Let me begin with a warning.
Those Blue and Gold glasses of mine remain firmly in place. Nothing has changed in the NRL or the refereeing ranks so there’s no need for me to let up on my biased support.
And when it comes to the Eels, two players stood out last week. The determination displayed by Moses and Gutho against the Cowboys was exceptional. It could also be argued that such determination was somewhat lacking from a few of the others, and therefore anyone doing what should be done really had a light shone upon them.
Mitch Moses
I can only imagine the difficulty of having low confidence or playing a bit banged up, but the Eels cannot afford anything less than 100% effort as they try to navigate through the remaining weeks in the season. This is especially true as the challenges of this year are showing no signs of abating.
Perhaps it’s time for BA to reconsider the Eels clean ruck philosophy?
With the season hitting the pointy end, teams are prepared to test the referees. And why wouldn’t they? No referee is going to keep blowing the whistle.
Case in point – the speed of the defence line of the Titans and the Cowboys over the two most recent rounds.
Their goal is to stop the wide passes from Gutho and Moses.
Let’s just pretend the players are on side and not leaving early. I’ll give you a moment to stop laughing.
Gutho discussing rules
It’s looking like a trend and should have been picked up in the match review by the coaching staff. The tactic has enjoyed success and the Eels will need to find a way to counter it. Another reminder – the defence has been adjudged to be on side and not leaving early.
If the Eels are going to continue their clean ruck philosophy, whilst opponents push the boundaries of the referees’ interpretations, then it won’t end well. Not unless Parra starts looking at other options such as kicking behind the fast moving defence line.
And there is no greater exponent of stretching the rules than this week’s opponent – the Storm. At the start of the season, Ashley Klein gave the green light to their continual interference in the ruck.
The Eels must gain some level of ruck control in Melbourne. Because not only are the Storm experts in slowing up opponents, they have started to accelerate their own play the ball speeds, dropping it to as low as 2.98 seconds.
It’s not the only danger posed by the Storm. Melbourne will explore Parra’s vulnerable left side, and for the Eels shutting down the likes of Grant, Munster and Hughes could be the greatest challenge.
I remain confident that the Eels will have the appropriate plans in place.
And if you’re looking for me in the stands, I’ll be the one wearing my appropriately coloured spectacles.
Shelley
Or, perhaps we should concentrate on winning the physical contest, because you know we are allegedly a power football team.
That’s interesting. The Storm will be missing 3 of their most physical players, including the giant. Good opportunity to lift the energy, but somehow we’ve just got to get into a groove of building/maintaining pressure without errors/penalties sucking the life out of our momentum.
It’s a must win for me; otherwise I can’t see us making top 4; and the 8 could be in jeopardy. Easts won’t be easybeats in a few wks
We can’t look art any game as easy eats – even the Dragons.Time for cliches – treat every team with respect. Play it one game at a time
Parra need to be in the NRL’s ear every week about the poor treatment they are getting on the field. We should be pointing out the unfair tactics from opposition and keep pointing this out until it is rectified. Yes the refs may then have it in for us, but seriously that can’t be any worse than it currently is. It’s certainly worth a try.