NRL Team List
Round 24, 8:00PM Friday 11th August, The Gabba
The Eels kept their season alive with a come-from-behind victory against the Dragons last week but they will get run off the sprawling spread of the Gabba if they put in a repeat performance this week. Parramatta’s clumsy efforts against the Dragons will not achieve anywhere near the same results against the premiership heavyweight that is the Brisbane Broncos.
Brad Arthur continues to tinker with his left edge in the absences of Shaun Lane and Maika Sivo. Out this week is the rookie Arthur Miller-Stephen. Ryan Matterson goes back to his specialist bench role. In comes Andrew Davey to play in the backrow, Daejarn Asi to play centre with Bailey Simonsson pushing out to the left wing. It isn’t exactly an elegant reshuffle and while I understand concerns about the potential matchup between Miller-Stephen and Selwyn Cobbo but Daejarn had his own struggles in defence at five-eighth and is now parachuted into the most technical defensive position in the backline.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t, evidently.
Brendan Hands is back after a very brief stint in the NSW Cup where he played a sparking cameo in the halves. He replaces Makahesi Makatoa on the bench and will once again handle the utility responsibilities. Otherwise all the changes and improvements will have to come from within the team that was very nearly upset by St George.
Naturally, Brisbane welcome back a cadre of core players just in time for this week’s clash. Adam Reynolds makes his return from a groin injury while valuable interchange forward Kobe Hetherington overcomes a corked back.
Realistically the Eels will need to win next week against the Roosters and find a way to at least split a game between the Broncos and Panthers over the next 3 weeks. If they can regain their mojo, if they can rise to the occasion, if they can remember how good we know they can be and get the win on Friday it would relieve a world of pressure on themselves. Brisbane will be primed for this one though. They are locked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Panthers in the race for the minor premiership and are looking to maintain a crest of momentum heading into the finals.
It makes Friday’s result very likely a season defining moment. Find a way to win and you get the chance to ignite your own surge to the postseason. You get Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Maika Sivo back and suddenly start to look at just how high inside the Top 8 you can climb. A loss though. Well you deal with that later but it leaves you in a grim, grim situation.
| Parramatta Eels | Brisbane Broncos | |
| Clinton Gutherson | 1 | Reece Walsh |
| Bailey Simonsson | 2 | Deine Mariner |
| Will Penisini | 3 | Kotoni Staggs |
| Daejarn Asi | 4 | Herbie Farnworth |
| Sean Russell | 5 | Selwyn Cobbo |
| Dylan Brown | 6 | Ezra Mam |
| Mitchell Moses | 7 | Adam Reynolds |
| Joe Ofagenhaue | 8 | Thomas Flegler |
| Joey Lussick | 9 | Billy Walters |
| Junior Paulo | 10 | Payne Haas |
| Andrew Davey | 11 | Kurt Capewell |
| Bryce Cartwright | 12 | Jordan Riki |
| J’maine Hopgood | 13 | Patrick Carrigan |
| Interchange | ||
| Luca Moretti | 14 | Tyson Smoothy |
| Ryan Matterson | 15 | Brendan Piukura |
| Wiremu Greig | 16 | Kobe Hetherington |
| Brendan Hands | 17 | Keenan Palasia |
| Reserves | ||
| Makahesi Makatoa | 18 | Corey Jensen |
| Waqa Blake | 19 | Xavier Willison |
| Ofahiki Ogden | 20 | Tristan Sailor |
| Ky Rodwell | 21 | Jock Madden |
| Jack Murchie | 22 | Jordan Pereira |
NRLW Team List
Round 4, 3:10PM Saturday 12th August, Totally Workwear Stadium
First up, I respect the fierce optimism in naming Kennedy Cherrington to play this week. Unfortunately I think her season may very well be finished given that I expect the judiciary to come crashing down on a dangerous throw charge levelled against her in Round 3. As I mentioned in our instant reaction podcast, I certainly hope there is scalability in the charges and suspensions in the NRLW since the NRL is templated for a 27 round competition and any time off is balanced for that.
Obviously the Eels will need to replace her should she be given any amount of time off. I imagine Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis would be recalled with one of her or Madeline Jones pushing into the starting side and Talesha O’Neill taking over at lock forward.
The good news is that Rachael Pearson and Elsie Albert are finally named in the starting side. The Eels will need every ounce of experience and skill they have this week as they cross the Northern borders to take over the Broncos. Brisbane were ruthless in their dominant 40-12 win over the Cowboys last week with fearsome recruit Mele Hufanga running riot with a 4-try day.
