Round 6: Wests Tigers v Eels preview
Public Holiday Footy for troubled Eels and broken Tigers
The Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers will clash in their annual Easter Monday fixture, to be hosted at Sydney Olympic Park this year. The first Monday game of the year, the 4pm kick-off is a lovely late Easter gift for all footy fans.
The Wests Tigers are the home team on paper, with the club spreading home matches very thinly across Sydney venues. They're winless to start the season, and sit alone in 17th at the bottom of the ladder. The club has countless fundamental problems, with scrutiny of the merger growing every week of failure. If scrutiny doesn't lead to systematic change, then the Wests Tigers have a very long road ahead before returning to the top eight, or even just until they get off the bottom spot.
The Tigers finally got the thrashing that they've deserved all season last week against the undefeated Brisbane Broncos. Playing up at Suncorp Stadium in front of nearly 30,000 people, they were defeated 46-12 by the home team. Held scoreless in the first half, the Tigers were lucky that the score didn't end up worse. Coach Tim Sheens deservedly earned the ire of fans after joking in the post-match press conference that he hopes "we'll win the bye anyways in a couple of weeks".
Tim Sheens has made a few significant changes to the Tigers line-up, with Adam Doueihi's stint at fullback ending in favour of him partnering Brooks in the halves. Charlie Staines will get his opportunity in the number one jersey, with Daine Laurie missing out on the 17 yet again. AJ Kepaoa slots into the leftover wing spot, with Brent Naden returning into the centres. With Tommy Talau injured, Junior Tupou maintains his spot on the wing. Joe Ofahengaue joins the bench at the expense of Justin Matamua.
The Parramatta Eels are facing their own struggles. With just the one win from their opening five rounds, the 2022 Grand Finalists find themselves in 15th with plenty of work to do. They have faced a tough draw to open their 2023 campaign, so the struggling Wests Tigers will be a welcome opposition. That being said, they can't afford to become complacent, or they may find themselves compounding their already disappointing position.
The Eels are coming off an eight point loss to the Sydney Roosters at Moore Park last week. They started off slow, getting blown away early on, and they found themselves facing a 14 point deficit at half time. To Parramatta's credit, they put up a strong fight in the second half, however it wasn't enough to steal the two points. The sin-binning of Will Penisini and Bailey Simonsson in separate first half incidents didn't help their cause, so they'll definitely need to watch their discipline in the coming weeks.
Shaun Lane will make his long-awaited return from a broken jaw this weekend, slotting into the back row. J'maine Hopgood, who has been enjoying a brilliant start to the season, will shift onto the bench. Bailey Simonsson is out through suspension giving Haze Dunster a shot on the wing, and Sean Russell makes an appearance at centre with Waqa Blake dropping to the reserves.
This is the ninth edition of the Eels vs Tigers Easter Monday clash, with the wins split at four apiece. Last year, the Wests Tigers came into the game winless and sprung an ambush to come out one point victors at Parramatta. The Eels will be wary of a surprise Tiger attack, and they'll want to regain the Easter Monday crown in 2023.
Last meeting: Round 17 2022 - Wests Tigers 20 Eels 28
Who to watch: Charlie Staines will start at fullback for the second time this season on Monday. Signed by the Tigers over the off-season, Staines had work to do to assure his spot in the NRL 17. An injury to Ken Maumalo allowed Staines to nail down a wing spot, before a reshuffle in round three saw him start at fullback for the first time at the Tigers. He played a handful of games at fullback for Penrith towards the tail end of 2022, but he still has work to do. A good game this Easter Monday may see him cement his spot at fullback over the off-contract Laurie.
Sean Russell will take to the field for just his fourth NRL game this Monday, picked over Waqa Blake in the centres. The 20 year old has spent much of the past two years playing for Parramatta in reserve grade as a winger, with him yet to take to the field in 2023. This Monday will be his first NRL game since round one, 2022, and his first ever NRL game starting in the centres. Brad Arthur must see plenty of potential in him to give him this shot over the experienced and proven Waqa Blake.
The favourite: The Eels are the strong favourites to deal with a struggling Tigers side.
My tip: There's no reason for the Tigers to play any differently to what they've been serving up in the past few rounds. Parramatta by 30.
