Parra to maintain attacking mindset

Stuart Honeysett and Margie McDonald | October 01, 2009
Article from: The Australian

THE stakes are the highest Parramatta have faced all season but the Eels have no plans to shelve their high-risk brand of football in the grand final against Melbourne.
Statistics suggest the grand final will be a classic battle between attack and defence -- the Eels are runaway leaders in offloads this season while the Storm has the second-best defensive record behind minor premier St George Illawarra.
The Storm arrived in Sydney last night and both teams will face off at today's grand final breakfast for the only time this week until Sunday night's decider at ANZ Stadium.
Speaking before training at Parramatta Stadium yesterday, Eels fullback Luke Burt dismissed suggestions their penchant for offloads could bring about their demise against the Storm.
If anything, Burt said it had been the catalyst for the Eels' whirlwind finish to the year after they won 11 of their past 12 games to make the club's first grand final since 2001.
"We still need to offload and pass the ball like we have been because we play our best football in that style," Burt said.
"As long as there's no balls hitting the deck where Melbourne can really punish you -- if they're calculated offloads, we'll keep doing them."
"It's worked for us for the last 12 weeks -- I think we've only lost one game -- so I think it's not too much of a risk for us."
Heading into last Friday night's preliminary final, the Eels had averaged 16.6 offloads and they produced a staggering 41 that night to end the Bulldogs season.
The only time the approach has backfired was during their 37-0 loss to the Dragons in the final round of the regular season -- they had 22 offloads but also produced 19 errors.
Burt said their skill and confidence at offloading had come a long way from when their winning sequence started -- coincidentally against the Storm in July.
"I think that was the first game we really concentrated on that style of play and I think we got the Bulldogs the week after in similar style," Burt said.
"It's just a bit of confidence and I think our defence is a major part as well. It's not just the offloads -- our defence is a major part of our wins these days."
Storm coach Craig Bellamy identified the offloading trait among the Eels as the biggest "X-factor" separating them from the 15 other teams.
"Anything can happen with offloads -- where they go, who they go to, and what they do with them" Bellamy said.
"They can all offload ... but the two halves can certainly get the ball away. They don't play like that every minute of the game.
"I'm not sure whether it comes naturally to them all or whether at different periods of the game they decide to throw it around.
"It's a real strength for them with the footy and without the footy they are strong defensively, plus strong through the middle and at the edges."
Bellamy compared the Eels' skill at offloads to other grand final teams in the Warriors (2002), and North Queensland and Wests Tigers (2005).
However, Bellamy said Dally M medal-winner and Eels No1 Jarryd Hayne was even more dangerous in support play than livewire fullbacks Matt Bowen (Cowboys) and Brett Hodgson (Tigers) were in the 2005 decider.
"With all due respect to Hodgson and Bowen -- they were quick and great support players -- but Jarryd is so big and strong," Bellamy said. "Because of his pace and size and his power makes them (the Eels) a more dangerous side than the other two from that era (2005)."
Storm prop Brett White said the difference in playing styles had been emphasised in Melbourne's video sessions.
"I guess they're a lot different to us -- we're quite structured," White said.
"With them anything can happen and it's very hard to prepare for that because you don't know what you're preparing for -- Jarryd Hayne could do anything.
"That's the difficult part about this game -- we can't leave too many gaps around."
Halfback Jeff Robson, who is yet to secure a contract at the Eels for next season, said he had jelled well with five-eighth Daniel Mortimer and enjoyed their style of play.
"We like to play a bit of second-phase play," Robson said. "Sometimes that doesn't always go to plan and I try and stick to the structure as much as possible."
While Burt knows the Storm will be tough, it can't be any worse than the team's session with New Zealand cage-fighters earlier this season which left him with a broken nose.
"It was a good session, it was something different, it was very tough," Burt said. "They know how to fight and wrestle those guys and I think they were taking it easy on us. We were going flat out and we still couldn't match them. But we got out of it a bit of just working hard and when it's tough, just keep trying."

