The Parramatta Eels take on the Wests Tigers on Monday 17 April for their Round Seven clash of the NRL Telstra Premiership, and Blue & Gold Head Coach Brad Arthur has labelled this weekend’s game as crucial.
Coming off a loss last week against the New Zealand Warriors, Arthur says the side are expecting a big clash against a confident line up.
“It is important to get a win this week but every week is important for us and every team. It’s hard to win a NRL game and we are coming up against an opposition that is hungry as well, and they are coming off the back of a good strong performance which will give them a bit of confidence.” Arthur said.
“Both teams really need to win and both teams will be throwing everything into it.” Arthur added.
“They will be full of confidence, and both teams wouldn’t be happy with where they sit on the competition table, so we are expecting a real hard battle especially through the middle of the field.”
The Eels started the season with two wins, before a string of defeats, and Arthur says there has been key moments in the game over the past few weeks that the Blue & Gold have not been in.
“There have been some big moments in the game that we have not quite been nailing at the moment and those big moments can give a run of possession to the opposition and in that run of possession it’s hard to defend 7-8 sets back to back.” Arthur said.
“I think you are seeing that with every game at the moment, even the games last night, the run of possession equals points.”
“We had a lot of possession and controlled possession and when a couple of sets went against us, we managed to fight our way out of it and get the ball back.” Arthur said of the first few weeks.
Arthur confirmed the Eels line up will once again see Brad Takairangi and Corey Norman in the halves, with Clint Gutherson to fill the number one jersey, and Arthur is confident the combination will only continue to improve.
“That was fine that combination, it wasn’t the reason why we couldn’t get the result last week,” Arthur said.
“We fought our way back there to get to 16-10, a couple of thing went against us there, and it was a missed tackle midway through the second half that really cost us.”
The Parramatta Eels kick off against the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Monday 17 April, kick off at 4pm .
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