Was the Eels victory over the Bulldogs a season re-boot?
There was a “start of the season” feel in the stands last Sunday. Everything about the game reminded me why I love the footy, especially watching it live.
The early rounds have felt clunky, and not just with Parra’s on-field attack. Those strange footy time slots such as Thursday nights and Friday 6pm haven’t helped Eels fans get into any footy groove.
But a fine Sunday afternoon changed all that. We had a packed stadium with a healthy mix of rusted on footy fans recalling the glory days for both proud clubs, and young kids loving the music as much as the game. It was brilliant to see so many young fans, in the footy gear of both clubs, loving their experience.
Parra did not produce 80 minutes of quality rugby league against their traditional foes, but they had the energy that was missing from the previous week and functioned more like a team. I particularly loved the patience and execution of the opening minutes, attacking the red zone and earning repeat sets. It seems like that has been rare to watch this season.
Moses celebrates
Equally, I loved the Mitch Moses try but not just for its brilliance. That try displayed the strengths of the Eels and played to the skills within the team.
RCG started it all with that damaging run and a quick play the ball. Then Shaun Lane followed by targeting a smaller player in the opposition, thereby setting up for an offload. The quick decisive shifting of the ball on the back of that is something that our Eels are renowned for.
My family was sitting at the Northern End behind the posts. We had the perfect view as Penisini ran down the sideline with Parra’s 7, 1 and 6 all in a line backing up. He drew the defender and passed inside to the fastest of the three.
Why am I focussing on this?
Too often this year, and even in this game, the Eels have played one-out footy.
And when passes have come, they’ve been the proverbial “miracle” balls – ones with winning intention but minimal chance of success. That Moses try showed Parra at their best. Any of the younger or less experienced players in the team would do well to watch over the game and take in the importance of playing “Parra footy”.
For that style to work, the team needs to build into the game through completions, gain ascendency in the middle and then let Mitch, Dylan and Gutho do the rest as the game goes on. It is simple, yet so effective.
Our Eels face a tougher test this week but none the less the script should be the same.
Reg will be critical to Parra’s chances of winning the middle
Controlling the middle will be a tough task against the likes of Haas and Carrigan, but I’ll back Junior and RCG to do just that.
Moses kicking game and the kick chase will be critical. Kick long, turn them around and keep them in their own half.
Again the team needs to be patient and when they shift wide it must be decisive and with our spine backing up in support.
Put away any miracle trick shots this week. Cheap turnovers, especially in the Eels half, will be placing the game on a platter for Adam Reynolds and he doesn’t need too many invitations to make opponents pay the price for errors.
Let’s hope that the wonderful footy atmosphere from last Sunday is the tonic that our Eels have needed to produce more consistent, Parra footy. After all, it is a thing of beauty.
Shelley
Great to see a packed stadium. I understand that TV stations pick what days games are played, which comes down to how teams rate, but what they also need to understand is that games look far better on TV when the stadium is packed rather than half empty. Hopefully next year the stations will listen to those who turn up to the games and give us more fan friendly time slots.
Thanks Shelley. As soon as the siren sounded on Easter Monday, my mind immediately switched to last Sunday.Turned out more or less as I expected. Packed stadium. Some great tries. Victory song booming around the stadium. Yes, patience was the key. Meant lack of frustration, allowing the team to grab the opportunities when those special moments came (and there are not too many such moments in a game for any team). As our coach and captain keep telling us, it’s not easy to win an NRL game. We showed we have the game. We need that repeated and repeated against all other clubs, no matter those clubs position on the table.
Tks Shelley. In Souths v Titans, the Titans were very competitive until down to 12, but it wasn’t so much the player missing. They invited the Bunnies 3 times via penalty/error into attacking field position and of course Walker/Mitchell crucified them. I agree that gifting Reynolds/Broncs soft field position will be our biggest danger in Darwin.
Shelley you are correct with regards to the MM try. That was a great footy try from the quality players in our team being skilful.
I think that is the fastest I have ever seen Will P run.
BDon the errors worry me but I believe they will reduce when we learn to be patient. Against the Panthers we had 3 errors and a 95% completion rate.
That is what we should be trying to emulate week in week out. That requires patience and resilience.
JE, 3/95 is as perfect as you ll get given the brutal and dynamic nature of RL. We’re just making too many and blunting our game.
Patience will definitely work. I like the way Hands plays, neat, tidy, get the basics right,energy,don’t force chance- wait for it.
It certainly looks like things are starting to take shape at Parra with most of our best 17 on the park. I’m not sure why we yet again have to play a warm weather team in Darwin, but hopefully the team will be up for the challenge. We will need to lift a gear or two to overcome Brisbane however.
$1 mil is the reason
We can hold them absolutely everywhere except when Reece Walsh runs and Reynolds has time.
Walsh will use his speed to isolate our centres to make room for either himself to slice through or to make the overlap.
Our main priority is to close him and Reynolds down all night.
Do not give Reynolds time and do not give Walsh space.
If we can do that we will win.