Parramatta Eels 10
North Queensland Cowboys 17
North Queensland Cowboys 17
The Good: |
Well, it wasn’t as bad as last week, but the predictable symphony of disappointment nonetheless continues to play in the ears of Eels fans tonight.
If we’re fair dinkum, we never deserved to be anywhere near winning this game. There’s very little good to see here. I know this box says “The Good”, but it’s lying to you. |
The Bad: |
Make no mistake, the Eels were dreadful tonight. A team with any sort of class or confidence would have torn us to shreds, and the struggling Cowboys almost did. I mean, if Coen Hess knew how to run a decoy, you could add three tries to the Cowboys’ final tally.
Like a soldier suffering from Magic Round PTSD, we are suddenly a shell of the team who proudly ran riot in the first 8 weeks of the competition.
Our middle defence, particularly in the opening 30 minutes of the game was straight up terrible. It seems our pass selection at the back end of the game wasn’t great, either. Although I’ll be forever glad he extended for another 2 years this week, BA has some work to do. Despite having our pride and 54 point differential ripped away from us last week, there was a team wide inability to hit and stick in the opening stanza; very concerning signs for a side that should have been right up for this clash. |
The X-Factor: |
There’s not much to say other than it was a minor miracle that we weren’t down by a king’s ransom at halftime. Let it be known throughout the land that the better team won the game tonight.
Other than Gennings’ pass heard around the world, the Eels lost the game tonight through poor ruck defence and allowing too many offloads. The Cows got 16 of them away, 9 in the first half alone. That’s ridiculous. Giving the Cows 58% possession also doesn’t help matters, and might have explained our poor ruck defence if it wasn’t what the French call “pic de merde” in the opening 30 minutes. Sure, the highlights will show a poor play from a back sealing the win for NQ, but it was our collective forward pack who should be wearing this loss on the chin. |
The MVP:
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It doesn’t feel right giving it out when everyone was pretty lame in one way or the other. Manu Ma’u was good in parts and Shaun Lane was very good in the second half. It was nice to see Gutho bounce back too.
Give it to whoever you want, I’ll be over here, sulking in the corner. Sorry, if these Grades are a little vanilla tonight. |
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1- Clint Gutherson (c)Fullback, Parramatta Eels |
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| As above, it was good to see Gutho back to his roving best in the middle, supporting and generally running amok. The King’s 16 runs for 163 metres, 2 tackle breaks and a couple of sneaky chip kicks was a nice spark for us; and you know how stoked I am we’ll be seeing it for another 3 years. Gutho was definitely not the problem tonight. | ||
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2- George JenningsLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels |
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| You know those single moments that can straight up ruin a game for your whole team? I feel bad for the bloke as, not unlike an archaeologist, George Jennings’ career is probably in ruins. | ||
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3- Josh HoffmanLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels |
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The intercept try was nice, but his running play in general was quite good for large parts of the game. Baywatch admittedly had his running stats inflated by that big play, but nonetheless deserves all of tonight’s 9 runs, 162 metre, 3 tackle break stat line. You gotta say, he’s been pretty good in both of his fill in performances this year. Is the Hoff a better backup centre than winger? Tonight’s game points to yes. |
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4- Brad TakairangiRight Centre, Parramatta Eels |
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| Not Bad Takairangi, but I’m also not ready to sing his praises. The try is a nice exclamation mark for his game, and his running and passing game was agreeably selective. Not Bad Takairangi, but consider yourself still firmly in the Grades dog house. | ||
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5- Blake FergusonRight Wing, Parramatta Eels |
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| Fergo was by no means bad tonight, but almost indicative of our team’s form, Blake just doesn’t seem to be as switched on in recent weeks as he was at the start of the year. To be fair, he is running around out there with a face like a stunt man’s knee, and still ran 17 times for 163 metres, also chipping in a linebreak and 3 tackle breaks. Still, I’m just not feeling it like I once was with Sir Ferg.
Hopefully Bankwest injects some energy and enthusiasm into him and he carves out another one of his colossal games on Thursday night. |
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6- Will SmithFive Eighth, Parramatta Eels |
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| You know what? Will Smith actually played pretty well, other than a couple of defensive errors in the middle of the field. Not much in the scheme of statistical quality (Will only ran 4 times, made 21 tackles with a couple of misses), but he had a couple of clever passes to his outside men, and his piercing eyes could tell you a tale that’d stay with you for days. | ||
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7- Mitchell MosesHalfback, Parramatta Eels |
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| That pass to |
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8- Daniel AlvaroProp, Parramatta Eels |
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| Cowboys prop Matt Scott is so old that when he was a kid, rainbows were in black and white. Nonetheless, Daniel was only too happy to shadow him to the try line in the 7th minute. I guess Polar really respect his elders.
