Eels Blogs

Parramatta and Penrith. Both start with P.  2 teams that are close in geography and acrimony. This match continued the statistics of close matches with it now being 5 matches in a row between the two being won by 6 points or less. Last year, Bryce Cartwright won the game on the siren to deflate the Eels team. This year, he would get no such opportunity.

1. Unlucky Jenko

Jennings was unlucky. After a fantastic game last weekend against the Tigers, he was denied a try due to a controversial knock on by Clint Gutherson who was unlucky not to get away with the call especially after the Broncos were successful against the Rabbitohs in a very similar situation.

The second was a knock-on call at dummy half when it clearly hit his boot. It was at a crucial stage in the game where Parramatta had yet to be tackled inside the Panthers 20m zone. The Eels had completed only 4 sets at this stage. 

2. Clint Gutherson is a star

Gutherson deserves all the raps he is given. Commentators have raved about him in the past - labelling him the 'King' which is high praise and in yesterday's match praising his performance as Number 1 for a second week in a row. It leaves Eels fans almost forgetting about their highly talented Bevan French who is out injured. He supported the ball carrier well, made some great decisions - setting up the match winner with a clever outside of the boot grubber which he then went onto converting. He was labelled as a part timer as a goalkicker but he kicked 4 from 4 and nailed the last conversion from the right hand touchline where he has struggled to convert from in the past.

Time will tell whether he is a genuine goalkicker but promising signs from Clint. He is a true footballer with grit and determination. Commentators noted how his transition was seamless and although scaring Eels fans with an attempted pass in the in goal it became a kick across to Hoffman who showed amazing poise and hands to catch the ball at his ankles and then make it out of the in goal. 

3. Corey Norman holds the key

Corey Norman is key for Parramatta. He scored the first and third try for Parramatta and set up the 2nd with a pin point kick for Semi Radradra. He almost kicked a 40/20 again and made a line break which, after a poor offload almost led to a Panther's try. He is a skillful player who the Eels need to continue to develop their game around him. They need to ensure they are not a one man team and it will be a tough ask against the Cowboys and Roosters over the next fortnight - especially without Brad Takaraingi in the halves after suffering a PCL injury. 

4. The Eels pack gets the job done

Parramatta have a versatile and underrated forward pack. Nathan Brown, Beau Scott, Kenny Edwards, Daniel Alvaro along with the firepower of Suaia Matagi and Siosaia Vave help create strong attacking options with some of these forwards used in plays that were pivotal to crossing the white stripe - Vave's pass out the back for Radradra's try and Brown's offloads. Many of the Eel's forwards dominated the middle and this was out of Brad Arthur's instructions to return to their 2016 style of play which saw 5 players make over 100m with their runs.

Tim Mannah led well from the front. The boys seemed switched on for this game. That's likely as it was a local derby, coming off a come from behind win last week and sticking to Arthur's game plan. It was closer to a 80 minute performance although Penrith scored 2 late tries which made for a nervous ending. Part of this comeback could be claimed by the injury to Takaraingi which meant Edwards moved to five eigth. 

5. Panthers still searching

Penrith still haven't found their groove. They have some key players on the sideline in Josh Mansour, Te Maire Martin and although Bryce Cartwright returned he was far from his best and made some crucial errors at key times. His execution and decision making needs to improve. Penrith went too lateral too often and didn't have the patience to build pressure with repeat sets. Nathan Cleary tried to do this but other's didn't follow his lead. If they show cohesion they can be the team that was tipped to be premiers at the start of the year.