Eels Blogs

The Parramatta Eels have put themselves back on track and claimed their place in the eight with a dominant 38 to 10 win against what was admittedly a woeful Brisbane.

Once again the Eels produced their best in their return to Bankwest Stadium, and Brad Arthur's key to staying in the eight will be ensuring that Parramatta produce something close to what they produce at home, when they travel for away games.

Key Moments

• 6m. When the Eels are playing well it almost all starts with Junior Paulo's bullocking runs, but tonight the Eel's form literally started with their big man when he managed to find his way to the line despite having the attention of four Broncos players. It was a good early indication of the attitude difference in the two teams.
• 11m. The Eels produced a stunning set of football, shifting the ball from one side of the park to the other on three consecutive ocassions. It's not easy to keep re-setting when you go from shift-to-shift but Parra kept bodies in motion the entire time and Maika Sivo does what he does best, winning a one-on-one contest with his opposite to score. When the Eels had Radradra much of the Eels structures were about creating one-on-one contests on the wing, which Semi typically won and now with both Sivo and Ferguson they have that ability again.
• 18m. I personally think Michael Jennings is going at least as good as a player like Josh Morris right now. It was no coincidence that our poorest run of form came when Jennings was out. He's still playing for a contract and when you have a motivated Jennings he is still an elite centre. He finished here as you would expect a player of his class to finish.
• 36m. David Gower has been in rare form. Whether it be him using his footwork at the line to break through the middle and find his front or his offloading and skills, at 33 years of age, David Gower is player in the best form of his career. He started this passage of play with a fantastic late offload, with Reed Mahoney swining the ball out to Mitchell Moses. Moses had another fantastic game, and in particular his kicking game was improved and he threaded a ball through which dribbled away from the defenders and gave Josh Hoffman time to chase the ball down and score.
• 36m. The other thing David Gower gives you is effort. Those famous one percenters is where Gower has always distinguished himself and he was on hand to touch down when Corey Oates made a terrible blunder trying to pick up a kick from Moses that ran into his in-goal. The Eels went into half-time with a dominant 26 to nil lead, after Brisbane decided to kick for a penalty in the dying seconds and still failed to get on the score board despite the kick being next to the sticks

Halftime

• 43m. Brad Arthur challenged his team to come out and produce the same 40 minutes as they did in the first half, and it didn't start well. Brisbane finally found some intensity and they put on a well-constructed try down Parramatta's left side. The Eels were out-numbered but failed to re-dress the discrepancy. Jaeman Salmon needed to show a little more faith in Shaun Lane on his inside and slide earlier, and then Maika Sivo needed to be more decisive in jamming in to cut-off the play. Just a little bit of inexperience in dealing with an overlap and Brisbane executed the play perfectly.
• 48m.  Hoffman has been mostly very good this year and he was gifted a try when Brisbane threw him the ball and he only had to race away to put it down. He's bulked up this year but kept his pace and he's a much better player for it. The conditioning team can probably point to Hoffman as their best achievement this year. Not long after he was stretchered from the field when he copped friendly fire from Mitch Moses and we hope he's okay and back with the team soon, as he's more than earned his place.
• 66m. Hoffman's depature saw Manu Ma'u take his spot in the centres and Brisbane took advantage of it. They earned a short-side overlap and Ma'u and Ferguson had no communication going whatsoever. Ma'u sat on his line and Ferguson rushed off his and Brisbane only had to throw a simple cut-out to score, which they did. Love Ray Stone's little niggle to come in and give try scorer Oates a late shove. That's how you rock a buzzcut.
• 71m. Jaeman Salmon was sent back to reggies to get a bit more experience leading a team around and he returned to first grade a much better player for it. He was good tonight. He didn't overplay his hand and he attacked the ball. He's a strong lad and he managed to break through a tackle here and then turn the ball back inside to the every-present Reed Mahoney.

Key takeouts

• Parramatta need Nathan Brown to stay fit. The Eels are at their best when they play expansively and Brown gives Parramatta that extra ball-player in the middle third. They are just a different team when he's in the side.
• I've advocated that Brad Arthur needs to have an option when teams are exploiting Reed Mahoney's size. It was interesting to see Ray Stone being used as the Eel's dummy half for the final seven minutes of the game and he is definitely an option. However, it's fair to say his dummy half service was pretty shaky. I still think Jaeman Salmon is the ideal bench utility and Brad Arthur needs to find a role for him when Dylan Brown comes back.
• The Eels pack that Arthur named for this match just had a better balance to my mind. Kane Evans is proving surprisngly useful. He's got size but his mobility is better than either Alvaro or Moeroa. I don't think either of those players have coped with the additional size they added this year. Neither player is particularly aggressive and without their mobility they're value is limited. This pack had a lot of diversity in the style of players. It's got size, but has better mobility, ball-playing abilities and a couple of hard-running players as well. I think it's a pack that can contribute much more consistent performances.