Round 13: Eels vs Cowboys

[Tamwelg]

	vs
Eels		Cowboys

Fri 6 Jun, 7:40PM Pirtek Stadium

Jarryd Hayne Semi Radradra Will Hopoate Willie Tonga Ken Sio Corey Norman Chris Sandow Tim Mannah Luke Kelly Junior Paulo Kenny Edwards Manu Ma'u Joseph Paulo   David Gower Peni Terepo Lee Mossop Pauli Pauli

Fullback Wing Centre Centre Wing Five-eighth Halfback Prop Hooker Prop Second Row Second Row Lock   Interchange Interchange Interchange Interchange Interchange Coach

Michael Morgan Matthew Wright Brent Tate Kane Linnett Antonio Winterstein Johnathan Thurston Ray Thompson Matthew Scott Rory Kostjasyn James Tamou Ethan Lowe Jason Taumalolo Scott Bolton   Robert Lui Glenn Hall Ashton Sims John Asiata Joel Riethmuller Paul Green

[DIEHARD]

Cowboys revert to Hayne plan

Cowboys coach Paul Green expects an invigorated Jarryd Hayne to try and ramp things up at home this Friday night against a North Queensland side that handed Parramatta a 28-point loss in Townsville just six weeks ago.

While it was revealed after the Round 8 encounter that Hayne was playing through injury, Green was pleased with how his side nullified the competition's most in-form player and expects much the same effort from his troops this Friday.

Amidst a month of hot form where he scored doubles in the game prior and the two games following, the Cowboys kept Hayne to just two tackle-breaks, forced him into making four errors and restricted him to 143 running metres, his fourth-lowest output of the season.

"I thought we did a really good job on Jarryd Hayne last time and I also thought a couple of their guys who are good at getting metres through the middle, I thought we contained them really well. [Semi] Radradra and [Tim] Mannah and those sorts of guys so nothing changes from that point of view," Green said.

"[Hayne] can do just about everything. He can run, he can pass, he can kick so you don't really know what is going to come at you, so that is probably the biggest thing plus he's a big guy and a physical guy as well so he ticks all the boxes from that point of view, but we contained him well last time.

"We'll certainly have our hands full because he's in great form and full of confidence but we'll be able to do it again."

While having won the past four meetings against Parramatta, the odds are well and truly stacked against the Cowboys this time around, having not won a single away game all season while Parramatta have successfully defended their home fortress in each of five occasions thus far this season.

However, Green says his charges will approach this game like any other in a very hostile and challenging environment.

"This is another game and it's important that we prepare for that game whether it's at home or away, it makes no difference," he said. "The reason why you win games at home is no different to when you're away from here so it's important that we focus on the things that we need to be good at and the result will look after itself whether you're at home or away.

"We've tinkered with our away prep given the travel commitments around that and so we're constantly just looking for that routine that works for us."

While looking forward to Friday's game against the Eels, Green is still hung up on the four tries that were disallowed by upstairs officials last week, saying he aired his grievances with referees boss Tony Archer during the week.

"A couple of contentious decisions around the video ref last week so even though we won 22-0, it could have easily been more," said Green, who was left perplexed not for the first time this season.

"Matt Scott's try was a try and also Matt Wright's try as well, so given that going into Parramatta Stadium is a pretty hostile environment for away teams, hopefully we'll get a bit of luck from that point of view this week.

"I had a conversation with Tony Archer about that and we agreed on one and probably agreed to disagree on another, but all the coaches want is consistency and hopefully we'll get that this week."

Travelling into a known fortress, Green is aware of the effect Parramatta's crowd can have on the influence of certain on-field refereeing decisions, but is hopeful there won't be any external influence this Friday.

"[The home crowd advantage] helps but if you ask the refs, they always say 'no', (the crowd) don't let the refs influence them but [the Eels crowd] are always booing for offside or holding guys down so they're only human."

Meanwhile the Cowboys, upon recommendation from recruitment chief Clint Zammit, have inked former Gold Coast Titans under-20s and current Intrust Super Cup second-rower Kyle McConnell to a contract from 2015.

http://www.nrl.com/

[DIEHARD]

Eels v Cowboys
Pirtek Stadium Friday, 7.45pm

If it feels like these two sides only just played, that's because it's only five short weeks since a below-par Eels outfit was trounced 42-14 up in Townsville in Round 8, and it's fair to say they'll be hoping for an improved showing back at Fortress Parra.

That Round 8 defeat and their dismal, Jarryd Hayne-less last-start 38-12 loss at Penrith are the side's only really poor performances since a Round 2 thumping by the Roosters, with the Eels otherwise either winning or competing strongly. Coach Brad Arthur will be hoping the return of his talismanic fullback and a return to their home patch will be the tonic the team needs.

It was surely the right move to rest Hayne rather than forcing him to play two days after one of the most gruelling Origin contests in recent memory, given he suffered a long term hamstring injury backing up from Origin I last year. He replaces Justin Hunt at the back in one of several changes.

Willie Tonga is back from injury, replacing Ryan Morgan in the centres, while props Darcy Lussick (knee injury) and Mitch Allgood (two-match suspension) are out. English Test forward Lee Mossop makes his NRL debut off the bench and Kenny Edwards returns from injury in the starting back row.

Thing are looking far rosier in Queensland's far north after an underwhelming start to the year. In their past five starts the Cowboys have four strong wins, with the only loss coming at Canberra with all their Origin stars away.

