Parramatta Eels 14
Brisbane Broncos 30
The promised upgrades of the feed at CommBank Stadium were delivered this week. As somebody who has a five year old and a baby at home, I’d already eaten dinner three hours before kickoff, but the new options sure smelled nice.
Oh, the game? With the ball and a bit of space, Blaize Talagi delivered on the hype and then some. It was the first time in a long time that the Eels felt like they had a modern attacking weapon that could light the game up from anywhere, instead of having to meticulously structure every point that went on the scoreboard. Can’t wait for some desperate club to make a crazy offer for him and begin another cycle of having to pay overs just to keep our stars.
Like Manly two weeks ago, Brisbane was there to be beaten. They barely made a dent with their attack, never established dominance in the middle and statistically this looks like a game the Eels won comfortably. Instead they were punished severely for errors and were victims of one or two of the moments of brilliance that we’ve come to expect against the Broncos. Chances were left on the table, finishing wasn’t as polished as it could be and there was some frankly embarrassing one-on-one defence. It was a frustrating game to watch.
Blaize Talagi in attack allows us the first genuine use of the term X Factor in a long time, he just had that spark about him. Otherwise this reading is more depressing than watching videos of soldiers coming home from war to find their dogs have died.
Possession: Eels 53%, Broncos 47%
Completions: Eels 25/40 (62%), Broncos 28/38 (73%)
Run metres: Eels 1,772, Broncos 1,559
Post-contact metres: Eels 521, Broncos 447
Tackle breaks: Eels 49, Broncos 39
Offloads: Eels 19, Broncos 6
Effective tackle %: Eels 86.5%, Broncos 80.9%
Intercepts: Eels 0, Broncos 2
Errors: Eels 14, Broncos 11
He might have had a few “foal taking its first steps” moments in defence, but he also provided the only excitement on a miserable night of football, so Blaize Talagi, enjoy what is your first of undoubtedly many Grades MVP awards.
Blaize Talagi
1 – Fullback
We’ve praised the good in Blaize’s game at every opportunity in this grades already, so let’s talk about the defence. That’s what you are going to get from a kid who has barely played the position, but the good news is you can be trained under the high ball, be taught positioning and buy longer studs for your boots the next time it is predicted to bucket down in the second half. He’s got one of the best to learn from here in Clint Gutherson, provided his management don’t get greedy and package him up as a finished product and sell him off to the highest bidder. Given what Blaize is good at and what he isn’t good at right now, the King is the perfect mentor for Talagi.
Maika Sivo
2 – Left Wing
It was insulting to fans that he took a spot in the team this week after his effort against Manly, but it is also insulting to fans that four top squad positions that could be filled at least partially by players who could replace Sivo are empty, with the most recent departure of Tevita Taumoepenu one of the great Eels mysteries since “what happened to Sam Hughes?” and “where is Cody Parry?”. Was he ever really a top 30 player? If so, why? Did he even train with the club? We found out Taumoepenu left when he showed up in the Rabbitohs NSW Cup team. Even Jirah got a goodbye press release.
Anyway, this is supposed to be about Sivo. The guy has a knack for having his toes on the sideline when he needs to be in support and floating behind the play when he needs to be on the sideline, and while he wasn’t that good or bad tonight, I’m so off him he’d need to carry six beers at once, in cups, without a tray, across the laps of ten oversized fans, one with a picnic basket under their legs, without spilling a drop, just to get a “that was alright, I spose” out of me.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
Will Penisini is working hard in yardage and chiming in when he can in attack, but gee he is starting to miss some tackles. He came into grade as a plus defender, something very rare for outside backs, especially Eels outside backs, but it might be time to re-evaluate that assessment.
Sean Russell
4 – Left Centre
Sean Russell at centre looked fairly solid, though I wish he could complement his impressive top end speed with any kind of pace off the mark. He starts like a diesel truck, and in this game acceleration is far more important than speed.
Bailey Simonsson
5 – Right Wing
I don’t know if it says more about my personal growth or the state of the Eels backline, but Bailey Simonsson is my favourite Parramatta three-quarter right now, and by some distance. His baffling ability to break tackles but not make metres, the high effort runs in yardage and general improvements in defence are making me hope we get a re-signing announcement sooner rather than later.
Ethan Sanders
6 – Five Eighth
Ethan Sanders was once again worked over hard in defence, and once again did a reasonable job holding his own. His combination with Dylan occasionally made the Eels look like a proper football team and not just a group throwing and hoping, but in the end we scored two tries all night, so the attack can’t get too much praise.
