It's the 116th Battle of the West.
But for the Eels, recent history is ugly.
They have lost 5-straight to Penrith. The worst losing streak against the Panthers in their history. Their last win against them came three years ago, in 2023.
But the mighty Panther machine has wobbled. They have won just one of their past four matches. We have won two from four.
Yes, Eels fans. Read that again. Dis is twoo.
That makes Penrith dangerous.
Expect Ivan Cleary's men to arrive looking to make a statement. And we happen to be standing in front of them.
Talisman Mitchell Moses plays his 13th game of an up and down season. If we are to pull off an almighty upset, or simply stay in the fight long enough to have a chance, it will begin with our captain's boot and composure. And something that has eluded this young squad all too often this year.
The basics.
Team Lists
Eels 15th v Panthers 1st, CommBank Stadium, 7:50PM Thursday, July 23
Weather: 12°, gusts 17-19kmh, 48% humidity
TAB Odds: Eels $4.80, Panthers $1.18; Eels longest odds of any team this round.
Referees: Gerard Sutton (on-field), Kasey Badger (touch judge), Ashley Klein (bunker)
Eels: 1. Isaiah Iongi, 2. Brian Kelly, 3. Jordan Samrani, 22. Will Penisini , 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Ronald Volkman, 7. Mitchell Moses, 8. Sam Tuivaiti, 9. Tallyn Da Silva, 10. Jack Williams, 15. Luca Moretti, 12. Kitione Kautoga, 13. Jack de Belin
Interchange: 11. Kelma Tuilagi, 14. Dylan Walker, , 16. Teancum Brown, 17. Harrison Edwards, 18. Joash Papalii, 19. Toni Mataele
Cut: 4. Araz Nanva
Head Coach: Jason Ryles
Panthers: 20. Jaxen Edgar 2. Thomas Jenkins, 3. Paul Alamoti, 4. Casey McLean, 5. Brian To'o, 6. Blaize Talagi, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Moses Leota, 9. Freddy Lussick, 10. Lindsay Smith, 11. Isaiah Papali'i, 12. Liam Martin, 13. Isaah Yeo
Interchange: 14. Billy Scott, 15. Scott Sorensen, 16. Liam Henry, 17. Billy Phillips, 19. Jack Cole, 20. Jaxen Edgar
Cut: 18. Izack Tago, 22. K. Leuluai-Going
Head Coach: Ivan Cleary
For the Eels, Penisini is in for Nanva. Moretti starts pushing Tuilagi to the bench.
For the Panthers, Edgar debuts at one. It pushes Jenkins back to the wing, and Tago is cut.
Stat Attack
The Eels last beat the Panthers in 2023, and have lost 5 of their last 7 games against the Panthers.
The Eels have defeated only one current top eight team this year (Cowboys, R10).
CommBank is Cool:
The Panthers have won 6 from 7 this year.
The Eels have won 3 of the last 5 games here improving as the year has gone on.
Thursday Night Wobbles:
Eels: Lost 5 of the last 6 games.
Panthers: Lost 8 of the last 9 games.
Milestones Men:
Brian To’o has scored 99 tries in the NRL. He need one more for a century.
Mitchell Moses needs 5 points to register 1,400 career points.
De Juva
The Eels are rested and coming off the bye. But Round 19 against the third placed Roosters was a familiar story. Plenty of fight. Grit. But too much self-inflicted torture.
18 errors.
69% completions.
Almost 400 tackles to 265.
Just 430 kick metres.
All the ingredients needed to lose by sixty.
Instead, we somehow kept the score to 28-12. Miraculous. Almost superhuman.
We trailed only 10-6 after an hour despite spending most of the night defending. Then fatigue, possession, pressure and the Roosters' deadly kicking game finally took their toll. Three tries in 12 minutes was the knockout blow.
The Eels did not have a single death zone—three or more consecutive attacking sets, where most tries are scored— until the 78th minute.
The Roosters already had 7 by then.
Anyone who watches Penrith, the Warriors or State of Origin football knows what happens during these zones. Defences crack.
That's survival footy.
Ryles: You don't dip your toes in
In the pre-game presser yesterday Jason Ryles was full of praise for the Panthers.
“They’re a possession-based team. They put you under a lot of pressure”, Ryles noted.
“It’s important you go out and attack the game, and play your footy.”
“You don’t go out there to survive, or dip your toes in."
“You need to make sure you Start fast and give yourself every opportunity.”
Ryles was aslo questioned about Peter Badel's attack on him as a "protected species". But he smiled and remarked it was all part of the game and it was merely "his turn" to cop it.
Bottom Line
The Eels will need to bring the grit and resilience they've shown over the past two months.
Against Penrith, that won't be enough though.
They'll also need to play as close to perfect football to be in with a shot. Or else. Against Penrith, mistakes don't stay mistakes for long.
Replies
The betting odds are a fair assessment of the squads.
If we have an "on" day and the Panthers somehow have another uncharacteristic "off" day, who knows what could happen? But given how slick we have seen that the Panthers can be this year it is a terrifying prospect coming up against them on the back of a lean run, as each week passes the point they have to prove gets bigger and bigger and now their top of the ladder spot is within a few wins of other teams (lucky their F&A is so mighty).
I'd obviously adore a win, but I'd settle for solid defence and not killing ourselves with silly errors.
28-16 win to the Panthers.
How good is Thursday night footy though?? Helps the week along nicely.
PenRiff by.... plenty ! 😔
Penrith have lost 8 of their last 9 Thursday games. Let's go boys. Fire up for the derby!
If i were Ryles ill.tell them not to hold back in attack, it will be a higher scoring match. We need to match Penrith in attack and score 28 at least, If we're playing force ems back it won't work
Go the mighty Eels I think they will fire up tonight for a win
Gee I hope the Eels notch up a win! Penrith will be difficult for sure as they have a very good side. It's still possible for an Eels upset win IF the referee gives 50/50 calls and Penrith don't dominate the repeat sets. Eels by 6
I'm just going to enjoy this game no expectations.
Its clear who the class team in this matchup is I'll just be interested in how we go here.We've nothing to lose so we may aswell go out swinging.Throw the rules out the window and just play and see what happens.
It will nice to see if the players will just stick tothe basics: complete their sets, make their tackles, keep their discipline and avoid dumb penalties and 6-agains, maintain their ruck and line speed. Hoepfully we will see a good game.🤞
Holy crap! What a start! Iongi ball to Luca was quality.
Lovely dry weather footy. Short passes are the best passes
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