NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP

ROUND 1

SUNDAY MARCH 13, 2022

EELS 32 defeated TITANS 28

COMMBANK STADIUM

Crowd: 18,211

What a mixed bag of a game it was from the Eels to open their 2022 Premiership campaign.

Despite the tries galore in the first half, Parra rarely looked like crossing in the second.

Sean Russell

After the Eels hit early via Sean Russell’s double in the 3rd and 7th minute, it seemed like the Eels picked up from where they finished off two weeks ago at Penrith.

However, the tide first turned with an outrageous forward pass was not seen by the four officials as the Titans Phillip Sami crossed in the 10th minute.

Just a heads up to the officials. If the player stops and pivots to pass the ball before the white line, and it’s taken 2 metres in front of said line, this is called a forward pass, play stops and the opposition get the ball.

Though there were a number of numerous contentious calls, there’s little doubt that this was a game that the Eels got away with.

The cardinal sin of rugby league is not completing your set after scoring points. Parra sinned more than once, and the Titans capitalised on these mistakes and made the Eels pay. BA would have been fuming at this and no doubt the emphasis this week is to get to the kick after scoring points.

Those Eels errors were compounded by poor defensive reads and downright awful tackles just before half time which brought the Titans back into the game as the visitors crossed for two late tries.

New signing Bailey Simmonsson didn’t have a game to remember. Whether he was at fault for the Eels right side woes, or whether his inside men were to blame, he struggled in both attack and defence.

For whatever reason, the Eels didn’t utilise their right ride attack. Penisini needs to see more ball to get Simmonsson into some sort of position to create something.

Even if one side of the field is on fire, as the left was early when Russell grabbed his three tries, you don’t ignore the other side.

I believe that Jake Arthur had a solid game but he would have been more effective if he’d dug deeper into the line..

His height and ball skills provide him with the necessary tools to initiate second phase footy or create space from an engaged defence. On Sunday, we saw too many hand offs to forwards which rarely challenged the defence.

The Key Numbers

Possession favoured the Eels 54% to 46%.

Despite the first half errors Parra completed a respectable 24 from 29 sets.

A big stat to come out of this match for the Eels, was that the Titans only spent a tick under six minutes in Parra’s 20 metre area. Most of the second half was spent in Titans territory.

The Eels made 1498 running metres with 547 post contact metres. This produced five line breaks.

It was the forward pack who led the metre eaters courtesy of RCG (181 run metres), Isaiah Papali’I (169 run metres) and Junior Paulo (135 run metres). Papali’I led the post contact metres with 85.

There weren’t too many kick return demands on the the backs with Bailey Simonsson’s 94 run metres just edging ahead of Will Penisini’s 93 run metres.

Of course, Sean Russell was heading towards a big afternoon with his three tries coming before his untimely injury.

Shaun Lane

Defensively the Eels made 264 tackles, missing 35 with 7 ineffective. That’s a 86% tackle efficiency – not something to write home about.

Shaun Lane led the defenders with 31 tackles followed by Reed Mahoney with 30.

In the missed tackles department, Reedy made 5 missed tackles with Papali’I and Moses credited with 4 misses each.

The penalty count favoured the Eels 7 to 1, which included penalties awarded from successful captains challenges and the poor Titans’ line drop out.

Parra made 10 errors to the Titans 6.

Final Comments

The emphasis at Eels training this week should be on defence. Parra needs to add a little bit of steel, especially in the red zone.

It’s an away game against a Cronulla side who haven’t played at home in over 2 years. I reckon the Sharks will be wanting to put on a show for a full house (albeit reduced) at Shark Park.

With Sean Russell on the side lines for an indefinite period, the Eels are short in the wing department. What selection decision will Arthur make to cover that shortfall.

Tom Opacic’s four tries in reserve grade creates food for thought. This might involve once more pushing Waqa Blake out to the wing, with Tom coming into the starting centre spot.

Perhaps the timing could be sweet for new recruit Zac Cini.  After his highly publicised debut for the Tigers in 2021, a very early taste of Blue and Gold first grade might be coming his way.

Yours in Blue and Gold

Colmac

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