Eels Blogs

“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up,” said Vince Lombardi. Last week, the Eels were knocked down, looking like the soft-bellied Parra of old, but to our credit, we did manage to get back up off the canvas and lose a close one. The 'way' they played was a worry, though. Meanwhile, the Tigers KO’d the Broncos into tomorrow, and those dead possums never got up. The Broncos made them look like 48-0 Rockstar Gods. A bit like our 58-0 rout over the Broncos, last year.

Actually, both the Eels and Tigers have plenty to prove.

And it starts with tomorrow night's Battle Out West. It's the first Thursday game ever played between the two teams, since the West Tigers' inception over two decades ago.

The Eels need to get back up on their feet and play with purpose. The soft Parra of Old, shone in the first 20 minutes of a traditional Manly ambush at Brookvale, last week.

After that ineptness, Gus Gould came out swinging, in a scathing condemnation saying: the Eels are mentally fragile and "no chance" to win the premiership until they address this long-standing achilles heel. He added they were also susceptible to believing the hype. Not everyone agrees, though. The bookmakers still have the Eels as second favourites to win the premiership (at $4.50) behind Roosters ($3.50). Storm are third ($5.50), followed by the Panthers ($6.50).Raiders $11, Knights $19 round up the top eight. If we lose this week, we’ll likely end up in clear third place. If the Tigers win they could go up one to 6th (5th is unlikely). Meanwhile, the bookmakers aren't taking the Tigers too seriously, at $51.

Tigers believe they can beat anyone, and want to prove it

Despite what the pundits believe, Madge McGuire believes the Tigers can match it with the best, but need to "prove it in action".

Despite a great win last week, the Tigers haven't been all that convincing this year, so far. They have lost to Panthers, Raiders, Souths, Knights and the Titans. They have only beaten the Dogs, Cowboys, Sharks, Dragons and Broncos. So, the Eels' scalp would be a prized catch, and perhaps sweet revenge?

Matto: A spicy reunion?

Ex-Tiger Ryan Matterson will face his old club for the first time since his bitter departure. He's also been in the news all week: for allegedly leaving the Tigers because he felt they were no chance of being serious contenders this year (perhaps like the bookmakers?) He denies this, but former team-mates such as Robbie Farah believe this will add some spite to the encounter and some special attention his way. Meanwhile, our Stefano, our very own banana boat, is in only his third game and Tigers' bound from next year on a huge pay cheque. Will he show them how good he is, and worthy?

Tigers' vetern star Benji Marshall concedes: "He [Matto] never said it to me, but I don't care - I think we can win [the premiership]... I think there's something building at this club. You need to have that belief. If you don't you might as well not be here."

Arthur hosed down the Matterson talk as a non-issue, adding that last week the Eels showed a complete lack of respect for themselves and the club. They "let themselves down". 

Arthur: We had a lack of respect for ourselves, the team, the club and the opposition

From the get-go the line speed was poor compounded by silly mistakes. An implosion. All this, despite Parra knowing the ambush was coming. Mentally we were absent. Why?

It's unarguable the Eels have had a soft underbelly, for decades, since the 80s. Defensively, we've cracked when the pressure was applied in the past. It appeared to be in our DNA. This year, we have showed symptoms some of that soft-underbelly being transformed into a defensive resiliance not seen for some time in an Eels outfit. It was also building on the good signs shown in 2019, last year, despite the eventual weak-kneed collapse. So it begs questions.

Last week: a temporary failure or symptom of deeper lingering issues?

Lombardi accepted that temporary failures were inevitable: “Once you have established the goals you want and the price you’re willing to pay, you can ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure and the temporary failures.”

The question is: are we prepared to “roll up our sleeves", pay the price for our goals, or do we want to win easy by showing up?

Last week, we weren't prepared to work for it. From the get go our line speed was slower than normal and Manly's forwards were also getting a roll on, making easy metres.And our goal-line defence was the worst its been since 2018. Or perhaps, since last year's Storm final loss, where we were KO'd out of the ring.

Manly “wanted it more" and “believed” in their goals more, especially from the onset. They ran harder, tackled harder, and out their bodies on the line. We didn't early on and paid our karma. Manly's early onslaught, targeted the spaces around Junior and the casual yawning gap, between Lane and Dylan. To me, it seemed like a premediated assault on their lateral issues, and the occasional casualness of some of our troops.

After 2 minutes, 6-0, first try: Taupau ran straight and hard with Junior falling off the tackle and Field (then Brown) unable to stop the try on the back of a Manly roll-on.

Almost another try: Levi running straight, hard and fast through the middle, with Junior just barely managing to stop abother try. Our middle was looking very flimsy.

After 14 minutes, 12-0, second try: Cherry-Evan rans straight and fast through yawning hole, between Lane and Dylan, untouched.

After 16 minutes, 16-0, third try: Levi rans straight and fast through yawning hole, between Lane and Dylan, again. Our left was suddenly a shambles.

