ANALYSIS: Game of the Year already? Parra on the board after epic Panthers win that had just about everything

Parramatta got themselves on the board for 2023, turning over the premiers 17-16 thanks to a Mitch Moses field goal.

It came after a hectic end in which two men were sin binned and Nathan Cleary pinged a 46m field goal to tie the game with the siren blaring around him to level the scores. The Battle of the West delivers again.

In the extra period, with both sides a man light – Junior Paulo and Mitch Kenny both binned for high shots – the decisive move came from Moses, who slotted from close range.

This was the highest quality we have seen in 2023 so far, a true battle of heavyweights. There were barely any errors, leading to a game played at breakneck speed with massive fatigue in the game.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Eels are better than their 0-3 start showed, and on this performance, they’re even better than that. This is a team that has beaten Penrith regularly during their imperial period and it’s obvious why. They gear up for these games and have a style that the Panthers struggle badly with.

“Over the first three weeks we’ve been in every game,” said Brad Arthur. “We’ve had some tough games and we could have won all three of them, but we’ve been victims of our own circumstances. At least tonight we took control of it. 

“If we’d have got beat tonight, there wasn’t much more we could have done footywise to try and win it.”

The Panthers are consigned to a third defeat in four, but have lost all three while conceding just two tries and scoring the same themselves. It’s harsh, but tonight they never lead and – just – were left lacking.

“It’s disappointing to have the loss but I think we’ll get a lot out of that game,” said Ivan Cleary.

“Two one point losses, three really good games. I feel like we’ll get a lot out of that in terms of improvement but if we turn up like that and perform like that every week I think we’re going to win plenty of games.

Parramatta do everything

How do you beat the Panthers? You don’t give them an inch. This was pretty much the perfect way to play the Premiers, forcing them to do the maximum amount of defending and bring the ball the furthest possible distance to your tryline.

Parra made just two errors in the entire game, trucking the ball in metronomically and kicking relentlessly to Sunia Turuva’s wing, avoiding Brian To’o’s set starts. Arthur had a plan and his boys followed to the letter.

It was one of maximum conservatism, with both wingers barely touching the ball in attacking play and shift plays a rare luxury, but a hugely effective one.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo just kept going, when their bodies must have been screaming to stop, and when the moment came, Moses had it.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

There was been so much chat about the middles and the subs at Parra, but when they play like this, how can Brad Arthur ever take them off?

“The effort from both teams was through the roof,” said the Eels coach. “Both scrambled hard, it was from end to end and there was hardly any errors. Both teams should be proud of themselves and we were fortunate to get the win.

“The first ten or fifteen minutes when there wasn’t a stoppage, they (RCG and Paulo) really frontloaded their effort tonight. They were physical.

“Reg is rarely our first interchange, but if he’s happy to come off – not happy but it shows you how tough the game was that he said he needed a blow. Usually he’s telling us he wants to stay.”

Million dollar Moses

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Yes, Nathan Cleary pulled off just yet another impossibly clutch moment. But, after some criticism of his own ability to do the same, so did Mitch Moses.

The announcement just hours before that he is all but ready to sign a mammoth extension with the Eels required the halfback to produce a performance that put him in the same bracket as Cleary, a real statement of intent.

Last minute matchwinners will do that, but more impressive was Moses’ in-play control. Parra topped 1,000 kicking metres, with Moses managing 981m just by himself for a mark that will almost certainly be the highest ever seen at NRL level.

In the first half, it was as if he had a running battle with Dylan Edwards, dropping short kicks into the in-goal and daring the Panthers fullback to make it out. Moses had it on the proverbial string throughout, martialled his men around the field and ensured that when the moment came, he took it.

“He’s thinking clearly and focussed and got the job done,” said Arthur. “He’s been under a bit of pressure but responded in the best way possible.

“It’s real close but nothing’s been confirmed,” he added on the contract. “Obviously he knows what we wants to do and he was thinking very clearly tonight.”

Penrith will play the long game

By the 30th minute, Parramatta had totally dominated. They’d enjoyed Parra had 19 sets to Penrith’s 11 plus all the field position, but banked just a try from a kick and a penalty goal.

Throughout, there had been no panic, no sign that the Panthers were struggled at all. They seemed to relish the defending. Beyond the boot of Mitchell Moses, the Eels didn’t look like scoring. 

There’s been a knock on the Panthers that they don’t always deal with pressure, that adversity can rattle them. It’s flourished largely because they face adversity so infrequently, tending as they do to lead and lead early. 

If there was any doubt about their resolve and dig, it must be dead in the water now. This was one of the best attacks in the league, camped in their end, squeezing them dry, and they didn’t flinch. 

This wasn’t their best performance in attack, and Parra had just about enough in the end through weight of possession, but just like after the defeat to the Broncos, you sense Cleary won’t be worried for a second.

“It’s been different,” said Cleary of his team’s start to the season. “Having such a big game in the World Club Challenge to kick it off, so a four or five week preseason for that, then two weeks into the first game and two weeks into this game.

“But it’s been fine, I’ve been happy with the 80 minutes we can put together and heaps of stuff we can improve at and we will, but all in all, it’s a pretty brave team doing their best every week.”

The curious case of the Parra props

It took Moses Leota over eleven minutes to make a hit-up. James Fisher-Harris had one in the first set, then took ten minutes to have another.

It was six sets’ worth of running almost exclusively from backs. In the same time, Campbell-Gillard had made six and Paulo four. 

It’s not a work rate that anyone can keep up. Arthur knows this, and has gradually reduced the minutes of his big men, but the content of their minutes is bruising stuff and, probably, unsustainable.

But at the end of the first half when Parra withdrew their props, they wilted. Makahesi Makatoa and Wiremu Greig came on, the level dropped massively and the Panthers put on eight points in five minutes.

Just like against Cronulla, J’maine Hopgood was caught in a tired tackle just before half time and gifted an opportunity that Edwards did not pass up. A Maika Sivo high shot later and the scores were level.

Arthur cops plenty for running his star middles into the ground, but when he doesn’t, it’s clear that the replacements aren’t up to the job. In the second half, they were again the heroes.

In the Golden Point set that mattered, RCG took a crashing carry, won the floor and ultimately delivered the chance to his halfback.

However, Arthur might have solved his hooker issue. Josh Hodgson gets through a power of work but has looked goosed at the ends of halves, perhaps understandably given the year layoff he had in 2022.

Arthur called up Brendan Hands for an NRL debut and the 23-year-old impressed – not just in finishing his try, but in the deception that began the move, picking a short side to great effect.

“It doesn’t always work out that way for blokes making their debut,” said Arthur. “He’s worked really hard in preseason, he’s not part of our top 30 but was given an opportunity and did a really good job. He didn’t try to overplay his hand, pushed down the field and got lucky with a nice try.

He’s one of those blokes that the boys like to see rewarded, especially on the back of how hard he trained in the preseason.”