Catch your breath, everyone. That was frantic stuff. The Sharks get the win in the end, outscoring – and that’s the correct word for it – the Eels 30-26 at CommBank Stadium.
After last week’s defeat in a low-scoring thriller against Melbourne, Parramatta end up 0-2 for the year after a tryfest that was, at times, seemingly defence optional.
The Sharks in full flight are one of the best teams in the NRL to watch and we got plenty of it here, with Will Kennedy running in a hat trick and Ronaldo Mulitalo scoring a trademark high catch.
It was great for fans, though doubtless both coaches were having kittens.
“It was wild in the box, but I’m sure it was a cracking game for the neutrals to watch,” said Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon. “We know that you don’t come here and get a free hit.
“We had an opportunity to put the screws into them and I’m disappointed that we let them off the hook, but I was proud of the spirit among them and the effort. We’ll get the tactical and technical parts right, but relying on each other like we did tonight, I’m happy about that.”
Brad Arthur, in particular, will look at a game where his side, just like last week, were two tries ahead early and then failed to win.
It doesn’t get any easier, either. They now go to Manly, host Penrith and then go to the Roosters in successive weeks. 0-5 is not out of the question.
“Effort was good, and we were there to the death, but you can’t have five tries put on you and be happy with the performance,” said Arthur.
“We need to make sure we keep coming with the effort, but in big moments at crucial times cost us.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s a good challenge for us. Over the last few seasons we’ve started really well, so it’s a good challenge and we’ll learn a bit about our group. We’ve got some tough games but we’ll find out plenty about us.”
It’s interesting to consider this game in the context of round one. Cronulla lost to Souths, largely because they weren’t as effective in defence as they were in attack and, eventually, the Bunnies ran over them.
Parramatta lost to the Storm for essentially the opposite reason, blowing more than a few attacking opportunities, which gave Melbourne the chance to come back when the game could and should have been beyond them.
This week, Cronulla were just as good in attack and still very shaky in defence, but met a Parra team that brought their best offence but struggled badly defensively.
If there’s one team in the NRL that would love every game to turn into a high-scoring shootout, it’s probably the Sharks: their strike on both edges is superb, their ability to attack from deep is up there with the best and their pack favours mobility over power.
Will Kennedy, who scored three, was at his very best and Parramatta never really contained him.
“I don’t think Will gets credit he deserves for what he provides our team,” said Fitzgibbon. “The players love him, they love playing alongside him. His positional play is actually really high level. It’s a special night for him with the way he played. He love having him.”
When Parra were good, it was when they played the game on their terms: offloads, middle power and pinning defenders.
Unfortunately, they can’t currently keep that up, because their middle rotation is Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and a whole heap of prayers. RCG played the first half straight in hot conditions because Arthur doesn’t seem to trust his subs. Wiremu Greig, a big prop, didn’t get on and Makahesi Makatoa got just 14 minutes.
“We’ve got a lot of good players who start for us,” he said in the post-match. “Junior (Paulo) and Reg (Campbell-Gillard), they’re pretty important to the team and we need them on, especially in the tight games. We need them on the field for long periods. They’re our matchwinners and that’s why we need them out there.”
When you don’t rotate in the middle, eventually it catches up with you. J’maine Hopgood, right up there with their best, missed a tackle on Matt Moylan that resulted in a try late in the first half because he was absolutely knackered.
The Sharks have smaller middles and rotate them more frequently, and it’s not surprising that they took over when the Eels were puffed out. Cam McInnes, the definition of a small effective middle, came on and dominated through hard, low carries. They also generate sustainable metres via their backline, which lasts throughout the 80.
J’maine Hopgood is the real deal. He was stuck behind Isaah Yeo in the Penrith pecking order and sought pastures new – while he might not be in the Panthers lock’s league yet, he’s certainly good enough for first grade. In fact, he’s already putting himself in the conversation for higher honours after proving one of the stars of 2023.
He looks perfectly crafted for this Parra team, too. Both their first and second tries came off his offloads: the first was more obvious, as Campbell-Gillard scored straight from it, but the second was miles up the field.
Send the footage back, however, and it is Hopgood smuggling the ball out in his own half that ends up with Maika Sivo scoring at the corner. Late in the game, he did it again for a Mitchell Moses try.
Parra’s attack often lives and dies on the ability to use second phase play to get good ball to Dylan Brown, Moses and Clint Gutherson. In Hopgood, they have another source of offloads.
“He was good again tonight,” said Arthur. “He needed an opportunity to get out on the field, and I stil think once he’s played 10 or 15 games straight, he’ll be better for us again.
“He does some good things with the ball and works hard defensively. There’s some things that he needs to tidy up but he’s going really well.”
It’s a good problem to have for the coach. Hopgood is deputising for the suspended Ryan Matterson, who will be back in contention for the Battle of the West in Round 4. On this form, Hopgood has to play and play big minutes.
Braydon Trindall is giving Craig Fitzgibbon similar headaches. The halfback was excellent last week against Souths and just as good today, orchestrating the attack for the Sharkies.
He’s in the team with Nicho Hynes injured, and you’d expect the reigning Dally M Medalist to walk back in when available. Yet it would be the height of cruelty to ditch Trindall to bring Hynes back.
The obvious answer would have been to lose Matt Moylan, whose defence was a big problem in round one, but he was much improved in his second dig.
It’s as much an ideological problem as it is a personnel problem. Last year, the Sharks essentially played two five eighths and no halfback, with Hynes naturally inclined to play like a 6 or a 1. That wasn’t really problem, either. It suited Cronulla.
But in Trindall, they have a pure 7, an organiser and kicker and caller of shots. In the biggest games in 2022, that seemed to be lacking, with nobody able to manage the game in the manner that the best sides did with Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses.
That’s not to say that Trindall is quite that level, but there must be part of Fitzgibbon that wonders if that style of halfback might be more suited in the long run. Carrying that kind of player in the 14 doesn’t really work, either. It’s a big call that isn’t far away.
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