Let’s get past Easter Monday’s match with the Tigers. It was a strange game to take in live, but the Eels got exactly what was needed – two competition points, and no major injuries or suspensions.

Call it an ugly win if you must, but the result was the first step in getting Parra’s 2023 campaign back on track and as such it was definitely worth celebrating.

Mitch Moses was the standout player, but such a performance is almost guaranteed when he comes up against the Tigers.

Bryce Cartwright also deserves praise. In the past I have been frustrated by his unwillingness to play with patience or do the hard work required by an edge forward. But, he’s turned the corner so far this year and very much deserves his spot in the starting 13.

Carty

If we regard a match against the Tigers as an entree, then taking on the Bulldogs is much more of a main course. The rivalry of an Eels vs Dogs clash brings my favourite type of football.

Genuine rivalry can’t be bought. It lives in the heart of fans and when two traditional foes come face to face it’s magical.

I came to love footy, especially being at the game, through my  experience as a child attending Parra v Dogs clashes. In fact, the home games against the Dogs and Manly are the ones I look forward to the most each year.

When Parra and Canterbury went to football war in the 80s, the rugby league world looked on in awe. The two clubs shared the titles between 1980 and 1986, and though we are now four decades down the track, the history and rivalry of that era is now embedded in the clubs’ heritage and in the souls of supporters.

It was football war in the 80s

And who will ever forget the 2009 grand final qualifier when nearly 75,000 Eels and Dogs supporters packed into ANZ Stadium. If you were part of that crowd, the memory will stay with you forever.

On Sunday, as the teams take the field, take a look around at the CommBank Stadium stands. You’ll see families sitting together wearing a mix of blue and gold and blue and white. It’s what happens when western Sydney neighbours play each other.

And then the match itself presents so many story lines ready to unfold.

Reed Mahoney up against Josh Hodgson. Might this be the game Hodgo becomes the key spine member that the Eels need him to be? Or will Reed prove a point against his old mates.

The battle between the forward packs, most notably Junior v Pangai should be tremendous. Collisions won’t be for the faint-hearted.

And let’s not forget the battle between Moses and Burton. What will deliver the greatest impact on the match – Burton’s torps or Moses’ game managing kicks. This duel will go a long way towards deciding victory.

A Sunday afternoon of footy at the home of the Eels – would you want to be anywhere else but CommBank Stadium? I can literally feel the atmosphere now.

Enjoy the rarity and the magic of a day time match against a team that is arguably the Eels fiercest rival. Embrace the passionate support that will fill the stands.

May the best team win.

Spoiler – that means the mighty Eels!

Shelley

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