Full disclaimer – this is the most disconnected I have been with Parramatta results all season. It has been a non-stop avalanche of work and content for TCT dating back to the Junior Representative Grand Finals last week and running all the way through to the Blue & Gold Alliance Ted Sulkowicz Memorial Golf Day on Friday.

It was a disappointing weekend for the Parramatta Eels. The NRL squad was left to rue a number of botched scoring opportunities on Thursday night as they let the Dolphins escape in Round 10. Meanwhile, the NSW Cup were brutally punished on Sunday for clocking off 10 minutes before half time as the Bulldogs. Canterbury piled on 24-points to completely flip control of the game and head into the break up 24-14. Finally, the Jersey Flegg produced their worst performance of the season as they were routed 36-10 by the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Injuries and suspensions played their part across all three grades no doubt. While the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg have done a tremendous job navigating some tricky spots with their respective rosters this season, both squads felt stretched too thin this weekend past and the Bulldogs were able to capitalise. It happens.

In the NRL, the Eels are yet to record a single game where both Mitchell Moses and Zac Lomax have played together. The long-term losses of Sam Tuivaiti and Bailey Simonsson in successive games is a wickedly cruel blow to a team that has already been hammered by injuries. Injury luck has been a malignant mistress for Parramatta this year and she doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Anyway, let’s do a quick fire break down of the three losses.

NRL

The Dolphins 20 defeat the Parramatta Eels 16

This is no doubt one that got away for the Parramatta Eels as they succumbed to a Herbie Farnworth virtuoso effort in Round 10. The frustrations started early on when the Eels were forced to play from behind for the umpteenth time this season as they conceded first points to Jack Bostock. While the Blue & Gold were able to hit back with a try to Simonsson the opportunity to seize all of the momentum in the contest was squandered when Isaiah Iongi produced – to be brutally honest – one of the ugliest drops of the season with the try line begging him to score.

That was really the theme of the night with the Eels finishing stronger than the Dolphins in the final 10-minutes. Parramatta were able to repeatedly punch holes in the Redcliffe outfit only to fail to convert that running into points. It was symptomatic of the transition the Eels find themselves in on a macro level. Talent in spots across the park matched by glaring holes in the roster and some issues and inexperience in closing out difficult contests. There are absolutely signs that Jason Ryles is starting to get this team on track but it is clearly going to take time to see out the plan.

As frustrating as the loss proved to be, the Eels still had plenty of individual standouts.

Dylan Walker continues to shine at lock forward and is building an irrepressible case to take over at Parramatta’s starting – and perhaps sole – middle backrower. His pristine ball work and ability to expertly play the inside pass led to a spectacular reversal option when he shaped inside but passed outside to a flying Matt Doorey early in the second half. With J’maine Hopgood struggling to find his place in Parramatta’s new-look offence – at least to my eyes – by contrast, Walker has impressed at every turn and has consistently shown he can elevate his peers.

The Jordan Samrani experiment continued into its second week with improved results as the towering centre-come-backrower was tasked with over 70-minutes of playing time due to head injury assessments and injuries in Parramatta’s backline. Jordan’s lines and timings were better this week and a particularly sharp run off the shoulder of Mitchell Moses is what set the table for the aforementioned Doorey try.

While the young forward races to find his feet in a new position, Josh Addo-Carr continues to wind back the clock in what is fast becoming a renaissance era for the charismatic flanker. The Foxx starred on the left wing with 239m from 22 runs that produced 3 line breaks and 9 tackle busts. Yes, he might have erred on that final play by drifting infield against Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow but the Dolphins could not contain him otherwise. His speed from midfield tormented the boys from Redcliffe and it was his lead-up work that should have put the Eels in the box seat before Iongi’s unfortunate drop.

The loss consigns the Eels to the bottom of the table and that does sting given victory was right there for the Blue & Gold. Hopes of a Top 8 finish are now firmly in the realms of idyllic dreaming and the cold reality is that the Eels face a lengthy street fight with the likes of the Titans and Knights to avoid the wooden spoon. That certainly does suck but I am still encouraged by the week-on-week on growth we are seeing under Ryles. Relentless, uncontrollable injuries (none of them are soft tissue related) are a vicious handicap but we are seeing plenty of character from the young talent getting a crack.

NSW Cup

Canterbury Bulldogs 41 defeat the Parramatta Eels 28

Parramatta’s back line and interchange bench were sapped this week and that showed – although was not the entire reason – in their 13-point loss to the Bulldogs in Tamworth. As mentioned at the top of the blog, a 10 minute window before half time in which the Eels went to sleep saw the score spiral from 14-0 in their favour to a 24-14 lead for Canterbury at the break. Parramatta were able to level the scores in the second half at 28-all but a rough day off the tee for Dean Hawkins (2/6) compared to his kicking counterpart Blake Taafe (6/7) meant the Eels could secure the lead and apply scoreboard pressure on their rivals.

The loss drops the Eels back to 3rd on the ladder due to the superior points differential of the Dragons.

While no one explicitly kicked down the door for first grade selection, Toni Mataele and Will Latu continued to build their cases for an eventual call up this season. Mataele was rock solid on both sides of the ball with a productive 130m from 12 runs that also featured 3 tackle busts and an offload. Equally importantly, he was also tidy in defence with 21 tackles made with just a single missed and ineffective tackle a piece.

Latu was a nightmare for the Bulldogs’ defence to bring down with a whopping 8 tackle busts to his name. That included a powerful effort from short range that yielded a try. He was heavily involved in attack with 15 runs for 130m but was also part of the left edge that struggled with Canterbury’s mid-game onslaught. He made 20 tackles but missed 3 and was involved in a further 3 ineffective efforts. I am not counting it heavily against him by any means but it is a reminder that rookies will have their moments in defence.

Zach Hunter (2 tries), Araz Nanva (2 try assists) and Matthew Hunter (1 line break assist) all had some nice moments across Parramatta’s 6 scoring efforts. Despite the loss it made for encouraging signs for the young talent in the team and with a host of senior talent to return the Eels are still well positioned in the grade despite the loss.

Jersey Flegg Cup

Canterbury Bulldogs 36 defeat the Parramatta Eels 10

For the second week running the Eels were victims of star performances from super talented opposition play-makers. The first such scenario happened in the SG Ball Grand Final where Toby Rodwell produced a pearler to keep the Roosters in the fight while this week it was Mitchell Woods who carved up in the Jersey Flegg for Canterbury to clinically dispose of the Eels.

It was a fairly wretched effort from a team that has been on top of their game for nearly two-and-a-half months and a result that should be quickly flushed from the memory banks for all involved.

The are assisted in that endeavour by the global bye that all teams will enjoy this week. It will also boost the team’s efforts to integrate and induct the promoted talent from the SG Ball. Lorenzo Talataina and Issac Jim already took that plunge with their maiden caps in the grade in this loss but plenty more should follow their steps as the Under 21s are reinforced by the extremely talented SG Ball class.

Another question arises from the global bye in the potential promotions of senior Flegg players into the NSW Cup for a round. A number of the squad are already graded in the NSW Cup (Alameddine, Lynn, Lewis, Lokeni and Spence if I am not mistaken) while season standouts in Bradley Avery, Tuvaka Palu, Damascus Neemia, Jack Hudson and Domenico De Stradis could feasibly win debuts.

All will (maybe) be revealed tomorrow on Teams List Tuesday…although it wouldn’t be unprecedented for any roster moves to be part of a late change to the NSW Cup team list on game day.

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