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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:26:23 GMT 10
THURSDAY 3rd August: Parramatta Eels v Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, 7.50pm
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:26:43 GMT 10
1 Bevan French
2 Semi Radradra
3 Michael Jennings
4 Brad Takairangi
5 Kirisome Auva'a
6 Corey Norman
7 Mitchell Moses
8 Siosai Vave
9 Cameron King
10 Tim Mannah (c)
11 Manu Ma'u
12 Teapai Moeroa
13 Nathan Brown
14Daniel Alvaro
15Kenny Edwards
16 Siosaia Matagi
17Peni Terepo
18David Gower
19Will Smith
20Frank Pritchard
21Josh Hoffman
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:27:09 GMT 10
NRL.com
Schick Hydro Preview: Canterbury Bulldogs v Parramatta Eels
ANZ Stadium
Thursday, 7.50pm
Can the in-form Eels make it six straight when they meet up with their old rivals Canterbury?
The Eels and Dogs were THE two teams of the 1980s, combining for eight of the 10 premierships with four apiece – and one-all in Grand Finals in which they met each other. The Dogs downed the Eels 6-4 in 1984 while the Eels triumphed 4-2 in the famous try-less decider in '86.
So it's fitting these two old rivals meet to kick off 'retro' round on Thursday night.
Seeing Canterbury head into this contest placed 13th isn't particularly reminiscent of the 80s or, for that matter, the 90s or 2000s or 2010s. As such, expect Des Hasler's men to be doing everything possible to correct their recent poor record and salvage some pride before their season ends in Rounds 26.
For the Eels however, the rewards could be huge. They have all-but guaranteed themselves a spot in the finals. One more win will do it but more importantly, if they keep racking up the wins a fifth- or sixth-place finish would earn a home final or even a possible top-four finish with a guaranteed second bite of the cherry.
For this match Hasler has named winger Brett Morris to return from illness on the wing in place of Kerrod Holland in the only change.
Eels coach Brad Arthur has named an unchanged 17 although after getting through his injury return in reserve grade last week Frank Pritchard may be edging closer to an NRL recall after being named in the reserves for the second week running.
Why Bulldogs can win: The blue and whites will need to channel their second half against Parramatta from just five weeks ago, when they came back from a 12-0 first half defecit to force the game to golden point at 12-all after easily winning the second 40. A Mitch Moses field goal broke their hearts in the 82nd minute on that occasion but their discipline should give them encouragement. With both teams completing at 86 per cent in that half, the Dogs held 61 per cent of the ball, conceded no penalties, and almost doubled the run metres of their opponents (1,054-554). It's too late in the season to expect Canterbury to flick a switch and become a free-flowing, attacking force but if they can channel what they do well and win the pressure game and the grind they know they have what it takes to wear down the Eels.
Why Eels can win: After five straight wins and particularly after their hugely impressive toppling of the fourth-placed Broncos last week the Eels will believe they can beat anyone on their day. The challenge for Arthur will be keeping them switched on to lift against a bottom-four side after downing a top-four team, but this side looks to have found its steel of late. A case in point: three months ago the Eels conceded two tries in the first 10 minutes against the Roosters and went on to lose 48-10. But now, two tries in seven minutes against Brisbane didn’t cause panic. They reset and hung in and got back in the contest. Then at 14-all late in the game, the type of situation in which the old Eels would have found a way to lose, they upped the ante and kicked away to a 28-14 win. Both the early momentum swing and late surge were built on powerful, stinging carries from the forwards which has been a cornerstone of Parramatta's play in 2017.
The history: Played 140; Bulldogs 75; Eels 60; Drawn 5. The Eels are now on a three-game winning run against the Dogs, reversing a poor run of nine losses in 10 games against the blue and whites from 2011-15. With both clubs calling ANZ home this year there is little on offer in the way of home advantage, although the Eels (six straight wins at ANZ) are enjoying the Stadium more than the Dogs (four losses in past five games) of late.
