Date: Friday, August 16, 2019
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Parramatta
Kick Off: 6:00pm
Referees: Peter Gough, Gavin Badger
Head-to-head: Played 19 Eels 7 Titans 11 Drawn 1
Odds: Eels $1.33 Titans $3.40
Broadcast: Fox League, Kayo
Last Four Encounters:
Eels 20 Titans 12 ANZ Stadium (2018)
Eels 30 Titans 8 ANZ Stadium (2017)
Titans 26 Eels 14 Robina Stadium (2017)
Titans 34 Eels 14 Robina Stadium (2016)
The Warm Up
Last week I posed the question: “Have the Eels turned the corner in the consistency stakes?”
On the strength of a composed victory over the Knights, supporters could be leaning towards an affirmative answer.
But the latter rounds of a rugby league season can deliver as many heartaches as a rose bearing Bachelor – the simile gushing type.
So perhaps an away match against the cellar dwelling team, with the weight of expectation sitting heavily on their shoulders, might be a very valuable guide as to the headspace of our Eels.
The Titans have been bashed from pillar to post this season. The media have questioned their long term viability in the premiership, and the players have expressed uncertainty about their future at the club.
With both hands firmly clenching the spoon, and confidence at a low ebb, they seem primed for a heavy loss. On the other hand, those circumstances could free them up to play unfettered footy.
The likes of Brimson, Kelly, Peachy and Arrow can all be game breakers on their day. There’s also an injection of youth to lift them.
That’s the maybes.
The facts are that the Eels have the form that warrants favouritism. They’ve improved their defence from their season average of 22 points per game, to averaging just 13 points against across their last three matches.
With their confidence at the polar opposite to the Titans, this is a match for the Eels to flex some finals footy muscle.
Having a Punt
Having watched the surprise arrival of Maika’s father at Eels training last week, I couldn’t help but tip two tries against the Knights for our Fijian Finisher. We did come up one try short, but I haven’t given up on the Maika Money just yet.
The NSW TAB have a special Sivo market this week. You can take him to score any of the first three tries at the tempting odds of $3.50. Oh yeah baby. Get on! (Gamble responsibly…)
The favourites in the first try scorer market are:
Eels: Sivo $8 Takairangi $10
Titans: Arthars $13 Sami $13
Feed Your Footy Brain
The Eels have only beaten the Titans four times since 2012. Over that period they’ve registered just one victory at the Gold Coast. Indeed, in the history of the two clubs, the Eels have only ever won twice on the Coast.
On a positive note, the Eels have won the two most recent clashes between the teams.
Tracking: Maika Sivo
How good was it to see Maika’s father Joeli on the sidelines at BankWest Stadium last Saturday!
Maika and Joeli
As BA noted in the press conference, the big surprise occurred at Old Saleyards after the Captain’s Run. It was incredibly moving.
How far has Maika come this year?
He was a standout talent in Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup before hitting the Panthers NSW Cup squad in 2018. But an injured shoulder derailed the back end of last season and resulted in a preseason spent in rehab.
It was funny watching him in opposed sessions towards the latter part of the pre-season – before he was out of the orange shirt (no contact). His carries were often at full pace and he had to be reminded that the defenders only had to grab him.
And what a rookie season Sivo is enjoying!
Besides currently sitting on top of the NRL try scorers list with 16 tries from 19 games, the 108kg winger averages 147 metres from 14.3 runs – generating 2.9 tackle breaks per game.
Imagine what could be possible from a full pre-season!
Danger man: Tyrone Peachey
Make no mistake, Tyrone Peachey is a quality player. The 93kg utility has not found his groove on the Gold Coast, but the 2018 Blues representative has the potential to turn a match on its head.
There’s nothing wrong with his 2019 averages (84 running metres, 1.9 tackle breaks, 0.6 offloads). Equally, there’s also nothing outstanding about them. He’s probably a victim of the Titans being unable to find his best position, but you don’t need a long memory to recall his capacity to break tackles.
This week he finds himself in the halves, and that could spell trouble for the Eels. He’ll get more possessions and more opportunities in that role. Perhaps having that involvement will spark him into action.
He’s a player that can’t be taken lightly.
