Round 7 Drink Of Choice – Cappuccino with one
In years gone by the setup for this game would have likely evoked dread for fans. The Eels, looking to bounce back from a dreadful Easter Monday showing, were due to travel up the freeway to take on the Newcastle Knights in a game that was framed heavily by the background of a significant event or celebration. Historically that has been a recipe for disaster. Throw in the high profile retention of Kalyn Ponga in the lead up to Sunday and the Knights seemingly had all the ingredients needed for an ANZAC round boilover.
Thankfully though Parramatta used the Sunday afternoon match as a platform to nail the fundamentals of the game and in doing so they routed the Knights 39-2. It was exactly what was required of the team after struggling to execute on so many levels in Round 6. Equally amazing was the fact that the Eels seemingly escaped from Round 7 without any new injuries – a feat akin to winning the lottery in so far in 2022.
The 37-point victory extends a streak of dominance over Newcastle for the Eels to five consecutive games and catapults the Blue & Gold back into third place on the ladder ahead of their annual trip to the Top End. Importantly, it was a return to the kind of defence the club has prided itself on in recent seasons and a platform to build on as we work towards the midpoint of the season.
Dylan becomes the centre of attention
There was plenty of consternation (from myself included) ahead of kickoff when the club’s late mail revealed a pregame shuffle that pushed Dylan Brown to left centre with Jakob Arthur stepping into five-eighth. On the surface it looked like the classic misstep of weakening a strength to strengthen a weakness but to Brad Arthur’s credit the team clearly had an effective game plan ready to deploy in order to keep Dylan heavily involved throughout the contest.
Even with the positional shift, Brown stayed red-hot this week as he notched his third of the year and fifth (!) game of 100+ running metres. Throw in 6 tackle breaks and a competent defensive performance up against some chump named Dane Gagai and the Dylan Brown Breakout Tour continues to rock and roll on.
Jakob himself was solid outside of a late forward pass and one errant attacking kick in the first half. While the Round 7 switch isn’t my preferred configuration of the backline, given the result and the overall handicap facing the club I can see the logic behind the move. I imagine the Eels will likely persist with the backline we saw against Newcastle until either reinforcements or god help us more injuries lead to a change.
Off-contract Matterson back to full flight
Ryan Matterson has had some horrendous luck with injuries and concussions in particular as an Eel and in spite of it all has been a plus contributor since joining the club in 2020. Thus it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his surging form this year has coincided with a clean run without any serious head knocks. He is in imperious touch and that was on display for all and sundry on the weekend as he demolished the Knights from the bench with a monstrous 17 run 193m effort through the middle in just 38 minutes.
We all know the competition for starting spots in the Parramatta pack borders on the ridiculous. Matterson is a bonafide starter in essentially any other team but the fact that he is in prime touch and impacting games from the bench for the Eels is a huge ace in the sleeve for Brad Arthur. Given that Matterson is turning 28 this year and is also off-contract at end of the season the club has an important call to make here. I am completely on board with tabling a two or three year extension to the backrower to give the club another foundational piece in the forward pack for the foreseeable future.
Cursebreaker?
The well documented nightmare that is Parramatta’s left wing might have finally met its match in Hayze Perham. The fact that he managed to survive stints in the cursed role through Rounds 6 and 7 is a worthy achievement in and off itself but he also earned plenty of merit with his performance against the Knights on Sunday.
Newcastle went after him early and often, directing several testing attacking bombs towards his sideline and he handled them all expertly. He also carried his weight around the ruck with a useful 118m from 15 carries as well as scoring his first try as an Eel. It was exactly what Brad Arthur needed from the reserve-reserve-reserve-reserve-reserve winger (if I am not mistaken) and locks him into the gig until injury or reinforcements force him out.
Eels successfully hit the circuit breaker for defence
A pseudo-shutout should be celebrated against any team and limiting the Knights to just a penalty goal in Round 7 marked an outstanding allround effort by the Eels. They raised their effective tackle rate by nearly 4 percentage points from Easter Monday and restricted the Knights to just 2 line breaks after bleeding 5 against the Tigers the week before.
It was an important reboot for the ailing Parramatta defence after an extremely rocky start to the season and needs to be the platform for a spearhead into the middle portion of the season. With the upstart Cowboys and formidable Panthers on the horizon there will be serious challenges to conquer for the Eels on the defensive front but this was an important start.
The Final Word
Frustratingly, this was exactly the sort of the game many fans wanted to see back on Easter Monday. Obviously that loss still stings but thankfully there was clear and obvious adjustment from the team following that loss as they went back to basics and nailed the fundamentals of the game. So for that I am extremely happy and doubly so given that we enter Round 8 without any additions to the injury report.
Now our attention turns to Darwin and the big surprise packet of the season so far in the North Queensland Cowboys. Todd Payten has against all odds got the Cowboys firing and looking like an actual Top 8 contender. This should be an excellent match and a good follow up for the Eels after disposing of the Knights so comfortably. With the Panthers looming the week after this is a big game for the Blue & Gold as they look to firmly establish themselves inside the Top 4.
With Team List Tuesday immediately following this blog I am not expecting too many, if any, surprises but that is a beautiful thing for the Eels after a litany of injuries!
The cowboys are certainly going to provide a litmus test for the eels this weekend.
They play very direct using their young gun forwards and are a distinct threat in the air. Their halves are using this go forward to their advantage using their speed that extra space gives them.
The eels will need to establish their forward dominance early and play very direct. The knight were a very low bar given what they can rightly describe as their worst performance in years. The Cowboys will be different and difficult test.
Spark, we are on the same page here. Both teams boast good packs and assert their authority through the middle and edge. If we play as we did against the Tigers (ie not winning the physical battle) it will be the recipe for a loss against the only NRL team conditioned to play in warm humid weather.