It’s a landmark day, as the Parramatta Eels of 2024 have finally earned my trust enough to not tip them to have 40 points put on them this weekend. I’ve been waiting for a collapse that doesn’t look like it is coming, and while this season is an unmitigated disaster the remaining healthy men in Blue and Gold are putting in enough that I’ll be going into this contest content that the effort will be there, if not the talent and execution.
That isn’t to excuse some of the performances this year, but I’m confident that the problems with Parramatta are as much off the field as on it, and the failures on the field can largely be explained away by injuries and some poor individual efforts. A lot needs to change for next year and a lot already has with a new coach coming in, but credit to this squad, you don’t win a game like last week in that fashion without giving a damn.
Now the Panthers loom on the schedule, always a tough ask for a full strength Eels squad and a near impossible challenge with the team we must name. Yet Penrith has hardly been on fire in recent weeks and they’re without talisman fullback Dylan Edwards and key forward James Fisher-Harris. An upset here would be an all-timer, but a spark of hope burns. Let’s get on with the preview.
Game Info
Date: Friday August 9, 2024
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 8:00PM AEST
Referee: Peter Gough
Bunker: Liam Kennedy
Weather: Cool, low chance of rain
Broadcast: Nine, Fox League, Kayo
Sixties Speculates (Odds quoted are NSW TAB)
Colour me faithless.
I honestly didn’t see last week’s victory by the Eels on the horizon. The odds suggested that few did. After all, the decimated Eels were facing a Warriors team fighting to stay in the race for a finals berth in front of a sold out crowd.
So where to this week against the benchmark side, the generational, triple title winning Panthers?
Those Panthers are at the shortest of odds. The value is found in any bet that has Parra getting within cooee of their younger brother. But is there any point in putting coin on this match? Probably not.
However, I am weirdly confident that this Eels side will have another red hot crack at taking down a higher rated opponent. They might even cause an upset.
If I was punting on Parra, I’d be looking at the pick your own line market and taking Parra at +12.5 points, which is returning $2.15.
Happy, responsible punting.
Sixties
Hope?
If good things are to happen, Dylan we be the architect
Apologies for skipping a few sections this week, the flu has struck down my family and I, and writing about the 2024 Parramatta Eels was not what the doctor prescribed as a cure. While we are off the back of a hot win, I’m not sure any deep rugby league analysis is going to reach a conclusion where the Eels can win against the premiership favourites, so this is as much about what I’m looking for in hope of a brighter 2025.
It may have been the speed of the Warriors spreads, but the Eels outside men actually defended fairly stoutly over in New Zealand. The defensive line moved quickly to cover across, defenders got good shots at contact on their opposite and that gave the outside men the confidence to not rush in. As stated, I feel some of that will be the pedestrian Warriors attack, but if this signals that the men combining right now have the correct mix of trust and speed, maybe I can start to widen the gaps between my fingers as they cover my eyes while watching a defensive set inside the Parramatta 20.
That defensive improvement was matched with more appropriate roles for Dylan Brown and Daejarn Asi, resulting in an attack that didn’t look like it was driven by two running five eighths for the first time since Mitch Moses went down injured. Penrith won’t give either man the time and space to have things their own way, but this will be a game where individual brilliance is likely to be the difference and Dylan is our best exponent of that.
The fades and fatigue remain a massive concern, especially against a grinding side like Penrith, but if the Eels can shock with an early lead (as they have against the Warriors and Storm) then not shoot themselves in the foot (anybody who sees Shaun Lane running a short ball line should just hold onto the ball and take the tackle), they could carry this as a contest into the second half.
Unfortunately, Penrith are just masters of winning those close games where they haven’t played well. Nathan Cleary knows when he needs to take control and has proven adept at turning a contest when he decides it needs to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged to victory. The Eels just don’t have that composure or the talent in the side to ice a close match themselves. I’m not sure what kind of lead I’d feel comfortable with going into the last ten minutes. 18 points? Maybe 21, to take out the 2 point field goal potential. This is the collapsibles versus the iceman, and while it’d be nice to be on the iceman side of that battle, just once, I was cursed to support the Eels.
I’m expecting a similar kind of game to the Melbourne match, maybe without so much self-inflicted misery that then keeps the contest tighter. The Eels don’t have the firepower to really blow Penrith away, even if they show up lethargic or get surprised by a quick start. Effort only goes so far against a dynasty, and Parramatta has been notorious for effort levels falling off dramatically late in halves. They’ll play it tough, but with the quality of player in the side and the proven inability to sustain 80 minutes of footy, this one is too much to ask.
Go you Eels!
