Parramatta Eels 14
Penrith Panthers 24
The Good: |
The first 30 minutes.
It was something else to see the sold out sign at the base of the mountains. Kudos to both the Eels and Panthers fans who packed the house. I also thought the jerseys looked fresh, and Reagan Campbell Gillard’s moustache is in fine form. In other good news, this post is now sponsored by the good people at Sportfirst Nambucca. Buy some sport related goods, support the Throw. |
The Bad: |
The last 50 minutes.
We didn’t do enough to seize the advantage when we were on top. We needed to make more of a mark with the glut (60%) of possession we enjoyed in the first half, and needed more than our 62% completion rate in the second. In the second 40 the Eels looked like they were being controlled by a kid who had just got the NRL game on Xbox, and who hadn’t yet learnt the controls.
In short, losing a game after leading 14 nil (or by three tries to zip) is unacceptable, let alone letting any team scoring 24 points on you. |
X-Factor: |
After a disappointing finals exit and an outstanding first trial, many wondered just how the Eels would start the 2018. Unfortunately, the answer was that it wasn’t too dissimilar to the way we left 2017 – disjointed, stop start and anti-climatic. Whatever Hook said (or didn’t say) at halftime worked. Despite the Penrith coach’s uninspired coaching, the Panthers were right in this game at half time, and turned it on to start the second, spurred on by our inept completion rate.
Laugh it up Twitter me, we lost. |
The MVPs:
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Nathan Cleary, Waqa Blake and Dylan Edwards absolutely tore us to shreds.
I thought Moses was good, Hoff terrific, Browny courageous, Bevan solid, Hayne was close to error free, but Normy was probably our best in a deflating afternoon. Also credit to Daniel Alvaro, whose absence in the early stages of the second half made a huge difference. Please note this post would be longer and more optimistic if we’d won. |
The Starters
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1- Bevan FrenchFullback, Parramatta Eels It’s been said to death, but it would have been a huge vote of confidence to find himself in the 1 jersey when Jarryd Hayne is in the 17. With that said, Bevan often found himself playing on the wing inside the 20 in attack. His 8 runs for 82 metres, uno tackle break, and error free day made it a quality day for Bevan at the back, although he did miss 3 tackles (2 of which occurred as he was attempting to save tries). He was also very safe under the (ridiculously) high ball, and made most Panthers tries much more difficult than they should have been with his ferocious chase. I know we lost today, but he still looks in pretty good form and has bulked up. |
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2- Josh HoffmanLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels Claimed the Eels’ first try scorer of Season 2018, with Bevan French playing quasi centre inside him. The Hoff led the team with 2 tries, 4 tackle breaks and 2 linebreaks; throwing in 8 runs for 74 metres for good measure. One of our best in a losing effort. |
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3- Michael JenningsLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels I was already a little distressed prior to kick off when it became apparent Jenko’s beard had disappeared. Had his right eye opened up in early stages, but in return Josh Mansour copped an out and out shoulder charge from his best man in the 34th minute, which potentially changed the shape of the game. In addition, regardless of his positive statistics (9 for 67 metres, 2 tackle breaks and 13 tackles) his opposite man (Waqa Blake) scored two tries, and that never looks good. |
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4- Jarryd HayneRight Centre, Parramatta Eels He’s back. You might have heard something about this bloke throughout the week, and all eyes remained on him today for his 200th. Jarryd made an important tackle on Tyrone Peachy in the 15th minute, destroyed Josh Mansour’s will to live to live just before the half time break, and I thought he looked very light on his feet.
