Australian rugby league history books will need to be rewritten following the Parramatta Eels monster victory over the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL’s second elimination final on Sunday afternoon. Here are my talking points from the game.
Parramatta must play the same style against Melbourne
There are few tougher things to do than go and play a finals match, particularly a knockout one, in Melbourne, against the Storm, who are coming off a loss and will be fuming.
There is absolutely no sugar-coating the challenge the Eels are about to face after they blew Brisbane out of the water 58-0 yesterday at Bankwest Stadium, improving their impressive record at the venue to nine wins from eleven games.
Of course, you’d pefer to be in the Eels position than the Broncos one.
While Parramatta have struggled away from home this season, they played a style yesterday which could just come off against Melbourne.
At times, it was erratic, and they may need to tone down the volume of 30-metre spiral passes and switch plays slightly, but the formula and blueprint, one that is damn hard to defend against, has now been laid by the men in blue and gold.
Sure, things got pretty easy with Brisbane dropping off tackles like the proverbial fly, and then all but giving up down the final 15 minutes of the game, Parramatta were throwing it around from the opening minutes.
If Parramatta attempt to get into a grind with Melbourne next week, then there is no way around it – they will lose. They don’t have the forwards and the control to go with the Storm for 80 minutes.
Play like they did yesterday though, and the chance stands. What’s more, they have the talent to pull off yesterday’s game plan, with Mitchell Moses, Clint Gutherson, Dylan Brown and Reed Mahoney possessing four of the best passing games in the competition, and the back five all being dangerous, particularly Maika Sivo, who came away with two tries yesterday.
Are the Eels going to beat the Storm? No, probably not.
Can they make it interesting and keep themselves in with a chance? Yes, absolutely.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Brisbane need to be careful about overreacting
While it was all celebration and jubilation for the Eels and their 30,000 strong crowd at Bankwest Stadium, there were 17 very lonely players, and one very frustrated coach in the middle of it all.
The Broncos will not want to know they are in the record books for the biggest ever finals look in top flight Australian rugby league, but they are.
And understandably, there is going to be a major fallout for the club from their second failed season in a row after they lost to the St George Illawarra Dragons in the first week of last year’s finals series.
Neither loss is great, and although they were under different coaches and systems, the one-team town club must pick up the pieces and get things right for 2020.
With the exception of a couple of subtle changes though, not too much should be changing for 2020.
Sure, Anthony Seibold still has a lot to learn, and sure, criticism could be directed at ageing skipper Darius Boys (more on this shortly), but they have a talented nucleus coming through the club, and it needs time to prosper.
The fact they mad the top eight with the amount of youth on the roster is a positive in itself, and many of those players will be better for the run when they come around to getting the 2020 season underway next March.
The last thing the Broncos want to do right now is find a new coach, change the entire spine and work out how many forwards they are letting go.
Of course, if a good half is available, they should go chasing for some experience more than anything else, but the formula is there for the club. They aren’t miles away, and one terrible afternoon at Parramatta shouldn’t change the fact they have had a reasonable season, made the top eight, and will build on this for 2020.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Nathan Brown is critical to Parramatta’s forward pack
While the Eels did win their Round 25 clash against the Sea Eagles to ultimately book what proved to be the far easier of the two elimination finals, they didn’t look all that crash hot in doing so.
Just like when they were forced to play without the injured Blake Ferguson, they missed big metres and aggressive running in the middle third from Nathan Brown during the contest.
A I’ve mentioned, the Eels performance was a complete one on Sunday, but Brown added a spark that was hard to match in the middle third of the park.
Throughout the game, it was fairly rare that the Eels weren’t on the front foot, but there were times where they had to defend their line and then work the ball out of trouble.
Alongside Ferguson, the one guy who constantly stuck his hand up to do the hard yards was Nathan Brown. But it’s not just the intention to do so, it was the execution.
He regularly bent the line, causing the Brisbane defenders all sorts of bother, and tackled with aggression.
It’s the aggression which the Eels will need if they are to match it with the Storm next weekend, and Brown will need to lead the way from start to finish.
(AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Payne Haas to lead Brisbane into the future
There were few, bordering on absolutely zero bright spots in Brisbane’s loss, but as has been the case all season, win, lose or draw; hail or sunshine, Payne Haas was one of their best.
He was the only Bronco to go close to cracking 100 metres, while his 80-minute performance in the middle also saw him lead the tackle count for the Eels. While it didn’t lead to anything, he also offloaded the ball three times, made a couple of breaks and was a constant threat to Parramatta’s otherwise rock-solid defensive line.
While Haas couldn’t spark anything, attacking-wise, he has gone from strength to strength just about every time he has stepped onto the field in 2019.
He will surely win rookie of the year at the Dally M ceremony in a couple of weeks, and is primed to take over leadership of this Brisbane pack in the coming years.
While Matt Lodge provides a chunk of consistency in the middle third, there are few players who can match the motor of Haas in the prop position.
To play 80 minutes, or big minutes at the very least, week in and week out with the impact he has, having played less than 30 first-grade games, is outstanding.
While there are a number of young guns in the Broncos pack, and guys will be jostling for position next year, there is no question Haas is their big name, and must lead the Broncos into the future.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Reed Mahoney: The hooker most clubs would love to have
While Haas has been the best of a talented group of rookies through the 2019 season, one who has gone by the wayside a little bit in discussions around those who have burst onto the scene is Reed Mahoney.
I know, strictly speaking, Mahoney isn’t a rookie as he had nine games last year, but in terms of starting and wearing the number nine jersey consistently, this is his first real NRL season.
The young Parramatta hooker was sensational yesterday, as most of the Eels team were, but what has been so impressive about Mahoney this year is how calm he is under pressure, and the way he is able to just churn out work in the middle third of the park.
In fact, to be in his first season of fulltime work and to be right up the top end of the league for tackling, as well as playing a large part in a well-drilled, exciting Parramatta side, is superb.
While he only had to make 28 yesterday, Mahoney led the Eels for tackling again, and was great in getting quick service to the rest of his side out of dummy half.
It’s that fast, direct style of play which makes the Eels look so good, and why they were able to rip the Broncos in half yesterday.
While, again, it was a team effort, a performance like that never comes close to flowing without a quality dummy half, and for Mahoney to rise to the occasion and play the way he did in front of what was an enormous crowd, only speaks good things about the kid.
With the complete lack of options around the Maroons number nine spot, don’t be surprised to see Mahoney called into Origin camp in 2020.
(AAP Image/Michael Chambers)
Should that be the end of Darius Boyd?
I know, I know. I did talk about how the Broncos can’t afford to overreact to a single finals loss.
But, there is no question that, after what has been a really difficult season, seeing a position swap and form as inconsistent as any you’ve ever seen, Boyd’s days in the NRL are numbered.
I don’t like death riding individual players, and this is in no way, shape or form putting yesterday’s loss on Boyd – that’s not true – but it’s more of a culmination of the entire season.
For just about every other player on the Broncos roster, you can see why they will challenge for a spot in the top 17 next year.
And as club captain, Boyd should be doing that, but the simple truth remains that Boyd simply isn’t in the best 17 at Brisbane anymore.
He isn’t the best fullback, and he won’t be in the best halves combination with Thomas Dearden, Sean O’Sullivan and the surprising Jake Turpin floating around.
While Boyd wasn’t particularly bad yesterday and at least put his body on the line in defence a couple of times, even if that was without much success in slowing down a blue and gold freight train, the Broncos defence was a trainwreck. An absolute shambles.
They were flat-footed, directionless and running around like a pack of lost sheep rather than a well-drilled rugby league team.
Again, some of that is back on Seibold, but Boyd, as captain and as a creative player in the side, needs to cop some of the brunt for that loss, and if he is serious about the club moving forward, he will slip off into retirement before start of the next pre-season.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Roarers, what did you make of the game? Drop a comment below and let us know.