It’s a pretty poor run of form for the Polar Bear at the moment; all this talk about the impacts of climate change might be getting to him. Get back to good soon, Daniel; because your form right now is anything but. |
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9- Reed MahoneyHooker, Parramatta Eels |
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| It was an incredible try saving tackle from Reed on Coen Hess that saved the Eels from further humiliation in the second half. Although his presence has plenty to do with our middle structures, I thought the Little Bulldog’s defence was only just south of alright (55 tackles, 3 missed, 5 ineffective), unlike some of his fellow middle men. | ||
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10- Junior PauloProp, Parramatta Eels |
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| As the case with his front row partner, Junior’s defensive mobility in the middle leaves a lot to be desired; and although he was terrific in the first half (7 run for 85 metres), he only ran once in his second half stint (for 10 metres). What the hell, big fella? | ||
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11- Shaun LaneSecond Row, Parramatta Eels |
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My affections for Shaun Lane refuse to waver, despite a sub par defensive presence from him in the first half. For the record, Laney made 28 tackles in total tonight. It seems there are only a few people who can really spark our attack at the moment and Shaun Lane is one of those guys (along with Moses, Gutho and Fergo). Shaun still stands tall on the podium for NRL buy of the season in my opinion. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here’s my number so call me, Laney. |
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12- Marata NiukoreSecond Row, Parramatta Eels |
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Marata didn’t miss a single tackle tonight, but he was giving away offloads like they were election pamphlets, allowing the Cowboys 9 of them on his watch. That is certifiably bad. Yet, on the other hand, 6 runs for 61 metres and 35 tackles overall is still good football. |
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13- Manu Ma’uLock, Parramatta Eels |
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Although he didn’t move the needle into Marata territory, Manu’s great first half running game (a linebreak and 6 runs for 95 metres) was offset by allowing 4 first half offloads in defence. The Tongan Terminator ended up with 10 for 129 metres, adding a linebreak and 3 tackle breaks. However, Manu’s 4 missed tackles, 5 offloads allowed and 2 errors certainly takes the shine off an otherwise diamond game in attack. |
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14- Peni TerepoInterchange, Parramatta Eels |
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I still haven’t forgiven Peni for Round 9, and he wasn’t good enough tonight to change my mind. Sure, 5 runs for 48 metres isn’t terrible, but it’s hardly redeeming after last week’s effort and years of my defending his honour for no gain. Quit calling me Peni, it’s over mate. |
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15- Tim MannahInterchange, Parramatta Eels |
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| Old Man Mannah ran 6 times for 51 metres and made 25 tackles. Hopefully he can figure out a way to secure another thrifty Eels contract for 2020, because he is consistently playing better than most of our forward pack, week in, week out. | ||
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16- Tepai MoeroaInterchange, Parramatta Eels |
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| Eh. | ||
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17- Oregon KaufusiInterchange, Parramatta Eels |
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| Oregon only ran twice for 21 metres, and contributed 12 tackles tonight. In other news, I hear he hits the clubs wearing Deep Heat as a cologne. | ||
So what’s next for the Eels, I hear you ask?
It’s Eels Panthers Part 2 on Thursday night at Bankwest Stadium. Here’s hoping it’s not a repeat of the Knights game.
See you then, sports fans.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels. Stats courtesy of the legends over at Champion Data.
Agree with all grades except for Moses. Deserves lower. Did not run the ball once and his kicking game was terrible. You can’t keep letting their back 3 catch the ball on the full near the 30m line
I actually knocked him down a peg before I read this, but that might have been recency bias due to his superior second half.
Moses ran four times for 36 metres. But I agree he could have run more. The Cowboys’ middle defence is very weak against speed and footwork and we hardly tested them.
Spot on Pou, I thought speed and agility in the middle would be where we would be aiming our play for at least a large proportion of the time yet we seemed oblivious, as if no one had actually watched the Cows play over the last 18 months. Next!
Mitch, some of your grades are very forgiving mate – I reckon you could of whacked the D key a couple more times! I can’t make it Thurs but hopefully you’ll be a happier man come Friday morning – cheers mate 🙂
Thanks for some actual facts. It seems, there’s no need to let the facts get in the way of a good whinge when you go by the name Anonymous.
This is the beginning of that point when we look back at the end of the year and say thats where the wheels started falling off at least this year it happened later.
2 more years of Brad Arthur saying the same thing at the press conference attitude, key moments etc etc..
6 years and nothings changed or achived yet we give him 2 more unbelievable..
That game was the truest reflection of where this team is and its not good. Weve paid overs on 1 player who isnt origin standard lets hope they don’t repeat that with Moses but knowing our club we will
You think 650k for Gutho is overs? Really?
I think the drawn out negotiating for a player of his talent is ridiculous and i also don’t think 650k is his value but i can cop it so long as they don’t upgrade Moses aswell you can’t change things by holding onto the past.
BA should of been given a handshake and said thanks for your time we are moving nin a new direction, keeping him here is accepting mediocrity something this club and our fans seem to of become accustomed to
One can only hope that BAs contract contains KPI that he must meet otherwise his contract can be terminated at any time for a defined payout.
We are not a top8 team and that should be the minimum requirement of the coach
Mitch reading the Sunday Telegraph, we have certainly left ourselves exposed as far as the pay structure that Gutho got. $650K is probably where it needed to be, throw in the incentives, definitely we have paid overs to keep him.
Yep we are shit again! Ffs
Back in 2016/17 we had this guy as our defensive coach
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettofarrelltackletec/?originalSubdomain=au
Not sure of the reason he left it may have been the cost cutting but since he left the defence as been average at best. Other than the roosters game it’s been the reason for all our losses this year.
Even when we smash someone we are the last up. Have a look at the 3rd player in around the legs and watch him fall off as the attacker drives forward.
How many offloads are there when the player seems to have been wrapped up?
Ever notice how many players are behind the dummy half and not in the defensive line?
Peni, Manu & Marata are classics for this then they wander back on side.
Teams are just getting a roll on us and momentum gets penalties.
I’d love to know the stats for back to back tackling this year let alone back to back to back.
