Parramatta Eels 18
Manly Sea Eagles 32
The first half was a great response to the public call out, scrappy but big-hearted. The running was good in the second quarter and the worst thing that could have happened to the Eels was the halftime siren. Ethan Sanders had a strong debut, and I doubt it is coincidence that Dylan Brown had his best game of the year alongside a true organising half. For 60-odd of the 80 minutes, the Eels gave me hope.
Why can’t we just have a solid three-quarter line for once? Why must there always be some clown out there that drops the ball, or rushes in from their wing, or decides that the best way to spark a comeback is some old fashioned MMA ground and pound in the tackle? It must be nice having a team with four outside backs you can rely on to leave a clean set of sheets on the bed every morning.
I’ll save the Sivo baking for his grade, because there was plenty else bad about this performance. The Eels came out like somebody had leaked sleeping gas into the sheds at halftime, delivering 50% completions and absolutely not following the “get to your kicks” instruction from their coach. The result was the blowing of their good lead and with tired legs and playing the last 20 with 12 men, that was always going to be too much to ask.
I’m not sure what better sums up this game, the near 2:1 possession split to Manly in the second half, or the line break count going 6-0 to the Eels in the first half and 9-0 to Manly in the second. Maybe it was the 8-1 second half penalty count, including a couple of well earned home cooking calls for the home crowd. Not that this was the difference, but despite a solid effort, Parramatta needed to be a lot better than they were to claim the points here.
For the numbers inclined:
Run metres: Sea Eagles 1,584, Eels 1,461
Possession: Sea Eagles 54%, Eels 46%
Completions: Sea Eagles 33/42 (78%), Eels 24/33 (72%)
Offloads: Eels 16, Sea Eagles 9
Tackles: Eels 332, Sea Eagles 270
Missed tackles: Eels 30, Sea Eagles 39
Errors: Eels 8, Sea Eagles 9
Penalties conceded: Eels 10, Sea Eagles 6
A not insignificant part of this award is the completely unnecessary swan dive for the try, but Bailey Simonsson has been great these last few weeks. His work out of our own half was immense when Manly dialed up the pressure, and the difference between this stint of Bailey on the Eels wing and his debut a couple of years ago is as stark as the difference between how Eels fans felt about Maika Sivo three years ago and how they feel now. You da MVP, Bailey.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
Once again, everything good in Blue and Gold runs through the King. Gutho was rock solid under the high ball and some intense Manly kick chase determined to force the Eels onto the back foot early in the set. His efforts down the left created what might be the last three tries Maika Sivo scores in Parramatta colours, and the only criticism of him I can find is that he’s a lousy sideline goalkicker. Speaking of, the number of “if we’d converted all our tries things would be different” takes is a bit much, like Mitchell Moses (or any other NRL kicker) is 100% from the sidelines. Reuben Garrick icing every difficult kick didn’t help, but this time last year we were complaining about Mitch missing most of his tough attempts too. Goalkicking wasn’t the difference here.
Maika Sivo
2 – Left Wing
It takes some effort to pull the F-Bomb when you score a triple, but when the Eels bravely defend with 12 men then get themselves back into the contest, and you blow it all by going Wanderlei Silva on Reuben Garrick’s face, that’ll do it. That he got caught out by Daly Cherry-Evans like a kid playing Piggy in the Middle was the icing. When the coverage is showing a replay of that ten minutes later, you know it was something special. His kick returns are pedestrian, his defence a joke, and saloon passages to the tryline shouldn’t save him. The only chant I want to hear for Maika Sivo ends in ‘Hey-hey, Goodbye’.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
Will Penisini continues to look strong in space, but he sees it about as often as Clint Gutherson makes a sideline conversion. His efforts to tangle Tom Trbojevic were far from convincing and deserved the bin, and in a tough slog of a game I’d like to see a bit more work from Will in his own half, surely if Simonsson and Harper are getting 13 and 14 carries a game, Penisini can crack double digits.
Morgan Harper
4 – Left Centre
Harper held his own after a worrying defensive performance back in round 3, and maybe this grade is kind but I was just relieved to not see him run around like he’d been turned to stone. He works hard and puts in, which immediately elevates him above several of his teammates.
Bailey Simonsson
5 – Right Wing
It might be the Sivo haterade talking here, or it might be the fact we’ve got about 4 outside backs signed for 2025, but I’m really hoping for a Bailey Simonsson extension. He deserves it, and is quietly turning into a pretty good player.
