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A win so important it took The Tip Sheet a full night to regroup and regather itself! Firstly though, Sixties and Forty20 celebrate the return of Starr Partners to the TCT family as well as welcoming Big Swing Golf Northmead into the fold in 2023.
The show looks back on the brilliant 17-16 win over the Penrith Panthers in a game draped in so many converging story lines. Parramatta’s early season struggles, the grand final rematch factor, Mitchell Moses and his contract situation and the debut of Brendan Hands.
As recent history would support, the meeting between these two clubs produced some of the finest footy you will see. The Panthers leaned heavily on their outstanding backline as well as the ridiculous boot of Nathan Cleary while the Eels looked to their world class front-rowers and the equally outlandish boot of Mitchell Moses.
Join Sixties and Forty20 as they relive all the big moments and celebrate another instant classic!
The good –
Bryce Cartwright – immense
Both teams – there wasn’t a bad player on the field.
Nathan Cleary – the clutch play, we are in the presence of greatness.
Brad Arthur – FINALLY, got his bench rotation right !
Brendan Hands – great debut
The bad –
The officials- Bunker rules that Gutho last to touch ball over dead ball line, forces Gutho to mount a capt challenge, which forces the Bunker to review it again and they change their decision. Incompetence.
JFH on a head / neck hunting expedition all game without sanction.
The NRL – I understand that it’s all about TV rights these days but how was this game scheduled on a Thursday night ???
All in all, this was close to the perfect game of Rugby League. A showcase. You want to introduce a game of league to the masses, this is the example.
The penalty on Sivo which gave Cleary the 2 points prior to halftime versus what JFH, and to a lesser degree, Lenu, got away with, really pissed me off.
Spot on Chris
It was the most amazing game to witness live. Parra bounced back and it could not have been any more impressive given the quality of the opponent.
And yes, it should not have been on a Thursday night. Any other time and this is a sell out with the stands packed. No doubt the ratings will be high but what a shame to not play in front of a full house.
Agree with the above – also throw in the Dylan Edwards chip kick defusal giving them a 7 tackle set…. yet he jumps obviously from the field of play
Or the two forward passes that formed the Edwards try. The one thrown from dummy half was a metre forward !
Welcoming back a broad football smile – the 1st for the 2023 season.
Glad to hear Mitch is all but on the dotted line also; certainly can’t blame the guy for working for what is best for his interests in a crazy halfback market – but I will be glad when the media circus is finally over! Always maintained he is the 2nd best in the comp behind Cleary.
What a completion rate, what a game, what a night!
Even my most-hated Ref, Mr Ashley Klein, penalizing Sivo for ‘roughing up the head’ at halftime versus what he let Fischer-Harris get away with on mutliple occassions, is not annoying me as much as it usually would.
The officiating was what we come to expect. As I said in the pod, there are those who might rightly say that the officiating contributed to a great game. I could argue against that but let’s celebrate a cracker of a match.
He kept both teams at more than 10 metres all night.
You need your eyes tested.
Sat through KOE cup, your summary was spot on, the most disappointing player was Momosiea added little to the game and was subbed off after 15 minutes for Yates to come on and immediately tighten up the defence. Moretti was possibly the best player, with Keir and Mataele not far behind. Lindsay Stephen was impressive too, quick and decisive, Dunster starting to resemble the player we had prior to his injury. JA as a game manager in the 7 role played well, his highlight reel will always be how he brings others into play, solid and a decent kicking game.
On the NRL , basically for the first 25 minutes, not sure there was a Penrith forward that made more than a single run in any set , some sets it was just the backs. That gives the forwards legs to run plays , but they were basically tacked out of the game. That tackle by Gutho to stop the grub JFH in the last 2 minutes, probably confirms that he is the best defensive fullback in the comp, and a workhorse across the field.
Everything else was covered although I thought Penisini was outstanding again, and that cameo from Doorey exploited the speed on the edge those 2 can provide. Great win, still not convinced that Klein is as impartial as he should be. As an aside , watched the replay this morning, not sure the Eels were playing given the verbal diarrhoea the commentators dribbled about the Panthers, the only praise seemed to come after the game was won.
