Eels
38
Match Complete
Broncos
10
| M. Moses |  | 72 | ||
| R. Mahoney |  | 71 | ||
| 67 | | J. Isaako | ||
| 66 | | C. Oates | ||
| M. Moses | | 50 | ||
| J. Hoffman | | 48 | ||
| 43 | | M. Gillett | ||
| M. Moses | | 37 | ||
| D. Gower | | 36 | ||
| J. Hoffman | | 28 | ||
| M. Moses | | 19 | ||
| M. Jennings | | 18 | ||
| M. Sivo | | 11 | ||
| M. Moses | | 7 | ||
| J. Paulo | | 6 |
| 7 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 5 | Conversions | 1 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
NRL Super Saturday concludes with this clash between the Parramatta Eels and the Brisbane Broncos at Bankwest Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog, starting from 7:35pm AEST.
With just 1 for-and-against point separating these two sides on the ladder, this shapes up as a huge clash, with the winner likely to be in eighth spot come the end of the round, while the loser could slip as low as eleventh.
Both sides will be looking to improve in this game after coming off losses last week, the Sharks getting the better of the Eels 42-22 while the Broncos were bested by local rivals the Titans 26-18.
The Broncos will welcome back Origin stars Matt Gillett and Corey Oates. Gillett’s inclusion is a timely one, with fellow back-rower Alex Glenn ruled out with a medial ligament injury, while Oates’s return pushes Richie Kennar back to the reserves.
The Broncos have also lost young halfback Tom Deardon to a syndesmosis injury. His spot will be taken by another young halfback, 20-year-old Sean O’Sullivan, who will play just his second NRL match after making his debut last year with the Roosters.
For the Eels, Jaeman Salmon has been called up in favour of Will Smith to partner Mitchell Moses in the halves, while Nathan Brown will return to the number 13 jumper after returning from a pectoral injury last week from the bench.
Finally, Tepai Moeroa has been dropped to the reserves, with Ray Stone taking his place on the bench.
Prediction
With key players from both teams grossly out of form it’s very difficult to make any concrete predictions about this game.
For the Broncos, Darius Boyd’s commitment as the last line of defence has been questionable all season, particularly last week when he simply allowed Tyrone Roberts to skip around him without even attempting a tackle.
Anthony Milford has had to take on the responsibility of leading the team around the park in the absence of an established halfback – something which has never been his strong suit.
The Broncos will need both Milford and Boyd to step up if they’re any chance in this game. Matt Lodge too has plenty to play for given the NSW front-row injury situation. A big performance could see him catapulted into the Blues side for Origin 2 in Perth next Sunday.
For the Eels, Mitchell Moses needs to fire and it’s as simple as that. He’s shown that he goes missing somewhat if his forwards aren’t on the ascendency. But with Nathan Brown back at lock this shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m going to back the Eels, with virtually no confidence whatsoever.
Eels by 2
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:35pm AEST.
Where: Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
When: 7:35pm
Streaming: NRL Digital Pass, Kayo Sports
TV: Fox League
Eels
1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Michael Jennings 4. Josh Hoffman 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Jaeman Salmon 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Kane Evans 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Manu Ma’u 13. Nathan Brown Interchange: 14. Ray Stone 15. Peni Terepo 16. David Gower 17. Marata Niukore Reserves: 18. Daniel Alvaro 19. Tepai Moeroa 20. Brad Takairangi 21. Will Smith
Broncos
1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Jamayne Isaako 6. Anthony Milford 7. Sean O’Sullivan 8. Matthew Lodge 9. Jake Turpin 10. Payne Haas 11. David Fifita 12. Matt Gillett 13. Tevita Pangai Interchange: 14. Andrew McCullough 15. Jaydn Su’A 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Patty Carrigan Reserves: 18. Richard Kennar 19. Shaun Fensom 20. Patrick Mago 21. James Segeyaro
Emcie
Roar Guru
He'd be more then handy right now. I can only imagine that he had a Bennett clause in his contract or something, he always came across like a one club player.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
WHAM.....