Ken
Guest
Deardon is not your saviour lol he’s a young kid who’s 4 years behind in development to guide a nrl finals team , I’d change that name to Brodie Croft , organiser , good kicking game , has played finals an also a Gf , he is everything Deardon is but he’s 4 years ahead in his development
Ken
Guest
“ one of Bellamy’s disciples at the storm ?” Taree you have always been a storm hater but what was the point of that comment ? Lol ..you can’t help yourself can you..let’s see Storm trained coaches .....Mcguire from tigers , Seibold from broncos , O’Brien from Newcastle , Kearney from warriors ,Dean Pay from Canterbury , Brad Arthur from Parramatta an obviously Bellamy so that’s 7 trained Storm coaches outta 16 , you add kevvie Walters origins coach an ex coach Griffin , all the whining on here about the Storm an we have probably have had input in how all your teams have played lol , keep hating we will keep sending coach’s to your teams lol.
dayer
Guest
Boyd is completely useless. his use by date expired in 2018. why did management signed him for 3 years and around 800k. person responsible should stand down and i think that is the CEO. Boyd is in denial, he thinks he is playing good and leads the team well. what a joke he is. Isaako is not a winger, he runs in a lot and exposes his wing, cover travel extra yards to cover his wing. If Milford plays fullback next year then Isaako should be told to look for another club, Broncos have two young wingers waiting for promotion.. me thinks Birdy will play five eight in 2020 go the Bronx 2020 Boyd should/must be dropped.
thomas c
Guest
The boyd question requires some sense of how they've been coached. There were a lot of occasions over the year where the broncos were standing flat hoping for an offload rather than having an attacking structure. You can describe Boyd as an attacking player, but if the coach knew he didn't have enough time to drill attacking structure with movement in the halves (nikorima, milford, boyd, sullivan, turpin, dearden), he may have simply hoped for off-the-cuff play and hard-hitting defence. Not executing a game plan is the fault of a player. But an attack built on faulty plans or a failure to understand the players would be doomed.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Short memories. At the beginning of the year most pundits didn't have Brisbane making the 8. They have overachieved given what everyone saw was their talent and coach. Some days you just come up against red hot opposition, and some teams styles you don't cope very well with. All of Brisbane's forward power was helpless against the long passing and quick outside Parra backs. They will be better for the experience. Parra came dead last in 2018. The Broncos have a lot more improvement in them in 2020. Next year, we need a backline that can score from over halfway. Boyd to centre. Oates time on the wing is up. Can you imagine him with an extra 10-15 kgs of muscle doing the role Shaun Lane did on the weekend?
elvis
Roar Rookie
I don't like going to Broncos games because I have a dislike of being gouged 10 bucks for a plastic cup of light beer, you want someone to give up 1.6 million bucks for your enjoyment? Anyway Boyd would make a perfectly good centre.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Or, he's been drilled on what role to play when a kick goes in, - you run here, you block here, you cover here. And he was doing what a good captain should in leading the way in following the company line even if the company line is rubbish. I've thought they looked better this year when the coaches "structures" went out the window and they just played support football, some of the last 10 minutes of games, win or lose have been great to watch.
Rob
Guest
Souths missed Gagai badly while the Roosters pumped holes down the edges. Without Lowe and Gagai Souths won’t win a chook raffle.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Well it was a real pasting to be sure. Not too many players looked like they wanted to be on the paddock within ten minutes after the kickoff. Boyd: He has been a great servant of the game and the vlub but he has now looked like he is running lame for the past 2 seasons. Last season he never broke a canter until the second half of the season. This year his defense has been very poor. Since he moved to 5/8th it seems like he has been doing the kind of job Alfie Langer does does in attack - Boyd is hanging back and directing and rarely getting involved. He just cannot be in the team next year. McCollouch: He is looking slow and tired with very little dimension to his game. A few rounds ago he actually starting darting out of dummy half and it looked like he had been sparked back into life. But he's not there. Even his ball service to the first out looks slow. Segeyaro is running rings around him. Mac needs to be third string hooker or he can find a new home. Milford: Needs to be played where his strengths lay or he should leave. Someone of Kieron Foran's ilk would do well with Milf. Although Foran is yet to put a full season together with competent display to demonstrate that he is getting back to his Manly form. Seibold: Don't want to sound like I'm sinking the boot in here, but Seilbold doesn't seem to have the type of charisma a man-manager style coach needs. Seilbold has been under fire from media most of this season but that was to be expected due to the club who's invitation he accepted to join. He seems surly and even when stating his responsibility for when things go wrong he tends to tack an excuse of others making to the end of his apology. The players certainly don't look happy. Damn, if you can't get up for a final in a comp you probably didn't have any right to make it to, I'm not sure what will get you motivated. I'm not sure Seibold has the defensive structures at this stage of his career to make it. I certainly hope I'm wrong about that, but I don't need to Anthony Seibold with all the stats in the world to realise that I'm probably not.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