What are the odds: Sportsbet punters have invested more than twice as much on the Eels in the head-to-head market, but they're only willing to back Parramatta to win 1-12 rather than 13+. There isn't even any interest in the Bulldogs at the line either. Latest odds at sportsbet.com.au
Match officials: Referee: Grant Atkins. Assistant Referee: Gavin Reynolds. Touch judges: Belinda Sleeman and Nick Beashel. Review Official: Bernard Sutton. Senior RO: Luke Patten.
Televised: Channel Nine and Fox League – Live from 7.30pm.
NRL.com predicts: We're tipping this one to pan out fairly similarly to last time – a tough, close battle based on forward momentum with the Eels to have just a bit more quality when it counts. Parramatta by two.
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:27:31 GMT 10
Halftime: Parramatta Eels 16 Canterbury Bulldogs 0
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:27:49 GMT 10
Fulltime: Parramatta Eels 20 Canterbury Bulldogs 4
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:28:09 GMT 10
NRL.com
Parramatta have made it six straight wins with a convincing 20-4 win over Canterbury at a sodden ANZ Stadium on Thursday night but face a nervous wait on a hamstring injury to fullback Bevan French.
Eels coach Brad Arthur could ill-afford to lose another fullback after the in-form Clint Gutherson was recently rubbed out for the season but the injury is believed to be minor.
The win assures the Eels of a finals berth for the first time since 2009 and temporarily moves them into the top four on the Telstra Premiership ladder.
A decision to gamble on centre Chase Stanley did not pay off for Dogs coach Des Hasler with the former Dragon and Storm three-quarter throwing plenty of rusty passes and producing a few errors.
The Eels had no such issues with halves Corey Norman and in particular Mitch Moses controlling proceedings expertly with a masterful kicking display, including a whopping nine forced goal line drop outs.
The Dogs were their own worst enemy, doubling the Eels error tally 11-6 including some absolute clangers, scuppering their own attacking chances and including a cold drop from a penalty tap restart.
Moses pulled the Dogs apart early, splitting the line to set Bevan French up for his sixth try in as many games and showing wonderful deception to create space for Semi Radradra to score.
Those two scores came after an early try to bench prop Daniel Alvaro – on the field while Nathan Brown went for a head injury assessment – who carried a number of defenders over the line for a soft try that would have had Dogs coach Des Hasler tearing his hair out.
In between Canterbury continually found new and inventive ways to cough up possession and piggy-back the Eels into attacking range, conceding five first-half goal line drop outs and only earning their first play inside the Eels 10 metre zone in the shadows of half-time but were unable to cash in.
With French not returning from half-time, Norman moved to fullback and Kenny Edwards to five-eighth and whether it was the slight weakening of the Eels line-up or a big half-time spray from Hasler, the Dogs did look an improved side after the break.
Next points eventually came via a Moses penalty goal to make it 18-0 and the two points proved important when the Dogs bagged their first try.
Recalled centre Brenko Lee brushed off Radradra to streak into space and send Marcelo Montoya over in the corner but Stanley's missed conversion kept the difference at 14 points with just 20 minutes of the contest to play.
The remainder of the game was dour as the under-strength Eels ground their way towards a win and the Dogs struggled to find any sort of fluency with the ball.
The only eventual addition to the score came when Reynolds kicked the final drop-out of the night from well over his goal-line to hand Moses a free two points to wind the remainder of the clock down on a 20-4 win.
Parramatta Eels 20 (Alvaro, French, Radradra tries; Moses 4 goals) defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 4 (Montoya try) at ANZ Stadium. Half time: Eels 16-0. Crowd: 12,137.
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:28:55 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:29:33 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:30:12 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:30:49 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:31:32 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:32:08 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:32:43 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:33:30 GMT 10
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Post by Electric Eel on Nov 27, 2020 17:34:12 GMT 10
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1981 1982 1983 1986 
