Match Preview: Eels march to soldier on

Here we go Parra fans. The Eels will establish themselves in the top eight with a win against the Tigers and for all their attacking brilliance over recent weeks, it will be their defence they gets them over the line this week. If you go back over the recent wins of both teams, you'll quickly realise that both have been flattered. The Eels have only had to take on the lowly Sharks, an out-of-sorts Newcastle and struggling Warriors, while the Tigers have put together wins against the bottom two-placed teams, the Sharks and Roosters and also scored a win against a very ordinary Sea Eagles outfit as well as Canberra before they suddenly snapped into form. While both sides have shown they are capable of stacking on points against struggling teams, there has been a world of difference between the two sides in defence. Conceding less than eight points over their last four matches, the Eels 'D' has been fortress like. The Tigers certainly won't be treated to the inadequacies of the Shark's defensive line, which was just atrocious last week. The Gundagai Goannas could have stacked of 50 against the Shire boys last week and the Tigers have another individual brilliance and fleet-footed athletes to cut you to shreds if you don't present them with a solid line of defence. Against the Eels very structured, very disciplined and committed defence, the Tigers are going to have to work much harder for their points. Their forwards are going to have to match up to ours and with Nathan Cayless back and Fuifui Moimoi at his rampaging best that's going to be tough for them to do. They'll hope that Robbie Farah can spark something for them up the middle. He's had a lot of success against the Eels in the past, and was their most dynamic player against us again last encounter when were defeated by the Tigers. However, since the Panthers game, you have not been able to fault the Eels ruck defence and there will be far fewer holes this week. The Tigers will also look for the inside ball to Tim Moltzen as they have had good success with that in recent weeks, so the Eels won't be able to rest in that area, but I think they're up to the task. Probably, the most impressive part of the Tigers attack has been their ability to take advantage of overlaps. They have been able to get big numbers stacked to the side of Taniela Tuiaki and with some crisp passing, the big Tigers winger is having a field day on that flank. Again, though, they won't find it so easy to outnumber the Eels and our The play I'm most worried is the kick behind the line. The Tigers have become experts at this play, sucking the outside defenders up and then kicking through, especially for their quicker outside backs on the other side of the park like Beau Ryan. It's also a tactic that teams have had a lot of success using against us. Eric Grothe is notorious for not being able to run quickly and its even been a weakness of Luke Burt's game in recent week. However, for the most part I believe the Eels defence will be equal to the Tigers attack. There has been no team that has been more successful in tying up Benji Marshall than the Eels and I can't remember one clash against us where he has been allowed to dominate. With the inexperienced Lui inside of him, that will place even more pressure on Marshall to be the main man and he has shown a tendency to get very frustrated when confronted with a structure defence. On the flipside, the Eels two key attacking weapons will be just as potent against the Tigers, if not more. Our second-phase play has always worried Wests and we've racked up some big points against them in the past. With the exception of Gareth Ellis they don't have forwards who dominate in defence and sides like Parramatta do have quite a lot of success promoting the football. We've got so many brilliant broken field runners that its no surprise we've had a field day against sides of late. If Feleti Mateo does come into the side, as reported this morning, we'll have even more prowess in this regard and I expect the Tigers defence to be on the back pedal the entire match. Missing an old head like Skandalis is going to hurt the Tigers, too. The Tigers D is also vulnerable against the game's very best attacking players. Anthony Watmough had a field day against them a few weeks and there probably will be a side who is able to minimise Jarryd Hayne's impact, but I don't see it being the Tigers. In fact, I don't even expect this to be a close contest. With a big crowd at the SFS, the majority of which is expected to be Eels fans, I expect this just to be a celebration and confirmation of our march into the finals series and we'll be eyeing fifth place after this week.

"Paulo is a shadow of what he once was and is getting worse each year. He looks like he hates the collision these days. Sadly that is what he would display if kept around as a leader for our pack for others to follow. Sam T already seems to follow in…"

"Did you watch him play in this years final for Souths? He was owned by old man Gagai. Laurel went missing all game although he did pass the ball from dummy half a lot to the other outside backs to work it out of their end. Massive NO."

Replies

Benoir Bayssari August 21, 2009 at 10:21am

Very similar to the 2007 Monday NIght game lead up between the two teams
Parra smashed them 38-8 in the end.
Parra Dude August 21, 2009 at 11:32am

I am feelin a big score too... Can help but be nervous though!
Finchy August 21, 2009 at 12:37pm

I can't wait. Still 7 hours to go!!

Fully agree that D will win it for us. So much has been made in the media of the attacking prowess of both sides, particularly Hayne vs Marshall, but it will boil down down to who wins the forward battle and who defends better.

My tip - Parra 24 - Tigers 10. (I would up Parra's score by 10-12 points, but I think the Tigers will be primed for a big defensive game).
Mick August 21, 2009 at 1:23pm

Good call 1Eyed. I can't see the Tigers putting many points through our solid defence.

I am really looking forward to see the combination of Mortimer, Moi Moi, Mateo and Hayne. What an awesome side we have!

They all have a role to play and with the great support roles from Robson, Lowrie, Burt, Reddy and Hindy, what more can we want?

We are primed. The Tigers will not know what hit 'em.
NZ Eel Fan August 21, 2009 at 1:39pm

I am really nervous about this game. You could just see it being the make or break game 2 or 3 weeks ago. Hopefully this big game will be one of those when Benji is anonymous (it does happen, I have seen it so many times before with the kiwis). He likes it when things are going his way, and with an inexperienced halves partner, I think we can really thwart the tigers attack somewhat. I think both teams will start equally fast tonight, but after everything has settled down and in that 25-40min period I believe will be the first hint at what the final outcome may be. I think we are a much more complete team accross the board now, and will win 26-18. Hope this makes sense! GO YOU EELS!!!!!!!!
- Gil Carter > NZ Eel Fan August 21, 2009 at 6:31pm
  
  Well written blog, Enzedder!! - Channel 9 just had Ando on & he confirmed Mateo on the Bench! - I honestly think we'll carve them up!!
hebe August 21, 2009 at 3:45pm

I've finished work...waiting for mates so I can head over to SFS...damn hope the bus service isn't too packed lol.
- hebe > hebe August 21, 2009 at 4:07pm
  
  I know. I'm excited. I don't want to sit here at work surfing the net! BAH! lol.
Gil Carter August 21, 2009 at 6:28pm

We also smacked a near full strength Bulldogs, 27-8 & a fast finishing Storm after dominating!!!! - Parra are specials!!