Fix this and game will become a lot easier
The D to Gennings was really generous,the brain explosion that turned the game was diabolical. No one should wonder why an inexperienced Sivo was seen as a safer bet than Gennings, yes he was injured/suspended but little doubt the coach wanted Sivo in the team. A good winger rucks the ball out with 11 minutes to go after absorbing pressure, an idiot doesn’t. That’s all from yet another frustrated fan.
As I’ve said elsewhere, if a junior team winger that made an error like that, he would have been hooked as punishment immediately. Friggin hell. That was so bad.!!!
My wife and I went to the old Ex Servicemens club at Waratah tonight for a family dinner with our two oldest chidrens 42nd birthday. As they have Foxtel on huge screen thought it might be through the club, glad it wasn’t from what I’ve read. I saw around 5 or so minutes of the game before heading to the line up to get into the buffet room, turned in time to see what looked to be a Scott try.
Going back 20 or so minutes with the camera’s rolling and interviews, along with the warm up, bonding in shed etc, then out on the lawn a minutes silence for the late Bob Hawke and the game started. Watching all that stuff, I actually saw a team that was very much looking disinterested, if anything all I could say is that they looked placid, and there just for the sake of being there as they were picked to play a game, what of I don’t know!
Of the few minutes I saw of the match itself, it all but seemed as if they were still in the wake mode from that 1 minutes silence. Where on earth was the eels team that won coming back from being behind, most of the team was in those games, I now wonder if the coaches comments about them being soft last week was something they did not like, and Tepi had made that comment in an interview on Friday. Seems they must not like hearing the truth as it should be said, but perhaps in some stronger language.
It was interesting watching Mahoney giving the team a talking too, but when they came for the room huddle, there was Marata roaming around and finally getting in, have any of these players been told they are not wanted next year or they have signed elsewhere.
I have to say, despite my support for the eels, there is something seriously wrong with them the two big signings this week should have been a reason for a big effort rather than a big effortless performance, two weeks in a row.
I am amazed that we have a a defence coach and wonder what he is actually doing??? I questioned this appointment when it happened last year, and for me he appears to have done nothing with the players, we seriously need a replacement who can also place the whole team in a better mode regarding their defence.
Apologies for this rant but gee I am now wondering if we can beat the panthers at home next week, and gee I feel very despondent and without thankfully see the match.
That was me who posted the above comment, don’t know how I got punted from the tag name,
A couple of observations (brief);
1. Disagree with BA we lost the little moments not just the big ones. Dropped balls aplenty late set penalties, offloads given away – all little things that add up.
2. We have to find a way to get Reedy subbed off for 10-20 minutes @60minutes each week he goes down hill. He’s too young and does too much defensive work for 80 min hooker. If we had a couple forwards like Melbourne who make 40 odd tackles that would take some pressure off. And he could give quality 80. Just see him struggling at the moment, late – despite his best efforts.
3. Red pen thru GENNINGS. Sorry. Has to go, that was a woeful game.
4. The bench rotation is awful. Sub off the 2 front rows for Mannah and Oregon & let them have a stint for consistency and confidence. Then make a simple swap back for Paulo Alvaro late in the game. Why mix n match your middles at 25-30 mins a piece all game? Teps on, he’s off, Ma’u on, off. Paulo plays 45 goes off, back on. Alvaro plays 30 off for 30 then back on – it’s a mess.
5. Whoever mentioned bumper o Farrell pay him whatever he’s asking to come back. The fall off and roll away through the ruck we do is the worst I’ve seen in sometime.
6. Heaven help us against Penrith next week….
Sorry that was meant to better set out – you’re a trooper whoever down voted it. Yikes…can’t we all have an opinion..
Mitch, I think your grade summations are spot on, and quite hilarious at times; however, your underlying tone is one of disappointment and disheartenment. Parra is officially in strife. They have lost their grit and defensive mojo. I also believe without D Brown and Salmon they have lost their youthful enthusiasm. They are a currently a team lacking in drive, and based on their middle defence tonight did not address the weaknesses that the Storm exploited. Where do they go from here? Do we have forwards who will work and tighten up the middle? These are the questions that must be answered.
Pete, in the team fielded last night there were 4 players 24 or under, a few others around 25-26, overall its a relatively youthful side. Overall I think age wise its relatively well balanced, and with the old fella in Mannah where on earth would last nights team have been?
The simple fact is that there are players in the team that are just not performing any more, at least to how they should be, sure we have injuries but where are those who were running hard, defending hard, showing ball skills and able to kick in the first 3 rounds this season?
Going through the team list again there are 11/12 players that were in those teams playing last night? They are almost akin to the walking dead or playing as Zombies.
We signed our coach and captain through the week, instead of having any real positive affect its been a zombie one, in the team that ran on the paddock last night 8 of them are off contract end of the year, and while I did not see the game all the reports and based on the ratings given how many are worth a contract extension?
I for one do not see Salmon as NRL standard at this point of time, but who to pick there? I would suggest French if he has a good game today, he has scored 9 tries at Wenty this season, adds speed and elusiveness to the side. cannot do any worse than try him.
Dare I even suggest MM, has devalued his asking price over the last two games, and I will leave it at that.
Col, dont disagree. I think the very young guys like Salmon have to go back and forth between grades for a while but frankly to just drop him after the Melbourne debacle puts no one else on notice. At 64-10 other changes were more than warranted. It seemed that game had no effect on their performance last night. I think Parra have big problems.
He was at least listed on the extended bench, with the number of other players out, especially Sivo and MJ, I think the coach decided on a bit of safety first, why he picked Smith, GJ and Hoff to cover those out, Mahoney I think is also feeling the pinch of long minutes so having Salmon who is very raw could have made things worse (if that’s possible) than they ended up.