Dylan Brown
7 – Halfback
He might not be the most inspirational captaincy choice for the Eels, but Dylan did everything he could to help them in this one. He’s been a shining light in a dark period, and if we ever get to see this Eels team at full strength again, his combination with Moses and Gutherson will be special.
RCG
8 – Front Row
Big Reg had a few charges that made me think the week off did him some good, but he also missed six tackles so there is still some distance to go before RCG returns to his best.
Joey Lussick
9 – Hooker
Inoffensive game from Joey Lussick, who may be benefiting from my policy of not re-watching losses and having the video expose any glaring errors or bad service that I missed watching from the stands. The stats say he was okay.
Junior Paulo
10 – Interchange
Sorry big man, but 10 runs for 71 metres in these conditions is nowhere near good enough. You’re the (half) captain, the man who actually does that job is out injured, you needed to step up and instead we got another invisible effort.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
Anybody got the number for the guy who got Manly out of the Josh Schuster contract? I’ve got a job for him.
Ryan Matterson
12 – Second Row
Matterson completely turning off and not cleaning up the dropped ball that led to the Walsh runaway try was a perfect summary of his career. You’d think Brad Arthur wouldn’t need to drill guys with 160-odd first grade games to play to the whistle, but this low effort, give up play is both typical of Matterson and the Eels pack as a whole.
J’maine Hopgood
13 – Lock
Not a lot of highlight moments for Hopgood, just a lot of hard defensive work and mildly effective running. He threw seven dummies apparently, and more passes than Blaize did at the back. Solid, but unspectacular.
Brendan Hands
22 – Interchange
Sorry Handsy (that ain’t a great nickname in this team, I’ll come up with something better next week), I was over this grades about the time I had to think about Shaun Lane again, so I haven’t got anything for the 20 minutes of footy you played.
Makahesi Makatoa
15 – Interchange
Honestly, I didn’t even notice he got out there.
Joe Ofahengaue
16 – Prop
I did notice Joe Ofahengaue, and it was for positive reasons, so that elevates his grade above his fellow bench middle. He had one run that did spark a “Joe O is going alright this year” conversation with my mates, so let’s call that a notable moment for him.
Kelma Tuilagi
17 – Interchange
Remember when Brad Arthur would turn cast-off forwards from other clubs into superstars?
That was another deflating loss in a winnable game. Given how the team has gone without Clint Gutherson in the past I expected much worse, but the fact the Broncos were there to be beaten and instead won off the back of intercepts and scoop and scores, plus one incredibly audacious, heads up play from Ezra Mam in monsoonal conditions, that makes this hurt all the more.
That about sums up where the Eels are right now. They’re a team that good sides can play badly against and still beat comfortably. Next week is another so-called Magic Round, where the nicest thing I can say about it is that we aren’t losing a home game to it.
Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
Gol, are you sure you were watching the same game I was .. or were you doing what you said you don’t, watching a replay of some other time ?
Yeah I don’t like to come across as being rude but I got to agree. Some of the grades are way off the mark.
Back to back deflating losses will do that to you, though. Care factor is probably low.
Lussick was ordinary and almost deserved an F for the 2 kicks made from inside our 30 looking for their 20, which both led to scores. His passing isn’t elite, tackling soaks, bit slow to recover. Makes you savour a return toRiddell and PJ.Marsh. Mentioning top end speed and the team in the same sentence is basically nonsense.
Lane and Lussick, ugh.
On Lussicks second kick symondsons arms went up to say “what the”. No one in the the team knew it was on. So we lost tackles and lost metres on the kick and chase. Lussicks passing against manly was disgusting for first grade and on our best offload in that game he finally stole some good metres and then got the ball stolen. If you have to put a debutant in at half surely the hooker has to offer something in attack to take the focus off the young kid.
He was a targeted signing and parachuted straight into the team. Please tell me what he offers above Hands.
Time for Hands and Boods off the bench for a quick stint pre and post halftime.
What is wrong with Lane?
Four empty slots and we cant find some pace?
Dumb team.
Agree with Lane and Lussick, both were poor. With Lane’s dropped balls think those passes were intended to his outside players and think he is so out of form that he is running the wrong lines. Three bombed tries and 2 tries from mistakes sadly sums up the team atm where we are poor in all areas.
