This is the 7th annual Magic Round. The Caxton Carnival.
We’ve lost all but one.
Both teams are desperate to climb out of the bottom four. Both rebounded with wins last week.
Down on troops, we were gritty and brave to upset the then-high-flying Cowboys in a golden-point thriller.
Meanwhile, the Storm snapped a historic 7-match losing streak against the depleted Tigers, as expected. Redemption is on their menu. As are we.
We're on a 7-match losing streak against the Storm.
They have belted us in recent times and at our two previous Magic Round meets. 64-10. 48-16. Then there's also round one this year and the last. 52-4. 56-18. Patterns.
Can we pull off another David and Goliath against our bitter nemesis?
Team Lists
Eels 14th vs Storm 15th, Suncorp Stadium, Saturday, 16 May, 7:45pm AEST
Weather: Fine, good
TAB : Eels $3.15, Storm $1.37
Referees: Peter Gough (on-field), Dave Munro (touch judge), Chris Butler (Senior Review Official)
Eels: 1. Joash Papali’i 2. Brian Kelly 3. Jordan Samrani 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ronald Volkman 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Luca Moretti 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Junior Paulo 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Jack Williams 13. Jack de Belin
Bench: 14. Dylan Walker 15. Saxon Pryke 16. Toni Mataele 17. Charlie Guymer 18. Apa Twidle 19. Teancum Brown
Reserves: 20. Harrison Edwards
Cut: 21. Araz Nanva 22. Jonah Pezet
Head Coach: Jason Ryles
Storm: 1. Sualauvi Faalogo 2. William Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Moses Leo 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Ativalu Lisati 13. Trent Loiero
Bench: 14. Trent Toelau 15. Cooper Clarke 16. Davvy Moale 17. Joe Chan 18. Stanley Huen 19. Preston Conn
Reserves: 20. Josiah Pahulu
Cut: 21. Manaia Waitere 22. Angus Hinchey
Head coach: Craig Bellamy
Stat Attack
Four Years ago. The Eels last beat the Storm in 2022.
Lost 7-straight against the Storm since then. Conceding 38 points per game.
Josh Addo-Carr is the leading current Magic Round try scorer with 8 tries.
Harry Grant has scored 10 tries in his last 8 games against the Eels.
Suncorp Horror Show
Lost 5 from 6 Magic Rounds. Conceding 36 points per game.
Five Years ago. 2021. That was the last time Eels have won at Suncorp against a team other than the Broncos.
Five Years ago. 2021. That was the Eels' last and only win against the Storm there.
Lost 3 from 4. Against the Storm there.
Concede 40 per game. Against the Storm there.
Lost 4 from our last 6 there. But we have won our last two games there. Both against the Broncos.
Fatigue is the game's fiat currency
Now greater than ever with the most points per game ever leaked in peak V'landyball. 2026.
Even Penrith, the best defensive side in the competition, eventually breaks when facing more than 3-4 sets.
The best they’ve been able to defend this year without leaking a try is this:
A four-minute death zone.
3 from 4 sets
13 consecutive plays.
Facing 80% possession
2-0 restarts.
1-1 error.
That's the breaking point.
You can only minimise the damage of death zones, or strike first. That’s where Penrith separate themselves.
Elite fitness. Systems. Fundamentals. Mobility. Repeat effort.
Elite Game management. Elite Ruck management.
Enough strength and power. But not the most elite in size, speed or explosiveness.
They face the least death zones of all teams.
While fatigue management is King, the ruck is the central bank.
It's the fastest way to create momentum that snowballs. The fastest way to mayhem and chaos in defensive lines that need to walk on egg shells for head-contact, heavy force, and restarts.
Pleasingly, last week, we generated far more out of the ruck. We played more direct and Ryles made subtle changes to the rotations around the middle.
There’s little point playing pretty coast-to-coast football if the defensive line is already set and you don't generate momentum.
Storm will be looking to roll us through the middle and the ruck. Dominate. Let Grant Command. Before they spread it out wide. Grant scoring against us and controlling the game has almost become a tradition.
If it's close, the better kicking game could win it.
Beware the Blitz
The Storm, in form, are Blitz Kings. Last week they essentially won the game in the first 15-minutes.
10 v 2 sets, 80% possession, 90% territory.
24 straight plays
3 restarts, 1 penalty
The Panthers at their best might only let in 2-3 tries.
20-0 after 15 minutes.
24-16 for the next 65 minutes.
Last week we followed the only blueprint that has worked so far, considering how undermanned we are. Simplification.
Eels Basic Stats 2026 | Foxslab
The Golden Trifecta
The 101s. Fatigue management.
1. Fight. Focus. Scramble. Grit.
2. Win the completion battle. 91% vs 72%. The bare minimum is 80%. Good ball handling. Low errors (5-18). Good discipline.
3. Win the kick-chase yardage battle. We kicked for almost 900 metres. The minimum benchmark is around 600m. Importantly, the kicking game didn’t fade away in the second half, like it had against the Warriors and Manly and practically every loss other than our golden point loss to the Tigers.
It's something the Storm's systems have relied on for decades on the back of their elite spine: winning the fight and fundamentals. As do the Panthers who do it better than anyone. It sets the foundation. With all the talk about athleticism and explosiveness, for some it's boring. But in the end, it's about who has the most desire, cohesion and character. Brains. And whenever we've fallen away from all three this year, we've had blowout losses.
Final Word
If we lose, the Storm will overtake us on the ladder, and we could fall to either 15th or 16th. If we win, we will overtake the Dogs to take 13th position.
Form says Storm. Magic Round says them. History says them. The Bookies say them. Suncorp says them.
Can we fight hard, mentally, emotionally and physically, for five-straight weeks? Can we redeem ourselves or will our tormentors?
Charter topping.
Replies
Volkman learning a big lesson that last week means nothing the praise goes
Needs to fix it quick
I'd just go with Joash at 6 after the bye. I said when the SL links came out to wait another 3-4 games before going down the route of extending Volkman long term. He has only SL interest and games like this so far are reasons why.
Once Iongi is back Joash should be 6. With pezet as cover for Moses.
I like Volkman but he has reached his level
So many people were ready to sign up Volkman and call the 2027 - 5/8 race over after last couple games.
He has his moments but looks like Ryles knew more than the experts on here.
Shits me, Melb gave us chances before half time and we continually stuffed it. Team lije us has to make the most of chances value precious possession and convert!
Dead right Macy this is the worst Melbourne team I've seen in years spine regardless they are poor considering there standards.But as you say opportunities not taken equals trouble for us
Im hanging in there seriously hoping they forget how good they can be 🤞ie melb
Got T brown, Pryke and Twiddle left to use on the bench. Wonder if JR keeps it simple with Pryke the tackle machine or the bigger body T Brown
Or Give TDS a spell move joash to hooker and Apa to fullback for 10 mins?
I think Melbourne will run over us but if can keep in the contest we can build off of that
We are competing and was great to see Moses and JAC leading in scramble defence. Even Paulo was first forward chasing after a line break so our senior players are stepping up and trying to lead, but we just don't have the players to compete.
When Harry broke through the middle setting up a try, our defensive line was so slow to react and Tuilangi and Williams didn't even chase. Sua will make massive difference next year as he is competitive and will compete for the 80 mins.
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