Nathan Brown cannot come back quick enough. He defends in the middle and will not be run over.
The big surprise for me is Alvaro. I keep thinking each game he will return to his old self, but I am wrong. It looks like every tackle he goes into he is either left on the ground leaving us with one marker, he does not wrap the ball up or gets beat back on the inside. I thought it was telling how early he got replaced tonight. He has gone from someone I have never even thought should be dropped, because he was so reliable, to someone I now look forward to being replaced. He is either terribly out of form, not as fit as before or something else I have no knowledge about because he is quickly becoming a real weakness and has been exposed in many games this year. His inability to do his job is hurting others. Reed gets targeted and left one out every time Alvaro does not make marker. Reed makes his tackles but he is getting gassed because of it. Alvaro brings nothing in attack so if he can not be relied upon to make his tackles then what is his purpose in the team?
I would start Mannah next week, Penrith will play hard for about 10 minutes. Stop them early they will drop their heads, there is something terribly wrong with that club and the playing group. Let them into the game and you never know. I would drop Alvaro and bring Gower onto the bench. He may not offer much in attack but he will bring energy and strength in defence. He won’t be caught on the ground, or caught flat footed. The current panthers are not a monster pack like the Storm or Cowboys. Hold the Panthers forwards early, our backs and Reed will be too good and find gaps especially with a home crowd behind them.
Sivo in for poor George is obvious. Backs can not do much with little ball and an opposition strolling 70 metres every set right up the middle but they also need to get the basics right.
The list of things frustrating me out of this game was much less. I thought they kept going which gives me hope. But until we fix our middle defence we will struggle against big forward packs.
Shelley, Alvaro certainly has dropped down the grade in a big way this year, and like you and others cannot understand why, he is soft, yet what is Jnr doing as well? Here was the big unit returning home and with big expectations of him bringing a player of needed size and skills to the team, seems that there is an impersonator in that body at the moment. We have back rowers that are running harder over 80 minutes than he does in how many? Both starting props are disappointing to say the least.
While I believe Tim is playing better coming off the bench, perhaps starting him would be good, but he needs the support of Jnr at the same time, if both play to their best in the opening 20 then we have a good show of winning, although the likes of RCG will be hurting from his relegation and will aim up much more against us.
GJ needs to stay in Wenty, thankfully Sivo will be back and look to showing his old team more of what they are missing
I also repeat my thoughts above re the defence coach position, its a sham as it stands now, and would add the need for a tactical kicking coach as well.
Shelley don’t get me started on Penrith I think they will beat us n if that’s the case then they the club Bosses should call Brad in n termination of his contract should be cut. Enough of this from our club sick to death of watching side’s like the storm n Roosters n South’s win many games straight not wlwlwlwl it’s bs. Enough is enough Shelley I’m sick of sticking up for a bunch of soft players.
Great comment Shelley. Alvaro is a shell of his peak talents; AND he is entering the prime of his career!
What may be a surprise to some but for the me the most disappointing part of this game wasn’t our middle defence. Moses’ kicking game was diabolical. He has emulated Mitch Pearce’s State of Origin kicking game plan and brought back one of the big problems of last year. In the early sets we were going set for set with the Cowboys but our kciking game was so poor that they won the territory battle very quickly. The most frustrating part of this is that in 2017 both Norman and Moses had excellent kicking games and repeatedly kept us in games but in last year and this years season our kick game has gone backwards.
I was impressed with Smith tonight. We lost but he is far and away the best option to play at 5/8 while Dylan Brown in out injured
I can tell how moses will play by his 1st 2 kicks in a game when hes doing the nothing bomb we are in trouble. I don’t mind the bomb but go high have the fullback come at it and put him under pressure not straight down to him. I won’t be upset if mitch is moved on.
Agree re smith a much better option then salmon
Adding on the comments of everyone else:
1) George Jennings lost the ball 4 times (two knock ons 1 stripped, 1 poor pass) two of which directly led to tries and two of which cost us tries. He single handedly cost us the game
2) We had the ball striped 1 on 1 three times throughout the game, must be a first for the NRL
3) Moses kicking game was terrible. 12 mid field bombs, all bar two of them caught without an Eels player within 10 metres of the catcher. Seriously, we need a kicking coach as this has been a pattern for 2 years
4) Four middle forwards on the bench is a waste of time.
5) Nathan Brown will do a lot to clean up our sloppy middle third. He is one of the best “hit and sticks” in the competition and his absence has been noticeable the longer the season has progressed
6) We are 5 and 5 with two winnable games against the Panthers and an origin depleted Souffs … 7 and 5 is very achievable if we remember how to tackle
Nathan Brown certainly is sorely missed, but just adding one more to the pack won’t help unless the other 8 don’t do their share of the load, I say 8 because we likely need a decent utility on the bench rather than just 4 forwards.
Mitch, your mood is not infectious, I had it already.
I think it was Danny Buderus who mentioned there was no talk from our forwards, just going through the motions.
This all needs some serious fixing, there is switch off and laziness, both in setting our line and the tackle. We allow one half break and get rolled downfield by quick play, we fall off tackles, allow post contact meters and offloads.
Our kick chase remains ordinary, how many times does our line slow down and watch the catcher? Rarely any pressure on the catcher. Moses kicks the ball high enough for pressure to occur (where he kicks it is another discussion).From kicks, the Cowboys were rarely starting from less than 25/30 mtrs, with us I kept seeing the 10 mtr line.