Interesting re: Will. I don’t think he’s a good one on one defender at centre as he defends too tight and is slow laterally in defence. He’s not horrible either but when Moses is out, wills defence falls off a cliff as he relies on Moses so much to communicate and give him confidence to get wider in his spacing. I guess I have to give him some latitude as he is still young (I mean look at what a Penrith system as done to Paul Alamoti – similar build to will but even slower and he has confidence to make his reads in that system)
As for the backline – bring Harper back (russel has hands like feet and stifles attack). Drop sivo for rest of year and play Russell left wing. Drop lane and move matto to left, bring Bryce into right backrow. Bring Arthur onto bench and as much as dislike Joey Lussick game start Lussick for first 30.
Pretty much agree Ron.
I’d prefer Matto for 80 rather than Lane. I know Matto has been good off bench at times. But Matto can improve/win games and gives us a dual attacking threat with Carty on right. Matto also played well last game with 0 missed tackles when starting. Lane has passed his ceiling. Matto still has upside.
Sivo out for Russell as you say Harper at 4 until Gutho comes back. Tulagi should stay at 1. 20 carries 220m is what all fullbacks should be getting. Gutho doesn’t make that impact.
Surely we can promote one of our younger wingers, Ethyn Martin or Zac Hunter, who are faster than Sivo and couldn’t be any poorer could they?
BTW why are we playing Lume and Dunster in Cup when the above 2 (or other wingers) should be getting experience? Is this grade to win or give experience to promising players likely to make NRL? In my mind experience is what we should be after.
Harsh.
Very harsh.
2 dropped balls over the tryline and an escort try from the Broncos was all that was in it.
Everywhere else we were the better team.
To be so critical of the forwards is to underrate players like Haas and Carrigan.
Our boys got on top of a very good pack.
Lane needs some time off the big league to get his fitness and confidence back but I wouldn’t get rid of him yet. He did drop 2 pretty ordinary passes.
If any of you see Brad Arthur during the week can you bitch slap him and tell him no more short dropouts?
Another two tries against us from the most stupid of all plays, yet every week we do it.
The big question when Gutho comes back is what to do with young Blaize.
I think between him and Gutho they could share time in fullback and the centres. It would give Gutho a chance to get back to 100% if he didn’t have to do so much work and we would have ball followers on both sides of the park.
We will have to lift again next week. Melbourne don’t make as many mistakes as Brisbane.
Good point abt Guth and playing centre / sharing. Makes sense.
Obviously the return of Moses , Cartwright and Gutherson sill improve us but not by enough to make us premiership contenders. It’s revealing that we can win all the major statistics and still get thrashed. Our period as contenders ended with ghe Grand Final of 2022. Time for a rebuild. The major question for the club is whether Brad is the best person to kead it.
Gol, are you for real, normally you have a good gist of things but, I think someone has been messing around with your alphabet. How you can grade Sivo better than Matterson is beyond belief. How you can have Matterson as one of our worst forwards is beyond belief, he was a beast especially in defence.
I agree Mick , Matto was on the VB hardest worker board. My beef with him is his poor body language, also a touch one dimensional. But he netherthless has strong carries and sound defence. I’m very dissapointed in Kelma , I thought he was going to be a big impact player.
The football gods were unkind, but the Broncs’ pace and pizzazz(weird word that) trumped our effort and clumsiness. I’ve noticed our playmakers throw too many passes at shoulders, side of hips, knees and thighs, attention to detail again, when we just can’t afford it. I also noticed we ran and tackled harder, our line speed was mostly better, but unfortunately when you’re trying to adjust things that feed into confidence and positivity, luck comes reluctantly. Throwing off the loser tag ain’t simple, but I saw some good signs.Great observation on Matterson, I said recently he plays in his own bubble, I actually thought he lifted last night but that moment spoke a thousand words. And Talagi’s studs let him down at least 3 times, Fittler and John’s bang on about footwear conditions but they’re so right. Sivo, none of the long passes to him were flat or forward, suggests he was lagging/asleep. Dylan Brown is trying his guts out.
Yes Dylan is and I thought A minus
No Instant Reaction Podcast? Are the boys still curled up in the foetal position?
Geez mate, bit harsh. It’s up this morning after being recorded just before midnight after getting home from the footy. There are a few technicals to do after recording.
Excellent.
I haven’t watched the game on TV yet I’ll have to watch it over the next couple of days but I disagree with your rating of matterson and Simmons
I like Simmos efforts and speed.