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Fair enough - losing Roberts and Bird is a big chunk of your salary cap. And the retirement of Thaiday and move of Maguire to the Cowboys has put a lot of pressure on your young forwards. Still can't understand why you let Maguire go.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Read a great piece on Roberts on nrl.com that would suggest it was much more about his mental state then strategy. Loosing Roberts and Bird is causing headaches and the young guys getting called up have potential but just aren't reliable week in week out. We just need to replace some of the lost experience to take the pressure off these guys so they can improve without the weight of the club on their shoulders. I doubt Siebold is prepared to sacrifice a season, reckon its more the hand he's been dealt
Emcie
Roar Guru
When's Green's contract up at the warriors? I was honestly a bit surprised when they signed O'Sullivan given the wraps a couple of the young guys coming through have gotten.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Do they allow women into the dressing rooms at halftime?
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately, ALL players can have an off night. I still would welcome Oates to the Rabbitohs ahead of ANY other Broncos player. IMHO Oates is the Broncos best and most consistent player. He'll make up for it next week. Oops! I just noticed the Broncos are playing the Knights in Newcastle next week. Well, fingers crossed anyway. ;-)
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Yeah, but they're all retired mate. Hate to break it to you, but so is Meninga, Stuart and Daley. ;-)
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
So you had a bet each way and celebrate a victory like you actually took a chance? Two years ago I tipped Damien Cook and Cody Walker would both play Origin and last year I tipped Cameron Murray would play Origin THIS YEAR and ahead of the more fancied Victor Radley. I have also predicted that at some point Campbell Graham will play Origin. ALL of these were long shots but I had the courage to stand by my convictions. How about you "Loud Eagle"? Do you want to make any bold predictions about Manly or any of their young players, like Cade Cust, whose name you didn't even know until I posted about him and brought him to your attention. Btw, my predictions were in respect to my own club and not a juvenile attempt to throw shade at another club to get someone else's attention.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
So, can we expect the Broncos to run into a rich vein of form next week courtesy of the Eels Milton? :-)
BA Sports
Roar Guru
It’s a good performance from Parra tonight but it means absolutely nothing until they back it up at least next start. Even if they made the 8, you obviously have to show up back to back weeks in the finals and so far they haven’t shown they can do that. The good news for the Eels is, they seem to go well at BankWest and with the number of teams trying to play home games there they could end up playing 18 games there in future seasons!
BA Sports
Roar Guru
You definitely need halves. Dearden may turn out to be the goods, but not sold yet. I saw plenty of O’Sullivan in ISP last year and he was just average. I can’t see his ceiling being much higher than say Lachlan Lewis.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Think you are right Emcie. Seibold has flagged his intentions by moving on Nikorima and Jimmy the Jet early. You probably have a semi trailer full of juniors to choose from as well throwing cash at those off contract. He's given a fair few younguns an opportunity already. Maybe he's prepared to sacrifice this season somewhat in order to get success in the next couple of years.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
That's just it, though, I can't say for sure if it was working. Nothing papers over cracks like a win, but they scored more points tonight than they did in their win against the Warriors. They scored only 5 more points when they beat the Roosters and they still scored plenty of points in a few of those early season losses without Dearden. The wins started coming on the back of improved defence, I don't think it has as much to with Dearden as others do, that defence has gone again and I think the Broncos still lose the last two games even if he was there. This isn't about Dearden, him not being there is not why they've started losing. The whole off field system at the club doesn't seem to be working. I still think they made the wrong call on the coach, it's filtered down to the recruiting, attitude, pretty much everything...
Aiden
Guest
All year? All decade! If Cronk can coach in a GF with barely touching the ball what has Alfie been doing.
Insider
Roar Rookie
Well I did say this could happen and it did, Parra will either blow you off the park or sit back and cop a flogging Good Parra , next week Bad Parra
Sideline Eye
Guest
Henjak was sacked. Griffin was sacked to enable Wayne to return. Wayne then became stubborn & was also "sacked" to enable Siebold to be recruited. Kevvie wanted the job however was unsuccessful. A real mess with the next game away to the Knights who will be smarting after a loss to a clinical Storm. Pull that No. 7 jumper on for another comeback Alfie. After all you have been playing big minutes in the backline all year.
Emcie
Roar Guru
reply's not working all of a sudden?
Emcie
Roar Guru
Reckon there'll be a bit of recruitment going on in Brissy next offseason (if not sooner). Should be a bit of money in the bank and there's a lot of ground to make up after last offseason
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
"Can we afford to go all NSW though?" Emcie, even NSW can't afford to go all NSW. They desperately need Keary but someone north of the border is spreading lies that Russell Crowe has been hanging around the Blues camp and Keary's head is still ringing after Rusty threw his phone and hit him in the head a few years back!