Eels to make a statement against Dogs
Saturday Apr 21 15:55 AEST
Luke Burt believes the Eels can make a powerful NRL statement with a win against the Bulldogs at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.
The Eels are one of the form teams of the competition with three wins on the trot, but are still rated by few as genuine premiership contenders with their past three wins coming against bottom eight sides Wests Tigers, Canberra and Penrith.
But the in-form Parramatta fullback says a win against the Bulldogs, who possess one of the most feared packs in the competition, would send a clear message that the Eels under new coach Michael Hagan will be a force in 2007.
"We know what we can do as a team but I guess the Bulldogs are a yardstick in the competition and if we can knock them off, I think people might start to notice us a bit more," Burt said.
"We've expect to be involved right to the end of the finals and hopefully we're still on track for that.
"We're not where we want to be just yet but we're getting better and better each game and we definitely need to keep improving to win this weekend."
The Eels face arguably their toughest test of the season on Sunday, coming up against a Dogs outfit desperate for a win after last week's 14-12 loss to competition leaders Manly.
While hoping to continue his good form from the back, Burt is tipping an explosive battle in the forwards will determine the game.
"We need to get control of their forwards, if the forwards get a great roll their backs can really dominate so we need to dominate the likes of O'Meley, Mason and Sonny Bill (Williams) and if we can do that it's a big part of winning the match."
Both teams were boosted on Saturday with the news their representative contingents are likely to back up from Australia's 30-6 Test win over New Zealand on Friday night.
The Bulldogs will welcome back forwards Mason, Williams, Andrew Ryan and halfback Ben Roberts while key forwards Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless will back up for the Eels.
Hagan has promoted giant backrower Fuifui Moimoi into the starting line-up for the Eels in anticipation of the battle up front while the Bulldogs have made only one change, bringing Lee Te Maari onto the bench and dropping Nick Kouparitsas.
Bulldogs prop O'Meley said he was highly motivated for the clash, given his controversial omission from Friday's Test and the 56-4 thrashing dished out to the Bulldogs on their last visit to Parramatta Stadium.
"Not just missing out on the test, but also for our team's sake as well," O'Meley said of his enthusiasm for the match.
"We've lost three out of five so we need to get a win and last time at Parramatta it was an embarrassing result so I'm pretty sure the boys are keen to get a win.
"We need to concentrate - we're doing all the little things right but then we'll drop off so it's about concentrating for 80 minutes."
Link: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=62055
Saturday Apr 21 15:55 AEST
Luke Burt believes the Eels can make a powerful NRL statement with a win against the Bulldogs at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.
The Eels are one of the form teams of the competition with three wins on the trot, but are still rated by few as genuine premiership contenders with their past three wins coming against bottom eight sides Wests Tigers, Canberra and Penrith.
But the in-form Parramatta fullback says a win against the Bulldogs, who possess one of the most feared packs in the competition, would send a clear message that the Eels under new coach Michael Hagan will be a force in 2007.
"We know what we can do as a team but I guess the Bulldogs are a yardstick in the competition and if we can knock them off, I think people might start to notice us a bit more," Burt said.
"We've expect to be involved right to the end of the finals and hopefully we're still on track for that.
"We're not where we want to be just yet but we're getting better and better each game and we definitely need to keep improving to win this weekend."
The Eels face arguably their toughest test of the season on Sunday, coming up against a Dogs outfit desperate for a win after last week's 14-12 loss to competition leaders Manly.
While hoping to continue his good form from the back, Burt is tipping an explosive battle in the forwards will determine the game.
"We need to get control of their forwards, if the forwards get a great roll their backs can really dominate so we need to dominate the likes of O'Meley, Mason and Sonny Bill (Williams) and if we can do that it's a big part of winning the match."
Both teams were boosted on Saturday with the news their representative contingents are likely to back up from Australia's 30-6 Test win over New Zealand on Friday night.
The Bulldogs will welcome back forwards Mason, Williams, Andrew Ryan and halfback Ben Roberts while key forwards Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless will back up for the Eels.
Hagan has promoted giant backrower Fuifui Moimoi into the starting line-up for the Eels in anticipation of the battle up front while the Bulldogs have made only one change, bringing Lee Te Maari onto the bench and dropping Nick Kouparitsas.
Bulldogs prop O'Meley said he was highly motivated for the clash, given his controversial omission from Friday's Test and the 56-4 thrashing dished out to the Bulldogs on their last visit to Parramatta Stadium.
"Not just missing out on the test, but also for our team's sake as well," O'Meley said of his enthusiasm for the match.
"We've lost three out of five so we need to get a win and last time at Parramatta it was an embarrassing result so I'm pretty sure the boys are keen to get a win.
"We need to concentrate - we're doing all the little things right but then we'll drop off so it's about concentrating for 80 minutes."
Link: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=62055
