The Parramatta Eels march on in this year's NRL competition, bringing their tally to nine wins from 11 games.
That's the side's best start since 1977. The 1982 and 1983 Premiership winning sides both managed eight wins from their opening 11. Historically, the Eels have generally had mixed starts to even their most successful seasons, often winning between five and seven of their first 11 matches before stringing together a large group of wins in the middle of the season.
If I was one for superstition in this respect then I'd suggest history bodes well for this side if they match the mid-season form of many of their predecessors.
That all being said, last night's win over the Wests Tigers was not the most polished performance this team is capable of. Their opening 15 minutes was once again poor before their resolve and toughness shone through to make it look like they were running downhill for the rest of the match.
It's something Brad Arthur is keenly aware of, having noted it in the press conference, but also something to admire about this side in its ability to quickly turn the tables on their opposition.
There two key factors I see as being key to this ability to steamroll their opponents as the game wears on.
Fitness
Parramatta are clearly one of the fittest teams in the competition. The fact Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo can crank out massive, high qaulity minutes means Brad Arthur has somewhat of a luxury when using his bench. Where most props are looking for a breather after the first 20-25 minutes, our props are just warming up.
In many ways, this fitness has become a necessity given the lack of middle forwards available due to injuries to Kane Evans, Oregon Kaufusi, Ray Stone and Peni Terepo. There are really only two props available outside of RCG and Paulo, with those two being rookie Utoikamanu who is playing limited minutes and Daniel Alvaro who seems to be out of favour with BA at the moment.
The fact Marata Niukore has developed into a very good middle has provided some wiggle room but with the fitness of RCG and Paulo, Marata can be used more as an impact player to provide a more impactful spell from the bench than being asked to play at prop full time.
Discipline
Ball control has been a key part of Brad Arthur's game plan. If we control the ball, we generally win. While we made some errors towards the end of the match, some of those were down to a very wet surface, we completed at 83 per cent. In fact at half time our completion rate was 89 per cent.
We have also given away the fewest set restarts this season and the fewest penalties.
This discipline means our incredibly fit forwards don't have to do a lot of defensive work, providing more energy when it comes to their attack. It should come as no surprise that the Eels are the best team between the 60th to 80th minute in the competition.
This was perhaps demonstrated best in the 10 minutes leading up to half time. Despite their early possession and field position, the Tigers were looking completely gassed, whereas the Eels looked energetic, fresh and raring to go, despite just one change being made at that point in Andrew Davey replacing the injured Ryan Matterson.
Looking forward
Parramatta need to rectify their starts. They don't need to be perfect but a goal they set should be to keep the opposition scoreless in the first 10 minutes. At the moment, that starting 10 is providing opponents some energy and resolve that makes our job harder.
Being as fit and destructive as this side is, drying up those early, soft points will likely see some easier wins towards the back end of the season which will be important coming into the finals. Having played 18 games straight, being able to rotate players and take some key players off earlier in the matches with the result put to bed should hopefully allow the side to peak at the right time.
This side has responded well in the past few weeks but this slump has to end. The Bulldogs will likely provide a stern test early as they have done in our most recent clashes. But we possess all of the tools needed to dismantle them and on a dry Sunday afternoon we should be putting them to the sword.
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The good thing about regaining the top spot is that we have to play the storm and panthers who are both in front of us
Some interesting stats to be found for 2020 @ https://www.nrl.com/stats/
Points scored (4th) only 34 behind Rorters.
Tries (4th) 4 behind Rorters
Goals (equal 3rd) but way behind leaders by 19
Field goals - equal 1st with 2
Here is the big one though, POSSESSION 1st @ 55%. As an overall figure this is a very good sign considering Set Completions 79%. But this figure is also very good for us imo.
Support is also up there, which could be put down to Gutho always sniffing around the play in most cases.
Where we do fall down is for Line Engagement @ 148 as opposed to the best at 210.
Line breaks Good and clear winners with Post contact metres and Tackle breaks.
Decoy runs - Hate this aspect of the game but it would appear (to someone who has NFI about the game [just ask Kram]) we do not overly depend on them to score points.
All run metres, All runs and Kick Return metres are excellent - HOWEVER, Dummy half runs are way down. Of particular note with this stat is Panthers, Moanly, Sharks and Rorters are lower than us in this aspect of the game. Hmmmmmm. I would like to hear people's thoughts on this.
Now to the negatives.
ERRORS - 128 only 3 behind the Tits.
HANDLING ERRORS 106 marginally better than Dogs and Tits on 112 & 107 (resp)
The rest of the stats look pretty good to reasonable as would be expected of a team in the top 4.
What has Bushy done to correct our perpetual problems over the past 15 years?
Another interesting stat is Discipline by conceding low numbers for penalties - at least that has improved greatly imo.
Geez I wish Ricky would come back with his stats analysis blogs.
The interesting thing though is the Roosters have also traditionally dropped a lot of ball. It comes down to where and why you lose it. If you're making a mistake down your opponent's end then you're in a better position to defend it. Added to this is the fact that if you retain more possession than your opponent than you are also more likely to make errors as a simple matter of probability.
I'm not particularly worried about dummy half runs. Our side doesn't play like that. We rely on Mahoney getting the ball wide quickly and to our play makers on the front foot. I think Mahoney just picks and chooses when he needs to run, otherwise he has the confidence in our halves and big men to make best use of the ball.
I do not agree with your comment re Mahoney getting the ball wide, in fact he is more likely to go short to a dumbcluck forward.
I know everyone says you must have your forwards making ground before going wide - this is not necessarily the case imo.
We are not known to kick early, which in many cases can be a massive advantage for several reasons.
1) Outside backs are hesitant to come up into the defensive line thus allowing the chance to open gaps out wide.
2) Continually turning the opposition forwards around thereby tiring them as they scramble to get back into position.
3) Possibly create a chance for the chasers to regain possession or force a mistake.
I can agree (to some extent) on the dummy half runs and the stats demonstrate top teams with a similar attitude.
That said we cannot deny Harry Grant is creating havoc for most teams.
Agreed. If we can get our starts right games should be easier to win. We are shooting ourselves in the foot by letting the opposition into the game early. This just puts more pressure on the team to turn that around. Mind you, if they can get it right, these games would be very good experience come finals time when you would expect very tough games.