Dyldam Parramatta Eels head coach Brad Arthur says the Blue and Gold’s chances against the Warriors will all come down to attitude as they prepare to take on New Zealand on Saturday night.
Arthur says his side will need to match the traditionally physical Warriors side on their home turf to bring home an away win as they move into the home stretch of the NRL Telstra Premiership season.
“They’re a typical Warriors team,” Arthur said.
“We need to be physical, we need to get off our line, get in their face, make our tackles and do that over and over and over.”
“They’re going to throw some good shape and good attack at us at times, and we’ve just got to weather the storm.”
“Whether it’s Ben [Matulino] or [Feleti] Mateo it doesn’t matter, we need to be strong defensively.”
“Our defence is a priority, but it’s attitude. We can defend well when we want to, and we need to want to tomorrow.”
Arthur says preparing for the Round 18 game knowing the Eels would take to the field without fullback Jarryd Hayne had also given his side the best chance of gelling ahead of a crucial away game.
“It’s important for the [Premiership] table but it’s more important for our own confidence and our ability to play away from home [to win this week],” Arthur said.
“I’m confident with the team that we’ve picked, we’ve prepared really well and I think we’re probably in a better place where we get to prepare for three sessions with the team that we’re bringing over instead of having him (Jarryd Hayne) come in late and try to back up a couple of days after a big game.”
The Eels v Warriors NRL clash kicks off at 7.30pm NZT on Saturday at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
