Round 5 Drink Of Choice – Irish Coffee

That was a hell of a game and then some. Big hits, a mountain of grit and the enthralling payoff ; Friday night’s blockbuster clash between two undefeated teams had all the hallmarks of a classic spaghetti western. The Penrith Panthers, the protagonists of their own story but the villainous ruffians of ours, were valiant in defeat. They drew first and rattled off two rounds from the six shooter, they were certain the days was theirs to claim. They were set to be the table-topping heroes.

Then Waqa Blake rode into town. With the timing sensibilities of a main character, the one-time Panther stormed the fort in the blink on an eye. He downed Stephen Crichton with a single shot to the heart from his Colt Single-Action fend before tossing a spare Smith & Wesson to Sheriff Clinton Gutherson in the next heart-beat in a breath-taking reminder of his immense talent. Ultimately it would be the fresh-faced Deputy in Ryan Matterson who fired off the game-winning shot as he left the bandit known as Caleb Aekins strewn on the ground in the mad scramble for the ball.

For the Eels, the stirring comeback continues their historic march to start the 2020 season. Their 5-0 record now matches the early season heroics of the fabled 1981 and 1986 squads and keeps them positioned alone on top of the table. More than that though, it showed the sort of resilience and starch – the grit of the spaghetti western hero – that is needed to triumph when the odds are stacked against you. Even if it wasn’t anywhere near perfect, it was a hallmark victory. So strap yourselves in and set your favourite Ennio Morricone track to eleven (may I recommend ‘The Ecstasy Of Gold’ or ‘The Trio’) for the longest blog in the West.

Eels and Panthers raise the bar

While the NRL and media are celebrating the advent of free-flowing footy care of new ruck interpretations there has been a dearth of close, hard-fought games since the resumption of the competition. The pulsating clash between the two Western Sydney rivals was easily the game of the year to date and firmly established the legitimacy of both franchises.

The game was played at a brutal pace throughout while Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard delivered fittingly brutal hits in defence that will feature on promotional material for years to come. Even so, the Panthers challenged the Eels through the ruck from the first whistle and later gained ascendancy through their bench. They absorbed all the early pressure that the blue & gold threw at them and frustrated Parramatta into mistakes and malformed attacking shapes.

Yet the Eels persevered. After their explosive start to the contest, they scratched around until the 60th-minute mark and then when the bell rung to signal the championships minutes they hit the gas. The commentary team on Fox Sports laboured at great lengths about Parramatta’s dominant finishes to games in 2020 and they true to form again as they torched Penrith’s left-edge defence to the tune of 16 unanswered points.

Both teams can hold their heads high after the exhilarating spectacle they put on – even Brad Arthur said as much in the most Brad Arthur of ways as he labelled the contest a ‘fair game of football’ in his post-match presser – coach speak from the Eels’ figurehead for game of the year candidate.

Sometimes simple is best

Penrith played to a high level on Friday night but a portion of the Eels’ issues were in due in part to a predilection to over commit to second phase footy and play laterally before they had earned the right to do so. Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and a fired-up Nathan Brown took over the ruck as a unified front in their second stints while Mitchell Moses simply trusted in the fact that Waqa Blake could take over the game if given any sort of one-on-one look.

As frustrating as the Eels were prior to their thrilling final quarter surge, the fact that they were able to diagnose their issues and then act upon it within the course of the game speaks to the growing maturity of the entire line-up. Yes the answers to their problems were quite apparent but as fans in the stands (or on the couch as it were currently) we aren’t caught in the flow of the game the way players are and the fact they rectified their course in-game is yet another important step forwards for this team.

On another note, it has been terrific to see different Eels stepping up every week to help keep the streak alive. The balance of the 2020 roster is a huge breath of fresh air as a long suffering fan.

Hard no to the no advantage call

So, uh, what the hell was that? Since when did zipping 30m+ downfield constitute NOT taking your advantage? That was the case when an opportunistic Josh Mansour scooped up an offload from Blake Ferguson as the Parramatta flanker was getting bundled into touch. Mansour’s eyes lit up as he raced downfield before he was corralled into touch by the desperate efforts of Mitchell Moses and Clinton Gutherson.

Are we at the point where short of failing to score a try, you have not played your advantage? Gerard Sutton’s bizarre explanation that Mansour had to contend with sideline hence the no advantage call falls flat as well because the nuggety winger had a good 30m where he could have sortied infield and instead pinned his ears for the long range try.

Sutton produced a mixed bag on the balance of things. He gave the Panthers plenty of leeway in the ruck through the first 60-minutes and a shockingly free reign to run heavy interference on Parramatta kick chasers all night. Twice Penrith defenders were penalised for taking out a chaser on a grubber kick but on neither occasion was the culprit sin-binned which is a departure from the trend of officiating in recent times.

Still, he oversaw an intense and free-flowing classic and for that I am thankful.

Moses puts the clamps on Kikau

We have talked about statistics not always telling the whole story plenty of times in Whisky Musings and that is the case again when you consider that Mitchell Moses made 19 tackles but missed 5 and made a further 2 ineffective tackles. Viliame Kikau relentlessly attacked the Parramatta play-maker throughout the contest but Moses was resolute in defence and hugely blunted the impact of the Penrith wrecking ball. Kikau came closest to scoring when he pulled in an attacking bomb but Clinton Gutherson quickly put an end to that with a terrific try-saving effort.