A half-time score of 22-4, meant the damage was already done. In an odd quirk of history, it was also back in R10 in 2009, that we were also down 22-4 at half time, as were last week, also against Manly, also at Brookvale, also to lose but by far more then 34-10.

It's been decades since we came back from a deficit of 18 or more points. In the last 22 years, at the least, we've only done it once: twelve years ago, in R8, 2008 when we came back from 0-20 half-time deficit to win 28-20 against the Dogs, at Stadium Australia. That was the only time I can find we've done it.

Maybe, last week's fightback, to come back from 22-4 at half-time to almost win it at 22-18, suggests maybe we are prepared to work for it ? 

Lombardi once noted the Packers “never lost” a game they just “ran out of time”. Is that us? Did we just run out of time, last week or our we weak-bellied, still? 

Still weaker-bellied away?

Last year, we didn't beat a single top-eight team, away from home. 

So far, we’ve really only beaten one top-eight team away: the Knights,currently 4th, at McDonald Stadium, in R9, 10-4.

We have had issues playing away, not just at Brookvale, and tend to implode against the good teams that are on. The other away games we won this year, that weren't at Bankwest, were won against non-top-eight teams (Titans at CBUS, R2; Broncos at Suncorp, R3).

Gus also pointed to the Eels' lack of resilience away: "They've sort of been cruising along, played a lot of their games here in Sydney at Bankwest [Stadium], now they're on the road a little bit. I thought they were pretty average against the Knights last week up in Newcastle and they certainly got to Manly with their heads off last night.”

The other important factor is the second half of the season seems to get easier for us without many away challanges. We only have two top-eight teams away to come (Tigers,Panthers), and also two top-eight teams at home (Storm, Souths), though the Sharks away game could be tricky and the Storm game will be a big test. Here's our run home: R12 Dogs 16^th (away), R13 Sharks, 9^th (away), R14 St George 11^th (home) , R15 Storm , 3rd (home), R16 Souths, 8th (home), R17 Warriors, 13^th(away), R18 Panthers, 1^st (away), R19 Broncos 14th (home), R20 Tigers 7th (away).

That being the case, we may not find out whether we've properly dealt with our old split-personality ghosts away, until finals time. And at that time, we'll need every ounce of experience and leadership. That's something that also came up last week.

On-field talk and leadership

In last week's there appeared to be far more on-field talk by Manly's leadership groups than ours: notably by Cherry-Evans and Jurbo.

Cherry Evans was barking orders after scoring a try.

It didn't stop there: Jurbo was barking orders in the dressing rooms.

The Manly players and leaders' group weren't waiting on the coach to motivate them.

In comparison we looked a bit lacking in on-field talk: startled by unfamilar role behind the posts, try after try.  King Gutho tried hard as usual, but sometimes looked puzzled and dazed, at our ineptness in defence; unable to get the troops up. And meanwhile, some Eels fans were waiting on Arthur to inspire the troops at half-time.

No excuses this round: Guns are back at Bankwest

This week's return of leaders and experience in Matterson , Moses and Ferguson (shown above) this week, should help that on-field talk and help our direction.

Eels line up: 1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo (L) 3. Michael Jennings (L) 4. Waqa Blake (R) 5. Blake Ferguson (R) 6. Dylan Brown (L) 7. Mitchell Moses (R) 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane (L) 12. Ryan Matterson (R) 13. Nathan Brown Bench: 14. Andrew Davey (well done, Mr Flick!) 15. Marata Niukore 16. Stefano Utoikamanu (well done, banana boat!) 17. Brad Takairangi Reserves: 18. David Gower 19. George Jennings 20. Daniel Alvaro 21. Jai Field Injuries/outs: Oregon Kaufusi (broken hand, round 13-14), Nathan Brown (hip, TBC), Ray Stone (broken hand, round 14-15), Kane Evans (calf, indefinite), Peni Terepo (indefinite). There's some gossip Sivo could be a late pull-out.

Well done, on the debuts' Mr Flick and banana boat!

Tigers line up: 1. Adam Doueihi 2. David Nofoaluma (R) 3. Chris Lawrence (R) 4. Moses Mbye (L) 5. Tommy Talau (L) 6. Billy Walters (L) 7. Benji Marshall (R) 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Harry Grant 10. Russell Packer 11. Michael Chee-Kam (R) 12. Luciano Leilua (L) 13. Matt Eisenhuth Bench: 14. Sam McIntyre 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Luke Brooks 17. Chris McQueen 18. Oliver Clark Reserves:  19. Elijah Taylor 20. Shawn Blore 21. Alex Seyfarth Injuries/outs: Alex Twal (knee, round 11), Robert Jennings (hamstring, round 11-12), Josh Reynolds (suspended, round 12), Joey Leilua (suspended, round 13), Jacob Liddle (knee, round 14-15), Zane Musgrove (foot, round 16-18).

On paper the Eels' pack looks significantly stronger and should really be in the position to take charge of the middle.

