Round 5: Roosters v Eels preview
Fresh off the bye, the Sydney Roosters return to action this Thursday night as they host the Parramatta Eels at Allianz Stadium.
The Roosters took some solid form into their bye after victories over the Warriors and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the two games prior. Despite no football over the weekend, the Roosters were a big topic of conversation with the announcement that Joseph Suaalii will sign on with Rugby Australia when his contract with the Roosters concludes at the end of 2024. However, don't expect that news to distract Suaalii and the Roosters who look to secure their third win of the season against an Eels side that has just knocked off the defending premiers. Winning on Thursday night will send a message to the competition that the Roosters are going to be right in contention for a top four spot, something that they've failed to do in recent seasons.
Their forward pack will be rested and ready to go with the likes of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Brandon Smith and Victor Radley the most likely to bring aggression towards a good Parramatta forward pack. They'll aim to lay the platform for Luke Keary and Sam Walker who will utilise the Roosters dangerous backline to create attacking opportunities for the tricolours. They did this so well against the Rabbitohs a fortnight ago where they scored four tries in the space of 30 minutes to take the lead. Keary, Walker and James Tedesco will look to attack Parramatta on the edges, where they look their weakest but if the Eels played like they did against the Penrith Panthers last Thursday, it may be hard to do so.
The Eels landed their first win of the season in that outing, knocking off the defending premiers in a Grand Final rematch by a point. Mitchell Moses' field goal in golden point was a moment of justification, hours after reports of his re-signing with club surfaced. The halfback was instrumental, kicking for 1,006 metres as they forced the Panthers to start from their own 20 all night. They were excellent at this and a similar tactic against the Roosters could produce similar results. However, this was dependent on a completion rate of 95 percent which is utterly absurd and will be hard to replicate. Their forward pack was a big contributor to this with all five starting forwards running for over 140 metres including monster efforts from Reagan Campbell-Gillard (255 metres) and Junior Paulo (244 metres).
This pack has another tough challenge ahead of them, facing a fresh and aggressive Roosters pack that was excellent against the Rabbitohs a fortnight ago. Paulo is out for the clash through suspension and Wiremu Greig will get his first start of the season after limited opportunity from the bench.
Parramatta have been handed a tough draw to start the season and it has resulted in the 2022 runners-up starting 1-3 through their first four games and they'll be desperate to turn that one into a two.
Paulo is the only omission for Parramatta which allows for Jack Murchie to return to the bench after missing Round four with a concussion.
The Sydney Roosters had made two changes to their side from two weeks ago with Joseph Manu spending a week on the sidelines for his high tackle on Isaiah Tass. Drew Hutchinson gets the start in the centres whilst Corey Allen joins the bench. The other change is Naufahu White coming in for Terrell May.
Last meeting: Round 15 2022 - Eels 26 Roosters 16
Who to watch: There's plenty of big names lining up for another cracker of Thursday night footy. The Roosters fullback and Australian captain, James Tedesco is obviously one of the best players in the competition, let alone this match. The New South Wales fullback is yet to score a try in 2023 but he has assisted one in each of their three outings whilst averaging 168 metres and 4.3 tackle breaks per game. In his forward pack is 34-year-old Jared Waerea-Hargreaves who was exceptional coming off the bench in his first game of the year against the Rabbitohs. In 38 minutes, the New Zealand international ran for 174 metres and made 23 tackles.
In the blue and gold, it's the man of the moment from last Thursday, Mitchell Moses who was outstanding against the Panthers. Two tries and two try assists to begin the season is a solid start for the Parramatta halfback, but he'll be kicking himself that they've only won the one game to start the season. There's another two points available on Thursday and he'll be dying to take it. His front-rower Reagan Campbell-Gillard was outstanding last week and has had massive performances throughout the season. Campbell-Gillard is averaging 191 metres per game this year and just shy of 30 tackles, highlighting the mountain of work he gets through.
Favourite: The Roosters are the favourites heading into this fixture given their form and the week off to rest their bodies. This contest is a two apiece in their last four outings with each side winning one last year.
My tip: It'll be tough for Parramatta to back up from last week's efforts, especially against a rested Roosters side, I think that may be enough to get the Roosters over the line in a tight affair. Roosters by two points.
