Eels Blogs

Sometimes it is about winning as oppose to how you win. At this time of the year you do not need to win the ones that 50/50, more so win the ones you are expected to win. We were expected to win that game. We did, now we move forward. It seemed to me we were in a good rhythm, the team as a whole obviously felt more confident with Gutho and Moses back. Then the sin bins, it changed momentum but also rattled us. We have been in this position before and saw how hard it was and it seems we get more aggresive when a player is sin binned, that is not great. We went back to side to side, panicking trying to cross over on every play. Gutherson's try at the end is luck but also we deserved it. Had the result been different if RCG and Sivo were not binned? Yeah i believe it would have been. I believe GC would have gotten some points though, we would have easily gotten over them. But in that time with 11 men they scored two tries and had their backs up, massive momentum swing and it was hard to contain once the 13 were back on the field. Though, to overcome having 20 mins with one less player and still coming away with the win is impressive.

I want to discuss refereeing, it is a massive talking point from both sides. I thought Chris Butler was not very good, nor is he ever any good. I feel he is indecisive and easily influenced, whether by the bunker, players and/or crowd. I look it as when i play Oz Tag. I play both in mens and mixed teams on Monday and Wednesday nights, there are always dodgy calls from refs though i prefer it when a referee is confident in their decision and is professional in their response. If a ref makes a call i disagree with and simply say "That is how i saw it now move on" Ok what can you do. but when you have a ref that can be like "Well i missed it" Or stubbling their words or even get defensive and start using their power as a form of threat then that is where you lose me. Butler 3 times on Sunday went to blow his whistle then waited and then eventually blew it. He relied too much on the people around him and was influenced easily. Was he a reason we could of lost however? No. as even though we had 11, on Sami's try Gutho had a bad miss, Moses had a bad miss on Khan-Pereira's 2nd try, Sivo and RCG's sin bins were understanable. Though Cartwright later on got penalised for a high shot but no caution so i though shouldn't he been sin binned then? It is inconsistent in protection to the head. Also, the Sami try was a try. Those saying it was double movement do not understand the words of momentum within the rule. Also, Titans fans that mentioned the bunker helped with Parramatta win are kidding themselves. They had an extra man for 20 mins and still could not get it done, that is on you. Just always on social media, it is obvious those who watch the game, only watch one game a week, watch the highlights or see the score and cut and paste their comment. 90% are the refs helped the other team, it is just ridiculous and it bothers me a lot. Same with Warriors last week, their fans mentioning the spoon for us, like you did see our team didn't you?

Stats: Seeing these stats without watching the game you would think we won by say 13+. 53% possession, 79% completions to their 75%, 32 missed tackles to their 35. One stat that is quite poor is us having 107 more metres running but having 28 more runs. Now that could be from GC scoring two long range tries when having 11 men, but shows how our middle struggled during the match. 3.81 second play the ball speed to their 3.68 again couldn't handle their play the ball speed for a while. We did win the offloads 14/9, though we conceded more penalties with 8 to 6. Discipline was just abysmal, not sure if it was lack of focus, touchy refereeing or a mixture of both.

Most Impressive:

Mitchell Moses: Was not my pick for MOM until late in the game, he managed the game so well at the end. Leading us upfield for the FG, striking it so cool and calmly, then his kicking when up by one putting in the dead corners was precision at it's best. He looked confident being in Origin, took him time to warm up but really showed maturity at the end to guide us to victory.

Ryan Matterson: Was actually my pick for MOM before Moses. He was great through the middle and added some strike when it was sorely lacking. Plus added some rigour and toughness in defence with some good hits. Though he came in at the 22nd minute mark for Paulo, when RCG in hindsight should have came off first from Origin, if that happened we have RCG lining up against North Queensland. At least BA has taken blame for that.

