The Phelan Folly
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I know this will probably be moderated out (for whatever reason), but Phil writes the best insights into the Parra team I've yet come across.....
Match Preview: Eels vs Broncos
by Phil Sim
I just spent tonight poring over the video of last week's match against the Bulldogs. Being at the game, you see a lot of things you miss on TV and vice versa.
What I was looking for were the things Daniel Anderson talked about at the post-match press conference. Players taking the easy options and not putting their bodies on the line. Indicators that there was a lack of passion or commitment.
And you know what, that wasn't what I found. I think when Ando looks back at the tape he'll probably be a little bit embarrassed by some of his comments. At least, he should be. Indeed, watching the game at the level of detail I just did, Anderson should really be standing up to accept his share of responsibility. Let's look at the first try. A blind-side play in the first two minutes. It's a move the Bulldogs have had great success with already this year and its something Parra's defence should have been more mindful of. In fact, our defensive structure was just poor throughout. On two ocassions, Brett Kimmorley ran to the line and sucked in two defenders. This is midget Kimmorley we're talking about who only had to run at a bit of an angle and on one occasion he sucked Todd Lowrie into leaving his man and on the next he sucked in Weller Huaraki. The result 12 points.
I'm sorry Ando, but that's not a well-drilled defence. Kimmorley always runs to the line. Surely, it was drummed into the players to take him one-on-one and concentrate on his supports. Apparently, not. Fair dinkum, if our defence can't trust their inside man to take down Brett Kimmorley we have major problems.
Huaraki still has major issues with his defence. On two key occasions he moved up ahead of his team members on our goal line and left gaps. One that resulted in Michael Hodgson crashing between him and Galuvao and the other that left a gaping hole out wide that resulted in another try. Parramatta needs Huaraki. He has tremendous footwork, good skills and runs a great line and he showed that with the two tries he bagged. However, defence has always been an issue and its one the coaching staff should have addressed. Anderson prides himself on being a technical coach, but what I saw were technical issues more so than a lack of heart or commitment.
There's about 30 points in just those tries I've mentioned. The other tries were either flukey (Kimmorley's deflection of a Keating kick) or just unstoppable (the Roberts kick through and the Patton inside flick pass).
The other problem we had was a recurring one we've had in past seasons. We lose direction for a 15 minute period and the game just slips away. That's largely the result of not having a dominant halfback. For all the plaudits the television commentators have decided to suddenly shower Brett Finch with ("Finch has carried this team for two years": Gould), we've not had at any time a half back in the last decade who steadies the ship and concentrates on getting the side back on course. Feleti Mateo is certainly not the man to do it. Brett Finch never managed it because his kicking game was so poor. And it was Tim Smith's biggest flaw. He routinely went back into his shell when he was needed most.
Kris Keating can be that player. His kick game is pretty good and he knows how to play straight, which is what you want when your trying to re-establish dominance. By playing Jeff Robson on the interchange bench, Anderson is not giving his side the message that Keating has to be the go-to player. It's saying 'well, if Kris doesn't measure up I can throw Robson in'. Parramatta will be better served by playing Daniel Mortimer off the bench. Mortimer can drop into hooker or five-eighth and can cover half back. When the Eels need to settle the play, Mortimer to five-eighth so Keating can dominate and also allowing Mateo to drop back to lock to use him for his incisive running, would be a far better option.
I realise this is supposed to be a match review, rather than a match analysis but I make these points because I think Parramatta can right it's ship pretty quickly. The first thing to realise is that of course Nathan Hindmarsh will make an incredible difference. A lot of those bad defensive decisions were about where Nathan Hindmarsh would typically have defended. I've got faith in Daniel Anderson that he can fix those technical problems. They weren't there earlier in the year, but I suspect in trying to right the teams attack, some of the defensive lessons may have been forgotten.
There were some good signs. Matt Keating's dummy half running was a standout with two clean linebreaks. I think he stepped up a level in confidence with his brother at seven and I'm pretty sure this week, Ando will have told him that he needs to let Kris run the show. I'm really looking forward to watching the brothers this weekend. They're both fierce competitors and I think they can provide the determination and grittiness that Parramatta really needs as a foundation of their team dynamics.
Nathan Cayless stepped up as I suspected he would given the criticism leveled at him last week. Not only did he make 160+ metres, but he was allowed to play with his skill, running to the line and offloading. Our forwards were actually pretty good. We made big metres for most of the match regularly picking up 50 to 60 metres in a set. Lowrie's defence was a stand-out and Oake played a better game than most gave him credit for. I think we can match Brisbane in the forwards. The Dragons pack certainly made Brisbane look ordinary and we were able to keep pace with them recently. We just need to keep hitting it up, play very straight and wait for our chances. Out kicking game needs to be good and I'd like to see Matt Keating kicking more out of dummy half.
The Broncos are a team you need to turn the screws on. If you let them get on a roll, you're gone. If you're left defending on your goal-line for long periods of time, you're gone. That's obviously the area of danger and the big test is for Taulima Tautai. His goal-line defence was iffy last year and I just hope that it's something the club's coaching staff has done a lot of work on. He's actually potentially the best defender in the backline in my opinion and I'm tipping he'll have a big game and will be a permanent fixtures in the centres for the rest of the year. I'm actually just as worried about Hayne's side, as he has not yet proved he's a solid defender in the three-quarters and Hodges made him look amateurish the last time those two combatted.
