Parramatta Eels 28
Canberra Raiders 20
That second half defensive effort is the kind of performance you build a premiership tilt around. The grades don’t always do a good job at rewarding defensive excellence, especially on a team scale, but today the Parramatta Eels won on the back of their defence, something you can’t say too often this year.
Normally Parramatta is on the right side of possession and field position, but tonight they won a game outside of their 2022 comfort zone. This was a hard fought win against a committed opponent that played a good game and generated a lot of second phase play that has caused the Eels fits in recent times.
It’d be nice for an Eels opponent to phone it in every once in a while, but it was yet another quality game of football with the right result come full time. The Eels may be shortening the lives of us fans with the stress of it all but neutrals would be loving some of the contests Parramatta has been involved in this year.
If Clint Gutherson hadn’t gotten a case of “foal taking its first steps” while fielding a bomb and Bailey Simonsson hadn’t spilled another kick, this one wouldn’t have been close. The King now has two “Fergos” in three weeks and while I’m not planning a revolt, gifting tries to the opposition isn’t how you retain control of your kingdom.
The Eels also left a few points on the board with some finishing that lacked polish. Poor Waqa Blake was unleashed down a two foot sideline corridor a couple of times, Isaiah Papali’i and Clint Gutherson both launched the final pass on certain tries into row F, and even on the Dylan Brown try, Shaun Lane could have made it easier on the five eighth. Icing opportunities is crucial when your defence isn’t at its best, and Parramatta can’t leave so many points on the field.
I think the bunker call on the challenge was wrong, but the rate of basic mistakes being made by referees is such that I would be holding any challenge outside of critical moments in the game unless 110% certain it was an obvious error. Trusting the bunker to be consistent with rulings you yourself have witnessed, as Gutho did here, has proven to be a mistake. The lost challenge twice cost Parramatta; when Reed Mahoney had the ball knocked out of his hands, and Waqa Blake was mistakenly called for a knock-on. Both easy overturns that the Eels couldn’t challenge. Save the 50/50s for when winning them would change the result.
This result is particularly impressive because it came despite the Eels losing in a lot of stat categories they typically dominate. For the numbers inclined:
Possession: Raiders 52% Eels 48%
Completion rate: Raiders 87% Eels 75%
Run metres: Raiders 1,878 Eels 1,836
Post contact metres: Raiders 764 Eels 639
Tackles made: Eels 378 Raiders 353
Errors: Eels 14 Raiders 8
Penalties conceded: Eels 5 Raiders 1
Missed tackles: Eels 30 Raiders 39
Line breaks: Eels 7 Raiders 2
After a couple of quiet weeks, Dylan Brown put on a show, a clinic, a masterclass, the kind of beating Canberra hasn’t seen since the one Scott Morrison copped last weekend. His highlight reel wouldn’t fit into one of those NRL four-minute recap videos, he excelled in every aspect of the game and, despite a few times getting up limping like I do after spending 15-minutes kneeling down to build trains with my boy, he was on the spot every time we needed him.
My personal favourite was Dylan’s impression of the try Ryan Matterson scored against the Roosters a couple of weeks ago, though instead of a wicked step into steamrolling Australian fullback James Tedesco to score, it was steamrolling Australian front rower Josh Papalii into a wicked step to score. I’ll forgive him the artistic licence, because you da MVP, Dylbags.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
The howler was a giant booger hanging out of Clint Gutherson’s nose in an otherwise solid game, but just like little Timmy Johnstone is going to be called boogie-boy for the rest of primary school, Gutho is going to have to deal with “the discourse” after two shockers on kicks in three weeks.
Gutherson survived the air-raid following his drop fairly well, though he was saved from another lost aerial contest by Cory Horsburgh continuing to be the unluckiest man in rugby league. That ball for Bailey Simonsson’s first, while overshadowed by Mitchell Moses’ even better ball for his second, was a real corker. That sums up the King’s game tonight: solid but overshadowed by a comically bad bomb take.
Waqa Blake
2 – Left Wing
While only A+ revenge games get an apology out of me, Waqa Blake did have me regretting a few things I’ve said about the centre turned winger over the last two seasons. His yardage work is exactly what the Eels have been missing, while his decision making in defence was very impressive, from timing a bat-down to rushing in on the right man at the right time. Maika Sivo is going to need some big efforts in reggies to dislodge Waqa right now.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
When Will Penisini threw Xavier Savage like a judo instructor demonstrating form on a particularly lippy student, I was worried he was about to become the first player in rugby league history to be charged with a spear tackle whilst in possession of the ball. Luckily no charges came, and the Man of Unspeakable Nicknames could continue to build his resume of quality first grade appearances. Penisini is the player Freddy thinks Joseph Suaalii is, and I hope his head knock isn’t too serious.