Eight teams all within reach of the holy grail

Brent Read and Stuart Honeysett | September 07, 2009
Article from: The Australian

AFTER watching his side fall out of the finals yesterday at EnergyAustralia Stadium, Penrith coach Matthew Elliott summed up what everyone else was thinking. "It's a very open series," Elliott said. "I don't think that's been the case for the last two years."
Manly and Melbourne, juggernauts that dominated the NRL in 2007 and 2008, are back in the finals but they no longer strike the fear of God into the opposition. Instead, the widely held view is that any one of the eight sides still in contention could find themselves running a lap of ANZ Stadium early next month.
Yesterday, Newcastle ended Penrith's season with a dominant performance, securing the one remaining place on offer and consigning Parramatta to eightplace and a rematch with St George Illawarra - nine days after they were put to the sword by the Dragons.
That game will take place at Jubilee Oval after the NRL conceded defeat in its attempt to have the game transferred to the Sydney Football Stadium. As bitter as that blow was to the game's governing body, it was even more devastating for the Eels.
They must return to the ground where they were beaten 37-0 on Friday night, a loss that ended the club's seven-game winning streak in the most convincing of circumstances. That rematch will draw the curtain on the opening weekend of what promises to be one of the most competitive finals series in recent memory.
It begins on Friday night with a match-up between last year's grand finalists - Melbourne and Manly - at Etihad Stadium. Over the course of three days, dreams will be shattered and hearts broken. In recent history, few finals series have begun with as many questions to be answered.
Can the Bulldogs and Gold Coast bounce back from their final-round shellackings at the hands of Wests Tigers and Manly respectively? Better yet, can the Dogs overcome the loss of halfback Brett Kimmorley?
What about Brisbane, Parramatta and Newcastle? Will they provide more than nuisance value from the bottom of the top eight?
And there is a south-east Queensland derby, which doubles as a finals match for the first time.
For the Eels, the job couldn't be more difficult with the Dragons' refusal to switch from Kogarah to the SFS
"While it is disappointing for fans that won't be able to go to the game, home-ground advantage is part of our season structure and it simply wouldn't be fair to change the venue against the Dragons' will," NRL chief executive David Gallop said. "That's the club's call."
Given his side's most recent performance at Jubilee Oval, Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson expects everyone to write them off. He's right.
They have some cavalry returning, however, in the shape of Nathan Hindmarsh and Eric Grothe, who missed Friday's defeat with a toe injury and food poisoning respectively. "We didn't handle the occasion," Anderson said. "We didn't handle the physical confrontation they dished out. The pilot light went out a little bit for us.
"We owe it to ourselves to play better than we did."
While the Dragons will start that match as heavy favourites, the meeting between Melbourne and Manly shapes as an even-money bet. Both closed the regular season with impressive displays - the Storm beat the Warriors 30-0 and the Sea Eagles thrashed Gold Coast 38-4.
The Sea Eagles, whose title defence has stuttered at times, are circling ominously, have momentum on their side and could be bolstered by the return of NSW centre Jamie Lyon from long-term injury. On the flipside, the Storm could be without prop Adam Blair after the New Zealand international was placed on report for a grapple tackle.
That incident will be studied by the match-review committee this morning, but the Storm can ill-afford to lose another forward given it is already without Sika Manu (leg) and Matt Cross (leg) for the remainder of the season, and Jeff Lima (thumb) until the second week of the finals.
If Blair is suspended, it would leave Melbourne seriously short of depth. Great halves are generally considered a prerequisite for a premiership, but it helps to have a forward pack that can give them room to move. The Storm aren't the only side with personnel concerns. Newcastle hooker Isaac de Gois was helped off EnergyAustralia Stadium yesterday with a knee injury and appears long odds of playing again on Saturday night, although a final decision will rest on a visit to the specialist today.
If de Gois can't recover in time, Matt Hilder is likely to fill in, as he did admirably yesterday.
"If Newcastle do well next week I won't keel over in shock," Elliott said
The good news wasn't confined to the sides that made the top eight. With the Sydney Roosters' loss to North Queensland, the Sharks avoided the wooden spoon. Cronulla players gathered at a hotel in Sydney's south to watch the game. Things looked shaky at half-time but by the end of the day the club had consolation thanks to an embarrassing second half from the Roosters.
Their season is over. For the eight remaining sides, it is only just beginning.