Parramatta Eels 25
Gold Coast Titans 24
While the price paid for this win might end up costing us one down the track, for now the Eels have done what needed to be done against a plucky opponent and got away with the two competition points. It wasn’t easy nor pretty, but any time we go down to 11 men, concede two tries in that time yet still finish the stronger, that’s worth celebrating.
The judiciary hasn’t missed either Reagan Campbell-Gillard or Maika Sivo, who are paying for a string of misdemeanours in the form of heavy duty loading that will see both miss several games. While there is nobody to blame but themselves for the charges, it’s tough to swallow that RCG will miss a month of footy for what he did when Jayden Campbell didn’t even get a slap on the wrist for stealing three months of Sean Russell’s season with much more violent knees to the back last year.
I’ve spent the best part of the last week laid up ill, so forgive some flatness to the grades this week. While fever dreams are great for the colours, the fuzzy brain they leave behind isn’t proving much good at finding the words to describe this performance. We’ll be back in form next week. For the numbers inclined:
Possession: Eels 53%, Titans 47%
Completions: Eels 31/39 (79%), Titans 31/41 (75%)
Run metres: Eels 1,572, Titans 1,465
Line breaks: Titans 9, Eels 4
Tackle breaks: Eels 35, Titans 32
Offloads: Eels 14, Titans 6
Tackles: Eels 277, Titans 312
Errors: Eels 9, Titans 13
Penalties conceded: Eels 8, Titans 6
I love a bounceback game after a poor performance, and both Will Penisini and Bryce Cartwright delivered big returns to form after drawing the F stamp from the grades last week. Willy P was great, but I’m giving MVP to the Carty Party in this one. You da MVP, Carty.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
It was a forgettable first half for Clint Gutherson, but the King made up for it in the second, punctuated by a highlight reel putdown on a crucial try. Gutho threw more passes than either Asi or Moses, playing a crucial role in an attack that didn’t always shine, but did enough to get the job done.
Maika Sivo
2 – Left Wing
More of the same from Sivo, some ineffective running and ill-disciplined play, this time resulting in a sin binning and a lengthy suspension. When he’s not scoring tries, there’s not much to like about his play.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
Will Penisini was hitting with some real venom out there. While the numbers suggest he missed some tackles, I can live with that when the ones that stuck did so with such authority. His running was hard, he was on the spot for the first try, and he’s made me forget all about last week.
Bailey Simonsson
4 – Left Centre
Butterfingers Bailey dropped a couple of attacking balls, but he still did some hard work in the carry game, even if he did seem to be getting smashed on his runs a little more than usual.
Sean Russell
5 – Right Wing
Solid performance from Sean Russell, whose highlight moment was undoubtedly a huge charge that won a set restart and eventually led to Clint Gutherson’s try. It was an inspired run in a game where the Eels’ backs were manhandled on their rucking runs more often than not. More of that please.
Daejarn Asi
6 – Five Eighth
A quiet game for Asi, who I hope is more fired up next week for his revenge game than he was here.
Mitchell Moses
7 – Halfback
Some great kicking from Moses, both in general play and from the tee, though I most enjoyed the strength of his defence, particularly shutting down David Fifita. His running game was strong, and for a match where he didn’t post a lot of attacking numbers in terms of assists, he was still involved in everything.
RCG
8 – Front Row
He was strong, but ultimately he’s found himself getting suspended for a month for no good reason at all. That can drag down any performance, even one with a bullocking try and some very tough carries.
Brendan Hands
15 – Hooker
Busy defensively and successful with the crash ball, but Brendan Hands is starting to show signs of fatigue. Hopefully the rumours that the Eels are chasing help at number nine turn into some support for the rookie rake.
Junior Paulo
14 – Front Row
Another class performance from Junior, who found his offloading form but didn’t let it get in the way of making the hard yards.