Parramatta’s defence was tested thoroughly all over the park with the run of territory and possession that the Panthers enjoyed midway through the match. The Eels passed the exhaustive examination as they limited Penrith to just 10-points with Dylan Brown (32 tackle, 2 missed) again making difficult work look easy and his mind-boggling tackle numbers continue to jump off the page.

Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Ray Stone all brought the boom but most importantly we saw the Eels push through the fatigue barrier. Penrith had clear ascendancy at crucial moments and Parramatta refused to buckle, thus keeping the door to victory ajar.

Matterson makes it count

After starring weekly for the embattled Wests Tigers in 2019, Ryan Matterson has slipped into a more unassuming role at the Eels. That isn’t to say that he has been bad by any measure but with a backline loaded with weapons and a pair of electric halves, the Eels haven’t needed to force feed their marquee acquisition the ball at any point in their climb to 5-0. To his credit, Matterson has simply gone about his business throughout Parramatta’s undefeated run (early the odd plaudit in this blog) but he showed last night why he was such a coveted pick-up for the blue & gold.

On top of pushing through on the kick-chase to score the crucial go-ahead try, Matterson hammered out 177m from 20 carries, slipped 3 offloads and got through a mountain of defensive work with 43 tackles (3 missed, 2 ineffective) tallied next to his name. We all knew that Penrith’s left-edge were going to throw plenty at Parramatta’s right-edge and Matterson, alongside Mitchell Moses, stood tall in the face of the challenge.

Way back in 2014 I tipped Matterson to go on to bigger and better things for the Eels as the then towering five-eighth led an exciting Under 20s line-up into the finals. While I was slightly off with how his career would play from there, gee it is great to see him back in the fold knowing that his best is still to come.

The Bench Conundrum 2.0 – Electric Benchaloo

We have spoken about the bench at length in 2020 in one way or another. As of this week, I am officially stumped and don’t envy Brad Arthur in either his task or managing the interchange bench. For instance, I really, really, really want Ray Stone to get between 15 to 20min a game. The undersized enforcer levels the biggest opposition forward with impunity and poses a cheeky threat in behind the ruck against a tired pack.

Even so, as much as I want him to get more time on the field, where do you find the minutes? Parramatta’s starting forward pack is so stacked and eats up so many minutes with quality play that there is only a small slice of the game left for the bench. Of that slice, Kane Evans and Marata Niukore get the lion’s share leaving the last two spots on the bench with whatever scraps are left.

Kane Evans is looking at a week on the sidelines following a Grade 1 charge for dangerous contact (with loading from 2019), which opens up opportunities in Round 6 but looking at the bigger picture I am at a loss. Oregon Kaufusi was sound against the Sea Eagles last week and should be the next man up in Kane’s absence but can he force his way onto the bench full-time? A combination of Evans, Niukore and Kaufusi does allow a more seamless transition for the Eels’ starting middles whereas Peni Terepo’s place in the team can sometimes be a little undefined as we saw last night.

Like I said, I don’t know the answer here as it is a(n) uniquely odd problem.

6-Again

1. At some point Blake Ferguson simply has to trust that Waqa Blake will take his man on the goal line. Ferguson’s lack of faith in his inside man is creating the overlap in situations where the Eels otherwise are playing man-to-man. If Waqa lets his opposite in that is on him.
2. The scratchy play of the Eels was reflected in the service of Reed Mahoney, who was uncharacteristically inaccurate spreading the ball from a number of offloads. The pint-sized powerhouse was a man possessed in defence mind you as he strung together 48 tackles without a single blemish to his name.
3. Shaun Lane is the most unassuming metre eater in the competition. On a night where the left-edge of the Eels struggled to influence the game, Lane still accumulated 142m from 13 carries. The under-rated badge gets thrown around far too lightly these days but gee Lane is slept on by the wider NRL fandom.
4. I can understand the frustration from both Penrith fans and neutrals surrounding the actions of Dylan Brown in the dying moments of the game. Still, it was yet another showcase of the cerebral nature of Parramatta’s emerging superstar as he executed the savvy veteran move with aplomb.
5. It was a rare off game for Michael Jennings. The elder statesman of the young Parramatta squad has earned rave reviews from all corners for his form in 2020 but he had a forgettable game up against his old club. Look for the big bounce back effort next week when he meets another former employer.
6. Given that the series won’t be played until the NRL is over any State Of Origin talk is hugely premature but the battle between Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary will clog up the headlines and provide debate fuel for the talking heads. This game gave plenty to work with for proponents of either player but it is the other Eels who could don the sky blue of NSW or the maroon of QLD that intrigue me. Reed Mahoney is pressing hard for QLD honours and while the NSW pack is spoiled with talent you could make a compelling argument for any of Parramatta’s starting forwards to push for NSW selection should the opportunity arise.

The Final Word

The meat grinder continues to churn for the Eels. After seeing off premiership contenders in the Sea Eagles and Panthers to keep their record untarnished, Parramatta now face both of the 2019 grand finalists in the coming weeks. Brad Arthur has managed to get his charges up for each and every game thus far, taking on board lessons from the previous week, and this two-game stretch is less about whether the Eels are a legitimate contender (spoilers – they are) and more about whether they can stay ahead of the grind.

Regardless, I encourage fans to bask in the glow of this golden run. Yes we can nit-pick and grumble at the minor issues in the team (I know I have in these very blogs) but sometimes you just need to sit back, acknowledge that we have a damn good roster and enjoy the ride. Catch you all next week!

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