The Dyldam Parramatta Eels take on the North Queensland Cowboys at Pirtek Stadium this afternoon and we caught up with Blue and Gold Assistant Coach Steve Murphy to preview the match, brought to you by betting.club
Murphy says the Round Two clash against the defending Premiers will be a tough contest, but the Blue and Gold will enter with plenty of confidence.
"The defending Premiers, World Club Challenge Champions, coming off the Grand Finalists last week, it should be an exciting game but we are confident that we have prepared well." Murphy said.
"If we go set for set with this football team, we can cause them some trouble."
"Obviously their starting 17 is the team the won them the Grand Final team and we have a lot of changes to our football team. We understand that it will take time for those combinations to build but we are still very confident that we can cause some grief with ball in hand," Murphy added.
"We will have to make our tackles because they will really test us across the park."
With Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur demanding more discipline and a higher completion from the Blue and Gold after their Round One performance, Murphy says the Blue and Gold will need to improve this week to ensure they give themselves every opportunity.
"We shot ourselves in the foot last week. We didnt complete, especially in the back end of that second half," Murphy said.
"We turned way too much ball over which didnt give us enough opportunities to put Brisbane under pressure. If our halves control the game for us, and our forwards get us forward, we will have some opportunities to use ball in hand in good field position."
With dangers across the entire Cowboys line-up, Murphy says the Blue and Gold will need to work for each other to limit their impact.
"It is improtant that we stay in our systems and work together collectively. You can't individually try and solve things by yourself. We will be tested across the park but we are also confident we can test them," Murphy said.
"Danny has worked hard on his rehabilitation from his injuries and he has great footspeed through the middle third of the field. Hopefully that might trouble their big boys, but they roll up the field really easily on teams and most of the time, they get away an attacking kick on the end of their set so we will have to defend really well, especially the tackles early in the set to limit their go forward."
Gates at Pirtek Stadium open at 5pm, with NYC kick off 5:15pm before NRL kick off at 7:30pm. The match will be live on FOX Sports, click through to purchase your tickets!
