What should the reaction be after a team has just emerged victorious in an epic battle against a traditional foe?
Surely the basic “how good was that?” would be a reasonable starting point.
Not when it comes to our beloved Eels.
From certain quarters in the media, the talk in the past week was all about how the Sea Eagles were robbed of victory by a “controversial” obstruction rule.
Let’s not worry about how their player clearly stopped in the defence line.
Let’s also ignore the absurd forward pass thrown by Turbo after Moses got his body between Tommy and his support runner. Unless the Manly star was able to engage Moses and execute an around the corner offload, or loft the ball over Moses’ head, it was impossible for him to throw anything but a forward pass.
We should also ignore the blatant knock on from DCE and the missed obstruction in the lead up to Manly’s try just before half time.
It’s probably too much to expect certain quarters of the media to acknowledge the quality of the game and the merit of the Eels victory. After all, it hardly suits the predetermined media narrative of a coach standing at the precipice of his tenure at the Eels.
Truthfully, it would’ve been stunning to see headlines about how well the Eels rallied after having just two possessions for one completion in the first thirteen minutes, with all indicators suggesting that a massacre was on the cards.
Parra celebrates against Manly
What truly disappoints is that the response from too many Eels fans also remained on the negative.
Don’t get the wrong impression. It’s head in the sand stuff to suggest that there isn’t an issue with the Eels left side defence.
However, there were far more positives than negatives from Sunday’s cracker of a contest so at the least there should be some balance in opinions, especially after victory over a side that is being tipped for a top four finish.
In retrospect, there also should have been more praise for the loss against the Panthers. The Eels had nothing fall their way in that game and still made the contest uncomfortable for the premiers. It was far more than the Roosters achieved against a Penrith side without their key man, Nathan Cleary.
Just back on that left side defence, are the deficiencies the result of a defensive system error, or are players falling out of the system or simply missing their tackles?
If we examine the Eels right side, Penrith and Manly didn’t enjoy the same success there. Yet, it’s the same defensive system applied to that side.
Furthermore, there is very little difference between the systems employed by all teams. The compressed sliding defence features right across the NRL. And what do we see every week in virtually every game? The attack stripping the defence for numbers out wide and wingers scoring easy stroll-over tries to go alongside their more memorable acrobatic efforts.
Where teams differ is in the execution. If there was something extraordinarily different and successful that a team was employing, then every defensive coach and every team would be plagiarising it – just as they have the slide defence.
A common thread in criticisms about the Eels left side is that the coaches are doing nothing to rectify the problem. Having witnessed the work that goes into defence at training, it’s frustrating to read such opinions.
Perhaps certain players need to be handed a NSW Cup jersey?
The proviso to that question is whether any alternative selection is a better prospect. And it cannot be answered by fans who only watch the occasional coverage of NSW Cup games.
As for last Sunday, if the Eels defence was completely clueless, why were there not more tries scored out wide?
Don’t suggest that Manly didn’t try to go back to Parra’s left, because they did.
Talagi celebrates his first NRL try
Also remember that the Eels left side personnel consisted of an 18 year old on debut and a new recruit who was unfamiliar with the role of winger. (Roster depth being an entirely different topic).
So, despite being far from secure on the left side, maybe, just maybe, there should be some credit for the defensive adjustments that were made and for the focus and resilience of the team.
Moving away from those defence specifics, was there any consideration given to the superiority of the Eels performance over the Sea Eagles?
The stats included a ten percent better completion rate (82% vs 72%), 16 offloads compared to Manly’s 5, a better tackle efficiency (88% vs 83%), far fewer ineffective tackles (6 vs 25), and fewer errors (9 vs 13).
And though it’s very early in the season, there are some statistical trends to match the eye test that the Eels are playing a more focussed brand of football.
Coming into this round, the Eels were ranking fourth best in the NRL for average missed tackles (28) and 3rd best for errors (9). The error stat is very positive considering the Eels currently sit second for offloads (14.7).
The Eels now face a very challenging couple of months without Mitch Moses.
Mitch Moses gets his pass away against Manly
Of course, they are far from the only NRL team that’s enduring an injury crisis. It’s part and parcel of participating in the weekly grind of an unforgiving physical contact sport.
However, after the injury and suspension hurdles of last year, the last thing that was needed in 2024 was the potential 2-3 month absence of the Eels key playmaker. It’s even more infuriating that it comes on top of the absences of Simonsson and Sivo, in addition to the potential loss of Cartwright.
And a reminder, that’s the toll after three rounds.
Should the Eels successfully navigate the next two months, I hope that even the most critical supporters can embrace the efforts of the team and the coaches.
It won’t be easy, and the likelihood is that more injuries will be on the horizon.
The players won’t be thinking about why they can’t do it. They’ll focus on the positive.
There’s a message in that for all of us.
Farewell Rod “Rowdy” Marshall
I was contacted this week by Jenny Marshall, wife of Rod, to advise of his passing last Saturday.
Rowdy was a massive supporter of the Eels and had been a past sponsor of the club as well as a sponsor of The Cumberland Throw.
His passion for the Eels was deep and would see him attend Junior Rep matches, lower grade fixtures, in addition to NRL clashes.
We extend our sympathies to Jenny and the family, in addition to all Rod’s friends and loved ones. He’ll be greatly missed.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Good and balanced post 60’s. Even at 14 points behind I never had any worry that Parra could come back if they could just secure some possession. Not sure why I had that mindset but maybe their performance the previous week against the Panthers might have contributed. Anyhow, believe we’ll beat Panthers the next time we play them if have full team available – and that is something no other team can say.
Cheers Glenn. I have that same faith when we play Penrith.