Bryce Cartwright: I want to party with Carty and you should too. We have said it constantly and will continue to, comeback player of the year, his best year in the NRL. Bryce has been incredible this year, going from a back-rower that would play 50-55mins due to his defence being suspect, to an impact bench player due to his flamboyant ball work to now a hard working 80 minute back-rower, without losing his ball skills. It is an amazing transformation and BA should be applauded for his patience and adaptability. Cartwright was not great last week, even showing a little bit of attitude and laziness, but seemed to have received a rocket up the arse and was firing all night. Determination for a great try. 3 offloads, Line-break assist and try assist.

Sean Russell: Not a performance that makes you say "sign him up for 10 years" or "consider him for Origin" but more show Sivo what a player who is roughly 20kg lighter on the wing can do compared to him. Late in the second half, he had an amazing run that went for around 15 metres, which then caused a penalty that got us in range for the Gutherson try. Under the hall he was great too. Russell has actually gone understated this year. He is not a flashy player, not comparing, but he reminds a bit like Gutho when he started. Not a flashy player but got by with pure effort and determination. Russell was thrown into the NRL again after missing out for a year and a bit, into Centre. A position he has never played in NRL or NSW cup and he adapted, was not amazing but adapted and did best he could and was not bad. He is only listed as 90kg, now give or take a few kgs now but i reckon he will get to around 95-99kg for next year, hopefully becoming a Centre option for next year onwards. Also, he will get more confidence as a player making his transition to Fullback once Gutho goes even better.

Honorable mentions: Penisini, RCG.

Most Disappointing: 

Reagen Campbell-Gillard's knees: RCG was great, except for his knees on Randall. Just lazy and now lets us down leading into the final stretch. Simple as that. Fatigue or not, he knows better.

Maika Sivo: Another who will let us down with a dumb play but he made dumb plays all night and even all year. Sivo watched the ball on two occasions, watched it roll out over the line then watched as Lane offloaded it and Gutho scooped it up but Sivo showed no urgency on either play. I do not think we can blame his ACL in 2021 as the issue, he is not willing to put his body on the line. Unlike Dunster who tore ACL, MCL and PCL and still puts his body on the line, Sivo is soft, simple as that. Russell is running harder and is 15-20kgs lighter.

Bench: Davey over Ofahengaue was odd, yeah Ofahengaue has not been great but he needs minutes, he has not been awful or a liability. If anything his defence has been his best part. Davey in the middle is fine but he should be 3rd in the rotation. Moretti also, was their a point? I didn't mind Moretti being on the bench but naming Moretti to be more mobile instead of Ogden or Makatoa and not use him? Added, why bring Paulo off after 22 minutes, but leave RCG in there after 50mins in Origin? That is what led to his brain snap.

Discipline: We shoot ourselves in the foot and let teams back in, simple as that. Had we not done that we would be in the 4 now with an extra 2-3 wins. It is frustrating.

Suspensions: Keep it short and sweet, I think both are a week too harsh, RCG getting 3 and Sivo 2 i could live with, but 4 and 3 each is ridiculous, considering Haas only got a week or 2 for a hip drop injuring RCG. While neither RCG or Sivo injured the players offended, seems we are being made an example over and i am over it.

Now onto to NQ. The most in form team in the competition. Both teams coming off a win though underwhelming performances, so who gets a bigger spray? NQ are maybe more desperate as they are out of 8 currently yet on same points as us. But pressure is on them being at home. I can see a close win or a massive loss. If we get slaughtered then that could kill our season, a close loss kills top 4, but a win helps us with top 4. Hell i will go out and say it, if we win we will make the 4.

As for team changes, only RCG and Sivo out, with Ogden and Lumelume im predicting come straight in. Maybe Ofahengaue starts with Maka or Ogden on the bench. I would love to see Miller-Stephen get a debut on the wing, but more likely it will be Lumelume, Blake or Dunster. I would pick Blake, he gives us better chance to win as he is a better attacker.

Enjoy your week and god bless Parramatta.