Fergo looks like a guy playing injured to me, not sure he’d survive an Origin series.
Have the refs got a staff room where they all sit around saying things like ‘watch that Moeroa, he loves a rest on the tackled player’ because Tepai cops one hair trigger penalty every game, it was Tim Mannah last year.
BDon, what you are saying about talk also showed up as I witnessed on Fox with the team in the sheds and going out onto the paddock how their attitude looked. Not sure if I put it in but in the warm up time, I also noticed a player leaning against the goal posts, could not see who it was as his head was not shown, but he was just leaning there as if recovering from sleep or something.
I admire your commitment and stamina Mitch. I haven’t seen the game yet but it sounds pretty dire.
In a game of inches, you simply can’t have your half back repeatedly resorting to mid field bombs. Surely someone on the team can kick a long ball?
It’s a choice; build pressure through field position, or try for the mistake from the opposition. When was the last time someone not named Dugan dropped one of our bombs without chase pressure?
Why can’t Moses try some repeat sets instead of trying to score each and every set. I compare it to boxing wherein you try to hit the body to weaken the opponent. I remember Dylan Brown did it twice against tge Dogs and it turned around the game. Further our middle third is leaking too much points. They have been the bread & butter of opposing teams. We are sliding down the ladder so fast we might end up in 16th again:(. Hope we can soon the Brown ‘brothers’ back asap.
And dont forget Salmon did the same against St George for the same effect. Problem is every 5/8 is deferring to Moses as the dominant half. If Moses calls for it, he gets it. Having said that, I dont believe we can judge Moses too harshly while our middle is being dominated……. forwards win matches, backs score tries!!!
As Salty said, the forwards arent getting us in position to maintain pressure; and IMO Moses compounds this issue by not kicking for field position from too far out.
If forwards can win the middle to get us closer OR Moses can kick smarter, we’d be on the right track.
This sums it all up. Let me first start by stating, whilst our middle defense was terrible with us again getting worked over at marker and offloads, the scramble to cover was impressive. Two props tackling another prop below the waist from 1 meter out is not ideal. The issue is, the chief play maker playing like a cornered cat when with the ball, we do not have the ability to turn around from out defensive plays and get into any sort of field position. Mid fields bombs (after last year, I am left shuddering in my skin) with no one running after them in a line, of course not, we are gassed. Why not kick for side line to allow us to get some breath back, set a defensive line and then start to work for field position. I believe the chief play makers lack of composure and inability to read a game are our biggest problem. Our attack is so easy to read as none of the halves know how to take on the line, no one is put in two minds. The clangers some players made were a domino effect of our lack of a player whom can get us back into the game. I am afraid we will finish 15th this year, maybe even last. We should start looking now for a new chief and hope Dylan is back next year.
Why is every kick, or at least it seems this way on the last tackle and always seemingly high?
I have seen MM and Gutho, also Mahoney kick low and long to get a scrum in the oppositions territory, DBrown was also great with that area as well as short kicks over the top of the opposition defence line on the run, Salmon sometimes has also kicked the grubber types.
This is where I believe French could be a good call at 6, he also has that over the defence line kicking ability, and speed to get to the ball as well,
If, biggest word in the English language Mitch.
Our ability to control the ruck and play the ball speed is laughable to say the least. Teams just roll through us and we are drowning from the opening whistle.
I know George’s pass was atrocious but how many absolute clangers does Fergo have to make before he is held to account. He’s running at almost one howler per game.
The head coach said we lost the big moments.As far as I can see the last two weeks have been one combined ” BIG MOMENT”. Recruitment and retention of forward plodders and little idea how to turn them into a hungry pack contribute greatly.
Your first 2 paragraphs of ‘The Bad’ summed up my thoughts perfectly. Quite ironic that you started off with ‘Make no mistake’ as mistakes defined our performance. Fox Sports stated that we’re leading the pack in mistakes made, at 13 a game, and last night we made every mistake you could think of, and probably a few more none had imagined. Our defence is, well, deplorable, and part of that imo is that both Paulo and Alvaro are slow. We fail to lock the ball up and our line speed is poor to non existent which contributes to being dominated in the ruck. As you alluded to our confidence seems shot and we tried very few offloads as if afraid to make a mistake, yet still made plenty.
At least Paulo is skillful so I’d drop Alvaro and get Kaufusi to start. Promote Stefano to top 30 to replace Alvaro. Give Paulo less minutes per stint to keep him fresher. The training needs to focus heavily on defence for the rest of the year, Defence, defence, defence! Improve that and hopefully or attack will improve.
We don’t have any spare spots in our 30, but as a development player, Stefano is able to play in the top grade after June 30.
Agreed re Alvaro – he is playing the worst football I’ve ever seen him play.
Mitch does that June date also mean Dunster, Parry and Faingai are also able to play in the top grade? Hopefully that is the case as with those 4 available it will help fill some gaps for us next year.
Given Alvaro is 25 & watching Tapau for Manly today and he’s 29 this year, I know which one is playing the best. The old guy.
I would sack the defence coach and bring in Price and Muggleton at 9:00 am tomorrow morning:
John Muggleton makes case for Rebels defence
John Muggleton
Rebels defence coach John Muggleton makes a point at training at Visy Park yesterday Picture: Aaron Francis
By Bret Harris
TheAustralian
11:00PM November 11, 2011
JOHN Muggleton created professional rugby’s first modern defensive pattern but he now faces arguably his greatest challenge in attempting to teach the Melbourne Rebels how to stop leaking tries in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
A former rugby league international, Muggleton’s innovative defensive strategies helped the Rod Macqueen-coached Wallabies win the 1999 World Cup, conceding just one try in the whole tournament.