Prediction: Penrith 28 d Parramatta 16
Man of the Match: Nathan Cleary
Gol
I’m hoping the confidence of a rare away win and an almost unchanged squad will lead to a good result.
Fingers crossed 🤞
I think They’ll either complete hard or pull the upset win!! That’s my prediction. The Eels are bipolar, you know we can suck for weeks then pull together and beat the best teams out of nowhere with a bit of form. 😅 Eels to win (or at least make it close) Eels have magically found 100% effort and glimpses of form & sustained energy we didn’t have all year..
the full effort only appeared once Ryles got announced & a few names got mentioned as told to leave.
I have a feeling parra has struck a little bit of form here. 🤞👑 The king will leave the season with 110% effort for each game, leaving NO questions about who should be our fullback next year! Look for the boys doing the inside running line like they did VS the Wah’s last week which lead to a few tries. I’ve got Tago first try scorer.
Yeah I can us putting up a decent effort here; but think Penrith will walk away with a decent win in the end. I cannot see enough points in us; and think we will concede at least 24.
I would love to see the club go out and make a statement and leave Talagi out.
Yeah it won’t be popular with Gutho and the rest but we have to make a line in the sand.
Panthers did it when they had that halfback who signed for the Dolphins.
I’d rather play Kier in the centres than ever see Talagi disgrace our jersey again.
Unpopular opinion: Woody Greig was been more impactful as a prop for us than Jnr has been.
He has visibly hurt several panthers tonight, he made an impact. Hats off to the big fellah.
Who would have thought the threat of a clean out and a thought of a new hard coach coming into parra would suddenly wake them all up from a slumber. 😅 Great to see the effort is there.
I thought there were three disgraceful refereeing decisions that cost us tonight.
The disallowed try looked like a Penrith hand on the big screen and I replayed it on my phone half a dozen times at half time. – add 4 points.
The Turuva try, Tago was 2 strides in front of Cleary when he kicked the ball and he pushed Penisini out from under the kick, never played at the ball.
Finally Liam Martin takes Daejarn Asi out of the defensive line to create a 3 on 2 overlap for Tago to run away.
Jake Tago was disappointing. Back to rushing in every play.
Russell did it a couple of times too.
Again, the two tries that cost us.
Like the Melbourne game, we .were the better team but for nothing.
The forwards were great.
All of them.
Apart from the defensive structure, my only real criticism is of the King. I don’t understand why he always runs up play 3. It’s like putting a racehorse behind a plough.
Penisini had his best game this year.
Asi continues to improve.
Even Lane made no mistakes tonight.
Bloody shame.
When you’re hot you’re hot – and we’re not.
Great effort but some very weak mental fortitude in the end (as is typical of this playing group).
Some personally changes in team and leadership group are needed because how do we seem to consistently find new ways to disappoint.
I was at the game .our boys tried their guts out and for them to put 34 points on the panthers was in my opinion a great effort . When the bell at full they where spent and you could see how disappointed they were . And remember we had 40./.of our main team on the bench . Great effort boys hol your heads up youse tried your guts out
No, it was a lack of mental toughness that cost us. There were warning signs last week against the Warriors, and it happened again this week. For 70 minutes we look great when the opponent is playing within themselves, but when the opposition puts the foot down we get passive.
Sorry Brett your right in that respect but i still think for that team to put 34 on the the best team in the comp wasn’t a bad Effort .i was expecting it to be a lot worse result
I get that we got closer than expected but that is irrelevant once we were 16 points up with less than 10 to go. At that point it’s mandatory to close out the game. To do the things that don’t take talent (tackle and kick, tackle and kic, tackle and kick). But we regularly go to water when the blowtorch is on at the back end of games. We rarely “finish strong”. And it’s been like that for years. Remember the game we choked against dogs earlier this year. Remember the game we almost choked against warriors last week. Remember the game we choked against tigers earlier this year. Remember the game against Penrith last year when they came back from dead, scored a late try, junior gives penalty as way next set and then Nathan Cleary kicked the 2 point field goal (shouldn’t have even got to extra time). Remember the storm game round 1 last year where they score late to send it to extra time and then Harry grant strolls over from dummy half.
We don’t seem to close games out well as we lose focus or get nervous and start playing passive hoping opposition beats themselves
And my personal view is the squad needs to be refreshed. Mere coaching won’t fix some of these problems. The leaders in this squad have contributed to this environment of inconsistency and mental fragility over the years
We still lost a game we should’ve won going away. I understand the glass half filled thinking, but I’m sorry, that’s why we are we’re we are right now.
At some point you are what you are.
We are the 16th best team for any number of reasons. Now I’ll agree there have been far worse 16th placed teams in the past, but that’s pretty cold comfort.
Can’t argue with this.
