NRL 2021: Parramatta Eels, stat attack, best start in club history - NRL
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The Eels are currently enjoying their best start to a season, statistically, in the club's three-quarters of a century in the premiership.
Their 8-1 record equals last year's best-ever start in terms of wins and losses through nine rounds but their points scored and differential are both the best in Eels history, according to NRL.com Stats.
Their 260 points scored in nine games at 28.9 per game and differential of +136 both beat anything in the club's history.
While the Panthers have rightly been getting plenty of focus for their historic and unprecedented start to 2021, which includes easily the best opening nine rounds defensively of any side in the NRL era and will be the subject of future NRL.com Stats pieces, it has overshadowed what has also been the best start in Eels history and underscores the current strong form of both western Sydney clubs.
The previous most points scored by a Parramatta side in the opening nine rounds was the unstoppable triple-premiership squad of the early 1980s that racked up 254 points in nine games. With 125 conceded and a +129 differential, that 1983 side – which won six and lost three of its opening nine games – held the previous record for best attack and differential of any Eels side through nine rounds.
The red-hot 2001 side that shattered point-scoring records does not figure prominently in these figures because of a slowish start that year before lighting up over the second half of the season.
That team carried its form into early 2002 with 246 points scored and a +127 differential, which are each third best in club history.
The Eels' current record also compares favourably across other seasons in the NRL era; it is the equal 10th best (level with this year's Panthers) while the Storm's prolific point-scoring this year has them third best of the NRL era through nine rounds with only the 2002 and 2006 Knights ahead of them.
Some notable contributors to the Eels' start have been skipper Clint Gutherson, whose 14 try involvements are equal first in the NRL along with Cody Walker and Brett Morris, and bench weapon Bryce Cartwright.
Cartwright's ratio of "quality" touches (tries, line breaks and assists per touch) of 0.15 is equal fifth best of any player in the NRL, including three tries and three try assists in his five games, while equal with him in fifth is winger Maika Sivo with nine tries and 11 line breaks.
If anything the numbers serve to highlight how rare it is for any Parramatta side to start well; even the premiership and grand final teams have tended to start slowly and finish strong rather than being dominant all year.
It also highlights just how potent Penrith have been through nine rounds; as we know defence wins premierships and Penrith's current miserly rate of just 6.7 points conceded per match has them head and shoulders above the rest. Melbourne's 12 and Parramatta's 13.8 are next best and still more than double that of Ivan Cleary's men.
Penrith's current +200 differential is also easily the best of any side through nine rounds in the NRL era (the most recent team to do better was the 1995 Sea Eagles who were +206 through nine rounds) while the 60 points conceded is also easily the best of the NRL era, beating the 2011 Dragons and 2013 Roosters who each conceded 86 through the first nine rounds.
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I think the stats favor the Eels at the moment.
I think a full strenght Roosters would have beaten the Eels quite comfortably but in saying that I am glad we faced them down on troops and were able to get the win. The Eels confindence continues to build with every win and I think the Roosters game showed that initially they paniced and went to trying to run around the Roosters (which never works against good teams) and then they finally straightend up their attack and ran away with the game. The Eels needed this wakeup moment to show them that they need to remain focussed, to not panic, stick to the game plan and just keep grinding down the teams and eventually the points will come.
I think our biggest test will come in the last half of this season when we play most of the top 8 teams. The Roosters won't be push overs when we play then again, neither will the Storm and we are still yet to play Souths or the Panthers. The next few weeks without D. Brown and Marata will show how the Eels deal with adversity.
Good article. Thanks, Colin.
Small thing. Yes, 260 is our most points scored after 9 NRL "rounds", but the Eels 2002 team scored more points, 268, after 9 games (R10).
Comparing apples with apples.
Statistics like this are great to get a signal on how well we're going, but looking past the numbers I think it's still visible (especially to us) that we can improve, and must if we're to be a real threat to the premiership.
It's great to see a strong Parra team though... BA and O'Neil have put together a great roster over the last couple of years and I love watching them play and the balance across the field on the roster. We're not relying on a single player to get us the win like Manly are.
Clintorian, agree on the issue of what stats show and what we see. We see flows of games and the stats are snapshots.
Some of the stats, though, do give us some clues to where the improvements might be. It's clear we could cut our handling errors a bit. And sometimes we need to slide in defense rather than compress (tries conceded on sidelines not through the centers).
I personally worry that Waqa Blake's return is going to drag our defensive formations out of shape. We will see I guess.
I like that our start to the season isn't getting all the attention I hope that continues Especially at origin time.
One thing that is clear at the moment is this is Penriths year everyone else is competing for 2nd