You can never underestimate the media, the Roosters got stripped continuously down their left edge with Turuva scoring 3 tries, not a sound.That goes for a number of posters in the Eels universe, no acknowledgment that it’s a game wide phenomenon, and they only focus on the Eels and sometimes with venom.
Anyway, it’s a great opportunity on Monday to fit another young junior into an important
position, a small rebuff of the usual BA just goes for older payers. The realignment of the junior reps has only really been in place for 4/5 years and we are now seeing the first tranche of the juniors hitting senior grades.
Agreed mate. Look at the backline on Monday. Penisini, Brown, Russell and Talagi are all pathways products that BA debuted as teenagers. Then throw in Gutho who BA gave an opportunity to as a 21 year old with only 5 NRL appearances and unwanted by Manly, and Maika Sivo who was a rugby league novice yet to play first grade. It is absurd to suggest that BA doesn’t take a chance on young players.
The problem with the Eels is the inevitability of it. I would have no issue if we got worn down by set after set on our line, as what happened for the Panthers v the Roosters, but the issue that I, and many other Eels fans have going back any number of years is the resignation that if we turn the ball over within striking range of our tryline the other team IS going to score outside, and most likely within that first set. There is little faith that our left edge can hold out for any length of time. Now yes, the last two games have had mitigating circumstances, and yes BA was able to make an adjustment against Manly, but there is still this sinking feeling that it’s only a matter of time.
When I heard and saw the game analysis from Fox and the Tele (and you can throw in Triple M), it was so obvious their agendas were at play. I said “imagine the drooling if Manly were down 14-0 and came back and won.” Then the obstruction would have been an obvious obstruction, Gutho would have been torn apart from packing in a scrum 20 m out from his line, and the sacking of the coach would -again- be the lead story. All journos wrote so nicely about the outstanding qualities of the late journo Ian Heads. What stood out was that the outstanding qualities they wrote about were just about all lacking in themselves.
The agendas are ridiculous Graz. And yes, as supporters are biased. But the narrative for each of the games has been:
Round 1 – Bulldogs courage
Round 2 – Penrith’s class
Round 3 – Manly robbed
I find our own “supporters” more disappointing than the media ,the just cant enjoy or acknowledge a great win , just pick it apart and try and convince us all they know more about it than coaching staff and its ALWAYS the same people , such miserable types, heres a simple fact ,we send out 17 people to try and win the game and so do they and for one of us it doesn’t work out , its all easy from the lounge and in retrospect watching it back , anyway the same sad sacks will be back next week with their know all mentality , ho hum.
The best solution is to totally ignore these types. Don’t even refer to them. They are like a cat with a mouse, and once they have you trapped, they play with you. They are lost when they are ignored. Believe me.
That’s an interesting analogy because I do know it to be true for some.
As supporters we want wins, so when they come we should enjoy them. Furthermore, we also want our team to always compete to win, and whenever they battle with everything they have, we surely can’t ask for more.
Sixties my sympathies go out to Rowdies wife. I didn’t agree with all he said but always read his posts. He had great passion and a good sense of humour. Farewell Rowdy
I do agree with all that you said. I have said it before and it is still true that the Eels have no equity with the media. Michael Curryanus looking at you. If you want to see some good sports journalism from a professional, look at Kenty’s article this morning. There is a man who does his research and has a command of the Kings English.
On reflection of the Manly game and the Panthers loss I am filled with hope given the resilience of the team in both games.
In last weeks game Carty stayed on for most of the game after injuring his ribs in the first tackle. Mitch played the last 30 minutes knowing he had a broken foot. This is putting in for each other. If we can cobble together a near full squad at the pointy end of the season we will give this premiership a shake
How good has Blaize Talagi been. Absolutely loved the try against Turbo. No fear in that boy. You can see why BA loves him.
John, I agree mate – people don’t give Mitch Moses enough credit for his toughness. I know that BA does and that’s probably all that matters. And BA has found the toughness and resilience in Carty that none of us probably knew existed. As for Blaize, I reckon he won BA over during preseason when he charged fearlessly into contact time after time.
As usual a pin point report on our EELS, I too am frustrated with the media reporting and bias but in some ways it makes our wins just that little bit sweeter. GO EELS
Mike, no doubt the wins are sweeter when it’s against teams who get more credit.
Mike it keeps us under the radar. That is a positive. However the bookies are smarter.
There’s been some good resilience shown thus far this season, which is v pleasing. I also hope to see more of this during the season and more importantly now.
Moses is a huge loss as we know so the next two months will be tough but also could be rewarding at the back end of the year and also for the future.
Every team has injuries. Look at Melbourne. They’ve been without their key player in Munster for 4 rounds and also their half-back and a couple of key forwards.
They also completed extremely well without both halves against Newcastle.
We will see how we go with Talagi and Brown. In reality we should always have a back up recognised 7 ready to go as penrith have done over the past 4 seasons.
And also Melbourne are in the top 4 even though they’re halves have been out. And the panthers beat one of the premiership favourites in the roosters without Cleary, the number 1 player in the competition
I’m sick of this constant complaining about why we can’t compete when we have key injuries
I’m fairly sure I’ve well and truly acknowledged that injuries occur across all teams Chief. And the news podcast was all about the injury plague across the NRL.
Yes but many fans will be blaming injuries for losses as they did last season. Whilst this is true, I can’t see us competing without a recognised half-back.
Whilst other teams still have good results, we have played poorly when moses Is out.
So glass half empty Chief? Or perhaps fully emptied?
Seems like Brad’s strategy of replacing a 7 with two five-eighths is a big failure.
We looked disorganised, non composed and our kicking game was way off.
Do we blame injuries or bad foresight.
Seems like Brad’s strategy of replacing a 7 with two five-eighths is a big failure.
We looked disorganised, non composed and our kicking game was way off.
Do we blame injuries or bad foresight.