Like everyone in Blue & Gold, The Prodigal Son was a little quiet in the second half, but his 92 metres from 10 carries is a good (returning) debut. Despite the hype, I still thought he was one of our best. |
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5- Kirisome Auva’aRight Wing, Parramatta Eels An untimely dropped ball and difficult decisions in defence when our line was reduced to 11 (Moses in the bin, Norman in Disneyland) probably overshadowed the invaluable 107 metres and tackle break game from Somi. Didn’t get found out by a bomb out wide today, so credit to the natural centre surviving another week on the wing. |
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6- Corey NormanFive-Eighth, Parramatta Eels Our first try scorer for 2017 had to settle for the silver medal (scoring our second) a year later; but it was a keeper. The debate over which half is more dominant read advantage Corey with a try, try assist, and 23 passes to 16, although Moses spent 25 minutes off the field. Shame he didn’t kick his conversion, though. |
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7- Mitchell MosesHalfback, Parramatta Eels Other than being hit late on a mid field bomb, Mitch’s first impact was knocking the ball from James Maloney’s grasp before making a line break 15 seconds later. His running metres (2 for 32 metres) and passing game in the opening stanza were outstanding. To some extent he cleared up queries about his goal kicking with his first sideline conversion, albeit missing an almost identical attempt 20 minutes later. His short kicking was outstanding as we piled on pressure in opening 10 minutes, and his HIA induced absence left us a little rudderless as the Panthers roared back. I don’t blame him at all for sin binning, if he wasn’t there it was a try the play before. |
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8- Daniel AlvaroProp, Parramatta Eels Our middle disintegrated when this man left the game. A very encouraging 122 metres from Polar, but more importantly 22 tackles (unfortunately 16 of those came when we needed them the least, in the first 30 minutes). Very happy to have him for at least another season. |
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9- Cameron KingHooker, Parramatta Eels A team high 6 missed tackles probably best reveals how exhausted Kingy looked out there in the second half. The 38 made tackles and 5 line probing runs indicate the value he added today, and his passes were particularly crisp as we clicked in the opening scenes. Yes, the heat played a key role, but Will Smith in the 17 might have just come back into vogue. |
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10- Tim Mannah (c)Prop, Parramatta Eels Our Captain indicated our hot and cold halves, running for a dominant 100m in the first half (from 10 hit ups), whilst adding only 34 (from 4) in the second half. Mannah Time ended the game second only to Browny in yardage total. No excuses, but it seemed the game was already away from us when Tim came back on. |
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11- Manu Ma’uBack Row, Parramatta Eels He put Peter Wallace on his ass with his first run of the season, but missed a must maker on Waqa Blake for the Panthers’ first. Another one of those small moments that lead to a huge ripple effect. His 9 runs for 76 metres aren’t mind blowing; but the tackle break and 25 miss-less tackles are good areas from Monster Mash. |
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12- Tepai MoreoaBack Row, Parramatta Eels A little bird told me that Tepai is playing with the lowest body fat percentage in his career; and his haircut probably makes him even lighter on his feet. Despite a poor team result, 10 runs for 102 metres is a good start in what seems a make or break year for Tepai. |
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13- Nathan BrownLock, Parramatta Eels I thought he was coached out of the game early by Hook, with Panthers players charging at his receptions at every opportunity. Nonetheless, he still ran for over 113 metres in the first 40, adding only 29 in the second stanza. Credit to him for a courageous, all-the-way chase for Blake’s second try. Cyborg also was responsible for all 4 of the Eels offloads and got through a very respectable 27 tackles without a miss. |
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Interchange
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14- Beau Scott (c)Interchange, Parramatta Eels Yikes – only 2 runs for 15 metres, and 19 tackles from Milat. There must have been a glitch in the Matrix, as Beau was unusually ineffective in shoring up our middle when he came on in the back end of the first half. Please don’t tell him I said that, my children don’t deserve to grow up without their father. |
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15- Brad TakairangiInterchange, Parramatta Eels What a ball for Hoffman’s second try, and you could convict him of a crime with the fingerprints you’ll find on James Maloney’s chest tomorrow. Taka filled in well for Moses whilst he was off in HIA land, but didn’t really get much of an opportunity to play with his new toy (the second row), only running 4 times for 33 metres. |
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16- Suaia MatagiInterchange, Parramatta Eels Our middle defence absolutely disintegrated when Scott, Matagi and Evans entered the game, and I bet King Arthur imagined more than 35 metres from his bench prop. That error resulting pass from Evans should have showed on Kane’s stat sheet, so I won’t hold it against him. |
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17- Kane EvansInterchange, Parramatta Eels Not an inspiring first pass to start the second half, leading to Kikau’s try, and conceded a whopping 3 penalties. A disappointing starting game for the new bloke, although his 6 for 61 metres are encouraging attacking stats. |
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If you’re somehow blaming the referreeing, you’re only kidding yourself. We were beaten by the better team.
It certainly wasn’t a disaster, so pick yourself up – we’re now focused on next week.