Team Lists:
Eels: 1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Michael Jennings 4. Waqa Blake 5. Brad Takairangi 6.Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Kane Evans 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Manu Ma’u 13. Nathan Brown
Interchange: 14. Peni Terepo 15. David Gower 16. Daniel Alvaro 17. Marata Niukore 18. Tepai Moeroa 19. George Jennings 20. Stefano Utoikamanu 21. Will Smith
Titans: 1. Alexander Brimson 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kallum Watkins 4. Brian Kelly 5.Phillip Sami 6. Tyrone Peachey 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Mitch Rein 10. Jai Whitbread 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Sam Stone 13. Jai Arrow
Interchange: 14. Michael Gordon 15. Moeaki Fotuaika 16. Bryce Cartwright 17. Brenko Lee 18. Anthony Don 19. Tanah Boyd 20. Leilani Latu 21. Nathan Peats
Nathan Brown vs Jai Arrow
Cyborg vs Bowen – this could be one of the defining personal duels in the match.
A pumped up Brown
Brown’s presence in the middle has undoubtedly toughened the Eels defence. He’s produced big defensive plays when the Eels have needed a lift, then matched that aggression with fearless carries in attack.
His possessions to runs ratio (19.7 to 14.4) underlines the ball skills that he provides for he team, whilst the 122.8 running metres emphasise that he’s also prepared to make the tough carries.
Watching Brown at training, it’s evident that he’s taking on a leadership role within the Eels squad. An aggressive, skilled, tough, leader – that sounds like a recipe for success for the Eels pack.
Jai Arrow has stood tall despite the team’s poor season. Injury has restricted him to 13 appearances this year, so the Titans have unquestionably been impacted by his absence.
In attack, Arrow averages 137.2 running metres, with 1.4 offloads and 1.9 tackle breaks per game. In defence, the Maroons representative has maintained just on 90% tackle efficiency despite the Titans struggles.
The talented forward would be one of the few Titans in hot demand on the open market.
The Eels will be certain to pay him plenty of respect.
And The Winner Is
The Eels played semi-final football in their victory over the Knights. What brand of footy can we expect this week?
I’d like to believe that they’ll play to a similar formula this week. Gain dominance through the middle, work for territory via a strong kicking game, exert pressure via high completions and good line speed in defence, then take advantage of what that produces.
I’m not being misled by table positions. Nor am I expecting Parra to try to play expansive footy without earning it. That’s hardly good preparation for finals footy.
It’s difficult to predict the Titans game plan. Perhaps they’ll look to the tactics used successfully by Eels’ opponents this season – punching into the middle and working for very fast play the balls. They seem to have their greatest strength in their pack so this would make sense.
There’ll be no wild scores in my prediction.
Eels to win.
Eels 28 Titans 16
Man of the Match – Mitch Moses
Eels forever!
Sixties
Sixties I will be happy with a win, though hopefully not as tight as the last 3 weeks. Then again, if we do play like the last 3 weeks, we win.
A win by any score will please me.
A wins a win. But in saying that we need a much better for n against
If we keep winning it probably won’t matter.
For me it has to be define; kick chase; play direct and then hit the edges with some varied plays; and of course complete high 80% of so.
We just need to be disciplined- simple stuff.
That’s it mate. Good discipline. Good game management.
This almost seems like a repeat post of the game last week and my thoughts on it.
The Titans have some quality players in their side, as you mention Sixties Peachey is one such player, and Arrow is a quality forward who plays hard and perfect team leader as well, there are others in the team that can play well. I see Michael Gordon has come onto the bench, he plays well and as he is retiring end of year will want some wins to go out on a positive note. Another player who can turn it on and with a good turn of speed is ex Manly player (sure he played with them prior to going to the Titans) Brian Kelly, and needs to be watched.
I picked up the following points from the eels webb site and show some stats that show the Titans are another of the teams that the eels have problems with.
The Parramatta Eels have won their last two games against the Titans.
However, the Eels have only won two or their nine games played at Cbus Super Stadium.
The Titans have enjoyed more success in their 18 games against the Eels, winning 11 of the clashes.
This is another of the games that the eels need to win as we head to playing in the finals, opponents will be wanting to knock us off weir and create havoc and uncertainty for us.