Arthur Miller Stephen has been a revelation since his call up.
The commentary was heavily loaded towards the Panthers and I can understand that they have a predisposition to their quality. But in a game such as that the Eels deserved a bit more recognition throughout the call.
Was there any bad blood between the Eels and a certain ex consultant from last year ?
Hey I’m all for honesty but Ennis does seem to have an axe to grind.
👍
His opinions do seem different to last season but I don’t think there was any bad blood in the departure.
He was definitely Penrith-centric.
Moretti again eh ? I don’t believe that he’s in the top 30. Maybe he can grab a debut later on in the season. He was a very well regarded junior, played Junior Kangaroos and Junior Wallabies.
Great to hear that Miller- Stephens in playing well, any chance he can play Centre / wing ? He won’t be playing fullback anytime soon.
Momoseia is terrible atm – not busy enough and not much impact. He shouldn’t play first grade for a while. Hopefully Toni mataele and jj Bentham misa break out this year
Yes, I agree that Momoisea has lost his way a bit.
A fair bit
Momoisea is not a first grade footballer, Ask anyone in Newcastle.
I believe that Moretti’s form is being noticed. He’s been strong at training too. Artie has played wing in junior reps and Flegg
Tks men. High completions, low errors is a great recipe, both teams cooked up that dish.
Officiating: Observations, not whinging, s..t happens.The Yeoh pass came out of his hands forward as Hopgood was holding him between knees and waist, Yeoh never broke the tackle and his body wasn’t able to swivel properly to his right to make a correct pass so he sort of pushed it out of his hands across his body and it definitely travelled forward, not much but it did. The Fisher Harris body drop into Gutho’s lower back almost qualified as a shoulder charge, he rolled his body to lead with the shoulder,and there’s no concept of the arm assisting in the tackle, Gutho was face down, motionless. I wasn’t sure if Klein had blown or called stoppage, but it was a cheap shot. If stop play had been called, should have been penalised, and if not it was borderline dangerous or excessive. And yes, there were a high number of second efforts by Panthers, particularly the one when 3 tacklers are all over the tackled player, the tackle is completed then one tackler puts his weight into our guy and moves his body to delay him fighting for release.All well coached.
Well spotted and analysed BDon. It’s the Storm formula of finding ways that are against the spirit of the game or stretch the rules and are all designed to give them an advantage because refs don’t like to blow too many penalties.
There were ‘flat’ passes in both the Panther’s tries – I was okay with them both being awarded, as whether they were forward or not were borderline.
But …. I 100% believe if they were both Parra plays, we would have been pulled up for at least one of them as being forward.
Spot on.
Yes, the Yeoh pass was very short and didn’t look too suss, not many like that are pulled up. I was more interested in the fact that Yeoh stepped back and found the chance to offload and catch us thin.
One of the few times that our scramble didn’t get the job done.
What a niggler is Crichton. And a bit of a sook.
Good observation
I notice Kotoni Staggs has taken all that crap out of his game, he just looks 100% better for it. The modern game allows guys like Crichton to act the tough guy and not get smacked in the mouth.
I want to point out. How good is our dummy half on debut to fire a perfectly aimed and weighted pass before the field goal. The kid should get a lot of credit.
Great composure from Hands.
Agreed; all Hands on deck for the pass
Boom boom haha
Geez I’m glad the lads proved me wrong. What a great game. High quality for 82 minutes….. obviously made better by the win.
I didn’t think the officiating played too much of a role. While I was similarly frustrated and perplexed by some of the inconsistencies around the wrestle. But overall Klein kept his nose out of it, obviously helped by the quality of the game.
Totally agree it was an all in team performance. Waqa though looked like a weak link – a bloke generally playing without confidence. Continues to be an issue in defence and his runs lack sting and instinct to find gaps.