For the sake of our season’s start and for the sake of arming my ongoing Twitter banter with Manly fans, let us please find a way to win next week in Brookie.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
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Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels. Stats courtesy of Champion Data.
Stop reading this and go buy something from SportFirst – Nambucca.
Our bench was disgraceful BA dropped the ball there if you ask me.
I wasn’t impressed with the bench, but to be honest I can’t get on board with the BA dropping the ball idea.
I wasn’t impressed with the team picked, particularly the plethora of small forwards against a pack of giants. Kikau completely changed the landscape for me and tore us several new ones. One try and the lead up to another virtually put the match to bed, Unfortunately we don’t have big forwards to put on the field and to me that will come back to haunt us during the season.
Lets hope this was an aberration and we perform much better next week.
Kikau destroyed us. I thought the bench did a very poor job of consolidating our middle.
And regards to your hope, me too mate.
First of all Good on you SportFirst Nambucca for your sponsorship of TCT..
Twenty five minutes without Mitchell Moses was a telling factor..The side missed him especially in the first session when he was in Head Bin…Two points down the gurglar with Corey missing the easiest of conversions, which would have taken the lead to 16-0,
Ordinary second half….silly mistakes. Needs a bit of Kenny Edwards inspiration….
Completely agree. I think Kenny’s absence was felt in the turning stages of the match.
Appreciate you saying so Pete – support the good people at SportFirst Nambucca Heads!
Accurate summary there Mitch. If Smith and possibly Edwards were to return next week, who would me making way? Obviously Matagi and Evans were our worst, would they be the two you give a week off?
I think Evans deserves another crack based on his attacking stats alone. I think Kenny missed out this week because BA wanted two middle forwards on the bench, but I wonder if that’s still the case in Round 2. TLTuesday will again be interesting.
Scott matagi and evans a disgrace, get edwards and terapo in next week
Terepo has a hamstring injury and is scheduled to be back in Round 3, certainly a sneaky big loss to the team. I dare say disgrace is too strong of a word for the efforts of our bench forwards but it certainly wasn’t a great day at the office.
Agreed with Forty, and I’m hoping Kenny somehow finds a spot in the 17 next week.
Kenny will play for sure with taka moving to the centres to replace Jennings who will get a week.
Cameron King can’t tackle. Huge problem especially being No 9. Bench was ordinary as well.
He is normally a solid tackler (91% tackle efficiency), but was off the pace today. Not the best idea to judge an established player on a single game.
I don’t know what BA will do with the bench though.
91% is pretty ordinary for a middle defender, Mitch, King is very solid at dummy half but he needs a breather during games.
Agree re breather, but I was more making the point that his game yesterday (and 6 missed tackles) was not indicative of his regular performances.
We were the 7th cavalry compared to the Sioux nation at the little big horn called ? stadium today. Seemed at times that the panthers had more players on the field then the eels, not counting the sin bin time.
Early days is not an excuse though, as I am sure they will pick up as the season progresses but all the other teams now know how to beat the eels, play their bench players for the first 20 and suck the energy out of the eels.
Out of the bench today, I thought Taka held his head high, we need a utility or another 9 as King is not an 80 minute player by his show today. Edwards needs to be on the bench at least.
Not sure if being disheartened or disgusted is the appropriate call of the game today, if there is a consistency to be found its in the little noisy men in red with a pea in their mouth. A new season and nothing seems to have have changed with the Pommy import.
I thought Taka was the best of the bench, but it was just as much a case of the bench not playing particularly well.
Panthers were very good in the second half, but we gifted them possession far too often; particularly in those conditions.
Hi guys, thanks for all the off season content.
Have to agree with some of the above comments, not only was the bench poor but with Titans Game last year, plus 2 finals games and this one. It could be argued we have a legit problem on our hands with some form of “half-time blues”….I’m sure BA will be all over it but needs to be quick at addressing it or we’ll get the chokers tag back again (eyeroll).
Also, the bench…..Kevans was ok in attack, needs to lift work rate in D, Taka threw a nice pass for that try but otherwise ineffective, maybe He needs more time to develop His second row chops, Matagi may as well have been anyone else – he was a non-event today and perhaps most unfortunately Beau looked off the pace, wasn’t his best day.
