The Parramatta Eels extended their dominance over the Canterbury Bulldogs to 12 wins from the last 15 meetings and while it wasn’t the biggest of those wins this was certainly the most enjoyable. A lot of that had to do with the humiliating beating that was put on the poster child for chasing the cash, Reed Mahoney. Some of it was being able to relax and just enjoy a second half with the result assured instead of being on the edge of my seat until (and beyond) the 80th minute. A not insignificant amount was just sheer awe for Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

There’s a long way to go on the recovery trail after a rough start to season 2023, but this was a confident stride after last week’s shaky first step.

Yeah I could nitpick a few too many errors and an inability to secure short dropouts and kickoffs, or I could just post this:

Part of the Eels game plan was to get under Reed’s skin.
Exhibit A:#NRLEelsBulldogs pic.twitter.com/Nb9Lt5TdcV

— The Cumberland Throw (@EelsTCT) April 16, 2023

Parramatta made it clear post-game that their plan was to rile up Reed Mahoney and target him, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gameplan executed so effectively. It was catharsis after dealing with a year of “how could you let him go” stories and overblown hype about his abilities. He is a good footballer, and may one day even become a great one, but Phil Gould massively overpaid for him and today made the decision not to match those dollars look like a very sound one.

For some comparison, on Easter Monday the Tigers outgained the Eels by 500m, and lost. This week the Eels outgained the Bulldogs by 500m and won by 26. Most of the week was spent talking about how unlucky the Tigers were, but maybe we should have spent a bit more time praising a side that can overcome that kind of disadvantage. The Bulldogs never looked like winning when put into a similar spot.

For the numbers inclined:

Possession: Eels 53%, Bulldogs 47%
Completions: Eels 33/47 (70%), Bulldogs 24/35 (68%)
Metres gained: Eels 1,787, Bulldogs 1,279
Post contact metres: Eels 534, Bulldogs 397
Tackle breaks: Eels 30, Bulldogs 24
Offloads: Eels 12, Bulldogs 10
Tackles made: Eels 293, Bulldogs 342
Errors: Eels 13, Bulldogs 11
Penalties conceded: Eels 3, Bulldogs 9

It was four years ago that a plucky young hooker in his first year of grade took it to the big, bad man in the Panthers pack and came out on top. Reagan Campbell-Gillard soon joined this little man side-by-side in Blue and Gold, but he never forgot, and this weekend he had his long awaited revenge. This game was more than just the Mustachioed Monolith bullying the Bulldogs captain, but it was by far the part I enjoyed the most. You da MVP, Reg.



 

 

 

Matt Burton put up some truly awe inspiring bombs in this contest, swirling, spiralling and nightmare inspiring. Clint Gutherson swallowed each of them up and politely asked for more, shutting down the biggest attacking threat the Bulldogs possess in the process. The King was sliced open but he was hardly deterred, finishing the day with a couple of try assists and the respect of everybody who has ever stood under a torpedo bomb, closed their eyes and hoped.

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Maika Sivo didn’t do a lot of running in this one, but that may be because in his early charges he put his head down, bucked his hind legs and charged into the opposition like a bull. I’d have stopped kicking to him too. He shot to the top of the NRL tryscorers table with another home brace, but it is the hard running that will please fans the most.

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Will Penisini has made himself at home in tight spaces for most of his Parramatta career, but he showed here what he can do when given the room to show his moves. He sized up Hayze Perham and went straight through him like he’d done it in training a hundred times before and considering Hayze was our NSW Cup fullback he may well have done. He’s making the right choices, working hard in yardage and remains an excellent defensive centre.

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For a guy who has played wing and fullback, Sean Russell did not look very comfortable under those short dropouts. It wasn’t much of a day for his edge in attack, and he was solid enough defensively, but it may only be a reluctance to mess with a winning formula (and perhaps the perpetual mediocrity of the contenders) that sees him keep his place next week.

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It was a dramatic improvement for Haze Dunster, but that says more about the low expectations he set last weekend than how well he played in this game. His yardage work improved, he was solid defensively and pouched a key intercept, but right now the primary skill he has that keeps him in first grade is not being Waqa Blake or Bailey Simonsson.

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A lot of running and a lot of tackling isn’t exactly new for Dylan Brown, but the feathered touch on his kicking game was a welcome addition to the toolkit as he forced three dropouts and kept the pressure on the Bulldogs in the early stages. He’s not standing out in this team right now, but he is playing pretty well.

