Date: Sunday 8^th of April

Venue: ANZ Stadium

Kick off: 4:10pm

Head Referee: Henry Perenara

Assistant Referee: Jon Stone

Head to head: Played 47, Panthers 23, Eels 23, drawn 1

Head to head odds: Panthers ($1.60), Eels ($2.41)

Broadcast: Live Channel 9: Coverage from 3:30pm

 

Last four encounters:

 

1. Panthers 24, Eels 14 at Panthers Stadium (2018)
2. Eels 18, Panthers 12 at ANZ Stadium (2017)
3. Panthers 22, Eels 18 at Panthers Stadium (2016)
4. Panthers 20, Eels 18 at Pirtek Stadium (2016)

 

The Warm Up:

This Round 5 encounter will feature a match up between the 16^th placed Parramatta Eels and the 3^rd placed Penrith Panthers. With Canberra’s triumph over Canterbury on Thursday night, the Eels are now the sole winless team in the NRL this year. Understandably, Eels fans could be forgiven for being in a state of shock. Given the roster assembled and their 2017 form, expectations for the first month of footy would have been 2-2 at worst.

As for the Panthers it’s a very different story. They have won 3 of their first 4 games, including a big comeback victory over the Eels in Round 1, and look like a genuine premiership contender. With that said, Penrith weren’t exactly immaculate in their play back in Round 1. The Eels raced out to a 14-point start and the Panthers looked to be on the ropes before a Waqa Blake try engineered from a terrible pass sparked them to life.

Coming into this match I would say Brad Arthur and Eels are under a lot of pressure. Fans expect results and to date the Eels have simply not produced. Excluding the first half of Round 1 against the Panthers, Parramatta have been very poor and have lacked severely in both effort and execution. As a result, Arthur has threatened to axe experienced players if the Eels don’t show up to play this weekend.

With the Eels season already seemingly on the line this is sure to be interesting encounter, it promises to be memorable.

 

Having a Bet:

I expect this match to have under 40 points scored in it. I feel both the Eels and Panthers will put in solid defensive efforts in this one and as a result of that I expect there to be under 39.5 points scored in the game. This is paying out at $1.90 on Sportsbet. The first try favourites are listed below:

 

Eels: Michael/George Jennings – $12

Eels: Josh Hoffman – $13

Panthers: Josh Mansour – $10

Panthers: Christian Crichton $11

 

Feed Your Footy Brain:

The Eels and the Panthers have met each other 47 times throughout their history in the NRL and  the ledger sits even with both teams scoring 23 victories over their opponent (with 1 draw). Whoever wins this encounter will edge in front on history’s scoreboard.

 

Tracking: Corey Norman.

A lot of pressure has already mounted on the Eels and many fans have apportioned the blame to the experienced players like Corey Norman.

Whilst neither of the Eels halves have had a particularly good season, a greater focus has fallen upon Norman than Mitchell Moses. This may be fair considering Norman is far more experienced than Moses. Whilst Norman would not be happy with the Eels performances of late, Moses has been very vocal about the Eels efforts this season – both on and off the field – and is adamant the Eels aren’t playing NRL quality football.

With the selection axe looming over the Eels pending a fifth loss, there has never been a bigger time to perform for everyone – especially Norman. He gave fans a tantalising glimpse of his best in the final quarter of play last week but the Eels will need more to topple the Panthers.

 

Danger man:

This week’s danger man is Penrith Panthers  enforcer Regan Campbell Gillard. The big prop is amongst the best in his position in the NRL and when the Eels and Panthers met in Round 1, he was one of the catalysts for the Panthers comeback.

Campbell Gillard is a very big unit and it often takes more than 3 defenders to bring him down. The ability to deliver the odd offload is another weapon in his arsenal.

One of the Eels most prominent weaknesses this year has been the size of their forward pack. They’ve been muscled off the park a number of times this season and coming up against the likes of Campbell Gillard, Kikau, Merrin and Tamou will be a massive challenge – the Eels will have their work cut out for them.

