The Parramatta Eels take on the Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium this weekend on Saturday 20 May for Round 11 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
After an honest and open video session this week, reviewing the Eels loss against the Roosters, Blue & Gold forward Kenny Edwards said the side is prepared to turn it around against a big and physical Raiders side.
“We probably haven’t played like that since we played the Roosters in 2014 at Allianz Stadium, and I think they put 50 on us. We haven’t had a game like that since that game, and it’s hard when everything is going against you it feels like the world is coming down but we have to better than what we dished out on the weekend,” Edwards said.
“It was just complete rubbish and we will be looking to turn that around this week against a massive forward pack this week.”
“We went back and did our video and we obviously hurt a lot. It was a big wake up call and it is something that we have struggled with the last few years, going three in a row and then get complacent and think we don’t have to work as hard,” he added.
“It was an honest video session, and nobody could hide. Everyone got put on show and we are all grown men, once we walked out of that room, it was all done.”
“There is no bigger test against a Canberra forward pack and we can’t wait. Obviously they are a big physical pack so they will be looking to run hard and tackle hard like they always do so it will be a good test for us.”
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The Eels welcome new recruit and half Mitchell Moses to the side this week, and after a long strung out transfer that was played out in the media, Edwards is excited to welcome the new half to his edge.
“It’s something that has been played out in the media the last couple of months, and the poor bloke, you have to feel for him, it has been tough on him. To his credit he played really well for the Tigers the last couple of months, just on the weekend you could see his head wasn’t right there, but he is happy to be over here and we are happy to have him,” Edwards said.
“He is on my edge, so he will come straight in and I cant wait to see what he can bring.”
“I never knew him before, but anyone watching that game knew his head wasn’t right for that game. All credit to him, he handled it as well as he could, and now he is here.” Edwards added.
“Hopefully for him, we can take a lot of the load off him on our edge, so hopefully he can just roam and play this week with the weight lifted off his shoulders.”
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Edwards said the addition of Moses to the Blue & Gold will complement Corey Norman’s game, benefitting the Eels.
“He [Moses] is really good and loves running the ball and that is what we really look forward to having him here. Normy really organises our side and tells us where to go and what to do, and Mitch just plays off the cuff and that is good for us.” Edwards said.
“I don’t know if we were missing much, but I know our last tackle options and kicking game, Gutherson did a fantastic job for us in the first few weeks, but he is a natural ball runner too. He didn’t have time to work on his short kicking game and all the finesse so I suppose we are missing that finesse in the last tackle options and that is something Mitch can bring.” He added.
“Normy runs a lot of our shape and gets us to our points and I think Mitch will have a license to roam and play what is in front of him.”
The Eels take on the Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium on Saturday 20 May for Round 11 of the NRL Telstra Premiership, kick off at 7:30pm. Click through to purchase tickets to the clash: http://eels.co/2oZJMdS