Bryce Cartwright
12 – Second Row
That try was a right mess, the kind of thing you’d call back in schoolyard footy under the “crap try” rule. Still it was well deserved, as Bryce Cartwright bought the hurt with his defence, something I never thought I’d say, while running hard and adding those sparks of attacking brilliance we’ve come to love.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
The timing wasn’t quite there for Shaun Lane, who ran into a lot of half-gaps but couldn’t either fight his way through or get away those classic Lane offloads. He’s just coming back and his partner in crime is still in the naughty corner, so I’ll cut him some slack.
J’maine Hopgood
13 – Lock
Good metres and no missed tackles for Hopgood, but also not a lot of spark.
Andrew Davey
16 – Interchange
Another that didn’t get a long stint, but at least Davey had a few moments that made me go “yeah, that was pretty nice”.
Luca Moretti
14 – Interchange
I’ll give Brad Arthur a pass here for two sin bins throwing out his bench rotations, but it wasn’t a good look for BA to drop Makatoa and Ogden to go with a more mobile bench, then immediately not use one of them.
Joe Ofahengaue
15 – Interchange
Not a lot of time for Ofahengaue, who is still yet to do much to suggest he will be the kind of key mid-season signing we have been crying out for.
Ryan Matterson
17 – Interchange
Every run from Ryan Matterson looked tough, he put the offload away and just decided to charge his way through the Titans defence. As a result he led the team in post-contact metres and averaged over 11 metres per run. Strong.
There is a lot to talk about here for those that want to, refereeing decisions, inconsistency, suspensions, forward passes, but I haven’t got it in me this week. The suspensions, the creeping dread of how tough the run to the finals will be and how good some of our fellow contenders are playing, it is wearing on me. There is a very tough game coming up this weekend and we’ll be doing it without our form prop and with a replacement winger selected from a group that includes a guy who can’t defend (Lumelume), a guy who can’t catch (Waqa) and a guy who can’t run (Dunster). I’m worried.
Then again, I’ve also spent most of the last week in fever dreams you’d normally have to drive to Nimbin to experience. The Eels have a tough draw home and the adversity is stacking up against them, but they are alive. To dial up the cliches, let’s take this all one week at a time and try and enjoy the ride.
Until next time, stay slippery Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
Yep, the choice for replacement winger is sparse, if picked on form then Arthur Miller-Stephen is playing head and shoulders above every other back in KOE Cup. Some clubs would take the chance and use someone like him for a game or two, not sure that’s in the playbook for the Eels ( referencing Tyrone Monroe at Souths) . Watching Dunster , Waqa on Sunday inspired little or no confidence, Lumelume was out injured but we are aware of his limitations.
Replacing RCG is never like for like, but there are players that will do the job as they have done previously when either prop has been out, unfortunately frequently this season. Luca Moretti and his foot speed should be useful off the bench in Nth QLD.
Tough run to the end of the season, paying the price for an awful draw dreamed up by the NRL and an indifferent start losing early games by kicks and a few points.
Good points BZ. I was hoping Waqa was going well enuff 4 one more chance because he has genuine speed. I know lumelume made defensive errors but he’s a powerhouse returning the ball and he’s fast. I almost like rcg getting a forced break , he always comes back from a lay off with near match fitness and in the meantime we get to continue getting footy into the legs of the back ups. With all the fwds fit by finals then we have almost the best depth in the comp. I know we beat cows in last year’s finals but I will be pleasantly surprised if we roll them this weekend.
Sivo getting suspended might be a blessing in disguise he has been pretty average whoever comes in might add something out of our end I personally think waqa might be the only option left.
Hands may be fatiguing I think Hands is a bit too one more game for him then Dylan returns Asi will has done enough to get a bench spot.
Gee, what wonderful options!! Sivo for mine plays little roles beyond running on the sideline with the hope of snagging a try and rouse up the crowd, his first year was and still is his best, but after relentless neck hold downs, what really does he offer for a team role? He has fallen back since the club resigned him, rather than resigning him.