Tom Opacic
4 – Left Centre
Tom Opacic looked like a ragdoll posed in an unnatural position as he held that killer offload from Bailey Simonsson, and how he held that ball while running at pace is a mystery that will require a masters in physics to explain. As a master of my own domain and little else, I’ll just say it was a cracking play. Opa had a few big moments in defence late in the game, and despite a few “moments” in attack (that volleyball tap to Waqa should have a catch and pass) he was rock solid overall and has found his groove defensively.
Bailey Simonsson
5 – Right Wing
The Bailey Simonsson revenge game was a thing of beauty, as unexpected a joy as finding a crisp fifty underneath the lounge or learning that the Top Gun sequel is actually good. He returned kicks with lethal intent, beating the first man regularly with speed and footwork. He offloaded well, was crucial in winning the contest for Will Penisini’s try and he broke an insane 11 tackles.
His finishing was top notch and defensively he got the timing right on when to rush (and knock Xavier Savage out of the contest) and when to hold back and slide. I’m giving him an A+ despite spilling a bomb for a try, that’s how much I enjoyed this one. He was so good that I’m going to have to apologise for comparing him to Omicron back in round one. Sorry Bailey. You’re a good egg.
Dylan Brown
6 – Five Eighth
This might be the easiest A+ I’ve given out this season. Dylbags was as close to perfect as you get in this game, breaking the line at will and scoring a classic individual try by brushing aside one of the best props in the game. That is what can happen when he takes the ball two-wide outside Moses, a shape we are seeing more of as the season progresses.
Dylan Brown was everywhere in support, he broke ten tackles and he was right on the spot for a crucial intercept in the dying stages, reminding us that he’s not only one of the form attacking players in the NRL this year, but also the best defensive half in the game. I love him so much I can forgive this:
Mitch Moses
7 – Halfback
This was a halfback game you could set your watch to from Mitchell Moses, as his long kicking got the Eels out of trouble over and over in a second half spent on the back foot. His defensive rushes are becoming crucial in protecting his outside men from shifts, and he made a massive tackle on Xavier Savage when the speedy fullback broke through close to the line.
It wasn’t all defence from the incumbent NSW halfback, who put on yet another try of the year contender when he got drilled digging into the line, popped up, took the pass on the run then turned on the afterburners and threw a perfect no-looker for Bailey Simonsson’s acrobatic finish. He was the support act to Dylan Brown here, but I for one am glad I got to the gig early to see him.
RCG
8 – Front Row
It wasn’t a bad game from the man Ted Lasso cites as an inspiration and moustache mentor, but I don’t remember many games where Big Reg was put on his back so convincingly as this one. His charges were strong and a few of his carries were the RCG I know and love, but seeing him picked up and dumped on his back is like seeing your dad crying for the first time.
Reed Mahoney
9 – Hooker
Getting the ball slapped out of your hands once is unlucky, letting it happen again, that’s just careless. The Raiders try-saver that denied a rare crash-ball four pointer to RCG could easily count as a third if you were a harsh marker, but I’m pretty chill after a win like this one so I’ll let it slide.
Reed Mahoney got through a mountain of tackles and was unlucky not to draw a couple of set restarts with well timed scoots at some very offside markers, and a cruel leg break denied him a 40/20. If getting close counted then the Tigers finishing ninth so often wouldn’t be so funny, so sorry Reed, you don’t get credit for almost and unlucky in this one.
Junior Paulo
10 – Front Row
This was an “under the arm and run” game for Junior Paulo, who, like Ryan Matterson, was clearly a target for the swarming Raiders defence to deny offloads. It didn’t stop Junior barrelling through for 153 metres on 16 carries, but we hold the captain to high standards and tonight there wasn’t a lot of the “extra” we’ve come to expect.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
Some that have criticised Shaun Lane have referred to him as playing in slow motion. Tonight that line break happened so cleanly it looked like he put the Raiders defence into slow motion, a perfect line and a well timed pass that created the match sealing try against the run of play.
It was hardly the only great moment from Lane, who again played 80, got through a mountain of defensive work and was busy with the ball. He’s both finding his place and eliminating the fatigue liability from his game, and that’s a Shaun Lane I can get behind.
