Monday 5th April, 2021
Stadium Australia
Attendance: 29,056
VS 
Eels Scorers:
Tries: B. Ferguson x 2, T. Opacic x 2, M. Niukore, I. Papali’i, C. Gutherson
Goals: M. Moses 4 from 7 attempts
This was far from the perfect game.
After a terrific start, the match took some interesting twists and turns, and at one stage it looked like the Tigers were in with a chance.
But it was the finish that counted and the Eels ultimately delivered.
There was no guessing about why things didn’t go entirely as planned for the Eels.
Some diabolical handing had Parra supporters burying their heads in their hands, and Brad Arthur ageing just that little bit faster.
But there was a pleasing aspect to a game like this. The Eels are now a team that can find a way to win, even when they aren’t playing at 100%. This must surely leave the competition thinking about the danger the Eels will pose when everything clicks.
Despite the poor handling, the Eels still completed at 81% with 30 completed sets from 37.
Territorially, 50 minutes and 10 seconds of the game was played in the Tigers half, with about half that time in their red zone. This effectively starved the Tigers of quality ball and any pressure they could put on the Blue and Golds. Indeed most of the Tigers tries came from Eels errors
In attack the Eels made 1552 run metres from 169 runs. The Tigers made an extra 4 metres (1556 run metres) on the Eels but also ran nearly 30 more times then the Eels. Parra’s great defence minimised the Tigers attack.
Fergo
Within these running metres, the Eels made 703 post contact metres, with Fergy Ferg hitting a monumental 101 post contact metres.
Although some might claim he couldn’t catch a cold out there on Monday, the veteran winger is still showing he is an attacking weapon. In total, Ferguson ran 17 times for 192 run metres, which was a team high effort. Throw in his 2 tries, and he has already surpassed his 2020 try tally after 4 rounds.
Notable mentions in attack go to our skipper Clint Gutherson with 168 run metres from 19 runs, and our bookends in RCG and Junior with 138 and 162 run metres respectively. Isaiah Papali’I was not to be denied with 144 run metres from 13 runs and Nathan Brown also contributed 125 run metres (even after being taken out by a late hit in the first half).
So while in attacking mode, I would really like to give as shout out to two of our new recruits. Tom Opacic and Isaiah Papali’I have added so much to the Eels attack in the opening month of footy.
Opacic
Opacic has cemented his spot in the starting side with some great attacking footy. Averaging 11.3 runs a game at 87.3 running metres, Opacic has been a very sound buy for the Eels. His double try effort on the weekend was a great reward for his first four games with the Eels.
This may be a statistical post but I’m still going to be subjective with this statement – Opacic and Niukore currently form one of the most consistent centre pairings in the NRL.
Let’s now consider Eels new cult hero in Isaiah Papali’i.
I’m pretty sure I have been giving him wraps in every post because of his damaging runs and stinging defence, but I want to reinforce this with some numbers.
Papali’i is averaging 13.3 runs per game and running at 129.5 metres per game. He is also averaging 4 tackle breaks per game. These are outstanding figures. Add in his defensive stats of 33.8 tackles per game with only 1.3 misses, and he is up there as a buy of the year.
Back to team statistics, the Eels made 339 tackles with 31 missed. The missed tackle count would be a bit high in Brad Arthur’s eyes, but in saying that, the Eels scramble and online defence has been exceptional.
Cash Mahoney
Reed Mahoney once again topped the Eels tackle count with 46 tackles (6 misses), and a sublime 40/20 kick.
Shaun Lane had a great game with 42 tackles (4 misses). Isaiah Papali’i complemented his impressive attacking game with 33 tackles (2 misses).
Dylan Brown deserves a huge mention. In his role in the halves he was asked to complete 36 tackles (2 misses). The Tigers did run a lot of their play at him and he stood fast. Well done ‘Dylbags’.
It is great to see we are winning even though we’re not playing great footy.
The Eels are slowly getting into the realm of the Storm and Roosters who have a history of winning ugly footy games.
Yours in Blue and Gold
Colmac
A great start to the year and certainly the eels recruits have each made statments of a positive kind, Its also great to read the stats of the players that stand out, especially when its not that obvious on game day.
I did not think that DB made that many tackles, but happy to be wrong with that, his partner in crime, that is to the opposition is Reed who I thought was excellent. Opacic is more than a worthy replacement for MJ, and Papa, certainly has added starch as well as solid aggression to the pack and is an example to the other forwards but with the dropsy problem one can understand how the coach and showed his frustration at the post game interview.
Next week, the hope is there against the drags for another win.
I guess we will, like all teams, experience games where completions aren’t what they should be. It’s frustrating, but the goal should be to minimise how often it happens and to find a way to win when it does. I guess we are looking better on the second part of the goal.
Apart from the two tries after dropped balls ,another where Gutho slips over otherwise probably saves the try,we were pretty dominant. All our new recruits have been great,now for Cartright to repay the belief invested in him.Moses usually does play well against Tigers but he was great too.What more to say? Keep the wins coming. With this squad playing with confidence, anything is possible.
There’s good belief in the squad right now which augers well for this week.
Our stats for the 55 to 65 minute segment need censoring. Interesting thing was the turnovers were pretty well all at Tigers end around the 20-30 mtr mark and the Tiges repeated the same set 4 maybe 5 times, strong hit ups, shift to the left, Leilua charging. They eventually got us with good football, Leilua having had enough practice.
It was an ugly period. Watching it live was frustrating and it was obvious a price would be paid. Ultimately the Eels territorial advantage was too strong.
Thanks Colmac for the stats. Look we won and I am happy, I guess some errors at times were somewhat glaring. Move on now to Saints, which is another challenge in itself. Don’t underestimate their coach….
Think that Griffin deserves respect as a coach.
Agree Milo. He is a very good coach and Phil Gould sacrificed him.
Proof is coming every week of how strong our middle is. PCM are as good as I have seen them