NRL Team List

Round 20, 6:15PM Sunday 16th July, CommBank Stadium

A big bounce back victory will be the goal for the Parramatta Eels as they reload on stars against the Gold Coast Stars. Brad Arthur has named his trio of NSW representatives in Clinton Gutherson, Mitchell Moses and Reagan Campbell-Gillard to start against the Titans. Shaun Lane also returns to the starting line-up to round out the strongest line-up the Eels have fielded in some time. Dylan Brown (suspension, Round 23) and Wiremu Greig (injury, Round 23) are still key outs for the Blue & Gold but their bench runs deep while the backline is fit and firing.

Luca Moretti holds his spot in the interchange rotation after the rookie’s quietly impressive run over the last few rounds. He is joined there by Joe Ofanhengaue, Andrew Davey and Ryan Matterson as ‘BA’ again opts for the four forwards of the apocalypse approach. Ofahiki Ogden and Makahesi Makatoa drop out of the team this week but will boost the NSW Cup squad.

Like the Eels, the Titans enter Round 20 on the back of the loss after their golden point heartbreaker against the Dolphins. The Gold Coast also got the better of Parramatta back in Round 10 in a pulsating 26-24 clash so revenge is on the cards come Sunday. The Titans boast a potent starting roster full of lethal attacking threats like AJ Brimson, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita but their bench is surprisingly light. If the Eels can absorb the pressure of the opening exchanges there will be an opportunity to take over the ruck on Sunday.

While expected given the players unavailable last week, the loss to the Warriors was a blow to Parramatta’s battle for seeding inside the Top 8. This week is damn near must-win for the Eels given their upcoming schedule features the Cowboys, Storm, Broncos and Panthers.

You can also catch myself and Sixties in the official pregame show on Sunday live from Jacks Bar & Grill!

NSW Cup Team List

Round 20, 3:45PM Sunday 16th July, CommBank Stadium

The New Zealand Warriors were too good for the Eels – which was to be expected – in Round 19. Parramatta’s plight in the NSW Cup could potentially be helped this week by the returns of Ofahiki Ogden and Makahesi Makatoa to the starting front row while Samuel Loizou takes over at centre. Loizou’s return lets Zac Cini step into five-eighth meaning that Dan Keir finally is relieved of the playmaking duties and can return to the backrow rotation.

The make up of the squad looks more balanced with the return of the starting bookends but there is still a glaring hole in the halves after the departure of Jakob Arthur and the sustained NRL run of Daejarn Asi. While other aspects of their performances also clearly need improvement, the Eels have struggled badly to convert runs of possession and territory into points. That might not change this week even after swapping Keir for Cini at five-eighth and looms as the big bottleneck for the squad ahead of their clash with the Rabbitohs on Sunday.

NSW Cup Team List

BYE

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