The Tigers' spine presents some dangers and experience in the likes of Benji Marshall, Harry Grant and Luke Brooks, whilst Billy Walters is a talented apple that didn't fall too far from the tree. Last week, our spine looked rudderless and inept at times, for a fair bulk of the game, with its inexperience showing. The return of Moses should help remedy that as well as help our kicking game.

Meanwhile, on-loan Storm-wonder-boy Harry Grant is up against our Reed. Grant appears to be a superstar in the making, and is arguably the more naturally talented of the two. Grant has a running and attacking game to die for. Reed Hindmarsh, doesn’t have the flair and pizzaz of Grant, but he does have heart and makes over 60 tackles for fun. Joey Reed is also improving his kicking game.

Middle, Left and Right: Tries scored and conceded

Despite last week's loss, the Eels still have the best defence, equalling Melbourne's stone wall (both conceding 20 tried each), with the Roosters next best (conceding 22 tries). The Tigers have the 8th best defence conceding 32 tries (equal with Souths, and St George).

However, to reinforce how poor last week's effort was: our LHS defence doubled the amount of tries it had conceded all year, in the space of 15 minutes; going from two tries to four tries conceded this year, in the blink of an eye in the fast lane.

In attack, the Tigers are third best (with 44 tries scored) whilst the Eels are fifth best (39 tries scored behind the Roosters' 48, Sharks' 45, and Penrith's 41). The Tigers RHS attack is the second best in the competition (after Sharks, 24) better than even the likes of Roosters and Storm, at present.  Meanwhile the Eels LHS attack is the third best, scoring 19 tries (Penrith and Knights both have 22).

So, the Eels left defence better be on this week. If it isn't the Tigers could rake up a few tries. Conversely, there's a very high probabilty our left will score some tries. Also, when will Fergo break his long try-scoring drought, and end his worst ever start to his decade long career? Cue recent Jenko highlight reels and his brother George Jennings' try last week on the right wing.

Despite the Tigers' out-ranking the Eels in attack, the Eels have better stats in many facets. The Eels and Tigers are number one and two, respectively for most tackle busts per game (37.9, 35.4 per game).   The Eels are the number one for average metres per game 1,974.5m (just ahead of the Panthers, Roosters). The Tigers are sixth  1,708.5m. The Eels are third for linebreaks (4.4) behind the Roosters (5.6) and the Panthers (5.0). The Tigers are sixth (3.8). The Eels are still no.1 for offloads (15.2 per game) ahead of the Roosters (11.2) and the Tigers, third (10.7). Conversely, this may also suggest the Eels aren't maximising their opportunities.

Bankwest factor, and a good record against the Tigers

At Bankwest: We’ve won 17 from 20 games since the R6, 2019 opening, a 51-6 demolition of the Tigers. We won both Bankwest games against the Tigers last year. Also, the Tigers have lost their last two at Bankwest against the Panthers (R8) and Souths (R9). It's no wonder the Eels' are heavy favourites, despite last week's results.

However, the only two games we lost last year, at Bankwest, were also Thursday night games to the lowly Dogs and Panthers, when we were also favourites; in dour affairs. Meanwhile, the Tigers haven't yet exacted revenge for last year's slaughter, have they?

Against the Tigers: we're won the last 7 from the last 9 games, since R17, 2015. 

Two years ago, was the last time the Tigers last beat us, at Stadium Australia, in an away game for us, 30-20, R4, 2018, during our annus horribilis year. Eight years ago, was the last time the Tigers vanquished us here at this ground, 30-31, R8, 2012. In our entire history, there's only four teams we’ve won more games against than lost (over 50%). And the Tigers are one of them, along with Penrith, Warriors, North Queensland.

Sutton factor: a tale of opposites, recently

Overall under Sutton we have a 40% success rate v Tigers 43.8%, but in recent times the pendulum has swung wildly in our favour.

A few years ago we had the worst record against Sutton. From 2009 to R3 of 2019 we’d won 6 from 24 games (25%). 

But since then, it’s been a spotless record: we've won the last six consecutive games under him (the last one being R9 v the Knights). Conversely, the Tigers have lost the last consecutive six games under Sutton (the last one also being a Knights clash in R2, this year). Also, this will be the third time Sutton has refereed an Eels-Tigers match. So far, we’ve won two out of two: he refereed both Eels wins over the Tigers at Bankwest, last year; the only two times he’s ever refereed a Tigers-Eels match. Forget Sutton. 

The game will come down to which team plays with more purpose and pays the price. On paper there's no reason we shouldn't win and win well, continuing our dominance over the Tigers, especially at our spiritual home. But, if our defence is off again and we don't work for the win, there could be another upset on the cards. The Tigers have belief, attacking pizzaz and resilience when they're on. The Eels have unlimited potential if they get it together which many Eels fans will hope happens with an avalanche of points to the Eels. So, which team will prove its point in the battle of wills?