Eels fans shouldn't panic despite the fact that the side went down 32 to 12 in front of a sizable crowd of 11,000+ fans at CUA Stadium.
Parramatta never found they're rhythm after dropping way too much ball throughout the contest. And while it was promoted as a near full-strength side, it was anything like it in the end. Feleti Mateo and Nathan Hindmarsh didn't play. Jarryd Hayne left late in the first half and didn't return. Daniel Mortimer played only 20 minutes before leaving the field with a head cut and Ben Smith wasn't sighted in the back half of the match either.
When you consider Timana Tahu was also missing, the round one side will hardly resemble the team that spent most of the time on the paddock tonight.
Firstly, the obvious. The Eels were very rusty and constantly turned the ball over. This is a worry in so much as Parramatta's early season poor form in recent years has had a lot to do with poor ball security. Daniel Anderson will be hoping that it can be put down to lack of match practice but he should also note our poor history of early season bad handling.
Penrith had all of the play and given the weight of possession, the score ended up where it should have. One would have liked to have seen a bit more intensity in defence. We were generally pretty slow coming off our line and the Panthers looked a constant threat of getting the ball away and a number of the Penrith tries were pretty soft. Again, it's something you would be a little bit concerned about but equally know that it's more of an attitude adjustment than a skills issue.
Kris Keating put his hand up for the number seven jersey tonight. As soon as he came on our attack lifted a notch and he delivered the first try assist with a perfect kick cross-field for Ben Smith. He initially came on and looked to have slotted into six in replacing the injured Mortimer but by the second half he was most definitely running the show at first receiver. He was always ever-present in support and our backline movements looked crisper when he was involved. I will be very, very surprised if he doesn't start the season at seven despite the fact that Robson was starting half back tonight.
Robson played fairly. He came up a weak bit of defence that let in one of the Panthers try but then Keating was also guilty of not moving up hard enough on one try and a tackle around the legs wasn't enough to stop the try-scorer from reaching the line. The nice thing about Robson is you can put him into 6,7 or nine and he gives you a solid game regardless. I think he'll be our 14.
Fuifui was awesome. He played off the bench but made an immediate impact when he came on. He was the one defender getting out of the line quickly but the really interesting part of this match was the fact that he played very wide. For most of the second half, he was camped out near the centres. That opens up all manner of possibilities as to how he might be used. He could slot into the second row or he could be used as an attacking impact player. On one play he broke free down the blind-side, fired out a half-back quality cut-out pass to Luke Burt, who charged down the wing, chipped over the fullback for Jono Wright to regather and he passed back to Burt for one of those sensational tries the Eels are capable of producing at any time.
I thought Wright played very well when he came on, and he was just about our best centre. Kris Inu dropped back to fullback when Hayne went off and played that role the entire second half. That would indicate to me that Joel Reddy is being seen purely as a centre and Inu will float around the backline filling in where-ever there are injuries. Both Inu and Wright will likely start the season playing for Wenty, a competition they're both too good for.
Shane Shackleton was the other stand-out. He is going to be a brilliant buy for us. He runs hard and straight and was always threatening. He played in the 13 jersey tonight and I think he's a definite starter. He was much more visible than Smith, although his game was cut short by a cheek injury.
Jarryd Hayne may as well not have been there. He fumbled a ball in the in-goal that led to a try and just didn't get into the game in attack. That was largely due to the fact that when he was on the park we never had the ball. So keep those kinds of things in mind when you look at the scoreboard. Mateo, Hindmarsh and Tahu didn't play. Hayne, Mortimer and Smith all copped first half injuries and played few minutes or had little involvement. They're all little things that the media reports on the match have all managed to ignore.
So focus on the positives. Keating is going to give us a lot of spark at half back. Shackleton is going to be a brilliant buy and Fuifui Moimo looks capable of doing anything this year.
I didn't walk away disapointed at all. It would have been nice to win or even have made it a closer contest, but as long as Anderson can address the ball handling and lift the intensity for round one, this result will amount for absolutely nothing.
Replies
How about Hayne's drop kicks? They were awesome. 60m on the fly with one and 80m with another. I didn't know he could kick that far.
Did you notice the way our boys smashed their #23. He seemed to get hit harder than anybody else.
It was disappointing to go and watch a loss, but I'm sure in the scheme of things it means very little.
I truly see trials as a bit of a training run - it gives Daniel Anderson the chance to have a fiddle and see how our boys are looking early in the piece. Further, as long as the boys do not look unfit, I think pre season training has been a success!
I am so pleased to hear about KK's performance and about Shack's too. It just makes me more eager for the season to begin.
As long as we come out of these trials injury free, I remain happy and positive for the current season.
However, what Ando doesn't want is that we slip back into low intensity performances, which tonight definitely was. Dropped ball, lapses in defence. It was our start of last season all over again. I do want to see a much better performance from us against Roosters.
eels4life and Zip - Poore played probably 50-60 mins. Pretty solid performance. Good strong hit-ups throughout the match.
Match was ok... Waiting 30mins for a train at Penrith Station to get back to Parra SUCKED!!
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