The Parramatta Eels came from behind to beat arch-rivals, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36-16 on Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium.
The Dogs had all the running early, enjoying 70% possession and plenty of good field position for the first 20 minutes, earning themselves a 10 point lead.
Parramatta though showed they are a different side to the 2018 wooden spooners, responding first through Blake Ferguson who slid open on the right wing and then captain Clint Gutherson who loomed in support of Reed Mahoney after he had sliced through the middle of the Bulldogs defence.
The back-to-back tries gave the Eels a 12-10 lead at half time.
Parramatta surged further ahead early in the second half when Gutherson crossed for his second in the first minute of the half. Blake Ferguson latched onto a Josh Jackson pass and raced 85 metres to score. Shaun Lane then pinched a four-pointer of his own, intercepting an offload from Raymond Faitala-Mariner on the left edge and touching down under the black dot.
Mitchell Moses continued his perfect day with the boot giving the Eels a 30-10 lead.
The Dogs threatened a comeback after Dylan Napa barged over in the 63rd minute, but any concerns the Eels would drop their bundle were put to rest when Dylan Brown stepped his way through the Dogs front line, found Jaeman Salmon and then backed up on the inside to score his first try in the NRL and hand the Eels a 36-16 lead.
The win puts the Eels equal first on the competition ladder after two rounds, second to the Wests Tigers on points differential.
New recruit Blake Ferguson had a day to remember in the blue and gold, his two tries also going with 298 run metres, 64 post contact metres, two linebreaks, one offload, 10 tackle breaks and a try assist.
The Eels looked calm and composed throughout the match, even after going behind early, with halves Moses and Brown kicking well and getting their team around the park.
For Blue and Gold faithful it was a welcome turnaround from 2018, with the 2019 version so far proving threatening in attack with every player carrying the ball with vigour, offloads being promoted and plenty of support play through the middle.
Reed Mahoney has clearly been given instructions to run and Gutherson's first try was the perfect example of that.
Defence for the Eels was also a highlight, as it was in round one. Whilst still conceding 10 points early was a concern, the fact it took the Bulldogs 15 minutes to breach their line through a kick was testament to the defensive attitude the Eels have this season.
Parramatta's defence frustrated the Bulldogs and they were unable to take advantage throughout the game of the Hoffman-Sivo combination.
The Eels will face a sterner test of their defensive mettle when they come up against defending Premiers, the Sydney Roosters on Friday in their penultimate clash at ANZ before heading home to the new Parramatta Stadium.
Head coach Brad Arthur will no doubt want to prevent anymore soft tries through the middle and will want the Eels to tighten up their completion rate which was poor on Sunday afternoon.
Comments
I can't believe Napa scored that soft try at the end. I'm so glad we didn't sign him. He looked slow and well behind the pace.
Good summary Super. We're playing with courage.
Overall: Our energy, defence, and support play demonstrates the improvement in attitude as a team.
And so we can take advantage of our increased attacking arsenal this year with new additions Brown, Fergo, Lane Junior, Sivo. Gutho is looking the best he has in a long time. Mahoney too is looking better. As was M.Jennings before suspension. Great signs.
And we're looking fitter too. Luckily we departed from AFL like fitness training.
No excuses next week.
We just seem to be pushing that little bit harder at everything. Last year we'd have a player looking to offload and no one would be there, whereas this year someone always seems to be ready for the ball to be popped out the back and we seem so much faster. Everything is organised, our players go smoothly, our ball-players seem to have time on the ball and aren't always under pressure. So much of that comes down to our confidence but also how well we've been drilled and the start of our sets. Having Guth, Fergo and Sivo taking the first three charges, often supported by Taka means we've always got big bodies carrying the ball, forcing defences to compress and commit bodies to the tackles early which takes its toll. Ferguson, to me, is doing the job that Semi did. His carries are invaluable and he fights for every metre.
Fergo must be getting paid by the meter - LOL
And he’d be worth every penny !
Super, we were that committed to offload, we started picking up theirs.
The 2 intercept trys say a lot about the Eels this season. Last year no one would of been pushing up & in a position to take the intecepts. The old saying is "You make your own luck" & the best way to do that is by being in the game at all times because you just never know.
The "spirit" of Brett Kenny was on the park. I don't think there is another player in the history of the game that scored more intercept tries. He was the master of reading the opposition's plays.
Ryan Girdler probably did
Jarryd Hayne also had a knack for it when he played on the wing.
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