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Post by Electric Eel on Jul 1, 2020 19:25:36 GMT 10
FRIDAY: Parramatta Eels v Brisbane Broncos at Parramatta Stadium, 7:30pm
EELS: Luke Burt, Ken Sio, Esi Tonga, Ryan Morgan, Cheyse Blair, Ben Roberts, Chris Sandow, Tim Mannah, Matt Keating, Mitchell Allgood, Nathan Hindmarsh, Taniela Lasalo, Justin Horo. Interchange: Casey McGuire, Fuifui Moimoi, Justin Poore, Reni Maitua, Taulima Tautai
BRONCOS: Josh Hoffman, Gerard Beale, Jack Reed, Justin Hodges, Jharal Yow Yeh, Corey Norman, Peter Wallace, Ben Hannant, Andrew McCullough, Sam Thaiday (c), Alex Glenn, Ben Te'o, Corey Parker. Interchange: Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Matt Gillett, Scott Anderson.
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Post by Electric Eel on Jul 1, 2020 19:25:59 GMT 10
NRL.com
Eels v Broncos
Parramatta Stadium
Friday 7.40pm (AEDT)
It has been nine long years since Brisbane ventured south to Sydney to start a premiership campaign – and you can bet the new-look Eels, with all eyes on big-bucks recruit Chris Sandow at halfback, will be out to remind the visitors what they haven’t been missing.
Adding to the Broncos’ assignment is the fact they haven’t beaten Parramatta without Darren Lockyer in their ranks since June 2004. That’s some significant, unspoken pressure on the shoulders of Corey Norman who has been given first dibs on the famous No.6 jersey for the opening rounds of the premiership ahead of bench utility Ben Hunt.
It will be a tough ask though: the sensation in the lead-up to this clash is the unavailability of Eels star Jarryd Hayne who has failed to recover from the knee ligament strain he suffered in the side’s trial against the Panthers a fortnight ago. Hayne’s absence, along with the injury to Kangaroos tourist Willie Tonga (hamstring) leaves the Eels’ backline horribly exposed. Luke Burt (fullback) is virtually the sole familiar Eels face, with Ken Sio set to notch just his second NRL game on one wing while Australian Schoolboys rep Cheyse Blair will debut on the other flank. The new centre pairing of Ryan Morgan and Esi Tonga boasts 50 NRL games between them. New addition Ben Roberts partners Sandow in the halves.
Eels coach Stephen Kearney will be desperate for an improved performance after the gold-and-blues showed ring-rustiness in their two trial matches – losing 20-12 to the Wests Tigers without several key figures including Hayne before a 26-10 defeat to Penrith a fortnight ago. Prop Tim Mannah also sustained a knee injury in their last trial although he has been passed fit and will start the game alongside Mitchell Allgood; Fuifui Moimoi and Justin Poore will be injected off the interchange bench.
Meanwhile the Broncos opened their trial account with a 28-22 victory over North Queensland almost a month ago, with Corey Norman engineering a comeback after the understrength side trailed 18-16 at halftime. They then lost 18-16 to the Titans before falling 34-30 to the Storm in a showcase trial in Hobart a fortnight ago. That last hit-out came at a cost, with veteran prop Petero Civoniceva rubbed out for one NRL game following a high tackle on Ryan Hinchcliffe in the closing five minutes.
Consequently, coach Anthony Griffin has named captain Sam Thaiday up front to partner Ben Hannant, with Josh McGuire, Scott Anderson and Matt Gillett on the bench. This sees Ben Te’o make his return from injury in the second row. Utility Ben Hunt rounds out the 17.
Fans can expect plenty of points from the Broncos – they need 30 more to register 500 at Parramatta Stadium and are currently averaging 22 at the venue from 21 outings.
Watch Out Eels: Thaiday is the perfect choice to lead the Broncos into the post-Lockyer era and he’ll relish the call up to prop in Civoniceva’s absence. There isn’t a player in the NRL who oozes more passion and you can be certain ‘Slammin’ Sam’ will be out to lead by example. Last season the wind-him-up whirlwind led all second-rowers for runs (average 16.4) and game time (78.9 minutes) and his bruising defence (32 tackles a game) caused opponents to hesitate before half-heartedly running his way. His 116 metres a match was third behind dynamos Greg Bird and Anthony Watmough. And Thaiday is no stranger to the front row: he played six games there last year adding 97 metres and 28 tackles in 57 minutes a game. He’ll play more minutes than is usual for a prop here, which will keep the bench fresh.
