And just like that, the first month of the NRL season has been run and won.
The Eels sit equal first on the ladder with cross-town rivals Penrith both undefeated.
Parramatta kicked off with a tough, come from behind victory over Brisbane following a terrible first half. They backed that up with a superb 80 minute performance against Melbourne, a professional dispatching of Cronulla and a scrappy yet ultimately comfortable win over the Tigers.
The team looks as if it has improved across the park when compared with last year.
Mitchell Moses, in the three games he has played, has been much steadier in his kicking game and play calling while Reed Mahoney currently tops the Dally M tally after some outstanding performances that should, at the very least, see him in the Queensland squad.
Junior Paulo's form has seen him lay claim to the title of best prop in the NRL while Marata Niukore has been a revelation in the centres.
Wingers Blake Ferguson and Maika Sivo seem to have re-discovered their mojos.
New recruit Isaiah Papali'i has been outstanding both off the bench and in the starting side. His hard carries, footwork and offload ability have added some much needed punch and creativity.
But for me, the most impressive thing has been Brad Arthur's use of the bench. One of my major criticisms of BA last year was him taking Junior, RCG and Nathan Brown all off at the same time, leaving us undersized in the middle.
The development of Oregon Kaufusi and Papali'i on the bench does mitigate that somewhat however, Junior, RCG and Brown are never off all at the same time with at least one of them always on the park.
This keeps up the intensity in the middle of the field while allowing BA to effectively operate with a three man bench given how little game time Will Smith has been given outside of injury.
With a squad almost completely fit, BA will have some selection headaches. He's already had to choose between Hipgrave, Stone and Cartwright for a bench spot, with further selection quandaries on the horizon when Waqa Blake is fit.
That's not to say the Eels have been perfect. Their dropped balls against the Tigers would be punished by a better team and their opening half against the Broncos was diabolical.
However, the end of 2020 Eels had a severe issue with scoring points and that seems to have been addressed while the team's defensive commitment has been outstanding, epitomised by none other than every man Clint Gutherson.
There are plenty of games to go, storylines to witness and questions to be answered before the business end of the season. but the Eels have started on the right boot.
Replies
I think the key from here is for Parra to be able to get back on track when things don't go to plan. The dropped balls on Monday could very well have sent the team into a tailspin, but they held their composure to grab the 2 points, and by a decent margin in the end. On Sunday we need to put those bad moments from Monday's game aside and just look to do things as we know we should. This team is starting to get some self belief, which is a critical factor in being a sustainably successful team.
Given Marata has been so successful in the centre role, it definitely makes Blake the second choice now. I don't see how he can unseat Marata unless he blows them away for a few weeks in reggies. And even then, why change a winning formula?
21 weeks to go, really puts things into perspective. This comp is a marathon.
I agree that Waqa needs to go back to Canterbury Cup and show he deserves his spot back in the team. Marata has been awesome and Fergo is benifiting from it. We need to hold the ball, unforced errors on the first play drive me insane and when theres 1 it seems to be followed by 10 minutes of it. We should of closed out the tigers game early in the second half but just kept letting them back into the contest with dropped ball. I do think if Waqa can get his defence right as well as working with Fergo better in attack it lets Marata go onto the bench and with a Papa Marata double coming in against tied players, YeeHaa. Lets hope Carty can get back to the player that was pushing into rep sides then the bench is as dangerous as the starting pack. YeeHaa again.
The drop balls were punished they scored off both
There's a problem with the jerseys. Looks like this season's version doesn't have the grip tabs that we had on previous jerseys. All teams have them
Agree with the bench, a full strength bench with papa niukore Cartwright and X is better than we've had in years. Not sure if BA will go with smith or kaufusi as 4th bench but either have earned a spot.
Totally agree.
Plenty of options but I was thinking Papa takes lanes spot, Marata stays at centre, bench of Lane, Kafusi, Carty & ( Wiremu, Stone, Hipgrave or Smith depending on opersition )