Dyldam Parramatta Eels lock Tepai Moeroa says his side’s Round 15 match up with the South Sydney Rabbitohs will be a chance for the forward pack to settle the score from the two team’s last encounter.
The Rabbitohs pipped Parramatta 22-20 in their Round 10 match up at Pirtek Stadium, and Moeroa says the Eels pack is looking to make their mark in Friday night’s rematch.
“I think they got one up on us as a forward pack [in Round 10],” Moeroa said.
“And I think we just need to work on our mistakes from that game. Today we’ll just watch some video, see what we need to do against the Rabbitohs and just pretty much fix up our attack and what we need to work on in defence.”
The Eels are fresh from a 22-12 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Darwin’s TIO Stadium, and some unseasonably hot and humid weather in #eelsterritory tested both sides’ conditioning.
“It hit us pretty hard,” Moeroa said of the 33-degree plus temperatures.
“We started off slow, but as the game went on we put on a really strong defensive effort and I think we’ve been getting consistent with that again the past two weeks, against the Knights and the Titans.”
“And having a couple of days off with the flight and yesterday off, I’m feeling good now.”
Head Coach Brad Arthur was forced to reshuffle his side after a handful of injuries to his playmakers, moving Kenny Edwards into the halves for the Round 14 win over the Titans, and adding Rory O’Brien to the interchange bench for his debut appearance in Blue and Gold.
“He fitted in perfectly,” Moeroa said of O’Brien’s first Eels appearance.
“BA (Brad Arthur) wants us to run hard and ‘run to bust’, and that’s what he did when he came on. He didn’t look like it was his first game out there for the Blue and Gold, he fitted in perfectly.”
The Eels take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on Friday, June 17, kicking off at 7.50pm. Click through to purchase tickets!
