2019 The Rebirth of a Team

I love how the Eels threw those long passes against the Broncos. Where was that all season??? Where was the aggressive defense all season as well? They are saving the best for last, I guess. Dont show what you really have all season so the opposition does not know how to handle it? Even Moeroa had a decent game plus scored a try. Lets hope the halfs have a huge game like they did against the Broncos?

I agree with you, I think the Raiders will be in the GF now. If they make it the Evil Empire cant make it as they are both on the same side of the playoffs. If RS loses the GF I wonder who he will blame?

Why the Eels can beat the Storrm

Don't go writing off the Eels too quickly, they're a big chance of ending Melbourne's season on Saturday night.

There are a few reasons why the Storm will start as warm favourites - Parramatta's poor record away from Bankwest Stadium and Melbourne's superior form across the whole season are the first two that come to mind.

No doubt it is a huge ask but there are plenty of factors in Parramatta's favour if they can get their game plan and their mental approach right.

Melbourne are going to be battered and bruised after an extremely physical game against Canberra that went down to the wire.

To go through all that and come away with nothing takes a tremendous toll - physically and psychologically.

Melbourne probably still should have won that game. If they hadn't got off to such a slow start they probably would have earned a week off. In the end, it still took an unlucky error on their own line to gift Canberra the match-winning try.

Brown hoping Eels take momentum to Melbourne

After not a great first 40 minutes, they really fixed things up in the second half and a big part of that was the impact of Nelson Asofa-Solomona who was just magnificent and made a huge impact in the middle.

Their focus this week is going to be to start fast and not get caught out because that has been one of the criticisms of them this year. Fast starts have also been central to how the Eels have got the jump on teams in their recent wins.

Melbourne have mostly got away with their slow starts just through the quality of the team, but they may not be so lucky if they repeat that on Saturday.

Annesley appeals to NRL fans after touch judge abuse

Parramatta will need to come out with that mindset of showing them it won't be easy. They need to be just as physical as Canberra were.

They have the forward pack to do it – on the weekend their pack was pretty aggressive.

They need to repeat that and on top of that they need to play really fast and also move the ball around. Ball movement was another strength of theirs on the weekend.

I like the way they attacked Brisbane's edges then came back to the middle and shifted the ball around.

However, those long cut-out passes won't be as effective against the Storm. The Brisbane defence was really passive but the Storm will slow the ruck down and press off their line hard.

They'll be looking for those cut-out passes so they can get up and bash the person catching the ball. They'll be looking to drive them back and put a huge dent in Parramatta's momentum. The Eels need to be mindful of that.

Brown proud of Parramatta’s defensive efforts

A huge strength for the Eels is the size of their outside backs and the go-forward they provide. If the Storm muscle up in the middle the Eels need to go wide early and quickly and use that as another go-forward platform.

If they can match it with the Storm early on they can play up-tempo and shift the ball around. If they can keep that up the Storm will start to feel the effects of last week and fatigue sooner.

Parramatta have no excuses coming in because they dominated possession against Brisbane and they didn't have to make as many tackles. It was effectively a solid training run and hey should be jumping out of their skin.

I hope they don't try and get too tricky with their passing game. It needs to be on point, putting ball runners on the front foot.

The way the Eels change direction a lot means neither side of the ruck for the Storm can slacken off. The entire defensive line has to come up and go back.

Every try from Finals Week 1

Completion rates will be crucial; if they Eels can limit the number of mistakes they make but still throw the ball around and ask plenty of questions they can wear the Storm out.

A lot of people are saying the Storm made uncharacteristic mistakes last week but a lot of that was down to the Canberra defensive line putting pressure on them.

The Storm won't lay down and I'm sure that loss was a big shock to the system.

I don't think Parramatta's huge loss to Melbourne in round nine will be a big factor because both teams are different now to what they were then.

However, if the Eels let Melbourne get off to a quick start and get a few tries in front, that's a massive uphill battle to try and reel in.

If the Eels can hang in there and go with them and use the clock and possession to their advantage, maintain their physicality and attack from all over field, they have a really good chance to book a date with the Roosters in the preliminary finals.

I'm caught up in all the Parra hype from the weekend and still have not come down, so I'll say Eels by 14.

Forget about this years away games, none of that applies anymore. Finals football is a different game. In the past two decades we've seen the Eels win minor premierships and win no matter where they travel, but choked when it mattered the most. Maybe we are now seeing the opposite? Terrible away record during the season, but did enough to make the finals. We'll see a better attitude and effort this weekend. Storm my still win because they are a professional outfit, but they can be defeated.

I think Roosters would be a bigger hurdle than the Storm. Quite possible Parra will beat the Storm, then the Roosters, but finally lose in the Grand Final. No way can Parra win 3 games in a row, 5 if you include wins against Sea Eagles and Broncos. Surely Parra are not that good. Teams can go on a roll at the backend of the season, but they have to be playing out of their skins every week, like in 2009.

BS was a serial choker and by 2005 after the Cowboys lose in the GF Qualifier, I had depression. LOL I remember walking out of the ground feeling so blue, because it happened time and time again. I'd had enough by 2005. BS had to go in 2006.

Daniel Anderson shot himself in the foot by saying, Parra making the GF had nothing to do with him. A coach should never say that!!

Definitely the toughest road to the Grand Final. In the 80's, Parra were the best, so it wasn't the toughest road, in 2001 - Minor Premiers and in 2009, beat Dragons, Titans and Bulldogs. Eels 2019 have to beat Storm and Roosters.

If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best!! I think the NRL, should only have top 5, not 8. Everyone is talking about the poor performance by the Broncos, but they shouldn't have been in the finals with a negative points difference and losing more games than winning. That's embarrassing. Top 5 was better, first week - team 2 v team 3 and team 4 v team 5. Team 1 does not play until the following week. An easier draw to understand as well.

Great to see the Evil Empire lose. The Rabbits were lucky.

I thought the top 5 was first week team 2 vs team 5 and team 3 vs team 4 but I might be wrong? I have never been convinced that a week off is a good thing?

I actually like that they are talking more about the bad Broncos and not the Eels. I hope the Eels have there head in the right place for this one, because it will be a tough tight game. They will have to play for 80 mins and be great from the start of the game. No slow starts in this one.

Storm by 7