NRL Team List
After posting their most comprehensive victory of the year and escaping Round 7 without any further injuries the Parramatta Eels head to Darwin with an unchanged line-up to take on the ascending North Queensland Cowboys. It was to be expected really given that Brad Arthur generally likes to reward strong team performances with stability through selections.
That means that Dylan Brown will turn out at left centre once more with Jake Arthur lining up at five-eighth. Given what we saw against Newcastle we can expect that Dylan won’t be consigned strictly to one in from the wing and will feature heavily in the game plan in a dynamic role.
On the flipside the Cowboys should be better prepared to deploy countermeasures than the Newcastle Knights and it will be interesting to see how that little game of chess plays out. Throw in the fact that Tom Opacic features neither on the injury report or the NSW Cup team list and you are left to wonder if there another layer of intrigue to this whole scenario?
Hayze Perham gets another deserved chance to shine on the left wing and build his utility resume up. A natural at fullback and a competent five-eighth and centre, should Perham add a proven ability to play for the Eels he could be the successor to Swiss Army Knife of the bench in Will Smith.
Otherwise it is an exceptionally straightforward Team List Tuesday this week. The Eels are looking to build off an excellent win and it is the same for the Cowboys who thumped the Gold Titans 30-4. Darwin has been a veritable fortress for the Eels ever since they played their first game at Marrara Stadium back in 2014. However the one team to hand them a loss in seven visits to the Top End was the Jonathan Thurston led Cowboys in 2017. The Eels hit back the following year to leave the two teams locked at one win a piece in the Northern Territory. I won’t say this one is for all the marbles but to paraphrase legendary NFL coach and executive Al Davis – just Darwin, baby!
1. Clinton Gutherson (c)
2. Hayze Perham
3. Will Penisini
4. Dylan Brown
5. Bailey Simonsson
6. Jake Arthur
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Junior Paulo (c)
11. Shaun Lane
12. Isaiah Papali’i
13. Nathan Brown
14. Makahesi Makatoa
15. Ryan Matterson
16. Oregon Kaufusi
17. Bryce Cartwright
18. Wiremu Greig
19. Mitch Rein
20. Tom Opacic
21. Ky Rodwell
22. Solomone Naiduki
23. Elie El-Zakhem
24. Luca Moretti
Injury Report
| Player | Injury | Return |
| Haze Dunster | Knee | 2023 |
| Ray Stone | Knee | 2023 |
| Sean Russell | Ribs/Lung | Round 8-10 |
| Solomone Naiduki | Hamstring | Round 8-9 |
| Maika Sivo | Knee | TBA |
| Waqa Blake | Knee | TBA |
| Marata Niukore | Hamstring | TBA |
NSW Cup Team List
The Eels kept pace with the competition leading Penrith Panthers in the NSW Cup with a well crafted 26-8 victory over the Newcastle Knights. Matthew Komolafe is in scorching try scoring form as he scored his second hat-trick in as many weeks and brings his overall try total to a whopping 9 tries from 4 games.
Youth continues to be a feature of Ryan Carr’s tenacious squad of battlers with five Flegg eligible players named this week. Tevita Taumoepenu in particular has been very impressive among the young forwards promoted and has lifted to another gear since earning a starting jersey in reserve grade. The team does get a nice boost in the pack this week with the return of Keaton Walkington-Meads while it looks like thankfully Mitch Rein was able to avoid serious injury after going down late in last week’s game with what seemed to be a non-contact injury.
Curiously, Luca Moretti is not listed on the team sheet but is part of the NRL list. While it could be an unlikely NRL debut I think the reality might be that Moretti is nicked up and the Eels simply do not have enough healthy players to fill 24 slots on the NRL sheet, hence how he ended up named.
Parramatta’s opponents this week are the 7th placed Canberra Raiders and they are fielding a team seasoned with plenty of NRL experience. Jarrod Croker, Sam Williams, Matt Frawley and Emre Guler will give the Green Machine plenty of direction this weekend while former Eels prospect Try Mooney will be one to watch in the backrow.
The NSW Cup will play at 3:00PM on Sunday at Kellyville Park as part of a double header with the Jersey Flegg.
