'12 | R1 | Fri | Eels 6-18 Broncos | Parramatta

[innsaneink]

Was that MNF on a Friday?
Or 5.30 tomorrow?

 

[Pokemon80]

Eels looked flat and uncreative in attack, not a good sign. Poor game to watch.

 

[BranVan3000]

lol @ eels without hayne

lol @ the haters

One game in the wet without our best player and we struggle to score points. Take Hodges out of the Broncos and it would've been the same story.

So basically Eels are back to needing Hayne playing to accomplish anything. How has that served you in the last two years?

 

[hybrid_tiger]

I thought this was the year when Parra wouldn't need to rely on Hayne anymore?

 

[Spot On]

How did Benny Roberts go?

 

[coolumsharkie]

Good but he's injured I think.

 

[Raiders_Premiers]

Yeah, don't think I'll be watching a Pawwa game for the rest of the year...

 

[isaiah]

broncs 13+

ohhhh, so close


you could just see after 15 min in the first half, they were a class ahead

 

[natheel]

i thought when roberts went off we lost some of the little spark we seemed to have, i think he will be a solid buy for us. as for Sandow he played solidly, it was good to see our kicks find space on more than one occasion thats for sure, just need tonga and hayne back and we should be fine. our forwards are good

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So basically Eels are back to needing Hayne playing to accomplish anything.

Every team needs their best players playing to accomplish anything. Remember Melbourne in the 2008 grand final? Without Smith they couldn't attack or defend.

Any team struggles without their stars. I dare say we will struggle again this year if Hayne plays but Sandow doesn't.

How has that served you in the last two years?

A lot better than without him.

This year Sandow will complement Hayne, but we need both of them on the field. Tonight all we did was replace last year's one-man-show with another.

Next week they're both on the field.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I thought this was the year when Parra wouldn't need to rely on Hayne anymore?

About as good as your team goes without Marshall or Farah.

The only teams that don't struggle without their stars are the teams that don't have any.

 

[AuDragon]

The better team won, and the class difference ended up showing. But that first half cannot be repeated against the best teams in the comp.
Norman showed glimpses of what he can, and Wallace directed the team well.
Most pleased by the fact our pack dominated the Eels pack, which is not a given.

Hopefully the game against the Cows will be much better now that the cobwebs have been shaken off...

 

[wibble]

The weather was terrible and a lot of the "good" play from both teams was just taking advantage of mistakes from the opposition due to poor conditions.

But I think both teams had some positives.

Broncos finished strongly, and their forwards ran well. Norman looked quite dangerous at times, and will up his involvement as he gains confidence. Hodges was a beast, and reminded everyone of the damage he can cause when injury free. Beal probably won't be delighted with his game...

Overall, Broncos fans must be delighted with the maturity their very young team showed, and they already look to have dispelled the idea that they might struggle without Lockyer.

For the Eels, I thought Sandow and Roberts worked quite well together, and losing Roberts had quite an effect on the team (I wouldn't expect to see many teams looking very smooth when they lose their first choice 5/8 three quarters of the way into the match).

The Broncos had a lot of ball against the Eels line at some points, and Parramatta held well, so they should be encouraged. Their inexperienced outside backs defended well, and ran strongly. And Hayne will obviously help their attack a great deal (as well as keeping their halves on the field and playing in better conditions). If their line defense holds as it did, they should compete well this year.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Most pleased by the fact our pack dominated the Eels pack, which is not a given.

You serious?

We had three forwards run for 120+ metres while only one Broncos forward ran for more than 100.

Your backs made all the metres, as you'd expect having all the ball in our half.

 

[Pokemon80]

Of course Eels missed Hayne, they really needed that spark in the ruck, q

 

[AuDragon]

You serious?

We had three forwards run for 120+ metres while only one Broncos forward ran for more than 100.

Your backs made all the metres, as you'd expect having all the ball in our half.

Yeah, but aside from the dropped pill, which both teams suffered from, why do you think we were continuously in your half of the field?

Mannah was very good, as was Algood, but that is really where the buck stops as far as the Eels forwards go.
We have a more balanced pack, allowing all of the forwards to share the load.

You can't measure performance on runs only, defense counts for something as well, but in a game where both teams had 50% possession, these are the stats for the forwards only:

Brisbane had 95 runs for 666 meters, against the Eels 77 runs for 524 meters. We had 7 offloads against Eels 0, 0 ineffective tackles against 15, 9 missed tackles against 23, 17 tackle breaks against 5.

If that doesn't reflect domination, I don't know what will...

 

[isaiah]

You serious?

We had three forwards run for 120+ metres while only one Broncos forward ran for more than 100.

Your backs made all the metres, as you'd expect having all the ball in our half.

where do you get your stats, fairyland?

hannant parker and maguire all ran for more than 100 metres

 

[anjado]

Parramatta were incredibly toothless in attack 3 times in attacking areas in the second half Hindmarsh received the ball in the five eighth position on the 4th tackle.

I thought Mannah played well for the Eels and Morgan looked quite dangerous when he received the ball.

Brisbane were poor also especially in the first half they were going too sideways with the ball which is suicidal in wet weather conditions if they were playing against a top side i think the game may have been over by half time. Second half they ground it out well and Parramatta didn't really look like scoring in the entire match.

I think Kearney is in big trouble i know they were missing Hayne and Tonga but they just don't seem to have anything going for them in an attacking sense. They are trying to play like Melbourne but just don't have the personnel to get to that level.

they were a far better team under Anderson playing off the cuff with offloads. Did Parramatta make more than 5 offloads last night ? I know it is wet but you don't have to be ultra conservative guys like Moi Moi and Hindmarsh are much more dangerous if they are allowed to offload. Even Sandow would be much more suited to playing off the cuff Roberts too.

I don't want to be too negative after one game but i really fail to see what Kearney is bringing to the table, which is a shame because he was always one of my favourite players.

 

[goosie]

eels have a lot of work to do this season or they will be winning the spoon imo, they were dreadful. broncos were getting better as the game went on and will be better for round 2.

 

[Chip Bayless]

First half from Eels was promising, I like the new look Sandow game. Less panic to it, a more composed halfback injecting himself when necessary. Sure he made some mistakes, though in the short and long term, Sandow is going to come up trumps for the Eels. I look forward to seeing where this team is at when a healthy Hayne is back in the line up with Sandow. Their forwards are serviceable, their two match winners can win them games.

As for the Broncos, typical start to the season. They are a good side and will only get better as their halves grow in confidence. They lacked some direction last night at times. The leadership of Civoniceva will be priceless in the post Lockyer transition. Thaiday is more Langer as a leader, as in he will lead with his actions more so words. I think he will become a good leader, I'd still have preferred Parker.

It's round one, long way to go before we start handing out wooden spoons.