Ethan Sanders
6 – Five Eighth
Welcome to first grade, kid. Here, make 32 tackles. While nobody will be praising the tactical nous of Anthony Seibold for devising “run at the rookie”, Sanders held his own reasonably well (Haumole Olakau’atu has run over plenty bigger players than Sanders) and still managed to contribute to some slicker backline moves than we’ve seen in recent weeks plus he took an equal share of the kicking. I can’t wait for a week of “how are we letting him go” discourse. Our current NSW Cup team combined might not be on the salary he’ll be getting from Canberra, that’s why we’re “letting him go”.
Dylan Brown
7 – Halfback
This is the Dylan Brown we know and love. Impossible to put down and looking like he can create a break with every touch. He couldn’t find support too often, but those chances will eventually ice. For those fans that still want to cling to hope instead of calling for the coach’s head, efforts like this from Dyl are what you want to build on for a late season run.
RCG
8 – Front Row
The bye can’t come soon enough for RCG, who is clearly playing busted. He’s spinning into contact and barely making a dent in the opposing defence. Get yourself right, big man.
Joey Lussick
9 – Hooker
With Brendan Hands on the bench we avoided the late fadeout from Joey Lussick, and while he didn’t do much that made me stand up and take notice, I wasn’t cursing his name at fulltime so he’s already doing better than most of the last month.
Junior Paulo
10 – Interchange
Junior off the bench isn’t quite having the same impact it used to, but maybe a freshen up over the bye will see the captain regain his edge.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
When Bryce Cartwright returns to the side, I’m hoping it is at the expense of Shaun Lane. He needs some time in Cup to get his act together, fix the concentration issues that are creating so many mistakes, find his attacking game and shake off the concrete boots that saw him pinned to the ground on the pathetic break through the middle that Jason Saab made. I’d cut him some slack for being dumped on his neck in the first half, but this has been a whole of 2024 problem for Lane, and he needs to be shaken out of it.
Ryan Matterson
12 – Second Row
Easily my favourite Ryan Matterson performance of 2024, even if he disappeared after about the 50th minute. Smashing Luke Brooks a few times isn’t the pinnacle of “tough guy forward” achievements, but I enjoyed it immensely all the same. 41 tackles without a miss is nothing to sneeze at from Matto as well. Hopefully he’s turned the corner.
J’maine Hopgood
13 – Lock
Last week I was hoping the Eels were playing Hopgood out of a Queensland jersey, now I’m pretty sure he’s doing that himself. His workrate is still there but the errors are backbreaking and the elite moments of ballplaying too few and far between. The scrapheap cyborg he replaced showed him how it is done here, and if there is one thing I don’t like it is being proven wrong when I devote approximately 70% of the preview to trashing Nathan Brown.
Brendan Hands
14 – Interchange
His service is a standout, but as the fresh legs on the field you can’t be left grasping at air when defending next to the ruck. If Blaize Talagi and Ethan Sanders can make an NRL debut, I’d love to see the one Cup player who is actually in form get a shot in Matt Arthur. Just don’t boo this one out of the club, would you?
Makahesi Makatoa
15 – Interchange
Big Mak delivered exactly what we expect here. I thought he’d get a bit more time with the tired Darwin legs of the pack, but in his impact stint of 20 minutes he did little wrong.
Joe Ofahengaue
16 – Prop
Aside from setting an NRL record by conceding a shoulder charge penalty by hitting someone on the arm, Joe O didn’t do a whole heap here. It was hard sledding, sure, but his run metres were pedestrian and made even worse when you consider 30 of his 78 came from kick returns. He’s not a problem, but it’d be nice if he stood up and had a big one soon.
Kelma Tuilagi
17 – Interchange
You know what would be nice? If for one week our bench forwards wouldn’t make a backbreaking basic error with their first touch.
This Eels team has enough spuds to open a McDonalds, and individual mistakes are what cost victory this weekend. Lead-boots Lane, Wanderlei Sivo, the continued mediocrity of the hooking combination and basic errors from forwards taking simple runs, that was the difference between the two sides.
I’m taking that loss pretty hard, mainly because for all the faults in the performance, that was a win left on the table. Maybe more accurately that was a win left elbowed in the face on the floor. Effort-wise the team lifted, but skill and discipline were the problems. I’m confident after that performance the team hasn’t quit on Brad Arthur, but I’m far from confident they have the skills or form to contend for the finals as it stands.