Marata Niukore
12 – Second Row
In my match notes I’ve used “venom” to describe Marata Niukore runs four different times, indicating both the lack of superlatives in my vocabulary and just how bloody venomous some of his early runs were. His short time remaining at the Eels seems best suited to this edge role, where he can get up some speed and aim at the outside shoulder.
Simba appeared to run out of puff as the game wore on, but spending a couple of months on the sideline will do that to a man, especially when his rest is interrupted after two minutes because our centre got knocked senseless.
Isaiah Papali’i
13 – Lock
This was another “numbers game” from Isaiah Papali’i, whose hard work and tireless motor I am starting to take for granted. He didn’t miss a beat playing in the middle, if anything he just worked harder. His only notable attacking involvement was unfortunately bombing a try by throwing the ball over Bailey Simonsson’s head, but as an old school workrate lock, Papali’i was fine.
Maka Makatoa
14 – Interchange
Timing conspired against Makatoa in this one, with his 20 minute stint consisting mostly of defensive work. He did give away a crap, late-tackle penalty for getting tangled up in the ruck, which feels like the kind of offense that means he’ll be washing Brad Arthur’s car after training this week.
Ryan Matterson
15 – Interchange
This might just be Matto-backlash talking and I’m taking him for granted like I do Isaiah Papali’i, but this game wasn’t up to the recent standards Ryan Matterson has set. He finished his best run of the night by offloading to Jordan Rapana and putting the team under pressure we didn’t need late in the game.
The Raiders got big numbers into the tackle and recognised his threat, but forcing offloads is becoming a trend for the Burramattagal Biceps. Harsh on a guy that led the forwards in metres, runs, PCMs and swoons induced, but set high standards, get graded to high standards.
Still, happy for his Origin debut. How good is his reaction?
Oregon Kaufusi
16 – Interchange
I did not notice Oregon Kaufusi got no game time until I checked the stats sheet after the game. It might just be the win, it might be Oregon himself, but life went on.
Nathan Brown
17 – Interchange
This is the game we want from bench Browny, where he used a bit of footwork to find extra metres and quick play-the-balls, his ballplaying paid dividends and he was on the spot to clean up a loose ball late. The missed tackle numbers are a worry for me, but I can’t say I noticed them in the running so it may just be a cost of his rushing defence. If he can put somebody through a gap like that every week I’ll be a very happy man.
That was a ripper of a win to carry into the bye round, a confidence building defensive display where it was a balanced mix of structure and desire that saved the day. I’m not going to say all our defensive woes are sorted; the Raiders aren’t exactly an attacking powerhouse, but the signs were good that the Blue and Gold wall will be rebuilt for the run to the finals. It was a win so tough even Ricky Stuart couldn’t have a whinge afterwards, so any Eels fan having a dig after this one is officially a bigger whinger than Ricky. Don’t be like Ricky.
Now we all take a well deserved rest, as Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Ryan Matterson take off to represent the blue without the gold in State of Origin I. It is a long turnaround from Origin I to the Eels clash with the Bulldogs on the long weekend Monday, but Brad Arthur could use that game as an opportunity to blood some of the hungry young talent coming through like Greig, Rodwell and El-Zakhem.
A week without Eels football is usually a tough go, but between that win and watching replays of the Panthers and Storm wins, I think I’ll be okay this weekend.
Until next time, stay slippery Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL
Brilliant. Was worth the wait.
Tks Gol. I never quite got the Dylan Brown baggers. Playing in the spine is an art not easily mastered. He and Moses have built a key ingredient over past 12 months – confidence. Also, it showed again, we are a better team when Niukore and Penisini are on the park.
Oh what a difference it makes having wingers who contest high balls, can finish a try, or can bend the line on the second tackle. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve not been Blake’s biggest fan (see the RL Eye Test error stats for why), but that was a massive upgrade on the past few weeks. Opacic was also very good, and with Simonsson finally warming into his role, it’ll make for a good selection dilemma in the outside backs for a change. Penisini is under no pressure to hold his spot, so Gutho might wanna start hanging onto some bombs!
I’m shirty with us having a try (and often the first try of the game) taken off us in several games this year, then seemingly losing it for a period and being scored against. But at least we kept some composure this week when calls didn’t go our way.