poor guy. They are never good injuries. But It's not all bad. If he wasn't injured he possibly might have had to endure playing in yesterday's game.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
When the Broncos started the season poorly & the halves were criticised he said "Nikorima & Milford will be the halves this season". Then after showing Kodi the door "Deardon has the halfback role for the year". Unfortunately he was then injured. Seibold then used the term "rebuild" to cover his backside & even said later in the year "we're not looking at the competition ladder". Again to coverhis backside. Didn't know how much under the microscope the Broncos job entails. Refuses to apologise to the fans. Doesn't he recall what happened to Henjak & Griffin. Anthony is a lightweight coach & won't see out his contract. What about swapping him with Alfie? Langer could sit in the coaches box with a confused look on his face while Seibold could stand in the backline with a bottle of water directing the play.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
And why wouldn’t he? Don’t know about you but personally I like money. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Depends on your measure. 2019 certainly had some highs and up till the Bulldogs game I was quite content. What doesn’t read well is a finals aggregate of 108-18 over the last two knock out finals. That’s a massive low.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
I guess a good team can carry a Milford but Milford can never carry a team and that’s what he’s expected to do. The million dollar price paid for him each year dictates that expectation though so maybe Super League or French Rugby might be a better option for him and the club. Boyd is currently a waste of bucks and Jack Bird even more so.
Nico
Roar Rookie
It's a shame that Seibold's top to bottom review probably won't include one of the board that orchestrated the coach swap train wreck of last season (although Paul White is now apparently considering his position). For all the management talk about moving forward from Seibold and the senior players, the lack of consistency over the season suggests there are still some mental scars from 2018 at play here. Are the players really on board with Seibold? His hesistance to publicly criticise them after poor performances and willingness to offer excuses for them with tawdry statistic after tawdry statistic ('so we got smacked by 40 right, but hey, our post-contact meters in the second half were up on the last 4 games, so we're clearly definitely 100% 'moving forward') makes me think he's been stepping on egg shells with the group all year. The great coach swap has ensured that 2019 is another wasted year for the Broncos - boasting a squad that should have been top 4 at least, it will now be remembered as another 'rebuild' year. But as much as the focus has been on the lack of halves (and fair enough, their attack has been average, points scored was down by 142 on last season, almost 25%), the Broncos defence has been poor for a number of years now, with '18 & '19 both ending up well on the wrong side of 500 (only '09 was worse defensively, yet the still finished 4th) and this is where they will need to improve if they stand a chance in 2020
Nat
Roar Guru
Ha! That "far superior comp" was bought and paid for by Qlders playing down there. Beetson knocked the smug right out of NSW in the 1st legitimate origin game. Then Sheens loads Canberra full of Qlders - Dominated. Then the Broncos arrive and dominate. Then after a few years of struggle (and Souths fans know struggle) the NQ cowboys dominate. Then Melbourne go to town from the Qld ranks and dominate. Like I said, 9 Sydney teams yet only 6 GFs between two Sydney clubs since the NRL inception. NSWRL, like a lot of current Sydney clubs, would still be chook raffle game run by old boys if not for professional outfits showing how it should be done.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Absolutely not Paul. Only one game felt like finals this week, but I think finals can often end like that - we were just blessed with a pretty incredible series last year.
Scott Pryde
Expert
No one was anticipating a blowout of that stature.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Bugger, missed that one.
Larry1950
Guest
Yes Soda, advantage Souths on the coach swap this week but if Bennett's poms go out to a banged up Manly, has he advanced them on last season. I for one lay most of the blame for a 58-0 score line with the guys who missed all the tackles.