Meanwhile the Eels could prove their own worst enemy: coach Kearney will need to have radically overhauled their spluttering attack over the off-season if his side is to worry the Broncos. Last season Parramatta were clumsy and clueless with the ball in hand, recording the fewest tackle-breaks (28.2) and offloads (7.8) of all teams as well as the second-fewest line-breaks (3.1).
Danger Sign: Whoever plays on the left wing for Parramatta can expect a torrid evening under the high ball – the Broncos scored more tries from kicks than any other side in 2011 (26) and the right corner was their preferred target, notching 26 tries compared to 16 on the left. One of Darren Lockyer’s and Peter Wallace’s pet plays was a bomb for enthusiastic chaser Jharal Yow Yeh; Lockyer made 12 try assists of the boot, with Wallace contributing nine. With Lockyer retired Wallace will kick high and wide more often – and he may not wait to make it a last-tackle play. The worry for the Eels is they defused just 35 per cent of cross-field bombs in 2011 – the fourth-worst record in the league.
Watch Out Broncos: Chris Sandow’s unpredictability makes him a huge threat – last year he contributed nine try assists of the boot and eight from passes, showing his versatility. He will definitely take a huge weight off their go-to man of the past few seasons Jarryd Hayne, but without Hayne this week you can be certain Sandow will try every trick in his bag to spark his new side.
Danger Sign: Last year the Eels scored a greater percentage of tries from kicks (23 of 65) than any other team. One of their pet plays is to kick across-field behind the opposition backline early in the tackle count, with their outside backs chasing hard. New halves Roberts and Sandow love to kick; if they can get their weighting right and choose the correct moment they can catch the Broncos napping.
Fuifui Moimoi v Josh McGuire: Wow: if the closing two months of 2011 are anything to go by this will be a hum-dinger of a head-to-head battle. Eels prop Moimoi led the NRL for front-row gains with 134 metres (16 runs) before a late surge by McGuire saw the Bronco snatch the mantle at season’s end with a powerful 146 metres in each of his seven games up front – with an NRL-high average 18 runs to boot. You’ll feel every crunch when these guys come off the bench.
The History: Played 43; Broncos 26, Eels 16, drawn 1. The honours are even four games apiece from the past eight encounters. It’s five years since the Eels swamped the Broncos to record their biggest ever win between the sides (68-22) at Parramatta Stadium. But the visitors hold a commanding lead in matches played at the Eels’ home base (14-5) – as a result, Brisbane enjoy a greater winning percentage at Parramatta than at any other Sydney venue (71.4 per cent).
The Last Time They Met: The Broncos, with Corey Norman deputising for Darren Lockyer and with a host of other Origin stars rested, rolled the Eels 16-12 on a slippery Parramatta Stadium surface in Round 17 last year. The visitors led 6-nil at halftime and crossed again shortly after the break before a Luke Burt try-double rocketed the Eels back into calculations. Matt Gilllett scored the match-winner five minutes from time. The Eels competed strongly though, outgunning the Broncos in territory (1545 metres to 1329 metres) – but their high error count (16) let them down. Both fullbacks were outstanding, with Josh Hoffman running 186 metres and Burt running 188 metres.
Match Officials: Referees – Shayne Hayne & Gavin Morris; Sideline Officials – Jeff Younis & Adam Reid; Video Referee – Paul Simpkins.
The Way We See It: The Broncos enter Round 1 with a proven record as a committed, well-drilled team, whereas the Eels have more than a few points to prove to their fans. Sure the pressure is on Corey Norman in the No.6 but he has solid support around him in the spine with Josh Hoffman, Peter Wallace and Andrew McCullough. You could say the pressure is on Chris Sandow too given Hayne’s absence – and he has the potential to be a defensive liability, having missed more tackles in 2011 than any other player (138). Don’t think for one minute that will be lost on Broncos coach Anthony Griffin, with plenty of tall timber, including Sandow’s Indigenous All Stars team-mate Thaiday, likely to spot him on the edges.