While Sivo will earn an enforced rest, injuries and depth won’t allow Brad Arthur to fix some of his other issues. RCG can’t be given a few weeks to get healthy, there are no young back rowers knocking the door down to push Shaun Lane (on that note, what happened to Toni Mataele?). With three empty roster spots this would be a simple fix if footballers grew on trees, but the Eels are perpetually active in a mid-season market that is as tight as the government purse-strings when somebody mentions Leichhardt Oval.
It’s not over for this group by a long shot, there’s a lot of football to be played and crucially, Mitchell Moses to return. The Eels haven’t made it easy for themselves, but dammit, we never do. I’m going to enjoy not having to think about football for a bye weekend, then hopefully come back refreshed for a huge home stand against Brisbane.
Until next time, stay slippery, Eels fans. And for you in the comments, remember “hope we can beat the bye” isn’t as funny as you think it is.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
The game was so heartbreaking. It was winnable. Scoring a try while being 12 on the field, with just over 10 minutes to go, I thought we were a reasonable chance to win. Eels fans see hope on the horizon then Sivo goes in with a forearm to Garrick, who scores on that side of the field not long after. I am glad my family were at the in-laws’ for school vacation. I am sick of them seeing me burst into tears
My issue wasn’t the tears mate, it was the expletives I was yelling when he did that. Mind boggling.
Good shout on Bailey Gol. He at least puts in constantly.
Time is up for Sivo. 1 out of 10 tries he scores are genuinely due to his strength and size, the rest any other of our wingers could score, (except Russell of course) but his defence is putrid and his workrate is appalling. The elbow was the dumbest thing I’ve seen from him yet and there have been some truly dumb things.
Time to shop Lane around. 2022 was his year and it doesn’t seem he will ever get back there again.
Our middles also got beat up and for a team with a simple game plan to win the middle, that’s unacceptable
Agreed but the Problem is the people upstairs gave big extensions with options to players that have a history of underperforming (lane, sivo) just recently. Earliest we might get off them is after 2025. We of course should try move them at end of this season and pay a bit of their contract for next year but I don’t have faith in the parra r and r committee to do anything let alone identify players that should be moved on and being something adequate in. They’ll probably go back for scraps at other teams or are busy patting themselves on back for lomax even though lomax fell in their lap. He wasn’t on open market proper because we all know if he was on open market proper parra would have stuffed that aswell.
Is the team set up for success?
The irony is that Sivo’s brain melt came off a genuinely great piece of defence. He jammed in hard and shut the play down beautifully, and then screwed the porch royally.
And it was a great fifth tackle play too. The team was in a position that we didn’t expect. Four tries to three, survived Will in the bin and just scored, back to 13 players. Last ten minutes and fighting hard. We’ll never know if they could have had us talking about another bounce back. Instead the media is full of capitulation stories.
Wally, there are tough conversations that must be had with some players. My concern is that there are limited options in selections.
Thought Matterson, Simmonson and Brown didn’t deserve to be on a losing side, with special mention of Sanders, who has been a left footed goal kicker since U10s , so struggling to understand why he wasn’t given at least a shot at conversion.
It was definitely a game that could have been won, wouldn’t have been easy but was a possibility until the brain explosion from Sivo. It was a try hard game as we still lack that explosive play , particularly inside the opposition red zone. The Simmonson try was an example of what we need to do more often.
Do we need new voices to improve structure , the bare bones are there for a successful side, recruitment needs to significantly improved to take that step, and so far it doesn’t look like we have the people to do that. ( Looking strangely at the Tigpies )
Tigers will be better than us soon if we don’t get our act together in pathways and recruitment. We tend to overrate 1) our own players when they come off contract and 2) our juniors. The tigers are being aggressive in market and the magpies juniors that are coming through are actually talented and will produce a lot of good prospects sooner or later that parra should try swoop (no pun intended).
Also look at Newcastle, they have KP at fulback who is elite. They have Armstrong playing this week who is quite good and fast backup fullback. They have Fletcher who is another young gun fullback and then they have votano – yet another young gun fullback. Newy may not have good halves atm but their recruitment and retention is good. Look at who they picked up from England. Kai Pearce Paul is better than lane already and similar profile.
Also, Look at sharks, they have players out and bring in iro and stonestreet into their backline. Those backups are better than most of our starters yet we for some reason overrate Sean Russell, Sivo, etc and haven’t been able to grab even one of them. They have middle depth for days and have added afb. We have an overload of forwards but added tualagi and ofa. Both bog average instead of addressing backline problems, lack of utility problem, lack of real fullback cover problem.
