Roar Guru
The Parramatta Eels host the in-form North Queensland Cowboys at Pirtek Stadium. Join The Roar from 7pm (AEST) for all the action.
The Eels finally broke their long losing streak with a hard-fought 26-20 win over Penrith last weekend. The blue and gold scrapped and scraped home, showing some real ticker.
Parramatta sit 15th on the ladder, on the same amount of points as bottom-placed Manly, and as they have Melbourne and the Dragons coming up in the next fortnight, it’s make or break time. A few more losses and their finals hopes will be well and truly gone, if they aren’t already.
For the Cowboys, things have been running smoothly the past two months after a poor start to the season. They saw off the Sea Eagles last weekend in thrilling circumstances and are riding high in third spot, with the same amount of points as the Dragons and Broncos in first and second.
Johnathan Thurston has been pulling the strings with aplomb and with Michael Morgan by his side, the Cowboys have been brilliant. Morgan has really come of age this season and did not look out of place in his first taste of Origin.
James Tamou and Matt Scott are tough to contain up front, Lachlan Coote is hitting his straps at fullback and Jason Taumalolo is a beast at lock.
But perhaps most impressive has been the emergence of Jake Granville at hooker, a smart, creative ball-playing rake with a nose for tries.
The Eels’ defence will have to be at its very best to contain Thurston and co. David Gower has returned to the bench while Danny Wicks and Junior Paulo swap between the run-on side and the interchange.
Parramatta have Reece Robinson continuing at fullback, with Will Hopoate in the centres and Chris Sandow at halfback.
The Cowboys are huge favourites to notch another win on Monday night.
Join The Roar from 7pm (AEDT) for commentary and highlights as Parramatta does battle with the Cowboys.
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