Unfortunately, this was a golden opportunity missed by Parramatta to actually sneak into the top eight. With a couple of winnable games against out of form teams, the two points that should have been snapped up on the Gold Coast would have been a boon for this side's confidence and self-belief.
Alas, it was not to be and now next week's clash against Penrith shapes as a match that we need to win to avoid falling back down with the cellar dwellers.
Really, we were never going to get a better opportunity to knock off the Titans, who were missing several of their key players. Last week, we were fortunate enough to face the Sharks without Todd Carney and hitting the Titans without the likes of Taylor, Sezar and Srama was an outrageously lucky break we needed to capitalise on. You can't afford to lose when you match up to understrength sides.
The Titans mostly played like a team missing key players, too. They were pretty disjointed in attack, and dropped a lot of ball particularly in the first-half. They were particularly meek outwide, which given they had wingers playing in both the centre positions probably shouldn't surprise. What we needed to ensure was that our ruck defence was strong, and unfortunately it wasn't where it needed to be, and almost all of the Titans line breaks came around the ruck area, with William Zillman a constant threat charging through the middle from fullback. It got noticeably worse when Matt Keating came from the field, and I remain troubled by Ricky Stuart's willingness to replace Keating when we're in front and defending points.
Probably pre-match the big concern the Eels might have had, was Jamal Idris running at Chris Sandow. Sandow was particular quick to move up in defence to cut down any prospect of Titan's wide men running at him, and the Gold Coast simply weren't good enough to take advantage of the up and in defence, aside from the opening try, which was more of a case of us just failing to number up.
In attack, there was some promise. Importantly, we tended to get very good starts to our set with strong running from the likes Vai Toutai, Ken Sio and Jacob Loko. They all racked up good metres and subsequently we seldom struggled to work out way out of our danger zone.
Our forwards also went forward with Tim Mannah again making big metres and Fuifui Moimoi and Darcy Lussick were both damaging, while Reni Maitua provided headaches on the fringes.
With a decent roll-on, our halves both played well. Kelly's kicking was intelligent and Sandow's set-up of Ryan Morgan's try was masterful. Those two are complementing each other quite well and will get better too as their combination develops.
Out wide, Ryan Morgan continues to impress and scored another strong try while Jacob Loko caused the Titans defence all sorts of trouble. And of course, Jarryd Hayne had one of his better games for the years. What I'd like to see Hayne doing, is running first and passing second. Right now his default play is to pass at the line, but he has to take on his man first and then the passing option is more likely to open up.
Ricky Stuart is right to say his side is improving. Some of the parts are coming together nicely but to me there appears to be a number of areas that just aren't working.
Joseph Paulo doesn't fit well into this 17. With split halves, Jarryd Hayne as a third playmaker and Reni Maitua as the go-to on the fringes, there isn't much call for Paulo's brand of football and I'd like to see us with some more penetration on the fringes via Ken Edwards, Matt Ryan or Pat O'Hanlon. Or Paulo has to be willing to roll up his sleeves and contribute more with his running game. This is particularly the case, given the minimal impact Ben Smith has from an attacking point of view.
Ben Roberts continues to struggle and we seldom appear to be better for entry into the game.
Of course, this side was lost through the lop-sided penalty count. In many ways the Eels were to blame for those penalties, ill-discipline was certainly a contributor, but the question is were the Titans really flawlessly clean. Almost certainly the answer was no, and there's not a lot we probably could have done about that.
However, what I believe this game came down to, was the fact that we're a side that basically has no experience in playing from the front. When the screws needed to be tightened, we let them slip - be it kicking out of the full, high-shots or silly penalties. We're probably lacking a bit of leadership in that regard - I don't know who the player is who takes control and steadies the ship. It's probably Luke Kelly, but it's hard when he's arguably the junior partner in the halves.
Just a little control out there today in the final 20 minutes and the Eels would have taken home a deserved, and absolutely critical two points.
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One moment I feel dudded by the refs, next I'm thinking that even with the dud calls we got (or didn't get), we should not have let that game get away. Ill-discipline, inexperience, mistakes and lady luck. Me thinks the footy gods had a rather large wager on the Tits.
Loved;
Interchange of Mannah and Moi Moi and then Lussick and Allgood
Lussick Allgood V Ryan - was waiting for that knuckle to break out!! Allgood showed real fire :)
Hayne played very well (not cacthing that kick hurt tho)
Sandow and Kelly combination altho repeat sets - lets have some???
Morgan - consistent as
Matua first decent game all yr - ran the ball - wow he actually did his job for once!!!!
Hated
DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT PAULO AND ROBERTS CAME ON FOR THE LAST 20 MINUTES AND LOST US THE GAME - they had not been on ALL FKN GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RICKY COULD NOT GET A MORE CLEAR DISPLAY OF WHY THESE TWO ARE OUR MOST FKN USELESS!
FK THEM OFF NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We'd replace them tomorrow if you'd let us sign someone half decent under our salary cap !!!!
Thanks IAN :)
At the game it was fairly obvious from the first 10 minutes in the second half that we were slipping. Try after try hardly any of the players were speaking after tries to the Titans. Mannah, whilst on the field was barking getting ready for another kick off, but when he was off no one was really talking. This is where we need Reni.
Umm PM - check a few vids of Reni behind the goal line after the Titans scored - he was talking, heaps.
For me there were some real positives out of the game, firstly IMO all the Props stood up, secondly Hayne had a great game being fully engaged, stepping up when needed but not overplaying his role & lastly Ryan Morgan is showing that he is really up to NRL standard.
I think that we fans generally have to remind ourselves of our situation & where we r at as a team. With a young three quarter line, they r going to make mistakes whilst they gain NRL experience & unfortunately probably at the wrong time in a game. We have already seen examples of this with Loko & Blair dropping a ball at a critical time in recent matches or Vai Toutai found wanting on a defensive play etc. As a policy, if we r going to promote youth then we have to expect these sort of errors, it is the price we have to pay to gain energy, freshness & enthusiasim.
In respect to Chris Sandow, he is what he is, a unique talent but he is not an organising half. IMO he should be encouraged to play what is front of him & allow Kelly to do the thinking & organising.
IMO we also have a team that is not yet coherent in its makeup. Our forward pack lacks aggression however recruiting Lussick has improved this problem but we need more authority in the pack, our backrowers r regularly found wanting & I think a lot of fans would agree that we need more creativity in the dummy half role. In short, the pack is a work in progess but in fairness to all, we do appear as a team to be gradually improving.
Finally, I hope the fans remain patient with RS, after all when all is said & done, we r relying on him to get us back on track to being really competitive on a consistent basis. It is no longer relevant what any one of thinks of him as a coach, Parra have made the call & he is our coach for probably four or five years so it will be just negative energy in criticising him at this stage of his tenure.
Ennis could make all the difference we need in our 'go forward'
Very strong rumours about him in the BnG - (possibly mid season)
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