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The Dyldam Parramatta Eels take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs tonight and Assistant Coach Steve Murphy knows the clash will be a tough battle against the reigning premiers.

“They are a very consistent football team,” Murphy said.

“They control where you receive the football, they play with great discipline and we are in for a titantic struggle this week but at the same point in time we are looking forward to the opportunity.”

The Rabbitohs are dangerous over the park, however their forward pack has looked dominant in the opening three rounds, and Murphy said the Eels forwards will be looking forward to the challenge of putting themselves against the competition benchmark.

“I am sure our forwards will relish the challenge,” Murphy said.

“George Burgess takes them over the advantage line and Isaac Luke takes care of that and you have big GI through the middle pushing up everywhere.”

“They are a formidable team, they are the reining premiers and they have won everything that can be won at this stage so we know we are in for a tough game but at the same time you have to relish these opportunities when they come and Ii am sure our forward pack will see this as a mighty challenge and one they are looking forward to.”

Game Day Info - Salute to Service Round

The Eels will be doing everything they can to stop the impact Greg Inglis has in the game, and Murphy knows that the Blue and Gold can limit the Rabbitohs’ fullback impact if his side holds and controls the ball.

“You just have to control where he receives the football and how often he touches it,” Murphy said.

“ If we can control possession, like we haven’t been doing, he will have limited opportunity so we have to make sure we maximise ours and limit theirs.”

Murphy knows that the Blue and Gold have had a poor completion rate in the opening three rounds, and along with the Eels lack of discipline, it has attributed to suffering defeats in the past two rounds.

Murphy is confident in the Eels ability to score points, however the Eels must be ready to get into the arm wrestle with the Rabbitohs to give themselves the opportunity.

“We are not too worried about them, we have to get our game right at the moment,” Murphy said.

“We are not too happy with how we are controlling the ball and we can’t give ourselves a 60% completion rate and expect to compete against the top teams.”

“If we can get that up somewhere where we need to and control the footy and possession, that will give us a chance to control field position, and once we do that, we are as good as any team in the competition.”

“We can score points from any position on the field so we need to make sure we are in the arm wrestle and going set for set, and we will see what happens from there.”

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Round 4 Related News

- NRL Team List

- NYC Team List

- Match Preview

- Watmough: We weren't up to standard

- Sandow: Parramatta is my Home

- Takairangi: We can beat the Rabbitohs

- Brad Arthur: It's about pride

- Captain's Run Gallery

Round Four will also be the Eels "Salute to Service" Round. The Eels #SalutetoService is a way of saying thankyou by involving servicemen and women from the defence forces as well as local frontline services like police, ambulance and fire. See some of our salutes below

- Ambulance of NSW / NSW Police / Fire and Rescue NSW

Acknowledgement of Country

Parramatta Eels respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.

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