Eels Blogs

It was curious to find out how we would be affected by Darwin, would we be lethargic? Fatigued? Adjusting again? We weren't great but we showed quality to seal a wonderful win. It was a much improved and somewhat motivated performance from Parramatta, players looking to right their wrongs early. Did we feel the affect of RCG not being there? Not really, but it helped that Newcastle's middle were dreadful. 

As stats are concerned, they do not mirror the scoreline overall. 53% possession but 67% completions, we ran for over 600 more metres on 42 more runs, 13 line-breaks to their 3 and even had a faster play the ball, 3.55 secs to their 3.74 secs. The end is near. They missed 62 tackles but we also missed 46, for a game where Newcastle were so dreadful it makes me wonder how that would be different had they showed up? 46 would have been a lot more, it is not good enough. We also had more errors with 16, they had 13. It is a constant theme of shooting ourselves in the foot. Hopefully this is due to us not timing our run yet, allowing our best form to be for the end of the year. Overall, it is impressive to score 43 points with dreadul stats, i bet BA would have been furious with conceading to Dom Young in the second half however.

Most Impressive:

Clint Gutherson: How can i not mention the skipper after his first career hat-trick? He has been in very consistent form this year, changing momentum numerous times. 194 metres, 9 tackles breaks, 2 line-breaks on the night showed the dominance King had, other than Round 1 Gutho has been very consistent in his performances this year. 

J'Maine Hopgood: Back to basics game for Hoppy. Looked more confident and comfortable in his role. As a starter he is better suited, off the bench he was limited to a straight running forward making metres until RCG and Paulo came back on, instead he made impact with post contact metres and offload. He is better at setting up second phase and creating an overlap with his offloads by taking defenders with him. It is important to mention that Hopgood has only played 18 NRL games at the age of 24 on the 11th of May. He is still in the toddler stage of his NRL development, but he will be a star with time, a full NRL season will do wonders, 2024 will be a massive year as his body adapts to full-time NRL.

Will Penisini: A prime example of a player who has gotten better as his body developed from full-time first grade. He had a slow start to his 2022 season as you could tell full-time first grade was a struggle, now he looks like a seasoned veteran getting better each week. It is also scary to think he is only 20 years of age. 180 metres, 7 tackle breaks and 2 line-breaks. He is a slower version of Jenko but strong carries, in the future he could be a Justin Hodges like player with killer dummy half runs at the start of sets. Though he is making the right side attack deadly, if only he could trust is winger. Penisini and Hopgood are two players we can build the club around, keep them at all costs.

Wiremu Greig: He keeps getting better each week. He looks fitter and more accustom to NRL footy. He still has the odd error here and there, but is now showing confidence in defence with some big hits and using his size in post contact metres. I expect to see him re-signing with the club in coming weeks. When he came to us in 2021, i felt he was a perfect signing for the time, we needed a developmental power forward for the bench as he was much different to what we usually signed. He played 2 games then didn't see him feature again due to fitness not quite being where it needed to be but we saw he had power and talent. Late 2021, during COVID move, he would have played more but he suffered a knee issue in NSW cup, causing him to stay in Sydney and the opportunity arose for Makatoa. Last year he only featured once, fitness being the issue again. It seemed what could have been wonderful potential was never going to be met, but now it seems finally the gem has came out of the rough. Hopefully he stays for a few more season.

Bench middles (Ogden/Makatoa): I wrote a blog earlier on Friday about the need for another middle, with Ogden being mentioned as an option all he needed was an opportunity. We speak of the devil, an opportunity came up and he took advantage of it. He showed his 48 games experience with good runs and defence. Ogden always does a light step in to create a one on one with the defender, in this game it worked beautifully. Makatoa however, with a team high 191, metres was in top form, perhaps his best game in the NRL. It showed Ogden and Makatoa were sort of trying out for a spot on the bench, as for now, until RCG is back, they will have a spot but they are auditioning until then as with RCG coming back causes Greig to go to the bench, only one spot is left with Hands and Cartwright taking the two other spots. It will be fun to see the competition and hopefully it creates consistent form. We saw what happened in the trials when Ogden and Rodwell started, they lost the ruck against a fringe Penrith team and Makatoa and Greig improved it once they came on. Causing Ogden and Rodwell to lose their spots the following week to Maka and Greig. Ogden i believe knows it can happen again.

Honorable mentions: Moses & Sivo.

Most Disappointing:

Matt Doorey not getting on: Made me wonder how at 43-12, Doorey could not at least get a minute on the field? I understand if it was close but still we were up 42-12 with about 5 to go, couldn't give Cartwright or Lane an early mark?

Russell and Dunster: They were not bad but can tell they need game time in Cup. Penisini made breaks but Dunster waas not fast enough to keep up with him, now that was from Dunster recovering from him horrific knee injury still needs to get some pace back. Russell missed 7 tackles, he was good in some areas of defence, while bad in some. In attack he was pretty good and so was Dunsters but in defence both need time and confidence. Simonsson i believe comes back into the team against the Gold Coast. Though i think this squad still needs to invest in a Centre, could we ask Isaah Tass's agent on his thoughts of being a full-time Centre at Parramatta? He ain't going to be one at Souths, and Wighton will be there by years end.

Missed chances and opportunities: We could have racked up 70, but so many missed chances. Moses and Brown looked more structured through the middle and were selective on when to move wide, we looked better and Barrett's scheme is slowly coming to fruition. But we need to capitalise, we still seem to panic on an opponents own line as if it is expected we score, when simply getting a repeat set is justified. We are a good team but not a smart team, we can be that but it is taking time still to establish that.

Now onto Magic Round with the chance to possibly finish the week in the 8 for the first time this year if results go our way. Gold Coast are a prime Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde team, can knock you out of the water in one half then be the equivalent to Newcastle in another. They are strong team in areas but are mentally weak overall. For Gold Coast just win the middle, Tino and Fotuaika are their keys, no Brimson and Foran it will seem, leading them wanting to force a power game, it is up to Paulo, Greig and Hopgood to set the tone early as we know Gold Coast can score points, but they also leak them. Sounds familiar to another team we know well doesn't it?

As for team changes, Matterson back in and Cartwright to bench and Doorey out is my prediction. Also, Simonsson in and Russell back to the wing for Dunster. I feel that is a fair team, with a bench of Cartwright, Hands, Ogden and Makatoa looking more balanced. Long turnaround will be great for us also, though i want to see want the pitch at Suncorp will be after 7 games in three days before we take the field. 

Also, want to congradulate the SG Ball team for winning the GF, massive achievement and the step in the right direction for our pathways, seeing Nathan Brown the bench with a walky talky was great too as he seems to be spearheading the layout of our pathways moving forward. Expect a bunch of these kids playing Flegg in the next few weeks, with perhaps 1-2 of them debuting in NSW cup at the end of the year; players like Matt Arthur, Sam Tuivaiti, Blaze Talagi, Ethan Sanders, Richard Penisini, Saxson Pryke and Charlie Guymer. I would look for Matt Arthur getting a game or two in cup, especially with Rein ageing and Hands in FG for rest of the year the hooking stocks are getting slim for cup. Plus MA would be looking at debuting some point in 2024 to be our back-up for 2025 full-time so get him started early once he plays a few games in Flegg.

Enjoy magic round everybody, god bless Parramatta.