Thought Manu deserved a harsher grade, His form hasn’t been good lately – maybe he trains well but games are won on the field – not at training. Sorry Monster Mash. :-/
Honest Q’s; what happened to Norman that caused him to need attention I missed that? Was that hit on Moses worth being on report? Perhaps we can assign Him some personal security – he’s got a target on His back for sure.
Peace guys, hope it’s better next week…
Takairangi was playing half for 25min while Moses was off field, I thought he did his job fairly well but obviously it’s not ideal.
Our bench’s defence, including Scott, was soft and disheartening. I thought we were made of much sterner stuff.
Perfect comment, completely agree Rob.
Good read Mitch.
Reading all these comments sounds like most are hitting the panic button saying our bench was weak , king missed 6 tackle n so on. Like plz ppl calm down we don’t win grand finals in march.
On the players ratings I knew Hoffman was in for a big year I said so on one of the other post on this site. As for ppl saying Kenny needs to come back in the side then I say he takes Scott’s spot he looks slow n missed a lot of tackles. N bring smith back.
Next weeks side should like this IMO.
1. French
2. Hayne
3. Hoffman
4. Jennings ( does he have carry over points ) worried about the shoulder charge.
5. Avau’a
6. Norman
7. Moses
8. Alvaro
9. King
10. Mannah
11. Mua
12. Takarangi
13. Brown
Bench.
14. Smith ( utility )
15. Moeroa (prop) l
16. Evans (prop) needs to do more.
17. Kenny ( back rower )
#Eels4life#
I actually like that team, but I suspect Beau Scott will get a chance to redeem himself.
You know if MJ has carry over points Mitch if so I’m afraid we will loss him for 2 weeks.
There were no charges out of the game mate, he’s free to play.
Thanks Mitch.
I feel pretty confident in predicting a return of one K. Edwards to the bench next week! We missed his spark late in the first half.
I don’t want to make a habit of predicting changes to the team, but I 100% agree – Kenny’s spark was noticeably absent.
I’d like to see Alvaro have more game time. My wife made an observation, which for only a casual observer of the game was very insightful. When Alvaro comes off, we stop scoring points and the opposition start scoring points. I know it’s not as simple as that, sure, but his impact both in D and A is noticeable. Timmy had a strong game as well. Would we had gone better with Kenny? Who knows? Too many woulda, coulda, shouldas. But we know the energy he brings and we did lack that energy off the bench. Maybe Evans can have a couple of runs in Wenty to get him into a groove and then bring him back. I don’t know. But it’s the first game, and I’d rather see a performance like that in game 1, than games 3-6 like we had last season.
I don’t know, but I’d suspect Kane gets another chance this week for sure.
Agree re second halves, no doubt all over it in the review. The players noted the focus on starting the second half well, and how they failed to execute this – so it’s obviously something they’re aware of.
Ps – I secretly love Alvaro. Like actual full on man crush. Don’t tell anyone.
No shame in that Mitch. Daniel is mighty fine footballer, and a hunk of a man lol!
True.
Have to agree with the above comments about the team and bench. When Mannah and Alvaro came off there was a noticeable slump with errors and poor defence taking over. I think there is unanimous agreement about the need for Kenny to be back in the side, but I would be interested in people’s thoughts on starting Evans and then bringing on either Tim or Alvaro to try to allevitate the form drop and have some consistancy thru the middle.
Keep up the great reports TCT as it keeps everyone in the loop.
I think there’s merit in that, but I’d hate to think one of our performing props gets ‘demoted’ for the sake of chemistry. With that said, it makes plenty of sense and puts the team first.
In BA we trust.
Any time we leave a fit versatile Will Smith out of our 17 , wastes a real talent 1
I can’t really imagine a 17 where both Taka and Smith are on the bench together, maybe if Taka started and Tep came off the bench with Smith. But that’s me.
I like Kenny Edwards energy and defensive toughness. I’d be finding a spot for him.
I haven’t been able to do all the things I want to do – keep Taka as a second rower, spell Kingy with Smith, bring in Kenny, give Kane and Scott a chance to redeem themselves.
More tough decisions for BA.
You know what’s great?
Sportfirst Nambucca.
