STATS THAT MATTA
Round 1
EELS 20 (Tries: M. Jennings x 2, R. Mahoney, M. Niukore. Goals: M. Moses 2 from 4) defeat
PANTHERS 12 (Tries: W. Egan, J. Tamou. Goals: N. Cleary 2 from 2)
Sunday, March 17 2019
Panthers Stadium
Crowd: 12,604
Welcome to the new and improved Stats that Matta. Since the Daily Telegraph has taken the Stat Attack moniker, thought I would start the year with a fresh new name and fresh new look.
Hope you enjoy.
To say that all Parra fans were over joyed after our first round win is an understatement. The team predicted by so many experts to win back to back wooden spoons showed what they can do by outplaying one of the competition’s heavy weights.
Though that feeling of leading and getting run down again will still linger for a while, the 2019 version of the Parramatta Eels showed resilience and testicular fortitude, even while down to 12 men, to show they are not the team of 2018. It was great seeing an Eels team finally play out a full 80 minutes.
This was only one game, just one round into this year’s premiership, but first up the team provided a performance that they could be proud of. At this early stage, the indicators are that the pre-season has turned this team around.
Everyone contributed. But kudos goes out to all the new buys and debutants who all played a sensational game.
There were offloads aplenty on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps they had read my post about ineffective tackles and how second phase play upsets a defences structure. That thought puts a smile on my face! Thanks guys for reading 😊.
So let’s have a look at the Stats that Matta against the Panthers.
Score Flow
| H | Minute | Name | Event | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | M.Niukore | TRY | 0 – 4 |
| 1 | 15 | M.Moses | CONVERSION MISS | 0 – 4 |
| 1 | 24 | M.Jennings | TRY | 0 – 8 |
| 1 | 26 | M.Moses | CONVERSION MISS | 0 – 8 |
| 2 | 44 | R.Mahoney | TRY | 0 – 12 |
| 2 | 45 | M.Moses | CONVERSION | 0 – 14 |
| 2 | 54 | W.Egan | TRY | 4 – 14 |
| 2 | 56 | N.Cleary | CONVERSION | 6 – 14 |
| 2 | 64 | J.Tamou | TRY | 10 – 14 |
| 2 | 65 | N.Cleary | CONVERSION | 12 – 14 |
| 2 | 76 | M.Jennings | TRY | 12 – 18 |
| 2 | 77 | M.Moses | CONVERSION | 12 – 20 |
 |
Team Stats
Full Time |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 42 | Possession (%) | 58 |
| 23/36 (64) | Complete/Total Sets (%) | 31/42 (74) |
| 35:29 | Time – Opposition Half | 44:46 |
| 10:32 | Time – Opposition 20 | 22:02 |
| 1721 | Metres Gained | 2130 |
| 9 | Scrum Win | 10 |
| 2 | Goal Line Dropout | 3 |
| 10 | Penalty Conceded | 2 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty | 0 |
 |
Team Stats
1st Half |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Possession (%) | 60 |
| 12/18 (67) | Complete/Total Sets (%) | 17/23 (74) |
| 12:10 | Time – Opposition Half | 28:02 |
| 5:02 | Time – Opposition 20 | 11:44 |
| 889 | Metres Gained | 1217 |
| 4 | Scrum Win | 7 |
| 2 | Goal Line Dropout | 2 |
| 4 | Penalty Conceded | 1 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty | 0 |
 |
Team Stats
2nd Half |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | Possession (%) | 56 |
| 11/18 (61) | Complete/Total Sets (%) | 14/19 (74) |
| 23:19 | Time – Opposition Half | 16:44 |
| 5:30 | Time – Opposition 20 | 10:18 |
| 832 | Metres Gained | 914 |
| 5 | Scrum Win | 3 |
| 0 | Goal Line Dropout | 1 |
| 6 | Penalty Conceded | 1 |
| 0 | Forty Twenty | 0 |
A big stat, and a huge difference between the teams, was discipline. The Eels only conceded two penalties. This was a phenomenal result from a team with a poor track record in penalty counts.. No doubt Brad Arthur and the entire coaching staff would have been extremely pleased with that.
The 58% possession! accompanied In the wet conditions by a 74% completion rate was a decent start to the season. In truth, the Eels looked to be in complete control throughout the match. The loss of Jennings to the sin bin provided the Panthers with their only try scoring opportunities.
In summary, the numbers told the tale in a solid start to the season.