Kudos to Moses particularly for getting up to take a second pass rather than laying down crying for the penalty – we didn’t score that try without it. Gutho was absolutely right on the challenge. And Mahoney, for all I’m yelling at him for overused crash plays, as you noted made several darts from dummy-half into clearly offside players that got no reward. Congrats Des, lopsided penalty count against us this week, shame it didn’t help your team. Or the Raiders in the end.
Given the stats for the game pretty much all went Canberra’s way (bar linebreaks), and the sense of how much defence we had to do in that second half (so impressive), it’s bizarre to think of the scoreline if we hadn’t handed over two tries against and botched two for us on the last pass. And it’s just so good to burst Ricky’s bubble.
As always, another great and entertaining analysis – cheers.
For my ‘bigger whinger than Ricky moment’ = the 2nd Raiders Try.
The scoot from dummy half caught every one off-guard because of how quickly Rapana played the ball. The replay showed he never got his foot to it when doing so,
I know they police this in Round 1 and then throw it out the window for the remainder of the season, but there is an ‘incorrect play the ball’ rule and if 4 (which became 6) crucial points result entirely from the speed of the play the ball, then I think the bunker (shudder) who have the opportunity to review all aspects of a play, should in their decision making, at least have the decency to actually apply the rules of the game and act accordingly. But … then again, when Erin ‘Gutho’ Brokovich gets rebuffed while doing some on-field schooling on ball in-play/tackle/knock-on game mechanics – then we can never expect much, can we?
As you mentioned, 2 bomb drops in 3 weeks from the King is making the peasants a little restless – there have been some other uncharacteristic errors to date this season from him we have not seen years prior, but still has done some great stuff, so not grabbing my pitchfork and storming the castle anytime soon.
One other thing I didn’t like was Matto trying offloads when not necessary – so close to the line with the Raiders still in touch with the scoreboard, absolutely should be in game management mode, not speculating attack chancing.
But too many smiles this week to worry about it too much – and I loved seeing Bailey Simonsen have a blinder!
I think that play the ball rule was changed after round one to one of the effort being made to play it and no contact should be play on.
I say that because I read it at the time, I stand corrected if it was not official. It has generally been ignored since round one.
With regard to Gutho’s error’s re two of the past 3 weeks, he had a horror bounce in the first one (shit happens) and whilst this last one was a clean drop, but if you watch his head movement in the last few metres of its descension, it may have been harder than many think. Now finally I have seen just about every fullback including Tedesco and Tommy miss similar kicks this year and nobody has raised a comment, I think that Gutho has had such a faultless record defensively then it raises eyebrows and becomes an attention seeker.
With you on Gutho Poppa. I’ve been trying to think why it’s so unfair that in the NRL a fullback can be held to such unfair standards for defusing bombs its like we expect them to catch every single one . But drop one or two and it’s boardroom to the basement stuff. In soccer it’s de riguer for goalies to make mistakes and test cricket quite often batters can be in the run scoring doldrums for longish periods before they are dropped.
I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the legality of Rapana’s play-the-ball, but it is on our defenders there to slow him up. We had three in the tackle and he still beat them all to his feet. Opa came in late and flopped on a tackle that was already made instead of getting ready to defend the dummy half.
I’m personally glad the “foot on the ball” crackdown was axed, seeing possession change because of something so minor isn’t why I’m watching football. As long as a player half heartedly swings a boot at the ball on the way through I’m good.
A couple of takeaways –
1. I couldn’t believe that the Rapanas Knock on and the failed captains challenge wasn’t at least discussed by the NRL review on Monday afternoon… am I missing something ?
2. The debate of Rapana ( that man again ! ) got to his feet is touch and go. On another day he would have been penalised.
3. Great game by Dyl. He would make a hell of a lock forward one day.
Nothing from Annesley, but that is no surprise. A clarification on that rule would be nice because Gutho was right. That is what Annesley’s weekly briefing should be for, but instead he talked about how good the HIA doctor is going.
We should be very proud of that game. I’ve seen some comments saying we should be putting away teams like Manly and Canberra easily and we are making hard work of it, but both played at a very high level against us. Raiders completed high, ran hard, offloaded and we still managed to beat them away from home, which is historically a difficult ground for us to win on. Not to mention turning them away from our goal line multiple times in the second half which has been a weakness this season.
