In our Round 6 Game Day Preview, brought to you by Unibet, Dyldam Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur says field position will be key in tonight's rematch with the Sydney Roosters.
Just four weeks after they last met, the two teams will face off for the Jack Gibson Cup at Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta, and despite bouncing back from the disappointment of a Round 2 loss with three strong performances, Arthur says his side still has work to do.
"The easy thing [after Round 2] would’ve been to walk round kicking stones," Arthur said.
"But the team manned up, we were very honest with our review as a group and as individuals, and since then they’ve come out and played with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm and some real pride in their jersey and their performance."
"Their [feeling] positive but they're not getting ahead of themselves. They’re really keen to improve some aspects of their own game and improve some areas as a team."
When it comes to the opposition, Arthur says he won't be underestimating the Roosters' infamous forward pack.
"[The Roosters'] strength is their forwards, which creates a platform for their halves to play off. We need to be really strong defensively, we need to do the best we can to control the ground, and then we’ve got to be aware of their halves pushing into spaces," Arthur explained.
"Our field position over the last couple of weeks hasn’t been great, and while we’ve come up with some good performances we’ve probably made it harder on ourselves than it needed to be."
NRL kick off is 5.30pm tonight at Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta. Click through to pre-purchase your tickets and join us at the game!