With no Hayne we’ll tip the Broncos by 12 points.
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Post by Electric Eel on Jul 1, 2020 19:26:34 GMT 10
Ian McCullough AAP Sat, Mar 03, 2012
Brisbane have begun life without Darren Lockyer in positive fashion, seeing off the Eels 18-6 in Friday's NRL clash at Parramatta Stadium.
In rainswept conditions, both sides struggled terribly in keeping possession with handling errors very much the order of the evening in a scrappy affair.
However, it was the visitors who headed home with the two competition points thanks to second-half tries from Jharal Yow Yeh, Peter Wallace and Ben Hannant.
The Eels were deprived of the services of star fullback Jarryd Hayne, who failed a fitness test on his injured knee but got off to a flying start when big-money off-season signing Chris Sandow made an instant impression with a try after just four minutes.
The former South Sydney halfback's first major contribution in the blue and gold was to grubber a kick across the greasy surface and he pounced quickest to score after Gerard Beale fumbled close to the tryline.
With the rain continuing to fall, it was the home side who looked the more comfortable in the opening period with the Broncos yielding possession on a regular basis as the Eels grew in confidence.
However, like they did so often last season, poor discipline proved to be their downfall, with referees Shayne Hayne and Gavin Morris penalising them eight times in the first half alone.
The Broncos finished the first half deep in Eels territory, but Stephen Kearney's side showed tremendous character in defence with young backs Ken Sio, Ryan Morgan, Cheyse Blair and Esi Tonga belying their tender years to repel the visitors.
The Broncos were much improved in the second half as the Eels were forced onto the back foot with Sandow unable to exert any influence in attack.
A knock-on under the high ball from Sio presented the Broncos with the ball in great field position and they spread the play wide to the right through Wallace and Justin Hodges, who teed-up Yow Yeh to score in the corner.
That try appeared to knock the stuffing out of the Eels and it was no surprise when Anthony Griffin's side added another four-pointer on the hour when Wallace's grubber bounced awkwardly in the in-goal area and he pounced as the Eels' defence hesitated.
With the Broncos now firmly in control, Parramatta looked bereft of ideas in attack as the Queenslanders began to dominate.
Lockyer's successor, Corey Norman, began to find his feet and he played a major role in Hannant's late try, starting the move that saw the former Canterbury prop bulldoze his way over the line.
Corey Parker kicked three goals for Brisbane, with Luke Burt kicking one for the Eels.
To compound a miserable evening for the home side, debutant five-eighth Ben Roberts limped off with a quad strain midway through the second half.
Griffin accused his players of being too impatient in the first half and failing to adapt to the conditions, but was delighted with their display after the break.
New five-eighth Norman improved in the second period and Griffin said he grew in confidence along with the rest of the team.
"We were getting into good field position, but trying to get points too quickly in the first half," Griffin said.
"It wasn't panic stations, the only way they got their try was that we dropped the ball over the line, we just had to wait for our points to come instead of chasing them.
"We were all lot better in the second half, not just Corey. We were impatient with the ball and trying to find points rather than earn them."
Broncos skipper Sam Thaiday predicted a bright season for the Broncos and hailed the manner in which they defended their line.
"We knew it was going to be a tough, hard grind. We just hung in there," he said.
"If we keep our defence up this season we are going to go a long way. There is plenty more to come."
Eels coach Kearney refused to be downcast and said the performances of his young backs gave him reasons to be optimistic.
"They all did very well I thought, particularly in defence," Kearney said.
"Our attack could certainly be a lot better but I think that's going to take a few weeks to gel together."
Kearney said he was expecting an improvement from Sandow, who started the game well but faded in the second half.
"He's like the whole team's performance. We've got a lot of improvement in us ... but we all know what he's capable of and I'm sure he'll get even better as we move through this season."
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Post by Electric Eel on Sept 4, 2021 20:17:59 GMT 10
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