At some point the people in charge need to cut players and progress the squad. Instead they seem to hope that nebulous notions of connectivity bridge the skill and speed gap that is so clear against most teams we play. Trying hard only takes a team so far.
Very well said Ron you hit the nail on the head. Get rid of the deadwood now, see if we can swap with some young promising kid/s stuck behind others desperate to play first grade, Because he’ll be better than our current prospects for sure. However, not sure the R & R committee can identify a promising kid yet alone find their arses.
Whatever BA says at half time he should stop it immediately as the team is half asleep for the second half. Time for him to go and new coach coming in have a good cleanout starting at the top. HOF and R&R committee, coaches from lower grades up, talent scouts and finally squad needs a good refresh and reset to get this club on the right footing.
I largely agree with you B&G!
Kick some of the goals …. yeh, why wasn’t Ethan given all of those?
Stop having brain explosions Maika. And that is a win or at very least close.
Thanks Gol,
Lane and Sivo GONE!! Terrible defenders.
Ethan Sanders was good in his debut.
BA – I think BA is running out of time. He’s safe while Souths are suffering. Once South’s start winning focus will move onto BA.
Yes 2 sin bins for Parra but were also playing with one less man with Lane on the field all night. What does he actually provide for the team leaving his outside man to cover for him. It’s a boys club and if he gets picked the week after the bye with a performance like that there’s something fishy going on. Bryce will be back and if not let’s try Matt Doorey. Deserved an F with Sivo.
I have concerns about the impact of last year’s injuries on Lane. He’s an intelligent bloke, and a good man. But it’s just not happening for him in 2024.
Thanks, Gol. The usual entertaining read.
This game showed many glimpses of promise. Gutho and Brown were outstanding, Simmonson whole-hearted, Matterson good in the pack, Junior rucked the ball up vigorously, both centres pretty solid.
My gripe with Hopgood is the dumb penalties he concedes. He does some really dumb two in a tackle strips. He also drops some very catchable passes.
As for Sivo, I hope he never again runs out in the first grade blue and gold. His brain explosions are so consistent as to be a feature, not an aberration. He’s got white line fever and is good under the high ball but his defensive reads are often costly and he is almost useless when it comes to rucking the ball out of our half.
McFersie, who would have imagined that a player who scores a treble would be remembered for a play that was so costly?
I don’t rate Joey lussick or kelma, I think BA needs to drop them, and agree Lane has been very average.
Our recruitment is terrible, our juniors want to leave as soon as someone else looks at them, but players like Stefano, oregan, sanders, Trey Mooney.
Just a hard club to follow, always goes wrong for us as a club
Agree that Simmonsen, Brown and Matterson were the standouts, with an honourable mention for Sanders. Matterson is interesting, he seems to be similar every week, but some weeks more effective than others, like he plays in his own bubble, focussed on his job. Hopgood cops a few hair trigger calls from refs, he doesn’t shirk hard work, a couple of games back he made 44 tackles no misses, his workrate is usually in the top 2 or 3 forwards, but needs to tidy up his errors.
As others have said, that game was winnable,I reckon we saw what it takes to win or lose all wrapped up in a neat parcel.
Not making excuses for Shaun Lane as he has been way below his best but I have noticed that some players who have suffered a broken jaw never seem to return to their best. I think it’s psychological but whatever the reason I hope he rediscovers his best football …. And soon
That’s my concern Mark
BDon, I think that Hopgood’s attacking flare is being nullified by his workload. Effort isn’t an issue with him, and the penalties against him are perhaps symptomatic of misguided competitiveness???
He’s gone for ball stripping a few times where they don’t seem to offer a replay,but I can’t cop the holding down ones where he has repeat offences, I count the seconds whenever there’s a replay, he’s never above 3, even allowing for others peeling off and they’re usually when the opposition is rucking out from their line and the tackles have been dominant. Manly the other night, particularly in the first half were slow to release, I counted to 4 quite a few times, their last man to peel off constantly lingered. It’s more the inconsistent application of rules, why didn’t Sutton wait to blow his whistle when Sanders scored, you see it all the time, they wait and then let the bunker sort it. He blew the whistle when Sanders was half way to the line, not when the non-offence occurred.
Shaun Lane’s rarified 2nd half of 2022 seeems like a flash-in-the-pan moment unfortunately. Really hope he can get his head back to where it was to recapture that form.