The eels player likely to have the most pressure on him with be Shaun Lane following the drama’s of this week, to me I believe he can handle it and come out on top, he can show how little it will affect him by being the eels best player in a 10-16 point win margin against the Titans..
Yes Colin, I covered that history in the preview. Something that the Eels have done in the back half of the season is see off a couple of hoodoos – the Raiders and the Knights. Let’s see if they can add the Titans away to that list.
The problem with old hoodoos is that they take into account aspects of the Eels that are no longer relevant. By this I mean that the Eels teams that were previously beaten by the Titans on the GC bare no semblance to the team they will play tonight.
The team tonight will be different players, different coaches, different game plans and most importantly a team in form. Whilst we should not ignore this history it will not determine if we win or lose.
If we were to lose tonight and that won’t happen it will be because we did not turn up with our best game.
It is clear we like to play at Bankwest given our record there. However that advantage will only last for as long as we continue to play good quality football there.
Correct mate. Attitude has been good at BankWest, we’re we to turn up with a poor attitude, we’d lose (see Panthers game).
Like the missing “whisky musings”, even after a win lately, some of us have nothing to say when the team is performing so admirably. Ever since that Saints game at Kogarah, I just knew we were going to win after 5 minutes…..three games later and we have not lost. The feeling of a winning team is brilliant. They have found their game plan, and I LIKE IT. Keep it up and I will be a happy supporter. The lads, boys, men have made me proud to be a eels fan this season. These types of performances are what I EXPECT of my team. Put in every week your best effort. I know you are not robots and we all have bad days, but if you are not up to it, put your hand up and say you need a rest, do not let the team down (or us supporters) if you have other issues in your life you need to deal with. We all need some time off every now and again.
I’m pretty sure you’ll see Musings this week. The trouble with putting the hand up is blokes often don’t want to feel like they’re letting their mates down. There are mechanisms in place at the Eels with player well-being. In fact it’s a very comprehensive set up, so the players do have people to talk to.
Sixties, I thought ‘he must come from Bowen’ but then the coin dropped, about 5 minutes later. I hope the team doesn’t perform so sluggishly, I don’t think they will. All signs to me are that we are on a far better trajectory than first half of season. I think our roster mix, with pretty well all available has a lot to do with it. It’s interesting that the bench is so important in the modern game, maybe one area where we need to improve at a higher rate.
Ha BDon. We all work at a pace that suits us! I have a feeling that we will get nice additions to the squad for next year.
I think this is a danger game for us! In all honesty we shouldn’t just be happy with a win, we need a comprehensive win at this time of the year!
I want semi final style footy. Apply pressure. Earn the spread. Go from there.
On NRL.com they are saying there going to get peats n rain to create quick line speed to cut down our halfs thinking time. 😂 Good luck Gold coast Titans.
I think we should roll down the middle have Kane Evans and junior Paulo make the hard yards with brown n Manu n Lane running shotgun greating good line breaks down the left n right edges.
Don’t ask me why but I’m liking takarangi on the wing with his big leaps to score tries. Look I understand his not Sivo or Ferguson I get that but his doing well on that side of the field.
Gives us great attacking strength on both sides of the field. Lane on the left n Manu on the right side.
We need to have a good kick Chase n maintain our line in defence. Our backs look to big n strong for the little backs the titans have.
My tip is Eels that’s a no brainer.
Score will be Eels 38 Gold coast Titans 10
1st try scorer will be takarangi
Last try scorer will be Moses
Moses kicking 7\7
Sivo to score 2\3 tries.
Mom will be Moses
Tries will go to.
Sivo X2
Gutherson
Moses
N, brown
Blake.
#Eels4life#
Hey Rev you forgot Taka on your list of try scorers.
I also read that article on Nrl.com. My question is why didn’t they employ that tactic with Rein and Peats in their previous games. Have to say something I guess.
So I did to 😂😂 sorry n thanks
It’s no secret that the opposition will look to create quick play the balls in attack and fast line speed in defence. The better teams are usually successful.
I reckon you oughta lay out some coin on those tips Rev. Maybe a same game multi?
I got 2 right Moses mom n Blake try scored