I want to point out two moments for criticism though in a game where our wingers deservedly got a lot of wraps. On the Whitehead try, Waqa jammed in on the centre (Timoko) for absolutely no reason at all, which lead to Rapana almost scoring. They then scored off the quick play the ball. It was a carbon copy to what he did against the Sharks to allow Katoa to score. Absolutely no need for it. Secondly, in the second half there was a moment where Bailey raced in and hammered Xavier Savage. Great shot but it’s the same kind of thing that caused us to concede two tries vs Manly last week. I’m aware this is probably a coached tactic (how could it not be? Every winger we try does the exact same thing) but you absolutely would not see this from Penrith. Yes other teams jam in, but not to the extent that we do. This is the weakness in our defense that we need to be able to adjust in order to compete with the best. Even though we didn’t concede a try in that second half, those two moments are still worth highlighting IMO.
I actually thought both Waqa and Simonsson (Moses too) did well with rushing in this week. It is definitely the tactic to force a quick decision when we are outnumbered on the edge, and the timing has been good for the most part. Force the attack to make a play and when the cover defenders know it is coming they can rush to the sideline if the pass is a good one. I’d rather we just had an elite slide defence, but this is the way the NRL is going and our middle has been rock solid for years now, partly because we put this pressure on our edges.
In the Savage example, it worked exactly as hoped. Savage was rushed to make a choice, the pass was a little astray and the cover got there. Last year our rushes were too late and made it too easy, this year Simonsson in particular has done really well at forcing bad plays or just burying the ball carrier. You’ll still see a few tries come off of it, but they only rush when the overlap is already there (well, Waqa sometimes goes rogue, but he’s a centre playing wing). It’ll look bad when it doesn’t come off, but as long as we show discipline when we do have the numbers covered I don’t mind the rushing.
I definitely agree Simmonson has got his timing better. If you’re going to rush up, may as well get there quickly and put the fullback on the deck. He’s improving at this – Manly game aside. Also agree Moses rushing the 5/8, in this case Wighton, was a good play. Luai does this for Penrith a lot
I still think elite teams would slide on the wing more often than rush. Brisbane are doing it very well at the moment. There’s a reason we’ve conceded double the amount of points Penrith have and there is a reason we got dusted constantly by Souths and Manly last year. They were the best attacking teams on the edges and we couldn’t handle it
I heard an interview with Adam Reynolds and he spoke about how coaches recognise right-side defense as being a huge key in winning games, since most teams like to attack down their left. Honestly, if we could fix that to just an acceptable level then we are clearly a top 3 side in the league.
You touched on the fact that teams seem to lift against the Eels. I’m wondering if they consider us an easy big scalp? Most of our wins this season have been reasonably close, and teams may think they can get us if they keep in our face. It would be good for Parra to come out and blow a top side away to instil some doubt and fear in the opposition. To do that though we need to get a bit more consistent. This game was one we would have lost not too long ago, and it was great to see the Parra resurgence in the second half to take the win.
We definitely don’t inspire fear like the Storm or Panthers do, but those teams have earned their reputation. Going down 12 against them, teams would feel “here it goes again” where they might continue to dig against us.
I think our focus on ruck discipline give opposing packs confidence, even if our own forwards are running riot as they usually do. It sharpens the side up to be playing against “up” opposition every week, and losses to sides like the Tigers will give all bottom-feeders the thought they have a chance this week, but gee it’d be nice to rack up some for and against boosting 40-4 scorelines sometimes.
Felt like opposition teams during Waqa’s injuiry have been doing video on our small backline and exploiting us, Waqa made all the difference last night he “Waqcked” them. Cant wait to also see crowd fav the big Bula man Sivo return. Looking forward to opposing teams not having an easy area to focus on now. Marata may need a few more games to get his match fitness back but he makes a difference as another enforcer for us. Parra look real strong now lets go on a run ! Eels 4 ever
I see that you said lane could have held the ball a little longer.
So what Gol Dylan brown still scored. You just have this agenda against shaun lane.
Im surprised you didnt slam him for making a line break of a N. Brown pass.
It’s So clear that some ppl on here don’t like lane.
But that’s fine opinion are like a backside everyone has one. I think lane was great today did what he had to. Great game.
He got an A and I said plenty of nice things about him. I think you have an anti-anti Shaun Lane agenda.
No i don’t i like lane n was happy when parra 1st signed him.
Make some sense Rev
I think you misread Gol’s comment Rev
Your response was justified Gol, Lane nearly blew it. Its just a fact not a criticism.
Lane should have held the ball longer. Same with Opacic in the first half when he made his line break.
Some ice lines Gol , ie put the opposition into slo-mo and setting high standards means being graded by high standards. Good stuff.