The Rebels were the worst defensive team in the competition in their foundation year of Super Rugby under Macqueen last season, conceding 74 tries in 16 games.
So it came as no surprise that Macqueen, now the Rebels’ director of coaching, turned to Muggleton to shore up the team’s porous defence. Muggleton was on the market after finishing his coaching stint with Georgia at the World Cup in New Zealand and a brief consultancy with NSW Waratahs.
“Rod has known me for a long time and he knows all the right buttons to push,” Muggleton said. “He took me out to lunch at a Japanese restaurant with Damien Hill (Rebels head coach) and a game of golf. Two things I enjoy.
“They asked me if I wanted to be involved and I said I did.
“It would have been a little bit easier for me last season because now I’ve got to rub a little bit out and start again. Not that there was a great deal wrong with it. There were some tiny little things.
“Rugby changed last season. The way people play. It meant defence had to change. It did change with the Waratahs. We were much more aggressive. I’m trying to bring that in here and take it to the next level.”
A team can be given the best defensive pattern in the world, but if individuals miss one-on-one tackles, it will fall apart.
The Rebels had three players who led the competition in missed tackles — Danny Cipriani, Cooper Vuna and Julian Huxley — and this is the area Muggleton will tackle first. “Make sure we can be individually good defenders before we can be collectively good defenders,” Muggleton said.
“I always say you’ve got to catch ’em before you can kill ’em. It’s all about alignment and confidence. A lot of those missed tackles were simply because they put themselves in a position where the bloke wasn’t in their range of movement to effect a tackle.”
The Rebels only scored 30 tries last season, which was the second-lowest in the competition, but their attack will be enhanced by the recruitment of star Wallabies backs Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor.
If the Rebels can improve their defence, they will put themselves in a good position to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
“There is unlimited potential here,” Muggleton said. “They proved last season they would stick in there. They never gave up. They proved they could score points. We’ve got two very good players coming in who will help that. If our defence is good, other teams will make mistakes and provide us with turnovers, which means we can use blokes like O’Connor, Cipriani, Beale, even Cooper Vuna and (Stirling) Mortlock and we can get stuck into them and put them out of their comfort zone.”
While Muggleton, 51, continues to teach defence, he has also learnt some lessons, particularly during his stint with Welsh club Llanelli Scarlets.
“I had two great years in Wales, but the footy wasn’t as good as it should have been,” he said. “It taught me something. I used to think I can coach everybody. I can coach anybody, but I need the co-operation of that person. How much gets through and how much he improves depends more on him than me. That’s one of the big lessons. It’s a little bit humbling.”
Muggleton has had aspirations to be a head coach, but seems resigned to being a career assistant coach. “I always said I’d like to be a head coach one day, but maybe that ship has sailed,” he said.
“I’m happy working with Damien, who is doing a great job. I’m contracted for two years and we’ll see what happens. I hope we are successful enough that they want to keep me on.”
He may never be a head coach, but not many assistants have changed how the game is played the way John Muggleton has.
PT, I don’t disagree that something needs to be done with the defence side of things, but its also the dumb attacking options that are happening, I just watched a couple of nice tries scored by Blacktown and Newtown in the CC match, they showed the class in variety in the last tackle kicks rather than our kicker who is an up and over kicker.
Unlike the media and a lot of Eels fans, I have always managed to temper my expectations for this season, even when we were playing some great footy. Considering the year that was 2018, I still maintain if we can finish somewhere around 10th the season should be considered a success.
Plenty of teams come out of the gates strong in the early rounds (see Tigers in 2018, Dragons in 2017 + most years), it’s always around this stage of the season that we find out who is a legitimate contender.
This is all to say that where we are currently sitting on the ladder is probably a pretty accurate representation of where we rank in the competition. While I’m obviously disappointed with the efforts over the last month (the Dragons game notwithstanding), let’s not forget that this is a team that won 6 games last year and are missing some players in key positions.
Our forward pack and middle defence is obviously a big issue but looking at our roster it’s not honestly not that surprising. The reports that we were approaching the likes of Burgess, Taupau and Klemmer in the off season hopefully means that BA is aware of this issue.
I’ve seen enough this year to feel confident that we’ve got the building blocks to be a competitive club in the coming years. It’s unfortunate that our early success this year is being wilted away but in all honesty, I’m still relatively happy with what we’ve achieved so far.
That being said, my opinion could completely change if we lose against the Panthers on Thursday. If there was ever a game to illustrate whether we have moved on from the team of 2018, it is this one.
In my heart of hearts I really thought we would have played better than we did last night; I was expecting a statement game. Nonetheless, I agree with everything you’ve written here.
Well Mitch, I think you got their statement game last night, but certainly not the one desired.
PS, I am trying to be nice, but it hurts.
Fair comment.
Sorry Mitch but I just saw the lowelights because they weren’t highlights.
I’m going to hammer Gutherson really had a gut full of this mob we call Parramatta Eels. From my standpoint of the game if my coach called me soft I’d be doing all I can to win.
Gutherson kicking on the 2nd tackle after being in the clear like fmd who does that. Yeah there was only 90 seconds left but we still in with a chance. His rating should be lower like
-c .
Moses we shouldn’t sign him yet not until he show’s improvement sick of underperforming player’s.
Takarangi OMG it’s time for him to say hello to wenty.
Hoffman for one has done enough to were the number 4 jumper.