If we win, it won't be by a big margin. It will mean, we've toughed it out, played good, no-mistake football. If we win, the season will be back on track. Can we do it? I certainly won't say we can't.
http://www.see-guidelines.com/article.php?id=2724
Match Preview: Eels vs Broncos
by Phil Sim
I just spent tonight poring over the video of last week's match against the Bulldogs. Being at the game, you see a lot of things you miss on TV and vice versa.
What I was looking for were the things Daniel Anderson talked about at the post-match press conference. Players taking the easy options and not putting their bodies on the line. Indicators that there was a lack of passion or commitment.
And you know what, that wasn't what I found. I think when Ando looks back at the tape he'll probably be a little bit embarrassed by some of his comments. At least, he should be. Indeed, watching the game at the level of detail I just did, Anderson should really be standing up to accept his share of responsibility. Let's look at the first try. A blind-side play in the first two minutes. It's a move the Bulldogs have had great success with already this year and its something Parra's defence should have been more mindful of. In fact, our defensive structure was just poor throughout. On two ocassions, Brett Kimmorley ran to the line and sucked in two defenders. This is midget Kimmorley we're talking about who only had to run at a bit of an angle and on one occasion he sucked Todd Lowrie into leaving his man and on the next he sucked in Weller Huaraki. The result 12 points.
I'm sorry Ando, but that's not a well-drilled defence. Kimmorley always runs to the line. Surely, it was drummed into the players to take him one-on-one and concentrate on his supports. Apparently, not. Fair dinkum, if our defence can't trust their inside man to take down Brett Kimmorley we have major problems.
Huaraki still has major issues with his defence. On two key occasions he moved up ahead of his team members on our goal line and left gaps. One that resulted in Michael Hodgson crashing between him and Galuvao and the other that left a gaping hole out wide that resulted in another try. Parramatta needs Huaraki. He has tremendous footwork, good skills and runs a great line and he showed that with the two tries he bagged. However, defence has always been an issue and its one the coaching staff should have addressed. Anderson prides himself on being a technical coach, but what I saw were technical issues more so than a lack of heart or commitment.
There's about 30 points in just those tries I've mentioned. The other tries were either flukey (Kimmorley's deflection of a Keating kick) or just unstoppable (the Roberts kick through and the Patton inside flick pass).
The other problem we had was a recurring one we've had in past seasons. We lose direction for a 15 minute period and the game just slips away. That's largely the result of not having a dominant halfback. For all the plaudits the television commentators have decided to suddenly shower Brett Finch with ("Finch has carried this team for two years": Gould), we've not had at any time a half back in the last decade who steadies the ship and concentrates on getting the side back on course. Feleti Mateo is certainly not the man to do it. Brett Finch never managed it because his kicking game was so poor. And it was Tim Smith's biggest flaw. He routinely went back into his shell when he was needed most.
Kris Keating can be that player. His kick game is pretty good and he knows how to play straight, which is what you want when your trying to re-establish dominance. By playing Jeff Robson on the interchange bench, Anderson is not giving his side the message that Keating has to be the go-to player. It's saying 'well, if Kris doesn't measure up I can throw Robson in'. Parramatta will be better served by playing Daniel Mortimer off the bench. Mortimer can drop into hooker or five-eighth and can cover half back. When the Eels need to settle the play, Mortimer to five-eighth so Keating can dominate and also allowing Mateo to drop back to lock to use him for his incisive running, would be a far better option.
I realise this is supposed to be a match review, rather than a match analysis but I make these points because I think Parramatta can right it's ship pretty quickly. The first thing to realise is that of course Nathan Hindmarsh will make an incredible difference. A lot of those bad defensive decisions were about where Nathan Hindmarsh would typically have defended. I've got faith in Daniel Anderson that he can fix those technical problems. They weren't there earlier in the year, but I suspect in trying to right the teams attack, some of the defensive lessons may have been forgotten.
There were some good signs. Matt Keating's dummy half running was a standout with two clean linebreaks. I think he stepped up a level in confidence with his brother at seven and I'm pretty sure this week, Ando will have told him that he needs to let Kris run the show. I'm really looking forward to watching the brothers this weekend. They're both fierce competitors and I think they can provide the determination and grittiness that Parramatta really needs as a foundation of their team dynamics.
Nathan Cayless stepped up as I suspected he would given the criticism leveled at him last week. Not only did he make 160+ metres, but he was allowed to play with his skill, running to the line and offloading. Our forwards were actually pretty good. We made big metres for most of the match regularly picking up 50 to 60 metres in a set. Lowrie's defence was a stand-out and Oake played a better game than most gave him credit for. I think we can match Brisbane in the forwards. The Dragons pack certainly made Brisbane look ordinary and we were able to keep pace with them recently. We just need to keep hitting it up, play very straight and wait for our chances. Out kicking game needs to be good and I'd like to see Matt Keating kicking more out of dummy half.
The Broncos are a team you need to turn the screws on. If you let them get on a roll, you're gone. If you're left defending on your goal-line for long periods of time, you're gone. That's obviously the area of danger and the big test is for Taulima Tautai. His goal-line defence was iffy last year and I just hope that it's something the club's coaching staff has done a lot of work on. He's actually potentially the best defender in the backline in my opinion and I'm tipping he'll have a big game and will be a permanent fixtures in the centres for the rest of the year. I'm actually just as worried about Hayne's side, as he has not yet proved he's a solid defender in the three-quarters and Hodges made him look amateurish the last time those two combatted.
If we win, it won't be by a big margin. It will mean, we've toughed it out, played good, no-mistake football. If we win, the season will be back on track. Can we do it? I certainly won't say we can't.
http://www.see-guidelines.com/article.php?id=2724
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