NRL
After a few false starts it seems like Ryan Matterson has finally overcome a tricky rib injury in time to take on the Brisbane Broncos in Round 19 of the NRL. The Parramatta Eels enjoy the second leg of three game homestand at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night but will need to put their best foot forward against a rising Brisbane outfit.
Brad Arthur has the somewhat rare luxury in recent times of naming a full strength starting roster with the return of Matterson. That sees Marata Niukore slide back to the bench – an important tweak for the side given the kind of energy he can bring to games when injected from the interchange. Marata is joined there by bench stalwarts Makahesi Makatoa and Oregon Kaufusi while Jake Arthur will play as the utility. That means that Ky Rodwell will slot in as the 18th man against the Broncos with a solid mix of forwards and backs fleshing out the extended roster around him.
It is the right time of the season to be getting healthy and ideally Matterson’s return will allow the Eels to build on a 2 game winning streak in Round 19. In order to extend their run to 3 straight games though they need to see off the Brisbane Broncos – a team currently jostling with them on the ladder with 11 wins a piece.
The Broncos come into town on the back of a tough win over the Gold Coast Titans and while they are without the services of young star Selwyn Cobbo, like the Eels they are in pretty good shape overall. There is a question mark over the health of Payne Haas but he has been named to start. Even if Haas were to fail to pass muster, Brisbane still boast players like Kotoni Staggs, Adam Reynolds, Kurt Capewell, Patrick Carrigan and a young half in Ezra Mam who is in great form. This will be a legitimate challenge for the Blue & Gold and likely to be an absolute barn burner for neutrals.
While not without blemishes, the Eels have built solidly over the last two weeks and Thursday represents a huge chance to take a massive step forwards with a compelling victory over one of the form teams in the NRL.
The Parramatta Eels take on the Brisbane Broncos at 7:50PM on Thursday night at CommBank Stadium.
NRL Team List
1. Clinton Gutherson (c)
2. Maika Sivo
3. Will Penisini
4. Waqa Blake
5. Bailey Simonsson
6. Dylan Brown
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Junior Paulo
11. Shaun Lane
12. Isaiah Papali’i
13. Ryan Matterson
14. Makahesi Makatoa
15. Jake Arthur
16. Oregon Kaufusi
17. Marata Niukore
18. Ky Rodwell
19. Ofahiki Ogden
20. Bryce Cartwright
21. Tom Opacic
22. Sean Russell
NSW Cup
Bye
Jersey Flegg
Bye
There is nothing full strength about this 17 with Jake Arthur on the bench.
Great to have Matto back. Terrible not having Nathan Brown who clearly has his cards marked. Illogical having JA on the bench, Matto and Marata can cover a backline injury.
I agree with your comments, but maybe add a name hey…..I just think we would get more value out of a forward and move Matto / Marata if needed to centre.
Did you see the strapping on Moses’ leg last weekend? If he goes down you are going to put a forward in at half, or shuffle the entire backline around? So Matto goes to centre, Blake to fullback and Gutho to half in that scenario. I’m glad we have a backup half on the bench when one of our halves is carrying an injury. This is too critical to be playing musical chairs with.
Agreed – Moses was limping heavily after an early hit, and his kicking doesn’t seem to have had as much oomph the past few weeks.
In the absence of a utility like Will Smith (who I’d have happily had back but is apparently off to the UK), when you have a half with a known injury and forwards who can play long minutes, half cover is sensible.
So you do not think there is a more versatile bench player available? Like I don’t know, how about Haze?
Did you watch Perham?! He had no impact in offence, and a negative one in defence. I’d have Russell before him.
You do realise he was playing out of position on the wing in first grade?
Is that you Grunta?
From what I’ve heard, the issue with Brown was unacceptable behaviour off-field (on top of his reduced on-field impact). Given the forwards leaving, there’s clearly something significant that’s happened for him to be told he’s free to go.
JA goes ok but I fail to see what he adds.He’s not going to dart out from dummy half.Surely Carty or Rein offer a lot more I’m dumbfounded by this decision.Only for injury cover I’d say.
I think he’s possibly trying to give some game time to a young half who may be required if we lose a half between now and the end of the season.
I’m over venting about JA being in the 17 when we have both our halves available. I just feel sorry for the kid cause his Dad is putting him into a position that doesn’t make sense. I mean he gets on last weekend for limited minutes at dummy half. Has he been doing that in reserve grade to prepare him for that role?
I feel this has the potential to cause a rift due to guys who specialise in a role being overlooked so Brad can fit JA in.
I have watched a fair bit of reserve grade and never seen him play there. In my opinion his selection is not warranted. He needs to stand out in reserve grade before being picked in firsts and he just doesn’t. He is a solid reserve grader and that’s about it. Defensively not of first grade standard either.
For mine it is a failure of the coach to not pick the strongest squad to give the team the best chance to win. This in turn is a failure to put the best interest of the club first.
Parra just need to be v good here for this one, as Brisbane are a vastly different team to that of the last few years….we need to be aiming for a full 80 min game
I wouldn’t expect JA to get many minutes. So I don’t know why he’s being hated on. It’s clearly nothing to do with him.
I personally would like to get Matata back in the centres and rest Simmonson and Big Will. Bring Russell back for a few games. Just need to tighten that edge. Will and Simmonson could improve the NSW cup team for a few weeks. That would allow Ky to stay in the 17 and keep building his stamina for NRL.
Anyway we need a big win against the Broncos as we are losing on for and against to most teams.
Go Eels!!