Several fundamental football lessons were painfully carved into the Parramatta Eels in Round 2 where they lost 10-0 to the St George Illawarra Dragons. The doubled importance of possession and discipline in wet weather football in particular. Still, a loss is far from the end of the world for our ladies and indeed as I have mentioned in the past with other grades – the teaching tape that can come from a defeat often galvanises a team to reach greater heights.
Now the chance to bounce back presents itself and could there be a better stage than CommBank Stadium? The Parramatta Eels finally get to notch one of the most important milestones for the franchise on Sunday afternoon when Simaima Taufa leads her troops onto the hallowed turf of CommBank in a clash where our girls will riding a monstrous emotional high. That in and of itself can be a tricky proposition at times. The unbridled nervous energy that comes with such a historic moment can lead to awkward starts but this is exactly the sort of game that made Taufa a priority recruit for the Blue & Gold. Her leadership is exactly what the Eels need at the helm at times like this.
Parramatta will meet the surging Gold Coast Titans this week – fresh off their maiden NRLW victory over the Sydney Roosters. While the Eels prevailed over the first sister expansion team they met this year, Sunday’s game against the Titans will almost certainly be a rip-snorter. Like the Eels, the Gold Coast feature a superstar at fullback and have a crafty dummy half of their own who also happens to be their captain.
The visitors are more than capable of playing some beautiful attacking football but the onus is on the Eels this week to control what they can control. Tidy up the loose possessions and simple errors and don’t give away repeat sets in the midfield to flip field position. Perhaps above all – find a way to get the ball into the hands of your best players! Botille Vette-Welsh primarily but put livewires like Sereana Naitokatoka and Nita Maynard into positions to succeed as well.
We know that the Eels have one of the stoutest goal line defences in the competition, Round 3 will be about finding their rhythm in possession.
Game Info
Date: Sunday March 13, 2022
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick Off: 1:45 PM, AEDT
Referee: Kasey Badger
Broadcast: Channel 9, Fox League, Kayo
Teams
Parramatta Eels
1. Botille Vette-Welsh
2. Taina Naividi
3. Tiana Penitani
4. Jocephy Daniels
5. Rikeya Horne
6. Sereana Naitokatoka
7. Maddie Studdon
8. Kennedy Cherrington
9. Nita Maynard
10. Tommaya Kelly-Sines
11. Christian Pio
12. Jamie-Anne Wright
13. Simaima Taufa ©
Interchange:
14. Shirley Mailangi
15. Abbi Church
16. Filomina Hanisi
20. Ellie Johnston
Extended Bench:
18. Jade Etherden
21. Christine Pauli
22. Tess Staines
23. Mareva Swann
24. Therese Aiton
25. Emily Curtain
Christian Pio and Jamie-Anne Wright get the chance to impress in what should hopefully be approximate to normal playing conditions this week. While they were part of a new look backrow for the Eels in Round 2, the biblical downpour in which they played didn’t exactly set a stage for either player to excel.
There are question marks for the Eels in the backline with Rikeya Horne (foot) and Jocephy Daniels (sternum) racing the clock to be fit for Sunday. Should one or both fail to pass a requisite fitness test it will be highly intriguing to see how Parramatta pivot to replace them. Abbi Church seems to be a natural replacement for Horne on the wing but there have been indications on social media that young Emily Curtain might also be making her NRLW debut this week. It certainly adds a little layer of spice to the pregame intrigue until the team is formally finalised ahead of kickoff.
Otherwise it is business as usual for the Eels. Control the ruck with a fearsome pack headed by Simaima Taufa, Kennedy Cherrington and Tommaya Kelly-Sines and open up the channels out wide for a slashing Botille Vette-Welsh to star.
Gold Coast Titans
1. Evania Pelite
2. Karina Brown
3. Jasmine Peters
4. Tiana Raftstrand-Smith
5. Hailee-Jay Maunsell
6. Grace Griffin
7. Kimiora Breayley-Nati
8. Jessika Elliston
9. Brittany Breayley-Nati (c)
10. Stephanie Hancock
11. Zara Canfield
12. Tazmin Gray
13. Destiny Brill
Interchange:
14. Georgia Hale
16. Laikha Clarke
17. Shaniah Power
19. April Ngatupuna
Extended Bench:
20. Jetaya Faifua
15. Karli Hansen
18. Cobie-Jane Morgan
21. Lauren Moss
22. Lauren Dam
23. Brianna Clark
24. Brooke Saddler
Like the NRL, it seems like there is no shortage of truly outstanding fullbacks in the NRLW because you can throw Evania Pelite’s name right into the ring this year. Like Emma Tonegato last week, Pelite is a dual-code star with speed to burn. The major difference for the Eels to key into this week is the truly wicked right-to-left pass of the Gold Coast custodian. It is a tool that can easily cash in on an overlap or produce a line break from almost nothing.
The Roosters were actually let off the hook from said weapon last week due to the plethora of drops from the Titans’ left winger Karina Brown on gorgeous money balls. Parramatta certainly can not count on that happening two weeks running.
The other danger player this week has the (c) next to her name and has proven to be a lurking menace around the ruck. The efforts of Brittany Breayley-Nati were ultimately what got the Titans over the line against the highly touted Roosters. I mentioned earlier that the Eels have displayed outstanding integrity on the goal line but Breayley-Nati will test that tomorrow and they will need to their wits around them for the full 70-minutes.
Key Players
Simaima Taufa
There is no doubt that Parramatta’s inspirational captain is a central figure of importance in any given game. However, when you factor in the emotional stakes this week – her experience and leadership might just be the difference between the Eels getting overwhelmed by the moment or converting that energy into points.
Equally invaluable are her contributions on offence and defence but Parramatta will be leveraging her leadership and experience that much more this week.
Botille Vette-Welsh
She will be seeking redemption for a cruel twist of fate in Round 2 that saw her unintentionally gift the Dragons the only try of the game. On what should hopefully be a fast track at CommBank Stadium I am tipping that Botille bounces back in a big way. Her combination of elusiveness, fluid acceleration and ball-playing will be pitted against a shockingly similar skill set in that of Evania Pelite and it will be fascinating to see what prevails – the silky short ball of Vette-Welsh or the bullet pass for Pelite?
Christian Pio & Jamie-Anne Wright
The backrow duo land here as they get their first real chance to shine in something that resembles normal playing conditions. While the interior play of the Eels forward pack has been stellar through the ruck, Parramatta could definitely do with some added impact on either edge and both ladies have a chance to put their positions in the team on lockdown with a strong showing against the Titans tomorrow.