Player Stats
Key: MP – Minutes Played, R – Runs, RM – Run Metres, O – Offloads, TAK – Tackles, MT – Missed Tackles, TB – Tackle Breaks, LB – Line Breaks, LBA – Line Break Assist, TA – Try Assist, K – Kicks, KM – Kick Metres
Totals
 |
 |
|
| Runs | 185 | 135 |
| Run Metres | 1512m | 1140m |
| Tackles | 273 | 375 |
| Missed Tackles | 25 | 33 |
| Tackle Ineffective | 12 | 22 |
| Effective Tackle Rate | 88% | 87% |
| Errors | 13 | 15 |
Heat Maps
Set Starts
This is where you want to see that red! Some quality ball in the Panthers half set up the victory for the Eels.
Runs/Hit ups
This heat map illustrates the smart footy from the Eels as they stayed away from the touch lines in wet greasy conditions.
Summary
In all was a great start to the season, but all this doesn’t matter if you can’t produce it week in week out.
Its only Round 2, but a vital clash awaits against a very battered and bruised Bulldogs outfit. The Dogs are a proud club with a history of producing big efforts against the Eels. They’ll be looking to show last week’s effort against the Warriors was just a one off.
Hope to see a good coverage of blue and gold at ANZ on Sunday.
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.
Interesting stats and shows the old truths of ball control and not giving penalties are big winner presents. I gather E is for Errors, and only 7 of them in the game and all from 4 backs.
That must be close to a record and hope it continues and even gets better.
Yeah E for Errors
As I think on this game and the refereeing this is a turn back the clock and reverse of what happened to us before when we bought big and slow forwards. The biggest player in our pack naturally is Junior, but only Alvaro at 115 & Tepai at 112Kg are above 110Kg which is Evans weight.
Rather than the big forwards of last year that were slow and big, and trained for the old rules, the more agile forwards we now have a much better fit than in previous years. There is no weight shown for a couple of the young brigade on the Eels team page though.
I think the selection and signings really start to show that with the new directive of open play for the refs and allow play to be more attacking should suit our players much more than previously
Thanks Colmac. What’s TS try saves?
Correct. Knew I would forget some. Haha
Good summary Colmac, thanks. The player stats (nice format) highlight how the forwards shared the defence (~25 each for the run on forwards + the halves) and equally in attack the work was shared with 9 guys breaking 100m. Best set of penalty numbers I can remember conceding only 2 – the Riff gave away plenty similar to the trial suggesting the Eels dominated the ruck. Lots of tackle breaks to the Eels!
Nice analysis of the stats DDay.
The thing that the Eels displayed in both the trial and Rd 1 clash against the panthers was patience and discipline leading to low error count and a low number of penalties conceded.
Thanks Parrathruandthru I was trying to work out the TS code. A bit late in the night for me. Might get the hot Milo and go to bed.
The patience and discipline in that last 10-15 minutes of the game was an immediate difference to the games in 2019. It’s playing the game at our pace, not letting the opposition dictate the game to us. It must continue.
There is a feel about this squad that gives you confidence. As a season opener this is a good first game.
I can’t emphasise how important it is to win the game against the dogs. It is like scoring a try and ensuring that you get to our your kick in the next set.
Brilliant analogy. I will be “borrowing” it in my Match Day Discussion.
John, good post, I agree with you regarding the dogs game, as much as the riff game was vital, I would suggest this one is more vital for a win, not just owing to the tougher following 2 matches but the dogs have plenty to prove after their thumping across the ditch last week.
They need to win as much as we do, a loss would hurt them big time, as it would us. Their coach’s future along with some of their players are on the line, similar situation here methinks. I tip an eels win but it wont be by much, and we do not need any bins either.
Good start and good stats for the first game BUT Penrith were poor in both discipline and handling. Doubt we’ll get that from the Dogs. This game may be more reflective of where we actually are before a couple of hard weeks comes up. Wish club would make decision on Terepo, our already high injury count is already putting pressure on our forward stocks. A few of the players selected, Evans and Gower, are better suited imo to Wenty as they might be safe but don’t provide much impact.
I agree that a decision on when Terepo returns must be made ASAP.
It was great to finally see some discipline. It’s been clear for some time that penalties can be very costly and take away momentum at crucial times of the game. The sin binning is a little concerning though – this could have lost us the game. We need to be better in that aspect. Don’t give the opposition anything at all. We also had a mountain of possession but didn’t really put the game away until near the end. Something else to work on but no doubt with a new halves pairing that should hopefully come with a few more games under their belt.
We need to be on the ball this weekend though. Canterbury are never easy-beats.
Longfin, that sin bin stopped the icing in my opinion. We were so dominant at that stage and the body language from the Panthers was bad. The infringement was unfortunate – it was one of those rugby league accidents that come from a falling body.
I go with the glass half full analysis – I think we took more out of regaining complete control in the last 15 minutes. It stamped a message for the players that they are stronger than last year. That they can be stronger than the opposition in the back end of matches.