Joel's as ready as he will ever be to mark Penrith's hottest attacking weapon
Andrew Stevenson | August 28, 2009
EARLY last month, after Parramatta played Penrith, Panthers coach Matt Elliott observed that defending against his star centre Michael Jennings was a mug's game.
"I would hate to be defending him," he said. "They must be filling their duds when he runs at them because you just don't know where he's going to go or what he's going to do but it's going to be quick."
The player most in need of a quick check downstairs after Jennings scored three and laid on the match-winner was Joel Reddy, who backs up for a return effort tonight.
Normally one of the game's more solid defensive players, Reddy, in the words of his coach Daniel Anderson, got "smoked".
Reddy, 23, will put his hand up as the man most responsible for guarding Jennings but reckons it's beyond a one-man job.
"It's got to be a team effort, too," he said. "Obviously, he doesn't just stay out on the sideline. He gets in amongst it and he'll pop up in the middle of the field.
We've just got to be aware where he is.
"If there's a loose ball on the ground or someone's out of line, he'll find that gap. It would be good if one person could stop him but I think it's a lot harder than that."
Sizzled Reddy might have been but he's unshaken, as shown during the Eels' epic surge in search of a finals' berth as they've assembled a six-match winning streak.
At Penrith, Parramatta scored 34 points and still lost (38-34) – the third-highest losing score in the NSW and NRL competitions.
It was the Eels' defensive nadir and in the seven matches since then they've managed to keep their opponents shackled with even the red-hot Wests Tigers only able to post 18 points in last Friday's thriller.
While fullback Jarryd Hayne wins the plaudits, a solid defensive line has provided the necessary platform from which the feared attack can spring.
"That game was probably a turning point for our defence and since then we've done a lot better in defence and it's helped us enormously," said Reddy, who has confidence in his side's ability to defend the sort of tally they compiled last time around.
"You'd hope a score of 34 points would win it but Penrith are playing really well, they scored 40 on the weekend and they can put a few tries together so we're going to have to be on our game, especially in defence."
Powerful second-rower Frank Pritchard is providing the perfect lead-in to Jennings, ensuring another tough night for Parramatta's right-side defence in a match that pits two teams with a gun at their heads.
"You can't really say the pressure is building; we've pretty much been under this sort of pressure for the last five or six weeks," Reddy said. "We've had to win or we're out and it will continue on Friday night."
Looking back to where the side sat eight weeks ago, Reddy says it's exciting to be among the contenders for the finals.
The season wasn't actually dead but the pulse did get very weak for a team that hadn't won two games in succession since rounds two and three – and then only against Souths and Canberra.
As Reddy observed, the names on the playing list haven't changed; it was more a case of team and coach finally clicking together.
"Getting used to a new coach, his structures and the way he wanted to play took a bit of sorting out," Reddy said.
Parramatta have since played some exhilarating football, culminating in last Friday's 26-18 win over the Tigers.
"We're just hoping we can find out if we can lift further. If we can get by this game, then we'll start thinking about trying to lift another gear," he said.