1. Jordan Rankin (c)
2. Matthew Komolafe
3. Zac Cini
4. Samuel Loizou
5. Joshuah Minhinnick
6. Brendan Hands
7. Jack A Williams
8. Tevita Taumoepenu
9. Mitch Rein
10. Wiremu Greig
11. Elie El-Zakhem
12. Dan Keir
13. Ky Rodwell
14. Jayden Yates
15. Keaton Walkington-Meads
16. David Hollis
17. Ryan Jones
Jersey Flegg Team List
Parramatta went down swinging 27-20 against the Newcastle Knights on Saturday in tough but gritty loss to one of the better teams in the Jersey Flegg. As it has been the case for coach Simon Woolford, he had to scramble again to replace core players as his starting frontrowers in Jack Colovatti and David Hollis were called up to the NSW Cup late in the week.
This week sees the return of Charlie Guymer to the centres which in turn pushes Lachlan Blackburn to the backrow. Peter Taateo moves from the edge to the frontrow where he partners Taylor Maula while Reece Alderton is attached to the bench.
The Canberra Raiders aren’t travelling well in the Flegg sitting second last in 11th place but given they are coming off a 64-16 hiding at the hands of the Panthers, the bounceback factor is a real possibility. This is a game that the Eels will want to handle ala the way their NRL compatriots did against Newcastle but Flegg games tend to be pretty fast and open affairs.
As mentioned above, this will be part of a double header at Kellyville Park and will kick off at 1:15PM on Sunday.
1. Corey Fenning (c)
2. Josh Tuipulotu
3. Charlie Guymer
4. Jabriel Kalache
5. Turoa Williams
6. Dantoray Lui
7. Ethan Sanders
8. Peter Taateo
9. David Tui
10. Taylor Mauala
11. Felix Niutili-Schmidt
12. Lachlan Blackburn
13. Brock Parker
14. Nicholas Lenaz
15. Nikau Wrathall
16. Larry Muagututia
17. Reece Alderton
Thanks Forty. There is some quality on that injured list. We can’t have the players focusing on that though.
Just need to repeat last week’s effort against the Knights . Keep the errors low and possession high. Wrap up the ball in defence.
They all know what is required of them after last week. How good would it be to get some of those injured players back though.
Agree 100% John. The simplification of our game, playing to our forward strength was needed vs Tigers and it will be needed against the Cows as their strength is in their forwards.
Great read Forty.
I was pleased with Hayze on the wing he really did what was asked of him as did Dyl. It’s a team first approach and Dyl will go where the team needs him.
Go Eels!!
Yes it’s a team first approach and although Jake deserves a spot in the top 30 off his training efforts unfortunately the team suffers by not having Jordan Rankin fill in at five eight.
A wide gap between where Jake and Jordan are in this stage of their careers but the facts are, Jordan is faster and offers a better running game he has a better passing game, probably on a par with each other with the kicking game which is not a factor anyway as Mitch does 90% of the kicking and Jordan is easily a better defender.
To just win a game of nrl which should be all that matters right now we should be playing our best side possible.
For me that would mean Rankin is playing Nrl and Jake is still learning his craft in nsw cup.
Tony
Tony, your opinion is just as valid as mine but I don’t agree that Rankin is a better proposition in the team. Rankin does a very good job of what he is paid to do – mentoring young players on the field and off. Jake has the faith of the other players and the staff – and ultimately the opinions that matter the most are those from within the sheds.
Yep all good sixties, I’m just going off what I see in nsw cup.
I think Jordan has more attributes to his game at the moment is all but it’s purely an opinion.
I think Jake will be a great long term player but I feel at the moment he struggles with the line speed of defences at nrl level.
Trust me thought I would love nothing better than to see Jake have a great have against the cowboys and as BA says he only has to play his role and he has done his job.
My only other question sixties is do you disagree that Jordan is the most influential player as far as the attack goes in the nsw cup team even when Jake plays?
I was very pleased with Perham Pete. And Dyl – he’s a genuine footballer.
Like the look off young players in nsw cup ,look will coached,