I doubt Waga will be much help overall, for me at least I would be looking to see some of the under 19’s given a run for their money, watching the under 19’s up north showed some young quality players and a couple of eels that could be eased into the NRL side.
I would also suggest the Dunster has lost much of his confidence following the year long injury of last year.
sivo has become very good at defusing bombs with lots of traffic around
Asi is a ron massey cup player
Joe O looks like he is going through the motions. Rather Ogden and Maka who at least try.
Townsend isnt the strongest kicker so may be time to give Waqa another go. At least he is fast.
You are right Ogden and Maka deserve first choice, but I think Joe would be really boosted if he gets a chance to start. His confidence was low when leaving Wests but I believe he could be just what we are looking for. Face after watching the improvement in Carty there is no reason why Joe O cannot go to another level.
Agree with your comments on Joe. So far he has not set the world on fire but I think people need to learn to have faith in BA and the coaching team.
Tks Gol. Hands and Hopgood made near 90 tackles between them, the other 7 forwards used made near 130. Probably blunted them a bit in other aspects.
Asi looked too quiet , like the plays were to all go through MM, hopefully he comes out firing in next game, MM needed a point of difference, Asi just didn’t get the ball needed.
Asi was always a stop gap and no one expected him to get this much time on the field. I feel he may have hit his peak output already, we may suffer badly for this and Browns stupidity this week
Yes I think that we as supporters are in denial with Asi, he is just a back up level and I do not feel the Cowboys will be intimidated by him, he really worries me if Drinkwater cuts back through from behind the ruck.
To put it simply, we must win next week or we are out of the finals. Realistically we need to win 80-90% of the remaining games to have a chance at this year’s premiership, and that can’t really be done from 8th spot. We will rue a few missed chances from earlier this season, along with a dreadful draw.
Whoever takes Sivo’s spot needs to take this as an opportunity to cement a spot in the NRL team. Sivo hasn’t been himself lately and is by no means a certainty to retain his spot when he comes back.
The top 8 cut off is likely to be 32. It may even be 30. We need to win 3 from 6. On current form, I can’t see us beating the Cowboys.
we have a bye in the last round, we the only team to have one and that will make playing in the gf much easier from outside the 8
What is with the Titans. They seem to be playing something out of South’s copybook on the edges. Their wingers are fast but, frankly the Titans are not that good. Thinking about RCG and when you re-watch that incident RCG appears to trip (his left leg) which seems to have contributed to his fall. Just the same falling down with arms out could have prevented it. I believe it was careless rather than reckless or even deliberate. I think he should plead guilty and ask for a downgrade. They should show the MRC a video of Campbell’s slide into Russell.
Russell showed some pace coming across and nearly caught Sammi. Tough game toughed out. The referee, I have watched him a few times and he has a hair trigger with the sin bin. Not worried about the backup forward but Sivo’s replacement is a problem that could hurt. Is there any reliable replacement?
Parra are still well in the hunt for the semifinals but, I cannot see them making top four. On our day – with the right team playing to their best we win it from eighth spot.
I thought we had ‘Bad Bailey’ back with the knock-on, and the dropped ball with the try-line open … thankfully he finished with redemption on that excellent kick-chase play by Moses to set up the win.
Also thought Cartrwight’s try was not necessariliy crap – just smart football. I didn’t see any obstruction there, all I saw were Gold Coast players on the ground trying to interfere with the ball player, crying foul when their attempted spoiling hoisted them on their own pitard.
Agree that we’ll all be clenching our couches with our proverbial holes for the rest of the season with the tension of the suspenions and our tough run home.
agree with comments on sivo he looks like he hits a wall whenever he goes near the defence
I approve your delayed posting of the grades due to hallucinogenic episodes whilst under, what I must say, is a very strange fever.
That game was a game that only Parra could produce and push their fans to an already breaking brink. But dopey Parra winning in the end is a refreshing change
That game was a game that only Parra could produce and push their fans to an already breaking brink. But dopey Parra winning in the end is a refreshing change