the Eels have continued to win despite the penalty count being consistently against, it will be a real bonus when we do receive our fair share.
The guys looked so purposeful in both attack & defence during the first half last night, BA has them building nicely.
Great read 40. well done again mate; nice to hear from o/seas and i was sitting inside an Irish petrol station getting wifi to receive my updates…when i came out and fist pumped the air my lady looked at me weird, until I told her the score at the end….I am not surprised by the refs but it also makes you angry.
The only commentator i heard rate us before i left Aust a few wks ago was Vossy in his blogs….and no doubt Gould is riding us to take heat off Pennies. Refs and NRL admin wont do anything as BA and captains don’t whine in the media.
Come on next week and hope they can put in for 80. It’s funny as i am sure some Journos will be happy Parra (Sydney team) are doing well for papers sales in Sydney; considering Easts /Cronulla have smaller supporter bases…and no one cares for Manly.
Well done again TCT and Forty.
I think it is seriously time for Parramatta to demand some answers from the NRL about the standard of refereeing. That one-sided officiating (besides the Semi “try”) was disgraceful, and has been for quite a number of games this year. So you are allowed to stand inside the 10 meters when defending, lift the legs of an opponent to face-plant him into the ground when he is already tackled, and put high shots on your opponent? I don’t know whether any other team has had such relentless negativity from the referees over the last 2 seasons.
Kudos to the boys for remaining calm throughout this. If anything, it will bring out the best in the players.
I am going to play devils advocate and say the refs are not deliberately biased but over coached.
I feel the problem is that the referees go into a game with preconceived ideas about who will do what. With Parra I feel they think our pack is small so we can only win the ruck cheating and we are not good enough to get momentum. It is so frustrating and something I would hope is being addressed by the club through the NRL. The refs are obviously being advised through video sessions with archer what to look out for with us and it is obvious that he, that is Archer, does not like the way we play as many refs slaughter us with penalties not simply one or two.
Just watch the opening ten minutes of any game this weekend and with most teams, Broncos of course not included as we all know that Broncos rules are as mysterious as broncos $ in the salary cap, the refs will constantly call out and penalise certain players, such as Kenny Edwards, Mannah and Matagi for us, but let others do exactly the same and nothing. This preconceived idea is really dangerous for ref’s as it is crucial for the sport to have integrity from a legal perspective and I am sure or at least hope the ref’s are not doing this to cheat BUT it is just as equally important that they are seen to have Integrity and be unbiased by the average viewer/ supporter. I believe the overcoaching and tip sheets are influencing them in a very bad way and creating a real problem with the perceived integrity with the average supporter.
Poor decisions happen but pre game ideas from refs on who will do what is a very dangerous path for our game to go down. Fans will and I believe have walked away with frustration.
Just a quick question for everyone…
How many people like me record Parra games on both 9 and Fox so you can hear both versions of us winning?