I think there were some positives out of the game as well. I thought Moses played well and Norman was running the football again. I think Hayne defended well and I like that he got involved but did not overplay his hand. Bevan positioned himself very well in defense. Jennings I will forgive, bad day but he had many good ones last year and he is a champion. He will be back to his best quickly. Tim Mannah showed all the haters why he is important for our team, look at what happened when he went off? He controls the ruck and always gets a quick play the ball. Geez Brown is tough. He got ganged up on by the Panthers, an obvious ploy, but kept going. The problem was once Mannah and Alvaro went for a break no one went with him, our other forwards left him posted one up to get smashed. It is not good enough.
The one thing I can not cop is the belief that we can not drop a player because he is a leader. If that is the case he should not have been made a leader. We have many senior players, they need to earn their spot. To my way of thinking Beau Scott either starts or he is not in the team. He can not start as Brown plays his position. I deleted what I originally wrote on him out of respect to what he has helped create at our club but sadly I fear he is our version of Paul Gallen, played one year too many.
Evans I will give another chance, remember Gutherson’s frist game for Parra. Gutherson won our hearts because he tries so bloody hard and is willing to do what the team needs. Evans needs to show me something much better and more committed, he needs to show me he is willing to get hurt. Matagi, I am going to be nice by saying nothing he did, or did not do, surprised me at all.
For our backs to shine beyond the first 30 minutes in games our bench needs to be able to replace and hold the momentum that our starting pack almost always gets. Our bench yesterday, are not capable of doing that.
Nailed it. I think Beau Scott should stay in the team in order to give him a chance to reprove himself as the player he’s been for us the last two years.
The bench (other than Taka) were absolutely dreadful yesterday, and if given another shot I hope they reestablish themselves, proving their place.
Completely agree regarding the players you listed as having good games: Moses, Norman, Hoff, Bev, Alvaro, Mannah, Brown, Tep, Hayne.
I’m still hoping there’s a spot for Kenny in the 17, however.
I think that most on here have summed up the disappointment pretty well. The only thing that I would add is that we looked rudderless most of the time Mitchel was off the park.
Further I feel BA would be sweating on the return of Peni Terepo in Rd 3
Ha I actually used that exact phrase “rudderless” until I came up with that Xbox line and didnt want to repeat myself.
Needless to say, completely agree.
Kenny, Terepo, Vave, TRex and Will Smith all options to inject in the coming rounds.
Mitch already seems to be the dominant, take control half and Corey seems ok with that.
I don’t know if I am though; Corey plays better when He is ‘engaged’ and really in the battle.
Some day Taka did well on the weekend, honestly I think he should be left out – Kenny to take His place on the bench.
Scott adds all the leadership/experience of Taka with more toughness. This would leave a skills gap If there was injury but if Beau Scott can’t lift then Will Smith in for Him.
So that’s an Evan’s, Edwards, Matagi, Scott/Smith Bench!
From a team perspective, I think we play best when Mitch is in control, and I see a lot of leadership in him, too. May be a future captain.
I can’t see a bench without Beau Scott, and although I don’t want to overreact to the weekend (or the hot conditions) I’m currently inclined to move to a three edge forward bench with Scott, Edwards, Taka and Evans; maybe swapping Tep/Scott or even Alvaro/Evans to ensure better starter/bench combinations.
This afternoon’s Team List Tuesday will be very interesting, but I suspect might BA name the same 21 and we find out what’s happening on the weekend.
What did Takairangi do so wrong that you want to drop him? He didn’t get much of a chance to show himself in the second row because he spent 25min replacing Norman as 5/8th while Moses was off.
I’m not saying it’s an easy choice to leave K. Edwards out though.
Basically, I just want to see our bench props/forwards work as effectively in defence as our starters. Mannah and Alvaro perhaps should be separated to provide more stability through the middle portion of the game?
This makes a lot of sense IMO.
Great summary. The gradings were very generous though, I wish you were a teacher when I was going through school… my report card would have looked very different 🙂
Ha, I can’t please everyone. When we win I get criticised for being too lenient.
I think the closest I went was Matagi, and if I had my time over again I’d probably give him a D. Evans would have been close, but his attacking statistics were pleasing and offers hope for this Sunday.
Did anyone have a really good look at the half time talk in the pennies shed.
If you all did you would have noticed the players look in another direction after hook had finished talking.
My quess it was there other coach gus Gould. If you haven’t seen the footage watch again the players look to there left.