Eels Blogs

After failing in his first attempt to climb Mount Everest, Sir Edmond Hillary remarked:

‘I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow… but as a human, I can’

- Sir Edmond Hillary (the first man to summit Mount Everest)

 After being humiliated in the ’22 Grand Final, did the Eels conquering of the mountain (men) also reflect human growth? The kind of evolution that only comes from experiencing such harsh defeat? While albeit not under finals pressure, that is a test still to come, Sir Brad Arthur and the team are making a habit of winning games form says they probably shouldn’t.

Granted, its a very optimistic sentiment for a team sitting 1-4 & 15th on the ladder, and while we shouldn’t make excuses for our first 3 losses, would you trade any of them for that win over the Panthers? Would you trade all 3? 

The Eels can beat the Storm, Sharks & Manly, but the importance of proving to themselves they could still beat Penrith after a Grand Final ambush, may have been more important than all 3 previous games.

Fans, experts, even the players & coach have at one time or another said that, at least in part, the Eels limitations lay between the ears. ‘Attitude’, ‘Effort’, ’Chasing Collisions’, these BA catch phrases all stroke at the heart of a ‘mental’ limitation, not a physical one.

Solidified by the fact the Eels have been able to defeat the best team of the past decade, yet lose to the worst.

Well, what better opportunity for this team to prove this was them evolving, learning & growing, than to back up that performance and conquer another Everest, because as crazy as it sounds, this weeks ‘climb’ is historically a much more challenging one for the Eels.

As HOE cleverly pointed out here- https://www.1eyedeel.com/events/r5-v-the-chooks-baba-yaga-s-15-years-between-drinks

The Roosters are our one of boogeymen, second only to the Rabbits. Or perhaps better put, the Rabbits are more our Baba Yaga (6-straight losses by assassination).

Viggo Tarasov explains exactly who Baba Yaga is in John Wick.

 Over the past 5 years against the Roosters, we’ve only won 2 of 8 with an average score of 12 - 34.5.

The Eels haven’t beaten the Roosters outside of Parramatta in 15 years.

But don’t worry, here is the ‘good news’, the Eels are chasing their second straight victory over the Roosters.

 With a 15 year hoodoo to overcome, and without the Grand Final scars our previous opponents had conveniently left us for motivation, can the Eels match the intensity & performance levels of last week?

Bring on the mountain.

Team Lists

Parramatta Eels Vs Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium, 8:00pm AEDT

Eels: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Waqa Blake 5. Bailey Simonson 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Wiremu Grieg 11. Bryce Cartwright 12. Ryan Matterson 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Matt Doorey 15. Brendan Hands 16. Jack Murchie 17. Makehesi Makatoa

Head Coach: B-Rad Arthur

Roosters: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 4. Drew Hutchison 5. Jaxson Paulo 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Brandon Smith 10. Lindsey Collins 11. Egan Butcher 12. Nat Butcher 13. Victor Radley 14. Jake Turpin 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Corey Allen 17. Fletcher Baker

Coach: T-Pain Robinson

Sometimes, to move forward, we need to look back.

 In 1995’s psychological thriller ‘SE7EN’ starring Brad Pitt & Morgan Freeman, detectives ‘Sommerset’ (Freeman) & ‘Mills’ (Pitt) hunt a serial killer who is committing a series of murders replicating the 7 Deadly Sins, leaving messages & clues to his plot along the way.

Before the killer reaches his final & ultimate goal of ‘Vengeance’ the 7th Deadly sin, in which he orchestrates his own murder by using Detective Mills as the hand of vengeance, there are 6 other deadly sins, and consequently murders, along the way.

Reflecting in the aftermath of last weeks game, what were the Eels ‘sins’ that cost them 3 games before completing their Grand Final ‘Vengeance’ on the Panthers?

Clearly there were some statistical improvements from Round 1-3 compared to round 4.

The Eels finished with an incredible 95% completion rate from 53% possession, while only making 3 errors - a 75% improvement from their next best error count of 12 in Round 1.

Defensively the Eels seemed to communicate &  slide with cohesion, while also matching Penrith’s physicality with intent. Was this purely down to motivation, or energy saved from not constantly defending errors & defensive lapses?

 Whatever it was, it ended up a phenomenal performance & turnaround with our season on the line staring down a 0-4 start. We as fans can’t ask for much more than that from our team who showed a resilience, spirit & defensive resolve we were yet to witness in 2023 = Vengeance.

