Maroubra Eel
Coach
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Dragons v Eels preview
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 11:52 AM
Two straight losses have the Eels at the crossroads. Currently fifth they still have every chance of finishing in the top four; only differential has them outside it at present, but they need to turn their fortunes around against the Dragons or else face the reality they could be in the elimination zone of the finals.
In fact, there is a slim chance they could still miss the finals altogether although a win at WIN Stadium will lock them in to at least another game post-round 25.
The season is effectively over for the Dragons but pride is on the line in every NRL contest and while some will believe there will be more passion in the local under-18s elimination final that will be the curtain raiser, Nathan Brown wont allow his side to come into the contest under-prepared.
Co-captain Ben Hornby has succumbed to an ankle injury which sees winger Josh Morris move to fullback, with Tom Hewitt coming onto the wing, while Beau Scott returns to the back row pushing Chris Houston to the bench.
Ricky Thorby has been added to the extended bench, whilst Jason Ryles is suspended for two matches, having been found guilty of a grade one contrary conduct charge.
For Michael Hagans Eels Mark Riddell has been named to start with PJ Marsh back on the bench and the same goes for Fuifui Moimoi and Josh Cordoba plus Feliti Mateo and Chad Robinson.
Watch out Dragons: Nathan Hindmarsh just keeps amazing everyone, notching up 69 tackles against Melbourne last week, the most ever recorded in the history of the NRL.
The tally included 34 and 35 respectively in each half, and surpasses his previous record of 63 tackles recorded in 2006.
Hindmarsh was able to stay on the field for the entire 80 minutes and was able to tackle every Storm player at least once.
An impressive 16 of his tackles were dominant and he was the first into the tackle 29 times.
Showing super-human endurance, Hindmarsh made 10 tackles on the likes of Billy Slater chasing kicks, and made no less than 12 tackles in the last 10 minutes alone.
Hindmarsh leads the league in average tackles made with 42.9 per match and has averaged over 40 tackles for the year in three of the past four seasons. (
There have been 107,197 tackles applied by players this year, which means that the average player successfully makes 17.91 tackle per match.)
Watch out Eels: Simon Woolford plays his 250th first grade game with the spectre of possible retirement hanging over him like the sword of Damocles.
A competitive and tenacious player, Woolford will be out doing his best to make these last few games count in case it is the end.
Still an incredible cagey hooker, Woolford has the ability to create chances for the Red V and his niggling chatter could get the Eels off their game.
Where it will be won: Discipline with ball in hand. Parramatta has completed more sets than any other NRL side this season, successfully finishing 678 of their 900 sets at an efficiency rate of 75.3 per cent.
The Dragons on the other hand lead the league in errors on the first two tackles with 118 of their 281 (42 per cent) occurring early on in sets.
If they cant get closer to the Eels efficiency they wont have enough ball to trouble them.
The Dragons are ranked 13th in scoring points this season and without quality ball in good field position that wont improve.
The History: Played 14; Dragons 4, Eels 9, drawn 1. The two teams have played only three matches at WIN Stadium before each sharing a win with one draw.
Conclusion: The Eels have it all to play for and should be too strong although the Dragons know they havent become immune from a possible wooden spoon finish this season and as such will be out for a win at home.
It will be interesting to see how the home side comes out, especially the likes of Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier who would harbour hopes of a possible Test match berth at seasons end.
But its hard to go past an Eels victory; they need to prove they are true contenders for this years crown.
Match officials: Referee Sean Hampstead; Sideline Officials Jeff Younis & Mohamad Fajajo; Video ref Phil Cooley.
Televised: Foxsports 3 Live 7pm
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
http://nrl.com/News/MatchReports/MatchReportsArticle/tabid/336/NewsId/6719/Default.aspx
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 11:52 AM
Two straight losses have the Eels at the crossroads. Currently fifth they still have every chance of finishing in the top four; only differential has them outside it at present, but they need to turn their fortunes around against the Dragons or else face the reality they could be in the elimination zone of the finals.
In fact, there is a slim chance they could still miss the finals altogether although a win at WIN Stadium will lock them in to at least another game post-round 25.
The season is effectively over for the Dragons but pride is on the line in every NRL contest and while some will believe there will be more passion in the local under-18s elimination final that will be the curtain raiser, Nathan Brown wont allow his side to come into the contest under-prepared.
Co-captain Ben Hornby has succumbed to an ankle injury which sees winger Josh Morris move to fullback, with Tom Hewitt coming onto the wing, while Beau Scott returns to the back row pushing Chris Houston to the bench.
Ricky Thorby has been added to the extended bench, whilst Jason Ryles is suspended for two matches, having been found guilty of a grade one contrary conduct charge.
For Michael Hagans Eels Mark Riddell has been named to start with PJ Marsh back on the bench and the same goes for Fuifui Moimoi and Josh Cordoba plus Feliti Mateo and Chad Robinson.
Watch out Dragons: Nathan Hindmarsh just keeps amazing everyone, notching up 69 tackles against Melbourne last week, the most ever recorded in the history of the NRL.
The tally included 34 and 35 respectively in each half, and surpasses his previous record of 63 tackles recorded in 2006.
Hindmarsh was able to stay on the field for the entire 80 minutes and was able to tackle every Storm player at least once.
An impressive 16 of his tackles were dominant and he was the first into the tackle 29 times.
Showing super-human endurance, Hindmarsh made 10 tackles on the likes of Billy Slater chasing kicks, and made no less than 12 tackles in the last 10 minutes alone.
Hindmarsh leads the league in average tackles made with 42.9 per match and has averaged over 40 tackles for the year in three of the past four seasons. (
There have been 107,197 tackles applied by players this year, which means that the average player successfully makes 17.91 tackle per match.)
Watch out Eels: Simon Woolford plays his 250th first grade game with the spectre of possible retirement hanging over him like the sword of Damocles.
A competitive and tenacious player, Woolford will be out doing his best to make these last few games count in case it is the end.
Still an incredible cagey hooker, Woolford has the ability to create chances for the Red V and his niggling chatter could get the Eels off their game.
Where it will be won: Discipline with ball in hand. Parramatta has completed more sets than any other NRL side this season, successfully finishing 678 of their 900 sets at an efficiency rate of 75.3 per cent.
The Dragons on the other hand lead the league in errors on the first two tackles with 118 of their 281 (42 per cent) occurring early on in sets.
If they cant get closer to the Eels efficiency they wont have enough ball to trouble them.
The Dragons are ranked 13th in scoring points this season and without quality ball in good field position that wont improve.
The History: Played 14; Dragons 4, Eels 9, drawn 1. The two teams have played only three matches at WIN Stadium before each sharing a win with one draw.
Conclusion: The Eels have it all to play for and should be too strong although the Dragons know they havent become immune from a possible wooden spoon finish this season and as such will be out for a win at home.
It will be interesting to see how the home side comes out, especially the likes of Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier who would harbour hopes of a possible Test match berth at seasons end.
But its hard to go past an Eels victory; they need to prove they are true contenders for this years crown.
Match officials: Referee Sean Hampstead; Sideline Officials Jeff Younis & Mohamad Fajajo; Video ref Phil Cooley.
Televised: Foxsports 3 Live 7pm
* Statistics: NRL Stats.
http://nrl.com/News/MatchReports/MatchReportsArticle/tabid/336/NewsId/6719/Default.aspx
