The New Zealand Warriors and Parramatta Eels will go head to head on Friday at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. With the Eels sitting at 9th and the Warriors at 13th, both teams will be hoping to move further up the ladder this round and improve on their underwhelming performances from previous weeks.
LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors have suffered a shocking past few weeks but managed to break their losing streak in round 12 against the Brisbane Broncos 28-10. The Kiwi side may have faced a depleted team but nonetheless they showed dominance in both defence and attack and proved to fans that they can be a force to be reckoned with when they get their act together. The Warriors were on form – with the combination of Johnson, Foran and Tuivasa-Sheck creating havoc for Broncos defense. The forwards Pack played to their full potential last Friday and made 300 more metres than their opposition. The Broncos were no match for the mighty Warriors side that came to play on Friday night.
The Parramatta Eels have desperately been missing the presence of star player Corey Norman and it has showed in their performances. The Eels did manage to take the win over the Rabbitohs last weekend with a convincing 22-16. It was an extremely messy ‘stop, start’ game made up of 23 errors and 15 penalties but the Eels still managed to keep it together by completing 80% of their sets, scoring 3 tries and forcing the opposition to make 6 errors all in the first 40. The Bunnies made many errors but the Eels took full advantage and dominated the game.
KEY BATTLE
The Warriors forward pack dominated the field last Friday which contributed largely to the teams 1849 total metres run throughout the game. When the Warriors forwards do their job, this allows their impressive Kiwi’s spine – Johnson, Foran, Tuivasa-Sheck- to strike where it hurts and prove dangerous to the opposition. The key battle for this game will be between the Warrior’s attacking spine and the Eels defence and whether they can hold them out or fall at their feet as the Broncos did in round 12.
PREDICTION
Although the Warrior’s played an impressive game last weekend, it is common knowledge that they do not play well when travelling. The Eels also displayed an improved performance last weekend; with this taken into consideration, it is my prediction that the Eels will outplay and dominate the Warriors as the team continue their away-game losing streak for the 2017 season.
Parramatta Eels by 8
New Zealand Warriors vs Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium Sydney, 9.50pm (NZT) Friday
Warriors:
1Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c)
2David Fusitua
3Blake Ayshford
4Solomone Kata
5Ken Maumalo
6Kieran Foran
7Shaun Johnson
8James Gavet
9Issac Luke
10Ben Matulino
M11Bodene Thompson
12Ryan Hoffman
13Simon Mannering
INTERCHANGE
14Nathaniel Roache
15Sam Lisone
16Albert Vete
17Bunty Afoa
18Jacob Lillyman
20Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
21Toafofoa Sipley
22Ata Hingano
Eels:
Bevan French1
Semi Radradra2
Brad Takairangi3
Kirisome Auva’a4
Josh Hoffman5
Clinton Gutherson6
Mitchell Moses7
Suaia Matagi8
Kaysa Pritchard9
Tim Mannah (c)10
Manu Ma’u11
Tepai Moeroa12
Nathan Brown13
INTERCHANGE
Beau Scott (c)14
Daniel Alvaro15
Kenny Edwards16
Siosaia Vave17
David Gower18
Will Smith19
Marata Niukore20
Nathan Davis21
