{"id":321793,"date":"2023-08-06T22:43:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T22:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=321793"},"modified":"2023-08-07T00:59:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T00:59:31","slug":"things-could-get-very-ugly-for-vulnerable-eels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=321793","title":{"rendered":"'Things could get very ugly' for 'vulnerable' Eels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Parramatta Eels<\/a> put on a late spurt to beat the Dragons<\/a> on Sunday afternoon, but their defence simply isn't good enough to have a chance in the big end-of-season games.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, their late 26-20 win was the sixth straight game in which the Eels conceded 20 points or more.<\/p>\n

They were particularly vulnerable on the left edge, with Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa powering through some soft defence for four straight tries to give the away team a chance of an upset win.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> New Origin location emerges but 'tough' talks tipped<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Sheens fumes after Tigers dudded by polarising calls<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> US dumped from World Cup as VAR rocks Americans<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/p>\n

The Eels got their act together with three straight tries for a 26-20 win, but the late finish only papered over the cracks in the Eels' armour.<\/p>\n

Brad Arthur<\/a> is going to have to work hard on his team's defensive formation over the final three rounds, or things could get very ugly for the Eels.<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/p>\n

Get in their faces\ufeff<\/h2>\n

This column has mentioned before that if you get into the Rabbitohs<\/a>' faces and rattle their main men, they are vulnerable.<\/p>\n

And Cronulla<\/a> used that blueprint to score their crucial 26-16 win over the Bunnies in Perth.<\/p>\n

The loss could cost Souths a finals spot, and on the display in the west they don't deserve to be there.<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Latrell<\/p>\n

Marquee players Latrell Mitchell<\/a> and Cody Walker<\/a> weren't given any time or space and their frustration was there for all to see.<\/p>\n

It was a massive win for the Sharks, with the final score of 26-16 flattering the Bunnies. The win ended a three game losing run and puts the Sharks back on track for a finals berth.<\/p>\n

Phoenix proves us wrong\ufeff<\/h2>\n

Sometimes you have to put your hand up and say you were wrong about a player, and I'm doing that right now with Phoenix Crossland.<\/p>\n

I never really rated Crossland as an NRL player over the past couple of seasons but boy, has he proved his worth over the past month during the Knights<\/a>' impressive five-game winning run.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/p>\n

With Jayden Brailey out for the year with a knee reconstruction, Crossland has answered an SOS from coach Adam O'Brien<\/a> and the halfback has slotted into the key hooking role with ease.<\/p>\n

Against the Dolphins<\/a> last Saturday in Perth, he came up with some key plays, scored a vital try and made more tackles than anyone on the field.<\/p>\n

Newcastle limped over the line 30-28, and Crossland's contribution may well have proved the difference as the Knights moved back into the top eight.<\/p>\n

Oh, Mam\ufeff<\/h2>\n

Ezra Mam has been in the Brisbane Broncos<\/a> system since he was 13, and now at the ripe old age of 20 he is fast becoming a cult hero at the club.<\/p>\n

With Adam Reynolds<\/a> missing against the Cowboys<\/a>, all that pressure landed on his shoulders, and he more than proved up to it.<\/p>\n

\"Ezra<\/p>\n

The pint-sized pivot was smashed by several of the Cowboys big boppas, felt the pain, but got up and merely shrugged it off. And he also came up with some big hits himself on players weighing 20 and 30 kilos more than him.<\/p>\n

Throw in a vital try, a clever kicking game and Mam was very much the hero of the Broncos' impressive 30-14 win in Townsville.<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Luai the niggle king\ufeff<\/h2>\n

The NRL's two master nigglers \u2013 Jarome Luai<\/a> and Cameron Munster<\/a> \u2013 came face to face at Penrith on Friday night.<\/p>\n

And just as the Panthers<\/a> easily won the football match, Luai won the battle between the two master baiters.<\/p>\n

He got under the skin of the Storm<\/a> players with his trash talking and niggle, and it put Melbourne off their normally well-disciplined game.<\/p>\n

\"Jarome<\/p>\n

The Panthers were probably going to win the game regardless, but Craig Bellamy<\/a> will be fuming that Luai rattled his players and distracted them from their game plan.<\/p>\n

The Panthers have now won 11 of their last 12 games and are firming in the bookies' eyes to become the first team to win a three-peat since the mighty Parramatta Eels in 1981-1983.<\/p>\n

Johnson's 'new beginning' at 32\ufeff<\/h2>\n

It's not often when a 32-year-old can claim to be his team's most improved player, but then Shaun Johnson<\/a> isn't your average footballer.<\/p>\n

The veteran halfback \u2013 who started his career at the Warriors<\/a> way back in 2011 \u2013 has experienced a new beginning under Andrew Webster<\/a> at the Kiwi club this season.<\/p>\n

\"Shaun<\/p>\n

Johnson was the difference between the Warriors and a brave 12-man Titans<\/a> team on Friday night, scoring two tries and laying on two more.<\/p>\n

His form leading into the finals is simply outstanding and so long as Johnson is in this mood, the Warriors are a premiership chance.<\/p>\n

Young Rooster's break-out\ufeff<\/h2>\n

In a pretty bleak season for the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, young forward Siua Wong is proving a ray of sunshine.<\/p>\n

The Kiwi-born back-rower is still only 20 and was playing in the SG Ball Cup at the start of 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Siua<\/p>\n

He has risen through the ranks at a meteoric rate and played one of his best games in Thursday night's 26-16 win over Manly.<\/p>\n

Wong made 54 tackles \u2013 more than any player on the field \u2013 and was very unlucky to have a try taken off him by the bunker.<\/p>\n

With a good off-season under his belt in coming months, he could develop into a real weapon for the Roosters, who are a team in desperate need of some young blood, in 2024.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Parramatta Eels put on a late spurt to beat the Dragons on Sunday afternoon, but their defence simply isn't good enough to have a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":321795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=321793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321803,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321793\/revisions\/321803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=321793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=321793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=321793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}