The Dyldam Parramatta Eels take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium tonight for their Round Nine clash of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
Previewing the game thanks to betting.club, Eels Assistant Coach Pete Gentle says the side will need to improve on it's costly errors and penalties in tonight's clash against the Bulldogs.
"It [our preparation] has been good. A bit of a light preparation, but we have done what we needed to on the field, but the boys have been looked after and they are ready to go again," Gentle said.
"Unfortunately we were backing errors up with penalties, and it's the unavoidable penalties that we will cop but it's the one that the referees have no option but to penalise that we need to get out of our game."
"We are very much in control of our own destiny. If we can control the ball, we will go a long way."
The Bulldogs have had a up and down start to their season, and despite coming away with a victory over the same side in Round Three, Gentle knows they will be a different outfit tonight.
"They are equal on the table with us and it is a very important clash," Gentle said.
"They have tweaked their attack and made some subtle changes there. We were very good defensively earlier in the season, and we need to be better again tonight."
"They have made some changes and we have made some changes," Gentle commented on the Blue and Gold gameplan.
"The game evolves as the season goes on and the more time these guys spend on the field together, combinations continue to grow and form and we are starting to see a little bit of that."
Led by the skipper James Graham, Gentle says the Blue and Gold can expect their forwards to try and get on the front foot and continue to roll down field.
"They have rolled every side this year, pretty much," Gentle said.
"That was one area we were good earlier in the year. They are number one for metres gained per set, so we will need to be good there, but the boys are aware of that. We just need to back up what we did earlier in the year."
"They have strike right across the field, but it will keep coming back to us. Defensively, everyone needs to be on the job and play their role."
The Dyldam Parramatta Eels take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium tonight, kick off at 7:50pm.