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The moment Will Penisini found Mitchell Moses in support my mates and I celebrated like the try was already scored. It is one thing to part the Red Sea, but Moses of the Mitchell variety could out-sprint a wave to the shore with his pace. Other than that, it was a controlled performance, strong goalkicking from some difficult angles and with a Bulldogs fan in front of me blowing a trumpet at him on his last shot, which he iced. Another benefit to a hiding; that guy was quiet all game long

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One of the easiest A+ grades we’ll ever give here at TCT. Reagan Campbell-Gillard laid 52 minutes of pain on the Bulldogs pack, to the tune of 9 tackle breaks, 197 metres gained and one try scored carrying Bulldog forwards like he was bringing in seven bags of shopping in one trip. I’d be sending him to the ER every week if this is the kind of game he comes out with afterwards.

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When your forwards are running like this the dummy half job is an easy one, but Brendan Hands was very solid in his first 80 minute first grade effort. He held up defensively, his service was good and I for one am glad that Hands has signed an extension for a few years, and that the NRL has confused itself so much that we can just play him every week without anybody raising a question as to his top 30 status.

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Nobody was keeping up with big Reg this weekend, but Junior Paulo made a welcome return to first grade with some tough runs and solid work. He got an early mark and will be saved for the bigger battles to come, but I’m very glad he is back.

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Shaun Lane still doesn’t quite look himself, though that might be the shaggy mop and a mo straight from the discount disguise shop. He still had a big impact on this clash, running plenty of trademark tight lines and getting away three offloads, including one that started the Moses try. I missed this big goofball.

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It isn’t quite his opening rounds, but J’maine Hopgood is settling in as a workhorse with upside, though it’d be nice if he could knock a few of the mistakes and missed tackles out of his game. We started using his passing game more this week and the offloads were back, hopefully an indicator that he is finding his rhythm alongside Marble Carving Matterson.

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That offload to Will Penisini is exactly how you draw them up, and a perfect example of why Eels fans should be excited about Ryan Matterson’s new roving role between the back row and middle. Credit to him for not taking a hit to his confidence from an early mistake throwing that same offload, though if I looked like the Adonis of O’Connell Street it’d take more than one mistake to dent my confidence, too.

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It was a busy ten minutes for Matt Doorey, but it was only ten minutes all the same. He’s got upside as an impact runner but the search continues for a way to find him a useful, permanent spot in the 17.

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Bryce Cartwright in no way, shape or form deserved to be dropped from the starting lineup based on his performances, but seeing the games played by Matterson and Lane on the edge, it was probably time for him to shift. He didn’t make the most of a bench role, running only 6 times in 50 minutes and playing no role in distribution. It’s a shame that he has to change context after becoming a very solid workhorse edge back rower for us, but we’ve got two of the best in the world at that role already in the squad.

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This is the impact player we expect when we look at a man the size of Wiremu Greig. This was his best effort in first grade for mine, hard running, busy workrate and some real impact in short, controlled bursts. A couple of ten minute stints might be the best way to use the big man, and that’s really all we need from him.

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Game situation might dictate some of this, but you should really have your fellow bench front rower making 11 hitups to your 4 when you play more minutes than he does. Makatoa dropped a bit of a hospital ball but otherwise his best contribution was a convincing celebration of Reg’s try, despite only being able to see RCG’s rear end from his vantage point.

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Call me Seymour Skinner, but I’m a small, petty man who thoroughly enjoyed Reed Mahoney having a reverse revenge game for the ages. I can’t remember an effort so bad from a hooker in a long, long time, and I sat through 130 games of Matt Keating. That Reed managed this without even a trademark 40/20 attempt going out on the full is a testament to his suckitude this weekend.

This was a huge win. As a pressure reliever for the team, and as a relaxant for a fanbase that has had a rather tense opening seven rounds. It was far from perfect and came against a side battered by injury both before and during the game, but it was nonetheless a dominant win against our biggest rivals that continued an eight year run of rarely interrupted success against the Bulldogs.

Now we travel to Darwin on a five-day turnaround because the pack of Chihuahua puppies that decide the NRL draw were particularly feral the day they drew out Parramatta’s schedule. It’ll be hot, humid and the Broncos will be fired up.

Until then, stay slippery Eels fans.

Gol

Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media