Round 13 – Sunday 9^th August, 2020 @ Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

14 defeat 12

In weather in which even ducks were heard to utter, “let’s get out of here”, the Eels and the Sharks produced an exceptional game of football.

Yes, there were a few mistakes mistakes and the odd instance of dumb footy, but on the whole the standard of footy defied the conditions.

The players may have been frozen to the bone, but winning by only two points gave you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Last week against the Dogs we nearly let slip an 18 point lead and I totally agreed with B.A.’s assessment of that game. But this game was a tough, hard slog. The importance of the win should not be underestimated by supporters. Not only does it keep the Eels in 3^rd spot on the ladder, but it also shows we can tough it out and grind out a win in the toughest of conditions.

On a field more in keeping with aquatic sports, there would be a little latitude for Completion Rates to be a bit low. But as we saw, the Eels completed at 73% with 30 from 41 sets completed and Sharks had similar number with completing 29 of 41 sets. Not too bad, even considering a couple of silly, avoidable errors.

The Eels had a little bit more time in the Sharks half at nearly 41 and a half minutes inside the 50, including 24 minutes and 45 seconds in the Sharks red zone.

Having spent over a quarter of the match inside their opponents 20 metre area, you would have liked to have seen a few more points on the board, but once again the weather had other arrangements that afternoon.

Both the Brown boys thought the sun was out and they were playing on a dry pitch as they delivered absolutely superb games in the Kogarah swamp.

Let’s look at some of Nathan’s numbers.

Nathan Brown ran for 179 metres from 20 runs, including an offload, and made 43 tackles, missing 5.

Our favourite Cyborg

Nathan just keeps on keeping on and nothing will stop him from lifting his side. His runs are full of venom and so his is tackling. You really cant fault his game at the moment.

There’s some big name forwards in the NRL who would be proud of Dylan’s numbers in the wet conditions.

Dylan Brown ran 11 times for 91 metres, also with an offload and made 33 tackles, missing  just five.

Dylan is just getting better and better. He played with a very mature head against the Sharks and showed his game is going to the next level.

Our starting front rowers again proved why they are the form front rowers in the competition.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard ran for 155 metres from 20 carries and Junior Paulo had 16 carries for 128 metres.

As the heat map below shows, it was a tough slog played mainly between the 20 metres lines.

Set Starts

There were no set starts in the Sharks 10 metre zone and only 2 in the 20 metre area. This emphasised that Parra’s time in the Sharks quarter did not involve enough set starts to sustain the type of pressure required to score more points.

Let’s now turn our attention to the backs.

Gutherson again just played his trademark game. King Gutho ran for 122 metres on his 100^th appearance in the Blue and Gold, which I thought might have been a little quiet in comparison with his usual stats. His support play seemed to suffer in the wet which probably took away from the Eels attack. But if he was a little disappointed in his own game, then it will only spur him on for a big performance this week.

Blake Ferguson again tried his best to get us going after long kicks and especially with the Sharks pinning us down in our own end towards the end of the game. And no, he didn’t knock it on it just went straight through his hands. John Morris, watch the knock on off Wade Graham that led to an Eels line drop out to see what a knock on is.

Fergy ran for 120 metres from 12 runs, but let’s try to forget one very slippy, sloppy Harbour Bridge pass to Junior Paulo.

Fergy Ferg

Blake is trying so hard to cross that tryline. I think once he does, those flood gates will open and you will see doubles and triples in a few games – maybe wishful thinking there!

Though the weather wasn’t conducive for fast, free flowing and expansive footy, I thought that the other outside backs could have looked for the ball and helped the forwards a bit more. Perhaps a dummy half scoot or more support play could have helped with the load or sparked something to happen.

The numbers – Jennings (65 run metres), Waqa Blake (49 run metres) and Maika Sivo (59 run metres) were all just a little light by my reckoning.

Sivo’s last few games may have the coaching staff a little concerned with his lack of involvement. With just 20 touches (9 vs Bulldogs, 11 v Sharks), it is hard to believe the big Fijian is so down in his involvement. Whatever the reason is, only he and the coaching staff can come up with a solution.

With everything said and done in regard to narrow wins in the last two rounds, it is still satisfying to see the Eels winning on the road.

Now comes a great test for the Eels. Our next 3 games are at home, including 2 blockbusters against the Storm and Rabbitohs.

I’m sure most Eels fans are salivating at the prospect of a home game against the Storm, which hasn’t happened since 2016. We’ve still got this Friday ahead of us, and must stay focussed in that regard. But for supporters, Thursday week is a must watch. It would be a Thursday night sell out if not for Covid.

Yours In Blue and Gold

• Colmac

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