Are you not entertained? Much like round 10, the Eels and the Cowboys put on a defence optional display with a grandstand finish, and once again the good guys took the biscuits. If we’re going to be playing out the season with only pride to motivate us, we may as well put on a show I say.

This game had just about everything. I was baying for referee blood at some points, cheering in ecstasy at a front rower throwing a 30 metre cutout soon after, cursing the most basic of defensive frailties the whole way. Nobody in Blue and Gold should be happy about how brittle the middle was and how easily it was exposed by short passing at the line, but the game didn’t raise concerns we weren’t already aware of. It is the job of the coaching staff to get this up to standard over the off season.

While it was a shame that a HIA (and of course, another reportable tackle that didn’t warrant an Eels penalty) robbed Jezaiah Funa (maybe not -Iuta) of an expected debut, the younger brigade shone in this contest. Pryke and Brown were good in the pack, Samrani and Twidle did well in the backs, and whilst I have been labelled a Ronnie Volkman hater in the past I can’t fault much of his performance this week. It was one of Tallyn Da Silva’s best games with the ball as well, but we won’t talk about the tackling (at least until his individual grade).

The unreported reporting happened purely because Apa Twidle was caught milking earlier in the game, going down like he was shot then bouncing to his feet as if magically awakened by the referee’s whistle. Referees are getting too clever for themselves about this kind of thing. Nowhere in the rule book does it say that a penalty doesn’t get awarded if a player plays for the call. The interpretation of tackled in the air changed again this week, of course, in another example of basic consistency that officials can’t get right. I’m not even starting on the Mitchell Moses discourse. The sooner we all accept the new normal around head contact and that old rules like “falling into it” and “he barely touched him” are buried in the past like punch-ups, competitive scrums and Winfield sponsorships, the better.

Enough of that though. Let’s enjoy a fun win that we made a lot harder than it needed to be, but got away with all the same. Looking back, I think these grades are fairly generous considering we let in 30 points, but I’ll let it slide because that was such an entertaining game of footy. Click go the Eels, baby!

 

 

 

I’ve not seen a player harder on themselves when they make mistakes than Apa Twidle. I’m sure he asked the trainer for a leather whip to take to his own back at one point. He’s far from a traditional fullback but he runs hard, competes tough and finds himself in the right spots time after time. Opposition fans will hate him, and not just for his penchant for dairy after getting a high shot. He’s fun to watch.

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Another week, another elite Brian Kelly game. For the first time the NRL website highlights reel always starting with the opening kickoff actually showed a highlight thanks to Kelly. He beat the first defender time and again and he has made an art of turning tough early set carries into momentum building charges. If we weren’t going like busteds he’d be in the conversation for NRL buy of the year. The catch and kick for Twidle’s try was perfect footy.

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“Kick it to the big kid” remains a lucrative strategy for the Eels, and Jordan Samrani continues to make a case for holding on to this centre spot for 2027.

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I’d never seen somebody jump and somehow go down instead of up, but Penisini’s cornerpost attempt was a textbook example of why not all centres can be wingers. It’s a shame that is the main memory from his game, he had some great runs and solid defence out there. He probably shouldn’t have run straight at Tallyn Da Silva trying to get back onside when we gave away a penalty with the ball, either.

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The Fox broke his drought by pouncing on a grubber, which hopefully restores his confidence and he stops panicking every time he makes a clean break. He ran around the Cowboys defenders like they were standing still, then put in the kind of kick that would earn a “nice try” from the coach at my kid’s toddler soccer. He muffed an inside ball on another break too. Addo-Carr showed he can still do exceptional things, but he is rusty at icing them.

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Ripper of a performance by Volkman, who was a lot better in feeding his outside men on the left edge. He hit Kautoga flat early on and you knew he was in for a good one. His kicking game is proving fruitful and he was on the spot again to polish off an opportunity. Brett Kenny would’ve been proud of the dummy he sold before he scored.

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The foundations of CommBank Stadium are still shaking from the hit Jason Taumalolo put on poor Mitch, but the captain shook it off and put in one of his better efforts this year. He was crafty at the line, ran well and got to play “eyes up” more than we’re used to this year. He is rapidly dropping down my list of “make a conversion to save your life” options, but hopefully I’d score my life saving try closer to the posts than the Eels generally do.

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I’m not sure about Moretti’s usage in this one, three stints including two of less than ten minutes, but he ran tough, hit hard, didn’t miss a tackle and copped a nice cut right over his nose for the trouble.

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One of the better attacking games of Tallyn’s career, where he showed his speed to score off a cracking quick play-the-ball by Williams, then showed his craftiness in picking out offside defenders for the penalty try. Unfortunately it came at the expense of his defence, where he missed 9 tackles and just didn’t make strong enough first contact when picked out of the line by the big Cowboys forwards. His potential is shining through, he just needs to tighten up those parts of his game.

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Well wasn’t that something? All of Junior Paulo’s ballplaying has led to this moment, where he throws a half field cutout pass to set up the equaliser and send Andrew Voss’ assistant scrambling for a spare pair of pants. It iced a nice game for Junior, who put some shots on, defended stoutly and found plenty of metres.

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Standard game these days for Williams, with the added flourish of one of the quickest play-the-balls ever seen from a man in Blue and Gold which led to a Da Silva try. He makes good metres, he makes plenty of tackles, he makes hearts flutter in Eels fans everywhere.

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There were a few half chances for Kautoga on the edge, but ultimately his stat line reads a lot of work but no extras, he couldn’t turn those chances into offloads and breaks. Still, better than recent times where the chances weren’t even there, he was just well handled by the Cowboys edge.

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There is a lot to like about Saxon Pryke, who is the kind of meat and potatoes we need right now with strong workrate and no nonsense footy. It looks like he’ll get an extended audition for the 2027 lock role, and he hasn’t looked out of place in first grade thus far.

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It was a bit of an “on the way out” kind of game for Dylan Walker, who was limited in minutes and thus opportunities. The Eels are weaning themselves off Walker week by week, but like any good addiction we’ll miss what he once gave us.

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Solid work from Teancum, whose attacking totals benefited from some kickoff return work but whose defensive count (31 tackles, 1 miss and 3 ineffective) is a good effort for a rookie. I think he’d be better used as an impact player in shorter bursts, but he’s getting a good first grade education that will set him up nicely for 2027.

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I was surprised he came onto the field so early on, but Edwards was solid in his role, if a little vanilla in this chocolate swirl with a hazelnut twist of a game. He’ll want to stand out a bit more if this is indeed an audition for the 2027 lock role.

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Got through plenty of work considering he was on the field for 15 minutes, though the NRL website giving the try assist for Samrani’s meat pie to Rusty instead of Junior is the kind of robbery they make films about. If this was his last cameo in Blue and Gold, it was a great way to go out.

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Next on the docket are the Dolphins, who have a top four spot to defend and have handled the Eels fairly comfortably in the last two meetings. They’ll be tough to crack, especially up at Suncorp in front of 10,000 Dolphins and 35,000 not-Broncos fans.

With three matches left maybe we’ll see Jason Ryles blood a few more youngsters or host some open auditions for season 2027. Funa-Iuta is owed a debut at the least, though Joash Papalii will need to be washing the Ryles family car and cleaning out their gutters to both earn his way out of the doghouse and overtake Apa Twidle for fullback after an impressive outing.

Even after such a rough season, it is still sad to know the Eels will only be running out three more times this year. Let’s hope the strong finish continues, and even more, we actually build off it in 2027 this time.

Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.

Gol

Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media