 How does any of that help us beat the Roosters at Allianz though?

COMPLETION RATES

While completion rates are no doubt imperative for all sides, for a team that can struggle to turn possession & field position into points, just how important to this Parramatta side is their completion rate?

 The ‘Completion Rate = Wins’ equation improves to 91.67% if we ignore the loss in Darwin where Dylan Brown played centre, JA 5/8, and the players took the ‘ignore the scoreboard’ mentality literally as they went with 5 hit-ups & a bomb for the entire 80minutes - an attacking masterclass that hoodwinked the Cowboys all the way to their 35 points to 4 victory.

The only other game in 2022 where we completed at above 80% and lost, was alarmingly against the Roosters in Round 10, 31-24.

CONSISTENCY - CAN THE EELS BACK UP THEIR BEST?

 Mentally, physically, the Eels turned up with a different intensity level & mindset throughout 2022 in weeks following a great win, in BA’s and the players words they ‘turned up with the wrong attitude’.

However, this is a new season - Have the 2023 Parramatta Eels side evolved mentally from those ‘attitude’ issues of the past?

DEFEATING THE ROOSTERS - SECOND PHASE PLAY

 As always, Eels fans remain cautious, however the 26-16 victory over the Roosters in Round 15 last season is definitely cause for optimism.

In one of the games of the season, the Eels built their game on second-phase play, making 20 offloads to 12, while still completing at 85% & making just 5 errors.

When the Eels are free flowing and using offloads to create 2nd phase play, they become so much more unpredictable in attack & harder to contain for structured defences:

https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/06/18/electric-eels/

Is this the recipe to defeating such a well coached Roosters side?

DEFEATING THE ROOSTERS - THE HANDS EFFECT?

 What an unbelievable sight to see Hands score such a great try, and play brilliantly, on debut - congratulations to Brendan.

The impact he had from the moment he replaced a fatigued Hodgson was instantly apparent. Which is no-knock on Hodgson who was tasked with handling the brutal physicality early on, though, also clearly benefited from not playing a full 80minutes.

Our middle, which had struggled when fatigued in the opening 3 rounds, all of a sudden had a second wind in attack & defence with Hands at dummy half. It was genuinely exciting to see the point of difference he brought to the side.

The other aspect to the ‘Hands Effect’ is our opponent in the Roosters.

Throughout the first 3 rounds, the Roosters have struggled to contain dummy halves through their middle.

 Round 1 - Jeremy Marshall King tore the Roosters apart & finished with 2 try assists, 1 line break & 1 line break assist.

 Round 2 - Wade Egan who, in almost identical fashion to JMK, broke the Roosters line through the middle & finished with 1 try & 2 line breaks.

 Round 3 - Damien Cook was relatively quiet, however Cameron Murray broke the Roosters line (his only line break this season) again in very similar fashion to JMK & Egan.

 In isolation, all four line breaks / tries aren’t overly interesting, but what piques interest is the fact that in all four cases a Butcher - either Nat or Egan - was involved (beaten) defensively. 

Is there an opportunity here for fresh Hands to target a Butcher & tear a hole through the Roosters middle? Take that as you will.

THE BOTTOM LINE

 ‘It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’

- Sir Edmond Hillary (the first man to summit Mount Everest)

 The errors, poor completion rates & lack of defensive cohesion from the first 3 rounds, were nowhere to be seen last week against the Panthers, while players took their opportunities & many of them, not just Mitch Moses, nailed their own ‘clutch’ moments. In essence, we ‘conquered’ our own demons last week.

Is this the start of a new Eels? A resilience & attention to detail developed from the experience of a Prelim & Grand Final in 2022? Or was this the outlier, the result of motivation handed to us on a platter from our rivals?

Whatever the case, there were very positive signs, however, if we don't back that performance up, do we lose anything gained within a week & start again? A feat we achieved consistently last season.

Going to 2-3 after 5 rounds with some ‘easier’ games upcoming and all of a sudden the 2023 season that so many wrote the Eels off in, has gone from a pulse to beating heart.

Momentum & confidence are definitely with the Eels as the Roosters are coming off their bye, which at this time of the season while conditioning & new combinations are developing, may not be the advantage it appears.

SO WHO WINS & HOW?

Who wins & how do you feel that result will come about? Where do the Eels win / lose this game?

Good luck Parra, the next ‘Everest’ awaits.