Round 2 wasn’t much kinder on the Eels than their season opener unfortunately. Their trip to Wollongong saw the Dragons breathe fire as they scorched Parramatta 8 tries to 3 enroute to a 38-12 victory. Oddly, the defensive line was perhaps less brittle when compared to the efforts against the Wests Tigers last week but the outstanding vision and kicking game of Raecene McGregor picked apart the flanks of the Eels with surgical precision. It was always going to be a tough road trip for Parramatta given they were again without Rachael Pearson and Elsie Albert but as with last week some of the best footy from the Blue & Gold came from the young talents getting a start with Rosemarie Beckett showing a real spark on debut.
The loss leaves Parramatta on the bottom of the ladder where they are surprisingly joined by the Brisbane Broncos following their stunning golden point loss to the Gold Coast Titans. The outlook isn’t exactly great for our girls given that Pearson and Albert are expected to be back by Round 4 at best but let’s see what else this game taught us about our 2023 NRLW team.
Widders Shakes Up The Starting Side
The Eels didn’t exactly line up as their Tuesday team sheet indicated with Dean Widders making sweeping changes to the starting squad. Cassey Tohi-Hiku shifted from wing to centre, allowing Monique Donovan to start on the right sideline. Shontelle Stowers then pushed from centre to backrow with Talesha O’Neill taking over at prop and sending Madeline Jones to the bench.
Tohi-Hiku and O’Neill made the most of the realignment with fairly productive outings and even with the score line, perhaps there was an argument that the front line of defence looked sounder when compared to how the Tigers ripped it apart. Obviously it wasn’t the catalyst for a team wide turnaround but it helped feature a couple of more players and could shape tomorrow’s team sheet for Round 3.
Admiral Beckett Takes The Helm
While the game itself probably went as well as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End did for the character Cutler Beckett, Rosemarie Beckett went down with ship on Saturday with genuine aplomb. The rookie halfback helmed the team magnificently in attack with a sharp kicking game that netted both a 40/30 and a try assist as well as great leadup work in another try down the right edge.
She had to take her lumps in defence with the Dragons targeting and isolating her on several occasions. They forced her to complete a whopping 23 tackles with the rookie missing 6 tackles but that is absolutely part of the growing pains of first grade rugby league.
With Rachael Pearson not expected to be back until Round 4 at earliest, the Eels will likely be turning to Beckett again in their match against the Newcastle Knights. I am excited to see how much she can grow with the experience of these early NRLW rounds and whether she can force her way into the team on the back of it when Pearson is fit.
Forwards Need To Find Their Footing
Clearly the team needs to improve on multiple fronts after bleeding 30+ points against both the Tigers and Dragons but right now the numbers point to an alarmingly ineffective ruck. Talesha O’Neill (15 runs, 128m) and Kennedy Cherrington (17 runs, 127m) tried their damnedest but were stifled by an aggressive St George defensive line. Outside of the two Eels listed above, no forward has come reasonably close to breaching the 100m mark across the first two rounds with both the Tigers and Dragons establishing the advantage through the middle of the field.
Elsie Albert is a big loss here but the Eels desperately need someone to pick up the slack in the mean time. Players like Amelia Mafi and Madeline Jones need to make sure they stay involved in the contest because just two runs a piece in their lengthy stints on the field isn’t good enough.
A Grim Outlook
While I will be there cheering for our team each and every week I also have to acknowledge that our Eels look to be behind the curve right now. The level of competition across the NRLW through the first couple of weeks has been fierce. In that period Parramatta has been torched by an expansion franchise and what was deemed to be one of the weaker established rosters in 2023. Even considering the absences of Pearson and Albert, the Eels have been overwhelmed through different phases of the game.
They are going to have to dig absurdly deep to turn things around. Passive defence needs to somehow be kindled into an aggressive, fiery unit while energy and involvement rates in attack need to be ratcheted up to ’11’. They do have the benefit of an extended regular season to make improvements and adjustments but starting 0-2 on the season means they are already stretched to keep touch with the Top 4 given their points differential.
Jagging a win against the reigning premiers in Round 3 is practically a must now. Can the Eels avenge the grand final loss to the Knights? Right now you would be hard pressed to say anything in the affirmative but rugby league is a funny game and the motivation levels should be peaked this week.