In spite of the scoreboard, I did see legitimate signs of improvement in Parramatta’s effort against the Knights in Round 3. Still, they will need plenty more of it if they are to challenge Brisbane on the weekend.
| Parramatta Eels | Brisbane Broncos | |
| Abbi Church | 1 | Hayley Maddick |
| Zali Fay | 2 | Lauren Dam |
| Kimberley Hunt | 3 | Mele Hufanga |
| Cassey Tohi-Hiku | 4 | Shenae Ciesiolka |
| Monique Donovan | 5 | Ashleigh Werner |
| Pihuka Berryman-Duff | 6 | Gayle Broughton |
| Rachael Pearson | 7 | Ali Brigginshaw |
| Talesha O’Neill | 8 | Breanna Eales |
| Rueben Cherrington | 9 | Lavinia Gould |
| Elsie Albert | 10 | Brianna Clark |
| Amelia Mafi | 11 | Tazmin Gray |
| Mahalia Murphy | 12 | Romy Teitzel |
| Kennedy Cherrington | 13 | Mariah Denman |
| Interchange | ||
| Capri Paekau | 14 | Jada Ferguson |
| Madeline Jones | 15 | Filomina Hanisi |
| Shannon Muru | 16 | Chelsea Lenarduzzi |
| Kyra Simon | 17 | Jasmine Fogavini |
| Reserves | ||
| Tyla Amiatu | 18 | Toni Hunt |
| Taneka Todhunter | 19 | Grace Griffin |
| Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis | 20 | Keisha-Leigh Coolwell |
| Chloe Jackson | 21 | |
| Lindsay Tui | 22 |
NRLW Team List
BYE
Jersey Flegg Team List
BYE
With a strong broncos forward pack, I think our bench needs to be a bit more heavier. Especially knowing Greig only got 8 mins the previous game he is just getting his match fitness back.
Cant cover everywhere and hands covers 9,6,7, lussic can also cover forwards if hands comes on . Best we’ve got thanks to R & R .
Whats Dunster’s latest injury. Or are they just doing strength and conditioning with him for the rest of the year since he is clearly struggling since the injury.
From memory, Dunster was learning his spot on the wing and had replaced Sivo at the time during the early emergency for Dunster when called up to play, his game was good enough at the time, he had picked his game up following on, and showed enough to be a winger, and was not out of place there at the time.
He got a season ending injury last year that took him down and getting over the serious injury. This year has been something of a mixed bag, but he took time to be pretty much nursed back for this year, and playing with the Flegg team as he built up for this year.
He is still under contract for next year and with another season under his belt, and the injuries being covered, he should show out his abilities as a winger, & I doubt he will let the team down once fit and once he’s injury free should see a different player all round.
Had the opportunity to speak to Haze. I prefer not to discuss what’s keeping him on the sideline, but he’s now training in the rehab group and hopeful of getting back for at least one match this year before getting into the preseason. He’s contracted to 2025.
ASI in the centres! Good God what has this team become. Grand finalists to this sad state of affairs in 12months.
We have lost go forward, you could almost have anyone in the backline with good go forward, they will find the white line.byt with no go forward, you’re asking a huge ask of your backs.
Gf one year to very likely bot the next…everyone improves noone stays the same…ex ept tigers and Dragons…but you know
Thanks to R & R and a non football leadership , its worse next year .
Just waiting for it all to be over this year. Don’t agree with any of the changes, but I’m not the coach. Go Parra ra ra!
What would you have done gil ?
I would rather Matterson in the centres. Doesn’t have great lateral movement, but compared to the defensive reads of Simmonsen through out the year, he can’t be worse.
The warriors game said to us don’t put matto on edges again
Still awaiting your solutions gil ??
Putting Simonsson back on the wing is a bad error in judgement. He has consistently proven he lacks the instinct to play there.
Replacing him at centre with a bloke that can’t tackle is even worse.
Your solution being ?
Mate Asi is at 86% tackle efficiency
Moses is at 83.1 per cent
Gutho is 79%
The kid can tackle,
I really can’t see us winning this one to be honest, and that will likely entrench us outside the 8. What a disappointment this season has been. The so-called experts had Parra just missing the 8 – looks like they were right, but not because of players we let go as they had argued. More because of poor form to key players, injury and self implosion. We expect better than this. Let’s hope it is a wakeup call for some major changes on and off the field next year.
Simonssen and Blake have a lot in common. Good with the ball unless they have to pass it and no idea where to position themselves defensively.
I expect Dylan Brown to defend in the centres like he did last week.
Staggs and Cobbo are a confused pair in defence too and enough running against them will bring the reward of tries.
Rule #1 No short dropouts – any of these will concede a try.
Rule #2 Moses needs to kick it anywhere but to Walsh, even if he is at the Caxton he can score from a kick.
Geez! Not a good look is it.
Still this is what you get when you assemble a 30 man roster with one centre three quarter. We already knew Simonssen wasn’t the answer (i think he did ok at centre when injury struck once last year. But that is it and teams worked him out). We all knew Blake was done, and yet we let Opacic go and didn’t replace him. Nothing. Just a tonne of wingers of varying degrees of mediocrity (all be it some with potential).
I feel sorry for the young Miller-Stephen kid. Hosed by Arthur last week when he was the scape goat for Simmonsen. Bu the potential for Reynolds to have a field day with Staggs and Cobbo and Walsh on that side of the field, probably isn’t worth crushing his confidence for.
You live in hope, but it is hard to hold one’s breath for anything positive here.