 

 

Team lists:

 

Parramatta Eels (16^th coming into the round)

 

1. Will Smith
2. George Jennings
3. Michael Jennings
4. Kirisome Auva’a
5. Josh Hoffman
6. Corey Norman
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Daniel Alvaro
9. Kaysa Pritchard
10. Tim Mannah (C)
11. Manu Ma’u
12. Tepai Moeroa
13. Nathan Brown

 

14. Beau Scott (C)
15. Kenny Edwards
16. Peni Terepo
17. Tony Williams

 

18. Cameron King
19. Suaia Matagi
20. David Gower
21. Kane Evans

 

Coach: Brad Arthur

 

Late mail: There is some speculation that either Kane Evans or Suaia Matagi will force their way into the Eels 17. There was also some mail that injured Eels star fullback Clint Gutherson was close to making his long awaited return this weekend however the Eels have decided to hold off on that move. Gutherson has been doing full contact for some time now and isn’t far away from a return.  He may be named in the 21 man squad for the Eels next encounter against the Raiders, the same goes for Bevan French.

 

 

Penrith Panthers (3^rd coming into the round)

 

1. Dylan Edwards
2. Josh Mansour
3. Waqa Blake
4. Dean Whare
5. Christian Crichton
6. Tyrone Peachey
7. James Maloney
8. Trent Merrin
9. Peter Wallace (C)
10. Regan Campbell Gillard
11. Viliame Kikau
12. Isaah Yeo
13. James Fisher Harris

 

14. Wayne Egan
15. Corey Harawira Naera
16. Moses Leota
17. James Tamou

 

18. Jarome Luai
19. Nick Lui Toso
20. Sione Katoa
21. Kaide Ellis

 

Coach: Anthony Griffin

 

Late mail: No late changes expected from the Panthers expect them to remain 1 to 17 come kick off on Sunday.

 

Mitchell Moses vs James Maloney:

Following the injury to Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary in Round 3 against the Bulldogs, James Maloney has shifted to halfback and since making the move he looks to have found his feet at the Panthers. He was instrumental in the Panthers last start 19 point win as Penrith ran riot over expected competition heavyweight, the Cowboys.

Moses has not enjoyed the same success this year with the Eels. Throughout the clash with the Tigers, Moses was very visibly frustrated with his team’s efforts. He could often be heard dishing out verbal barrages to teammates for what he obviously considered to be poor or lacklustre efforts. Moses has addressed his behaviour throughout the week as completely reasonable and it’s hard to disagree wgiven the Eels efforts over the past month.

Expect Moses and the Eels to come out fired up  – and to be honest, they need to be.

Even this early in the season some experts suggest that the Eels season may already be on the line. One win can do team confidence a world of good and in Parramatta’s case it may just kick start their season. I believe the key to gaining this win sits with their halfback, Moses. He  provides the x factor and spark in attack the Eels have seemingly been missing over this past month and if the Eels are going to take it to the Panthers look for Moses to be a very prominent figure in the Eels attack.

 

And The Winner Is:

 I see this game panning out in  one of two ways.

One, the Eels dish up similar performances to what they have so far this season and are easily defeated by the Panthers. After this we could say the Eels season would be in a state of crisis.

In this scenario the Panthers win 28 points to 10.

The other scenario would see Eels showing up to play. If this is the case the Panthers will have their work cut out for them and they may even be a tad surprised given the Eels prior form this season. If the Eels are more disciplined and aggressive, they would have a decent chance of winning this game,Couple that with this is being an Eels home game I see the Eels winning in this scenario 20 points to 16.

Either way I believe we will know how this game is going to pan out within the first 20 minutes.

 

Man of the match: Mitchell Moses, Nathan Brown, James Maloney or Viliame Kikau

 

Enjoy the game, Go the Eels

 

Nathan