I thought it was a pretty courageous effort. In many ways they outplayed the Broncos. Yardage was pretty good. Some bombed tries hurt and as for those two runaway tries….But all in all, a team that put in and tries for 80 minutes is worthy of support. Moses will make a big difference.
I liked the more expansive game plan, it shows thought and is promising if continued. Conversely to appear happy with 30 points against us rather than 40 indicates the position this club is really in.
Gents,
Even after a loss i still look forward to your instant reactions. Cracker stuff. Fair to say you give us some enjoyment even when times are tough.
As for tonight boys had a crack. Having mitch back is going to help drastically.
Time for sivo, lane to have a spell (though maybe lane will be better having dylan without the shackles on). There is absolutely no spark at 9. Time for Matt Arthur and dare say all us parra fans have prob scarred BA the thought of that after what happened to Jake. Maybe lussick to take the sting out for halfa then give Matty the golden ticket.
Sign the contract Blaize.
I think you’re being a bit harsh on some of the guys, not that I blame you, but I thought Penisini was good last night. He got steamrolled by Cobbo once, but he gave it back as well. It was a great battle between two terrific young centres. I thought Matto was better when BA moved him to the middle, I’d actually be starting him ahead of Hopgood. I also think Junior was better than a D+. Still, not good enough overall.
I am not sure how to respond to your efforts here GOL. Like a lot of your correspondents I question whether you actually saw the game or relying on one of your kids telling you what happened.
You make a point of some isolated faults that took place to take down a player rating and contribution whereas notably you did not correct anything in that way in adjudging your MVP.
I want you to stop and think what the literal translation is of MVP, can you honestly believe that young Tulagi contributed more than say “Dyllan Brown”……??
The last thing this kid needs is more smoke blown up his arse, we a creating a monster and he is not a shadow of some of the genuine X factor young players running around.
We saw Cronulla’s third string half play an absolute perfect game for them against Melb this weekend. We should have that depth, why are we missing them?
Now lets puts some perspective on the kid and I was critical of his selection but will offer this as a perspective and a compliment to BA.
In an environment that BA is getting nothing but “brickbats”…. a subject I am not going to go into as it is a detailed analysis in itself.
Back to the Kid, he surprised me and did a number of things good and a number bad, where I am complementing BA is that the Kid learnt in that game more than a “whole season” playing second grade. You can use that analysis for Sanders as well and that’s another discussion, yes blooding juniors works, especially with no alternatives.
The Kid, he is not ready yet and “Blind Freddie” can tell that, but we are so desperate that the choices are limited. The idea of keeping the kid there while Gutherson is out, is reasonable based on those limited alternatives, he is not the future of our club and for BA to say this is almost an admission of him and the recruitment team have completely lost their way and fuels the need for them to be replaced.
I am not advocating sacking him (BA), that would be closing the door after the horse has bolted, no the opportunity is to finish the season and to get the house in order for an orderly takeover from whoever they choose, nearly anyone external to the club. Maybe O’Neill could be walked out the door as it sends a message of where we are and what we need.
I say that with much regret as I really supported MON but we are in this mess, maybe not his fault, but the “buck” stops with him as the HOF. Likewise BA’s credibility is irreversible and if the honourable thing of resigning at the end of the season is a recognition of his wonderful service for the past 10 plus years.
The time is nigh and if we people that love our club and team cannot see this, then we are doomed for another dark age!
Please note also that much paper talk is around about a another1 or 2 new NRL Teams coming in. We need to move early or we will miss the boat completely, we barely have enough FG players now in our top 30 (?) and lets not talk about our Cup side and the current group of juniors.
Out of talagis errors it was the knock on coming out of our end that did it for me. He has made a similar error where he has lost the ball in contact every game he has played. He either needs a year in reserve grade to get some size or needs to hold the ball differently.
Those are rookie errors, every kid makes them.
That was the only game where I’d say if Moses plays we might of won that.
Although we were the architects of our own downfall errors lack composure
Blayze showed he has that potential factor if he can put it all together.
Sivo is done and should never play 1st grade again
Lane something just isn’t right with him
Season is done time to start building for next year slowly bring in the kids
It makes no difference if your 9th or 17th so may aswell get something happening to give us hope for next year.
Grades are of course personal opinion, but agree with others that you were way too harsh on Matto while giving Lussick a pass on his horrible contribution. Twice he kicked early with no one ready to chase. Both times the Broncos started the set on the 40m line and they scored in each of those sets. Add to this he brings nothing in attack, it’s time for Matt Arthur to get a go.
I actually thought matto had a good game as well