Once back to full strength I feel like Carty deserves and is probably more suited to a starting role. He’s been fantastic and I think allowing him to build into the game rather than having the pressure of making the most of limited minutes suits him. So I’d have him and Lane on the edge. Matto back to being an option coming off the bench given the impact and versatility he provides. Doorey also looked suited to a bench spot.
RCG continues to prove he’s the best prop in the game. Criminally underrated and respected in caps for the Blues and Kangaroos.
Sivo also highly underrated for his high ball and catching capability. He’s been solid since early last year I think. Clearly something he’s worked hard on and is proving very reliable with. I was also glad to see Simonsson really dig in, I thought he was very good.
Last thing from me is they looked like they executed and stuck to a simple game plan. Hopefully they stick to this formula and run it consistently week in week out.
Agree with waqa. Was missing quite a few one on one tackles when we had Penrith down their end and letting them make half breaks. Probably cause he’s all arms no shoulder in defence. Further, in attack, his runs are ineffective – no instinct at hitting holes or finding space. Came up with some good catches but I just don’t see how he can continue to be an nrl centre with such bad defence, no passing game and really no hole running.
Plenty of valid observations Mick. Just on Waqa, he really is a player that needs to feel confident. If something goes wrong he appears to get full of self doubt. Conversely if he succeeds in a big moment early he can be dynamic. In an underlying world we give him time out – but the options are limited.
I did miss one thing. Hopgood needs a spell between 30-60 min mark. I was thinking he looked gassed and then he made a couple of poor decisions / looked lacklustre at a few moments which led to the Panthers first try. He’s got a massive work rate, so just needs a break to maintain his impact. Not a knock, just a strategy matter for BA to address.
Another fair call. The arrangement of the team and bench might change when Lane returns. Matto can play long minutes so he might be used around Hopgood, perhaps swapping positions depending on where he starts.
Havent watched it again, but I thought Yeoh stepping back behind the ruck not only half caught Hopgood but no one else was pushing across(with the original direction of the ball) on the blind side to assist with closing down the threat. It was split second stuff, just enough time of non-focus to allow Yeoh to find a very small gap and Edwards pushing through like he always does. Yeoh never broke Hopgoods low tackle, all we needed was a second tackler from the blind side to hit Yeoh higher or cover Edwards. I still reckon Hopgood caused Yeoh to push the ball out forward but was not rewarded for it. Agree that with all forwards healthy, we will have far better rotation strategy.
How good is it to hear the podcast after a win! It is has all been said by yourselves and the subsequent comments. Simply one of the great wins by Parra. Bring on the Rorters!
Cheers Shaun. So much better to be discussing a win. We can beat the sombrero wearers
Just saw a twitter stat: @optajason
Apparently Mitch Moses became the first player to kick over 1,000 meteres in a single game (last best was Soward in 2010 for 923M).
Nice boot work from our No.7 all around last night.
According to NRL stats this morning he was a bit below 1000m on his own but our combined team kicking metres went past the 1000m mark – it looks like they’ve updated the stats. Amazing!
Great observations all round here; and the introduction of Hands was spot on and he made an impact as all did from the bench.
If our spine and props play like this consistently we will be fine and again the bench did what we needed.
Milo I was not expecting to see Brendan Hands in the team list on Tuesday.
I thought he was very good. Further it was very unlike BA to leave him out there and give him big minutes on debut.
I also thought Doorey was very good again. He played a big part in the second try. Not just his offload but also his speed and strength in play.
The bench really did contribute well in this game. May it continue!
Brendan has been at the club for a couple of preseasons now. He has been used in a number of positions at the club in cup.
As an outsider it seemed as though he was being developed as a Utility. He certainly passed his first test playing as a 9.
Fantastic game and a well deserved win with contributions from all 17. So good to see the bench utilised as part of the game plan and what a debut from Hands. I thought Yates went well in the Newcastle trial as sub hooker so great to see that there is seemingly a better option.
Didn’t realise Fisher-Harris was such a grub, must be something in the DNA of NZ International props with hyphenated names.
Sixties, what do you think was the go with Edwards in the Moses field goal. Stops in his run and goes off at Kline, was he called for breaking early?