The Dyldam Parramatta Eels take on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles tonight at Pirtek Stadium for their Round 22 clash of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
Previewing the game thanks to betting.club, Blue and Gold Assistant Coach Steve Murphy expects a tough clash against a quality opposition that are only just starting to hit their straps.
“They are playing some great football at the moment. We weren’t really pleased with our performance last week so we will have to improve here tonight,” Murphy said.
“They have been playing a lot of football through the middle, big Siosia Vave has been doing a great job, Jake Trbojevic has been outstanding, Darcy Lussick especially the last few weeks has really taken his game to a new level.”
“We will have to match them in the middle first and we will see what happens after that.” Murphy added.
The Sea Eagles will enter tonight’s clash with plenty of confidence, coming off the back of four wins, and Murphy expects their backline to have a real impact in the game.
“Young Tom Trbojevic out the back has been outstanding, he has been getting them started and getting their sets started on a real positive note. Jorge Taufua is there, Walker is there, and they have a quality football team with Cherry-Evans in the middle.”
“It is a class backline and they are a class team just starting to hit their straps.”
However the Eels will be buoyed by the inclusions of Michael Jennings, Beau Scott and Manu Ma’u, who all return to the Blue and Gold side this week.
“They are all quality players, representative players, so we missed that experience last week at the back end of the game and it’s probably why we couldn’t get it done in the end,” Murphy said.
“The inclusion of Beau, Jenko and Manu, he was very upset and distressed about getting suspended in what looked like a pretty innocuous tackle. We are looking forward to having those guys in the squad and they give the guys great belief and confidence.”
The Eels will also have the extra motivation as they look to claim the two points in Brad Takairangi’s milestone 100th NRL game.
“It is wonder for Brad, who has had a stop start interrupted career with injury, again it has affected this year a little bit, but Brad is a popular member of this squad and we are really looking forward to him playing a strong game for us tonight.”
Kick off at Pirtek Stadium between the Eels and the Sea-Eagles is at 7:50pm tonight. Click through for all the Round 22 Game Day Info as the Eels celebrate Women in League Round.
