Eels Blogs

All season we've heard Brad Arthur talk about front loading effort and playing tough, and aside from the first two minutes, it's exactly what they did on Sunday afternoon.

The elimination final against Newcastle was a display of finals footy from Parramatta. They played with a defensive intensity that's needed to win these matches and it was ultimately the difference between the two sides.

The Eels' willingness to put their bodies on the line and hammer Newcastle gassed the Knights as they struggled for field position and as the game entered its final quarter, the Knights were the more tired of the two sides.

It was a display of outright aggression and of winning the collision. On multiple occasions Newcastle struggled to get past their own 30 metre line. One set was so brutal, Mitchell Pearce was kicking from inside his own 20.

The defensive intensity was reminiscent of Parramatta's 1998 final against the North Sydney Bears when Dean Pay went berserk for five minutes and effectively won the Eels the match.

The engine room really turned it on, led by the fresh Reagan Campbell-Gillard. Ray Stone showed all the defensive tenacity he's been noted for while the likes of Nathan Brown and Junior Paulo both belted anything in red and blue.

Parramatta's game was far from polished, but when they needed to break the game open, they did.

A few weeks ago, Brad Arthur spoke about peaking at the right time of the season, which just so happened to be at the same time the side's form fell off a cliff. Yet, since the Cowboys game, regardless of who has worn the blue and gold, they have been physical and aggressive, looking to dominate their opponents with and without the ball.

Parramatta's game plan relies on a very high intensity combined with physicality, and it's hard to do that for eight weeks straight. His resting of players in round 25 could prove the difference this week. The Panthers looked clunky and tired against Souths. They never hit their stride and they've looked like that since Nathan Cleary returned from his shoulder injury.

Against Melbourne, Parramatta's physicality earnt them a fantastic win, and snapped the Storm's 19 match winning streak.

Against Penrith, the NSW Cup side went toe-to-toe with the second placed side for 55 minutes and it was a lack of match fitness and first grade experience that lost them that match.

In many ways, that match may prove to be more consequential than any other heading into week two of the finals. A forward pack lacking RCG, Paulo, Brown, Niukore and Papali'i didn't just perform admirably against the Panthers, they battered them. At one stage the Eels had four consecutive sets in the red zone. If that's the first string side then a couple of tries probably result. That's got to breed some confidence among the squad.

But it seemed Wayne Bennett was watching that match, because Souths adopted very similar tactics in their week one finals win.

The wins against both Newcastle and Melbourne were built off the back of the kicking game of Mitchell Moses. He has really stepped up this season and the lack of punch oppositions have getting out of their own end is allowing the Eels to dictate terms.

A similarly physical effort minus the errors will see Parramatta in a good position to beat Penrith. It seems many have forgotten the Eels were a mere missed penalty goal away from beating the Panthers earlier in the season and become the only team to beat both Melbourne and Penrith this year.

Brad Arthur has a bit of a luxury on his hands now. Provided Joey Lussick is fit, he will have a full forward pack to choose from and some will have to miss out. 

Ray Stone has been immense the past two games, but does he fit onto the bench if Will Smith is also there to cover the backline?

Is Ryan Matterson recalled to add a new point of attack or replace Shaun Lane who again was a bit underwhelming?

Does Arthur roll with a big bopper bench and have Makatoa, Kaufusi and Papali'i all there alongside a utility to combat Penrith's large bench?

Or does Arthur reward this side for its wins and send them out to do the job against Penrith?

I'm not going to second guess Arthur's selections this week. Many were worried about him leaving Ryan Matterson out but Marata Niukore more than did his share of work on the right edge.

If anything, the last month shows Arthur has learnt a lot about coaching at the business end of the season. He's rested players when he's needed to, handed valuable minutes to back up players and backed his own judgement when he's needed to change up the attack.

Parramatta had to play differently against Newcastle without a bonafide number nine. Ray Stone's service was actually pretty good for a fill-in, but he doesn't have the width or guile that Joey or Reed do. Instead, the Eels utilised Junior Paulo and Nathan Brown as middle distributors, giving the side more width forcing the Knights to compress.

The Eels have now reached the same place they have the last three finals series. It's time to take that next step.