How many were either at the game or at home knowing that they would find a way to lose this game ? Probably close to 100 %.
Conversely, how many of the players knew or expected the Panthers to score 3 tries in 3 minutes and played accordingly ?
Mind over matter.
They played their heart out but the team is lacking mental toughness.
56, I watched that Penisini fumble try scored by Turuva a few times, I think it was McLean who came through and did enough to hamper Penisini. It was 50/50, he mistimed his lunge as a genuine competer then seemed to know this and attempt to not collide head on and he brushed past Penisini’s side with just enough contact to nudge Penisini who fumbled the ball. There was enough to call a disruptor but not enough to sway the bunker. McLean was never going to catch that ball but his actions weren’t heavy handed so he won the moment. Strangely, the Riff got caned last night for stuff they do all year, penalties 9-3 I think, I saw quite a few more around the ruck but I suppose that’s the game.
Just a couple of observations to add…
When To’o scored his try, he beat 3 Parramatta players.
Now 2 of those players had excuses because of the fatigue factor but the last one he beat was Doorey.
I’ve long been a Doorey fan but considering he just got on the field, it was one of the most pathetic attempts to tackle an opposition player I’ve ever seen.
Disgraceful.
Blaize Tagali – not bad in attack when put into spaces. Doesn’t create for himself.
Probably the slowest 19 year old back I’ve seen in decades.
I’d wager he’d struggle to beat most forwards in a foot race.
Don’t forget he’s only 19 !
It’s been long said that Sterling wasn’t fast but had it between the ears but that was another era.
You just have to have some speed if you are in the backline in the present NRL.
We dodged a bullet.
I’ve never been a big fan of Doorey as he has never been defensively reliable nor healthy. True it is that the tackle you mention was a single pathetic attempt but he’s always been weak in contact and effort on effort in my opinion. Runs a decent line but, like a lot of parra players, shirks defensive responsibility.
My biggest issue with Doorey has always been that he gets hurt far too easily. Not injured, hurt. How many times does he struggle to get up after being tackled ? I’d say it’s one in three. I would never say any NRL is soft, but he really has a low pain threshold when compared to say Liam Martin or Angus Crichton.
Brett that’s a dumb comment even by your standards!
Doorey may suffer from a bad technique when defending but to state he has low pain threshold is plainly rediculous.
I wasn’t aware you had recently examined him ?
Have you seen how many times he gets hurt in tackles ?
Far too often.
We get it, you don’t like Talagi. Enough already. The kid is talented, good things happen around him. And he outran Brian To’o to diffuse the late non try. He’s quick enough when it matters. It is a big loss.
Tuck your panties in Brett, I can have an opinion !
He had a decent headstart on Brian To’o.
Let’s have this conversation in a year or two.
And I can challenge your opinion.
Touche !
Let’s do this.
The NRL is borderline corrupt in regards to bias and officiating.
The sports bet companies would have lost millions if the eels won, not to mention it diminishes the NRL & media golden child (Cleary) and the panthers hype.
Does all of this affect the key decisions in big games in defining moments?
How come we got robbed in the finals when Penrith got a trainer on the field to stall the play when we had them on the back foot and ultimately destroyed our chances of beating them?
How come when they are about to be beaten by a shot up Eels club of 24’, suddenly get tries from players off side effecting outcomes in play.
Or clear obstructions, taking out players preventing them from defending?
…which in every other game we see weekly, results in penalties? Obstructions are called consistently?
I’m not suggesting there is some unified conspiracy where everyone is on board.
But where is the line in the sand?
How many more “coincidences” come in at the perfect moment to save penriths asses in important games.
If they lost to us then they cannot become minor premiers apparently. But now they can.
All I’m asking for us questions to be asked. If this was other sports, or politics where magical one sided decisions/ass savings only appeared for one side… CONSISTENTLY!
In any other country especially in USA or Europe. There would be investigations or protests (in Europe in particular), If some things just consistently didn’t add up.. over and over again.
I’m not suggesting the eels cant take responsibility…
We all know we have the worst defence in the league or close to it. But we got plain and simple robbed last night just like we did in the finals a few years ago. Against the same team who has a clear bias towards them from the media + NRL, at all levels.
I’m shocked at how Australians who don’t watch over seas sports think this is normal. The NRL has some of the most questionable & suspicious, incompetent officiating. It makes you not want to watch it, even the bunker is untrustworthy in terms of its accuracy & evident bias.
No, we weren’t. We are soft. None of those late tries went against us. It was our incompetence. There are no excuses. We should’ve buried them, we had them on toast, and we choked deluxe.