Our starting props
Alvaro n Jr mmmmmm
Well Alvaro you along with tepia moeroa n takarangi can say hello to wenty jumper next weekend.
Jr OMG man run the Ball stop trying to offload it everytime you get it. Your 123 kilo’s of man run through the teams then offload it. Start earning your payment. The only player I’m not going to slam is Manu mua his long Line break n not 1 n I mean not 1 team mate in site to pass to. 😡
On the coach’s signing why why why so soon. Why didn’t we look at Toovey or hooks or even go to the NRL to plead for Flanagan. Sorry Guys I really can’t see us winning a premiership 🏆 with Brad in charge. Most of these player’s have been with the club long enough time for them to find new home’s.
My goodbye list
Moeroa
Alvaro
Takarangi
Gennings
French.
Our crop of young kids coming through the process will think it’s ok to play good 1 week then poor the Next. It’s just not good enough.
Players like salmon D brown kaufusi, niukore are going to see this n think it’s ok it’s not it’s a bloody joke that our club rushed into signing Brad n Gutherson.
#Eels4life# I just want what’s best for my team.
Rev, French has not had a chance to show anything this year in the NRL squad, time that he was given a run as he’s been doing ok at Wenty, 9 tries so far this season.
French actually requested not to play at times this season he won’t play on the wing its fullback or 5/8 gutho and swmitg will both hold those postions for a while unless injury comes in to it
swmitg? is he a new ghost signing Offside??
Im no fan of Taka, but I don’t understand people criticising his game last night.
With that said, I can’t imagine he’ll get an extension, same with Terepo or Tepai. Gennings and French will also leave; but Alvaro has a player option I believe.
Mitch I read somewhere that the eels are looking to shop Alvaro to a English club because of his Italian background. If I find it I will post
I read that somewhere myself, not sure if it only applies to next year though.
Mitch I have not seen anything that indicates Alvaro has an option on next year. Usually on the Zero Tackle player profile where the contract years are shown there is usually a PO or CO in the year after the contract finishes and nothing on Alvaro there.
Its also very sad with Tepi as well, I watched his interview on the eels web site and was quite upset about BA calling the team sort, seems he does not like factual assessments. When I saw that I thought he is on the way out, but I also think that if he applied himself as he was doing early on then he could be given an extension.
For a player his age and size he should be doing much more than is being shown.
Here’s a link to the article for what its worth?
https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rugby-league/nine-nrl-players-shopped-to-english-clubs-jackson-hastings-slated-to-return-to-australia-ng-4dc07f0bf2df5f1dbf2f2f84a1be7247
Another rubbish performance from Parra.
When your Coach continually comes out in press conferences and says the attitude and effort were there, then maybe the players start believing what they’re doing is fine.
BA stop being a friend and start making those tough calls and drop these players, the buck stops with you Coach.
On another note Mahoney is busting his arse out there and needs a break during the game.
100% Correct Terry about BA! Mahoney in my opinion is an 80 minute player, IF – he has a solid performing forward pack that goes forward in attack and moves off the line in D!!!
The eels were terrible last night. Let’s not forget the cowboys were disallowed 3 or 4 tries. It looks to me as if some of the players need a rest. When is Nathan Brown back? Soon I hope! Penrith next week. A team coming last, who we should beat. We all know how that normally turns out. C’mon Parra, turn it around next week.
We gotta win this week or the universe as we know it will implode.
I have nothing to add as what has been said by all and sundry sums it all up. Disappointing- defence was the key in 2016/17, it seems to have gone by the way side. It’s attitude and mindset.
Well said mate. Hopefully it’s there on Thursday (at least).
Sadly we were a disappointing outfit again against the Cowboys, is Junior Paulo showing his worth, I don’t believe he is, in fact I think he is playing too long a minutes in the first half. Mitchell Moses is really playing poorly, and his kicking game, is just catching practice to the opposition, however this is on the back of really lackluster performances through our forward pack that is flat in attack and struggling to make meters. I have long been a Takka fan, but realistically he is far from his best in 2019, perhaps a run in the second row may be the way to go for Takka.
I know I am probably in the minority on this forum, but the signing of BA, in my opinion is a huge step backwards for us as a club, with this many players off contract, it was the time to bring in a new coach with a new broom, and look toward the future.
We will continue with these results for the next 2 years, as our team is not mentally tough.
With this said, I will be there game after game, but I will never become numb to poor performances
Max, there seems to be a big difference in the way the team is performing overall. the wins have been great, especially the one prior to the Canberra game, since then it appears to be more like a yo yo experience with crook strings.
There are certainly players who were part of those winning games that are not showing their form on a week to week basis, and just shows a real lack of mental ability in keeping a winning focus and mindset.
The loss of Nathan Brown in the first game, was big but we covered that with a win, the loss of Dylan Brown is another matter as since his loss that seems to have been the corner where we got lost at. I also think the loss of Kaysa as a back stop 9 has also not been great either as he added a lot of energy to the team, in his Kamikazi runs.
We basically have the same pack that was winning especially the run on forwards, Jnr is certainly not making the impact needed ATM and that is not just a matter of playing big minutes but even in his early runs, although he is very much targeted but, he is also not getting the ball away either. I watched how Tapau was doing that almost every run and there were 4 sharks players trying to stop him, now there’s a learning video to watch for examples.
I don’t mind Taka but if he cannot handle the centre position which he has played in for pretty all his eels career I cannot see him making it in the pack.
As for BA’s signing, well we had a fullback also signing and how did he respond? Its the players on the field who make the dumb play choices not the fella up in the box.