It's those Origin stars, and in particular Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott, who have been leading the charge in their recent dominant run, and with no fresh injury concerns coach Paul Green has named an identical line-up to the side that was too good for a Storm outfit missing injured Origin players Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater last week. Joel Riethmuller has been added to an extended bench

Watch Out Eels: Scott and Thurston were outstanding backing up from Origin against the Storm and should only be even better with a full week off under their belts. Scott has been in career-best form and added another 175 metres and 32 tackles last week, while 'JT' was again the conductor, scoring one try and setting up another.

His so-called "poor" performance in Origin I was only poor by his own superhuman standards but nevertheless he'll be a man on a mission as he looks to correct the Cowboys' poor away record this week.

Watch Out Cowboys: The Eels are sitting on comfortably the longest home winning run of any side – in matches at Pirtek Stadium they're sitting on seven straight wins. You have to go back to a Round 21, 2013 loss to Manly for their last loss in front of their home crowd. Needless to say they also welcome back Origin I Man of the Match Jarryd Hayne.

Plenty has been made of their poor record with him absent but they're a completely different side when he's there. Even beyond his involvement, just the confidence he gives his teammates now is hugely influential. He's also the current ladder leader in Dally M voting and with nine tries, eight try assists, 51 tackle breaks and crucially, eight try saves in his 10 games, it's easy to see why.

Get your ticket to NRL Round 13

Plays To Watch: Mossop has been working his way back from injury for Eels NSW Cup side Wentworthville and he's shown the ability to ball-play close to the line. Keep an eye on him when he comes on because Hayne will be ready for any late offloads he produces while the middle support players such as Corey Norman, Chris Sandow and Joe Paulo will be ready for any late short passes he holds up.

The Cowboys need to find a way to get Jason Taumalolo consistently playing at his tackle-breaking best without weighing him down in defence, where he has made a habit of big misses in too many games this year. Ethan Lowe has been absorbing some of that role in Gavin Cooper's absence, so look for him to again do a lot of the clean-up work around the ruck, leaving Taumalolo free to run at those edge defenders – in particular Chris Sandow.

Where It Will Be Won: Controlling the ruck. Hooker has been an issue for both these clubs in recent years but Rory Kostjasyn's recent performances mean the Cowboys can finally stop worrying about how they let James Segeyaro get away.

One of the biggest differences in the Eels' improved efforts this year has been the tight control and direction around the ruck provided by Nathan Peats. With him out there will be huge pressure on back-up halfback Luke Kelly to fill that gap. The Eels were rudderless without Peats in Round 2 against the Roosters and if Kelly can't reverse that problem it could become a major issue for the Eels.

The History: Played 30; Eels 16, Cowboys 13, Draw 1. The northerners have won their past four against the Eels, while the blue-and-golds won the five before that. Prior to the Cowboys' win at Parramatta last year they'd lost five in a row at the venue going back to 2007.

Match Officials: Referees – Ben Cummins & Gavin Reynolds; Touch Judges – Paul Holland & Nick Beashel; Video Referees – Ashley Klein & Luke Patten.

Televised: Channel Nine, Live, 7.30pm (Queensland); Channel Nine, Delayed, 9:30pm (NSW).

The Way We See It: The return of Hayne and a return to Parramatta work in the Eels' favour but the loss of Peats against the in-form Cowboys is massive. With Hayne in current form anything's possible but the far-more-settled Cowboys look the safer bet. North Queensland by six.

http://www.nrl.com/

[DIEHARD]

I'm gonna watch this. See if the Cowboys can get a win.

[TITAN PETE]

Hopoate sweats on NSW Origin verdict
By Chris Kennedy, National Correspondent
NRL.com
11:10pm Fri 06th June, 2014



Eels centre Will Hopoate was much improved in his final hit-out before teams are named for Origin II without truly demanding inclusion, with his coach defending his prior performance against Penrith due to a lack of preparation.

Hopoate looked a sure thing to replace the injured Josh Morris on the Blues' right edge for Game 2 until a below-par effort at Penrith in Round 12 with a number of defensive lapses, but Arthur said it was a big ask on the 21-year-old given he hadn't trained with the side all week.

Hopoate was called into the Blues' side as 18th man and left Brisbane on a 6am flight out of Brisbane the day before a Friday night trip to Penrith, with his only run with the Eels being the 15 minute captain's run on Thursday.

He was much better in the 18-16 win over the Cowboys at Pirtek Stadium on Friday night, with some key defensive reads and strong charges with the ball, amassing 126 running metres and 15 tackles.


NSW and Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne said after the match he was impressed with the hit-back from Hopoate.

"I thought he did really well tonight, defended really well and it's going to be very interesting where they go with the right centre and the right wing spot," Hayne said.

"I think he's been up there with the best centres in the game this year and it's a credit to him – if he doesn't get it now he'll get it in the near future."

Eels coach Brad Arthur defended Hopoate's lacklustre performance at Penrith.

"Hoppa's preparation wasn't great last week, he didn't train with us until the captain's run," Arthur said.

"He was on a 6am flight out of Brisbane and trained with us for about 15 minutes. He was back into his preparation this week. It's a big ask for a young boy that's been away from the game for a couple of years and you take him away from his normal routine – he responded well."

Hopoate is in the mix for both the right centre and right wing spot. Blues coach Laurie Daley, who on Friday night indicated Hopoate was a big chance of selection due to his Origin experience, could also opt to shift back-rower Beau Scott to right centre to accommodate the return to the pack of Greg Bird.

Other options for the centre spot are Rabbitoh Dylan Walker and Raider Jack Wighton, while Manly's Jorge Taufua and Penrith's Josh Mansour are also in the running for the wing spot left vacant by the injury to Brett Morris.