Sometimes the football gods really don’t want you to win. That is the real takeaway from Saturday where the Parramatta Eels fought magnificently in the sunshine state only to suffer a 22-12 loss to the Broncos. While some costly errors in possession gifted Brisbane premium attacking opportunities, there was no doubting the character, the grit and the fight of our girls in Round 4. They battled through the heart-breaking injury to Elsie Albert and grit their teeth through some rough calls in the second half to have victory within grasp only for Brisbane to hold on at the last.
A Glimpse Of The Elsie Factor
Calf injuries are truly cursed. After missing the opening 3 weeks of competition to a calf strain, Elsie Albert suited up for the Eels in Round 4 carrying the weight of leadership and expectation of the entire pack in the absence of Kennedy Cherrington. She didn’t disappoint in her brief Eels debut as she spearheaded a brilliant passage of play for the Blue & Gold on the back a dominant spell through the middle.
Albert crunched out 71m from just 6 carries in 25min and picked up a pair of tackle busts in the process. The authority of her carries brought Mahalia Murphy and Tyla Amiatu into the game and had Brisbane legitimately reeling.
And just like that it was over. Elsie went down in her in-goals in the 26th minute and was immediately in obvious pain. We are still waiting for official confirmation on the nature of the injury but a reaggravation of the prior calf injury seems probable. Given the location of the injury, an Achilles related problem could also be in play. Either way she was in distress and needed plenty of assistance to get off the field.
It was impossible not to be gutted for her. She had been dynamic for the brief window we got to see her play and her impact on the team was significant. Now all we can do is hope the injury isn’t as severe as it seemed initially and wish her the best in her recovery.
Rueben Rakes In First Try
Rueben Cherrington has all the fire and drive of her older sister Kennedy. What she didn’t have though was a NRLW try to her name. That changed on Saturday when she scored Parramatta’s opening try with a sharp burst out of dummy half. It was a quintessential hookers try and a deserved reward for a young rake that has been toiling away relentlessly over the previous 3 games.
Cherrington had her worst defensive showing of the season by some margin but still rattled off 37 tackles. It is never a question of effort. There is still plenty of polish to apply to her game but she is just 20 years of age and only beginning to tap into her potential.
Eels Show They Have The Hunger
They might have racked up their 4th loss of the season but this was an important game for the Eels. In their loss to the Broncos they finally showed they have the aggression, the commitment and the hunger to tango with anyone in the NRLW. They were aggressive in defence, desperate to defend their goal line and sought some heavy contact with the ball in hand. Even with the disparity in possession, they were able to ask serious questions of the home team purely because they were direct and physical.
The question now is, can they reproduce this consistently? If it was a one-off then the Eels will struggle for the remainder of the season. However, if this is a new standard for our girls then they can challenge anyone in the competition. We will find out quickly in Round 5 whether they can back up in a similar manner against a quality Canberra outfit.
Tyla, the Creator
Full disclosure, I have never listened to a Tyler, the Creater song ever. I have however watched Tyla Amiatu have a heck of a breakout game. Like Rueben, Tyla is at the tender age of 20 and a relative baby to NRL/NRLW standards. She looked every bit the seasoned veteran on the weekend with a cracking performance off the interchange bench. Amiatu powered through 112m from 9 carries for an electric 12.44m per run as she formed a fearsome battery with Elsie Albert.
Amiatu was light on her feet and challenged the Broncos with silky footwork through the ruck that was backed up by fierce leg drive. Both are calling cards of dangerous props – especially if they have a lead booked end setting them up with a quality opening charge. Albert did just that for Amiatu in Round 4 but without both Elise and Kennedy do the Eels have anyone left to ran in tandem with Tyla? The young bookend will likely have to fend for herself but that could be the making of her game.
Moving Forwards
No Kennedy Cherrington. No Elsie Albert. Bad luck has come in spades for Parramatta early in the 2023 NRLW. They face an uphill battle to make the finals and realistically won’t be in the mix. There is so much left to fight for though with young talents that have plenty of overhead to grow. They showed spunk and real fight against the Broncos in Round 4 and even with the gut-wrenching loss the emotion at the end the surged through me was pride.
Now they need to pick themselves up and lock in for Round 5. Keeping tinkering. Keep polishing. Cut down on the errors coming off their own goal line. Give Rachael Pearson another week to helm the team and hone her leadership. They will head to Canberra as outsiders but can do some serious damage if they bring the same energy next week.
Lots of positivity here and as an Eels tragic, I’ve never missed a watching a game.
The girls are all effort but in all honesty they are absolutely miles off the pace.
They played out if thier skins against the Broncos but still dropped the ball on the first tackle about 6 times and missed a heap of tackles.
It’s not their fault as the effort was certainly there but there is a distinct lack of talent in the squad and that’s the truth. Abbi Church, who is a centre is playing out of her skin at fullback but the rest are playing to about their ceiling.
It appears that the club has gone out and tried to recruit players who are at a standard and are trying the ‘moneyball’ principle, trying to turn lead into gold at the cheapest possible cost- sound familiar?
After all contracts were ruled invalid, the new teams picked the eyes out of our GF team, a team populated by girls who were just happy to be playing in a professional competition. Once it came down to decent money and contracts we were left in the dust.
It is a shame that Elsie has gone down with an injury as she is world class. Rachel Pearson is a solid player.
The Eels are probably sitting where the talent is and that’s dead last. We will win some games here and there but until we fund the team with girls who are at the standard we are probably going nowhere, which is a shame.
There are some genuine players of the future in the team. Zali Fay and Cassie Tohi Hiku will be long term NRLW players and I like what saw of Amiatu. But we did let other clubs get the jump on us in the player market. Sounds familiar
Yes, Zali and Cassie, whist young have potential.
Sounds pretty similar to the manner in which the club has gone about recruiting NRL in the past 3/4 years, a big club in most measures that doesn’t translate to elite player signings.
yes, it appears that its common thread at the club.
Played ok but lets be honest we should have won. Brisbane we’re down to 11 for say 10 min n we just couldn’t get across the line. Onto next week
I dont blame the players or the coaches.
It’s Negligent recruitment across the club. The girls played well.
We have the worst defence in W, Cup competitions. We are drastically sliding down the Defence ladder in 1st grade too.
Last year 1st grade Broncos faded out of the season. They were absolutely flogged in the off season. They were all throwing up after almost every session. They bought Reece and now look at their season.
Our team needs to be murdered on the training paddock and if it’s too hard for some those are the ones to go!!