There was no obstruction, DJ was never obstructed from making a tackle, I’d be pissed if we had a try disallowed for that. Tago was not offside on To’o’s second try, and it was 50/50 on the kick, at worst.
We are what we are.
We are an uneven, unbalanced team with far too great a gap between our best and worst. We should’ve shut that game down the moment Gutho scored his second try, but our defence just went passive. You watch the Storm or Panthers in that situation, they just close the game down, they push the limits of the ruck, happy to give away six agains, penalties even risk a sinbining , anything, whatever it takes to close it down.
What do we do ?
We just backpedaled. Let the Panthers run amok.
We are simply unprepared to do whatever is needed to win. We simply don’t want it badly enough.
And contrary to popular opinion, the better team never loses.
Brett, it’s even all across the media who’s anti eels that those calls were as bad as I just mentioned.
There’s clear photos of them being off side in just one example. Yes the eels are soft, but you are kidding yourself if you have properly looked into this and came up with similar considerations. Brett, in other games obstruction calls get called every week even when the player might not of gotten close to the attacking player. There’s endless evidence of this. The panthers not only in this call I mentioned, but we’re simply running into us in those attacking sets. If you think I am wrong. Go watch any other NRL game what happens to line runners when they run into defenders. They simply got away with it numerous times. McLean was off side when he forced the error on Will P as well. You can look at the photo & video evidence as well. The eels are garbage in defence, but you can’t just run into people in attacking plays when you are not holding the ball and score tries off it. We don’t have the fitness to play for 80 minutes, the boys are not properly conditioned or prepared evidently like other teams. I agree we backed off again like every other week due to exhaustion. But watch even the anti eels journos & media this week touch on this. Majority will have an opinion I have mentioned.
… Do you really think the Eels could have gotten away with obstructing, being off side, or having trainers running on the field to save us when we are on the roof to allow us win close games?
There’s a clear bias towards teams who are not the top teams. This is clearly evident. And there’s a reason why majority of NRL fans have identified the same issue. Especially Penrith.
They also got saved the week before when the game was close. Ponga did a SHOULDER HIGH tackle, and got penalised with a head high which all commentators & tv viewers could see did not happen. This is what happens for Penrith all the time.
It’s simply false to suggest refs do not affect the outcomes of games. There’s a reason Brett that it’s been confirmed the some of leaders of the NRL officiating are under pressure to keep their jobs after this year. The calls are consistently dreadful, bias, or inconsistent on a weekly basis, generally favouring top 4-8 teams.
Brett:
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl-world-blasts-disgraceful-call-as-parramatta-robbed-of-incredible-victory-over-panthers-213840579.html
Now go watch what happens every week when this occurs in other games, if you watch the games weekly you would know this is a penalty / no try. This is fact, regardless of how terrible our eels were at the end.
Muz, just watched Martin running into the line, he interferes with Talagi then wipes out Asi and neither could be accused of “making a tackle”attempt on Martin. Both looked 100% focussed on covering Martin but following the ball. When he knocks Asi over the ball is not 2 players wider but right in front of Asi. Even my failing geometry, also has Asi totally capable of covering the gap that Laurie goes through after Talagi veers wider on the basis that the gap inside has cover, but no, Asi is on the deck. If I can see all this, why can’t the bunker?? I heard Gough say the gap was 2 players wider, obviously from the bunker. It absolutely wasn’t, it just looked that way when Laurie skirted diagonally. What is going on? These are terrible calls, obvious ones that the bunker are failing miserably, given their so called expertise and technology.
Looking forward to the explanation from the officials.
You notice that whenever one of the top teams like the Roosters and Melbourne are in a similar position, Annersley is very quick to jump up and offer an opinion, usually the next morning to placate them.
Unfortunately, lesser teams just have to wait for the explanation on Monday, for what it’s worth.
We are dealing with a very inexperienced bunker official in Liam Kennedy.
He may be right but there is a thing called unconscious bias and he may have just got caught up in the excitement.
If he’s wrong, they will just apologise and move on but mark my words, there will come a time in a GF that a similar mistake will be the NRLs worst nightmare.
Bdon, thanks for sharing mate. I also had another look at it, it’s very questionable. Everyone is saying the same thing. Both media + former players who are not parra fans.
Put it this way. If the game was on the line and our players run into the Panthers defence like pin balls knocking them over or interfering with them.
Would eels be handed the call to win the game?
Absolutely not.
True spark. They would be coming out to clear the air if it was the roosters or panthers who got robbed by calls that badly. They don’t care when they rob the tigers or eels of a victory.
I get that, and I no don’t care if it’s been called every other time, I personally don’t think it was obstruction.
Bottom line, we should still be able to win even if we get the rough end in every call.
Great teams overcome bad officiating.