I thought Dylan was our best; Simonsson’s decision to kick on the line break right before halftime not only seemed the least smartest option, but also happened with the least finessed execution,and while he played well, I’m still hanging on to that a little bit.
Look, I know as fans we should be out there supporting them from the sideline each week, but gee it’s hard to be motivated to spend valuable dollars and time on this team. With performances like we have seen over the past few weeks, it almost switch off time for the fans too.
Sivo hopefully doesn’t play 1st grade again unfortunately out of our 5 backs all are but 2 are fringe 1st graders we have no one nipping at the heels so I guess it’s Russell again.
Penisini I worry about he is a class player but his development and potential is wasted imagine what he’d do in a good team?
Lane is not the player he was it’s a sad decline I think once he moves on he will excel elsewhere.
I’d like to see Matt Arthur get a run but I’d prefer to see his Father run out of the club first.
We suck it’s as simple as that we won’t make the 8 we will struggle to win many more games this season.
It’s not all BAs fault it’s the administration the junior development pathways the whole organisation is shit and the future is bleak.
The fact that at this stage of the competition we still have 3 openings in the top 30 is unforgivable. How can the coach put players on notice if there is noone to replace them with? We are in a bad way as a club, and this will take years to fix.
Yep I honestly believe that the management are mot concerned with winning along as membership numbers and profits are in check that’s what matters we are mot in the premiership winning buissines.
Nothing will change Anytime soon
No other club would tolerate Shaun Lanes efforts this year. There is a reason he hasn’t lasted more than 3 years at all his other clubs. Terrible efforts
I think Lissick’s grading is far too high.
His service was absolutely pathetic last night with so many passes going well above the receiver’s head. He got run over in D several times too.
Put Brown at 9 and Gutho at 6. Lomax to fullback.
Done.
Oh….and please get Bennett to the club.
It’s time for a change. No premiership in eleven attempts, goodbye BA
You want to put our best player in a position he is not accustomed to? Brown is the only one making things happen, the trouble is that no one else is following him.
I do agree that Lomax will be fullback eventually though.
Brown at 9 Grunta? The heir apparent is in NSW Cup.
With Will Penisini’s sin binning, was Turbo offside from the kick? If so, should the bunker have stepped in to say as much as. I showed the replay to my partner who knows next to nothing about footy and asked her if there was a player in front of the kicker and she said “number 1 definitely was”.
Yeah BA mentioned that in the presser.
Definitely offside. In determining penalties, it should be the first offence that is penalised.
Mr Sixties, Lane was never going to have a good game after being dumped on his neck. Have another look at that because it was worse than Cleary and Dyl,Brown. The question of the day is why wasn’t that bloke sent off. Not only that I believe DCEwas the main offender. Lane was clearly rattled and went for a HIA. This is so typical of Sutton. I failed to understand why he is rated as one of our top referees. And that moment when Sanders would have scored and he blew the whistle was just as costly as the binings. And Manly were slow to peel off. Why do other teams get away with this. It’s the referees and I have said before they influence the outcome of games. And not just with the Eels. Hopgood is a good footballer but, his errors let him down. And how many times will Will P be binned for a professional foul. It’s happened a number of times. Ten minutes will never equal to saving a try. As for Sivio that was a rush of blood – he doesn’t even run hard at a player. He hasn’t done that since Tedesco. It was quite uncharacteristic of him. Manly never won that game Parra lost it. Are we starting resemble North Sydney. Just the same they did try and that twenty minutes with 13 players they would have run over the top of Manly. Finally, do we actually have goal kicking practice or coaching because as in the past it has cost the Eels a number wins.
Officiating did not cost us the game but it certainly did us no favours. Most nrl refs like to impose themselves to the detriment of the game.
The Titans v Warriors was the best game I can remember for som time. Why? The ref, Wyatt Raymond allowed the players to play. He was unobtrusive but in control. It was the best performance (or non-performance) in my living memory.
You can’t say the same for Sutton et al who love to take centre stage and impose their authority.
More Wyatt please.
You all must have been watching a different game to me.
Even Fittler called out Simmonsen for being out of position in defence. He missed plenty of important tackles too.
We need four solid three quarters to be in it next year. Lomax and Penisini can work but we need dependable wingers.
I’ll give Lane a pass this time as I don’t know how he passed the head knock assessment.
Sanders had a very good start.
His ability to tackle puts him ahead of Harper and Simmonsen in my assessment.
At least we get two points next week.