Colín, Tapau has strength, speed and mobility, He varies his hit ups, then wrestles in possession to free up the ball. You’re right, good video ( and I think for sheer hard running, Warea Hargreaves is the standard right now, he grew up after the Kiwis dropped him). Junior is more about bulldozing, only seems to have one gear, and hopes they fall off to free up the ball. Middle defenders seem to be getting to him quickly, before he hits high torque, and in numbers, He has started to back into the defence, probably to try to get into an offload position, but I think he should limit this. We just don’t get onto the front foot enough to allow Junior room to scatter them like ninepins.
Col,
I respect your thoughts and similarly I have been around the game a while, the responsibility of the guy up in the box is to deliver a solid game plan, and instill a mental toughness through his players to deliver that same plan, particularly when things don’t go our way, we drop our lip and make stupid decisions, mentally tough teams like Melbourne and to a lesser extent Manly, whom has limited talent but are mentally tough enough to find a way to win. Look at the difference Hasler has made to Barrett with basically the same side.
I am Blue and Gold forever, but gee its hard to love the way they play!
Max, I have also noticed BA, thump the table in the box and his face quite agitated and speaking saying something to poker faced Kidwell with BA getting on the WTalkie.
I think a lot of his calmness is more on show in the pressers, but if you look at his eyes they often tell a different story.
Col, at some point he has to get beyond thumping the table and make his players accountable and want to win for him at all costs and carry some pride in the blue and gold jersey they are privileged enough to be wearing?
Max, its often a scene with all coaches when something wrong is done by their team, there’s some classics out with Bellamy at the top of the grade, Maqurire can toss a good one at times, same as Hazzler, Robbo isn’t bad either, Bennetts good at the sarcasm, and each of them have been seen in the glass enclosures punching the walls and walking out, Toovey IIRC had a real skitz in the sheds one time, and some clubs banned the half time shed scenes for televised matches,
Thing I was getting at is that BA has his moments just like all of them, thing is that BA also called out the whole team as being soft the previous game, and one player in an interview didn’t like it https://www.parraeels.com.au/news/2019/05/18/moeroa-admits-it-hurt-being-called-soft/
To me that’s too bad, and yes Tepai it hurts when truth is said about you but there is a way to get rid of that concept and that is to do the opposite. He would never get a contract at the Storm under the current coaches watch.
The aspect of being held accountable is just that, if the player cannot fix it himself then no one can, as more than likely he is not prepared to listen to advice/help and spit the dummy when he hears things said that he doesn’t like, especially when he knows its correct.
If they cannot do that, they cannot have pride in themselves as players and to his team mates either, problem in the end they see the privilege is there at their basic whim and fancy, they may have earned it but that was through hard work, and that’s how they can keep it, if they don’t then the privileges are finished.
Col, all of these passionate men that you have listed have won a comp!!! Their players want to play for them! You are throwing our coach into a list that he doesn’t qualify to be mentioned in the same breath as.
Its sad but true! We signed him to get Gutho, now we are behind the eight ball for the next 4 years at least. We had an opportunity to look to the future and we didn’t.
We are a big club, with a big supporter base, with even bigger expectations, we needed to sign a big name coach!
Bernie Gurr and Mark O’Neill have failed us as supporters! of which you would expect from Mark O’Neill with the reputation he has forged for himself. How long was he at the Tigers for?
Max. I understand where you are coming from, but not all of those coaches I mentioned have been without issues at their respective clubs, and one only has to look at some of the results that have come from teams under their controls,
I cannot agree though that the club would have used the reason to sign BA was to get Gutho across the line, if that is/was the case then I personally will walk away from the eels and RL until both are sacked and the two bosses also leave.
Many a player have left a club to play under a certain coach, but never heard of the opposite happening. The three first matches we won this year including the injuries out from them have not helped our cause, thing is that the vast majority of those winning players are now at the opposite end of the slide rule, if they could play that well in winning matches they are the reason why we have lost for no other reason than their own lazy and ineptness.
We look for a big crowd tomorrow night, and if the eels win then one can expect the same in the rest of the home games, if they keep winning. The caveat is simple, do they want to be winners or losers? The answer is with each one of them, and if they keep losing then we may have a team full of under 16’s next year and going forward.
Colin, I couldn’t agree more. Each and every player is responsible for the teams outcomes. B.A doesn’t lie in the ruck, fall off tackles, make bad decisions, give up on chasing line breaks or choose to be lazy. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Integrity is a personal choice, Look at Gower, not a star player, but, always gives his best, never leaves anything in the tank. He’s full of personal integrity, responsibility and team spirit. Something we are sorely lacking at present
Thanks Johno. Gower is one of those players as you say gives his all, is the ideal type of person/player you want in a team, he’s is not a superstar but when he runs on to play you know he will give his all, shame its often not replicated by others.
Well said Colin. The wins have been lucky games where we did not need to defend and we scored long range tries. Whilst great we can score from anywhere on the field, on our day, we need to be able to play smart and grind. Our chief play maker does not exist. We need to get into the bump and grind and work our way to wins as well. That is what we are lacking. If we play the Panthers back into from on Thursday, I will personally return my membership. Unless of course we play well and lose, like the Rorters did against the Broncos, I dont mind losing if we play well and smart. But DUMB football is just that, D U M B. If we re-sign our CHIEF play maker and owner of the team, well, that will just precipitate the non-signing of this member. Teams are about chemistry, we dont have that at the moment, perhaps BD can compliment the Chief, but is that enough?