Roar Guru
The Canterbury Bulldogs take on the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium in a classic rugby league showdown. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:55pm (AEST).
With these two clubs holding the last two spots on the ladder prior to this weekend’s Indigenous Round, the stakes are high for these traditional rivals.
The Bulldogs will still be hurting from last round’s controversial loss to the Broncos, having dominated large portions of the match only to be denied in the last minute.
Their attack has been their main issue this season and they seemed to take strides forward in this area last week. While the shifting Suncorp Stadium surface assisted in a couple of tries, it was a much more polished performance in attack from the Dogs.
They take a largely unchanged line-up into this game, with Renouf Toomaga replacing Clay Priest on the bench.
After two wins on the trot, Parramatta hit the skids in last week’s loss to Cronulla. However, they almost pulled off the most unlikely wins with three tries in the last six minutes causing Sharks fans to up their blood pressure dosage.
In the end, a missed conversion attempt from the sideline by Mitchell Moses was the only thing that stood between the Eels and a golden point finish.
The loss of Kaysa Pritchard is significant for Parra, with Will Smith starting at hooker and Beau Scott joining the interchange. Siosaia Vave will play his first game of the year, replacing the injured Tim Mannah in the 17.
Prediction
Recent history supports the Eels, with Parramatta winning four of the last five clashes, and I’m still not 100 per cent convinced about the Bulldogs’ attack.
Eels by 8.