Eels Blogs

Arthur and the team still have faith despite being written off by the rugby league world.

He even believes last week is the perfect preparation for this week's daunting task against the Broncos.

"We had 20 unanswered points put on us last week [by the Dragons] but we held our nerve and we were able to win that game and put on the last three tries and that has put us in a good position going into this week," Arthur told the media earlier this week.

"It would have been nice to walk away from that game against the dragons and win by 50. But it's hard to win NRL games and they were there to play."

 In the past, maybe the pressure might have gotten to us and we would have crumbled. But we held our nerve and we were able to win that game, and put the last three tries on, so that's put us in a good position going into this week.

Arthur, on the R23 Dragon's game, leading into this week's clash against the Broncos 

"Carry (Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr) being an ex-Parramatta man. He had them up."

Ryan Carr also praised the Dragons' effort as "one of the best he has ever seen".

Team Lists

Friday 8:00pm, The Gabba, Brisbane

Brisbane are hot favorites at $1.30 to $3.52 on Sportsbet. It the first meet here for the Eels, but at the Gabba the Broncos remain undefeated, winning two from two this year.

Broncos (2nd)

1. Reece Walsh 2. Deine Mariner 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Bench: 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Brendan Piakura 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Keenan Palasia

Reserves: 18. Corey Jensen 19. Xavier Willison 20. Tristan Sailor 21. Jock Madden 22. Jordan Pereira

Head Coach: Kevin Walters

Eels (9th)

1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Daejarn Asi 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Joe Ofahengaue 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Andrew Davey 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. J’maine Hopgood

Bench: 14. Luca Moretti 15. Ryan Matterson 16. Wiremu Greig 17. Brendan Hands

Reserves: 18. Makahesi Makatoa 19. Waqa Blake 20. Ofahiki Ogden 21. Ky Rodwell 22. Jack Murchie 

Head Coach: Brad Arthur

Referee: Adam Gee
Touch Judge: Wyatt Raymond
Touch Judge: Belinda Sharpe
Senior Review Official: Gerard Sutton

Reynolds is a big in.

"Adam Reynolds controls the game well off the back of their big forward pack and last time we played them he contributed to all their tries," Arthur said on Wednesday.

"So obviously he is a big threat and we have to do a good job on their middles to limit his opportunities."

Arthur also explained that Asi was a "better fit" for the team, this week, and knew the "systems" better than last week's debutant young Arthur-Smith.

Additionally, it's Mitchell Moses' 150th NRL game. Payne Haas also celebrates his 100th.

Arthur noted how special Mitchell's milestone is.

"But at the end of the day, the priority's got to be about the performance."

 We'll show how much Mitchell means to us with the attitude that we turn up with.

Arthur on Moses' milestone earlier this week

"You can't win games of footy on emotion. You can't execute on emotion. So we need to take that out away from it."

The Eels will certainly be up against it tonight.

Overall, statistically, the Broncos shape up as top three in both attack and defence. One of the few that may have a hope of stopping the Panthers' unstoppable juggernaut.

From sixth to one of the worst

Overall, the Eels sit as one of the top three attacking teams, but the last five weeks have seen them drop off a cliff, statistically in all areas, as one of the worst in the competition.

The rise and fall of the Eels. They come up against the soaring Broncos who appear to have overcome some mild mid-season turbulence.

Bottom Line

The fall of the Eels' is disappointing for the Eels' army who saw the team fight so hard to get as high as sixth on the ladder back in round 18 - to now sit precariously in ninth and up against it.

There has been a distinct drop in the Eels' intensity and attitude; with some symptoms of the off-on inconsistency that has plagued the club for years if not decades.

Most pundits have written off the Eels. The bookmakers have put the Eels up as $81 no-hopers; you'd have to go back to spoon year 2018 to see such odds.

 Arthur, though, believes the team has matured and will be able to handle the pressure of the next few weeks - with plenty of fight left.

"I think last year we had to handle the pressure to get to where we got to and this year every game has been a fight for us - there hasn't been anything come easy for us but everyone has fought hard and we're going to have to fight extremely hard this week."

"We've got a big period coming up and this is a great opportunity, we're excited, if we can get there [to the finals]"

"We're going to have to win some big games to do it and that will put us in good stead if we are fighting at the back end of the year."

It appears likely the Eels will need to win two of the last three to get there. Do you have faith?

The question is how much fight is left?