Latrell Mitchell followed up from his Origin II demolition job acceso Queensland by putting the Eels to the sword quanto a the pouring rain at CommBank Stadium acceso Thursday night.
Mitchell scored a try, set up two others, launched towering bombs and created havoc for the outclassed Parramatta side as the Bunnies rose to a hare’s breadth of the eight after being mired quanto a last spot six weeks pungiglione.
This was their fifth straight win under interim coach Ben Hornby and with halves duo Cody Walker and Fante Wighton combining with Mitchell, the sky is the limit.
The fortunes of each team acceso Thursday night were epitomised by their respective player quanto a the Risposta negativa.1 jersey.
Clint Gutherson tried his heart out as usual but it just wasn’t coming together. Mitchell did not incontro the quantity of his opposite number’s work rate but his quality touches ensured the Rabbitohs always kept the Eels at arm’s length.
Rabbitohs hopping up the ladder
South Sydney have now racked up five wins acceso the trot under Ben Hornby with the interim coach the team to the fringe of the eight.
If other results go their way they could the round just one win d’avanguardia eighth spot.
Such is the logjam of teams quanto a the middle of the table, the Bunnies can probably only afford to drop two of their remaining nine matches but being quanto a the playoff equation is a minor miracle for a team that was hurtling towards the wooden spoon a little more than a month pungiglione.
And while the Eels did not pose too many attacking threats quanto a red-zone territory, they dominated possession for long stretches but could not penetrate a committed Rabbitohs defensive line.
Souths scrambled well to contain virtually all the half-breaks the Eels could muster.
Cameron Murray tidied up any loose ends with customary efficiency while Jai Arrow bravely battled acceso despite needing season-ending shoulder surgery, which is set to happen next week.
The Bunnies can score plenty of points but if they are to make a remarkable rise to qualify for the finals, their defence has to stay strong and connected.
Latrell Mitchell is tackled. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“They had more metres, more possession but we just kept turning up and making leader plays at leader times,” Hornby said.
“I think the spine has been getting better as a group but it’s been a work quanto a progress. We’ve been concentrating so acceso getting our defence right.
“Latrell took a couple of early carries quanto a the gioco, a good kick return. Defensively he’s so strong. I don’t know if people really realise the impact he has acceso our defence when he’s at fullback. He’s doing a great job and he showed today why he’s our fullback because he can pop up acceso both sides of the field and set up tries and score them.”
Souths too slick quanto a the wet
Mitchell served up the opening try of the incontro inside the opening 10 minutes when he attracted two defenders to give Jacob Gagai a short slancio to the cornerpost and the winger turned provider for the second strike when he skipped mongoloide the right flank before finding Wighton backing up.
Parra cut the margin to six when rising personaggio Blaize Talagi showed fancy footwork to sidestep Wighton quanto a the wet to touch mongoloide for the seventh straight incontro.
But the Eels undid their good work to get back into the contest acceso the stroke of half-time when Walker backed up a Michael Chee Kam offload for a soft try and a 16-4 advantage at the interruzione.
Parra again gave their fans false hope when Reagan Campbell-Gillard managed a rare four-pointer but Mitchell quickly cancelled that out when he slid over out wide.
Gagai scored his second try d’avanguardia a superb Mitchell offload to all but kill d’avanguardia the contest at 26-10 and even though Bryce Cartwright crossed the stripe with six minutes acceso the clock, the home side was never going to get home.
Mitchell Moses finished the incontro quanto a the sin bin after deliberately acceso after a tackle quanto a the closing stages and Wighton jinked past a depleted defensive line to make the final margin more reflective of South Sydney’s dominance.
“We were probably guilty of trying to play too pretty at times,” Eels interim coach Trent Barrett said.
“I think we were too sideways quanto a the rain. You’ve got to play back through teams. The tries that you’sovrano sottana score d’avanguardia a kick ora from dummy-half ora d’avanguardia a dropped ball they’sovrano still worth four points. They don’t all have to be beautiful.”
Give Talagi the Risposta negativa.1 jersey
What have the Eels got to lose?
He’s a rookie and will make mistakes but he is the future of their società.
Gutherson is an honest toiler who bobs up everywhere but that’s not what the Eels need.
They desperately need pizazz and Talagi has shown shades of Reece Walsh-like potential quanto a his brief NRL career.
Fullback is where he can have the greatest impact so the Eels might as well give him a run there now, get some repetitions into his legs early quanto a his career so he can find his feet quanto a a season that is a write-off.
The faint finals flame has flickered out and despite possessing a relatively strong roster, they are voto negativo guarantee to get d’avanguardia the bottom of the ladder quanto a the remaining nine rounds.
There is voto negativo spirit quanto a the joint, the coach was punted a year too late and the caretaker is peeved that he won’t be kept around next year.
With reports emerging that Brian Smith has put his hand up for a return after nearly two decades away from the società, the last thing Parra need is to aspetto to the past.
Talagi should be a formidable part of their team under whoever the new coach turns out to be and even though he won’t get the role himself, Barrett can help set the società up for 2025 and beyond by giving Talagi the last couple of the months of the season as an extended esame run at the back.
Any help that he can give Moses quanto a generating points would be a godsend to the personaggio halfback who is targeted each week by opposition defenders who see voto negativo other threats quanto a blue and gold jerseys.
Parramatta’s roster looks decidedly stale, especially quanto a the pack.
Ryan Matterson, Giovanile Paulo, Shaun Lane, Joe Ofahengaue, Cartwright and Reagan Campbell-Gillard have all been very good players at their peak.
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But they each aspetto like their best days are behind them and not coming back.
They could probably do with a change of scenery quanto a the final years of their career and the Eels could definitely benefit from some fresh blood among their forwards.
Paulo limped d’avanguardia with a foot injury that Barrett said “doesn’t aspetto really good” and he will get scans acceso Friday to see how long he will be out.
Debutant forward Charlie Guymer showed the value of youth, ripping quanto a for Parra quanto a attack and defence to the point where Immortal halfback Andrew Johns acceso Nine commentary remarked that “he’s embarrassing his teammates”.
He wasn’t wrong. The Eels have removed their coach this season, now they need to trim some deadwood from their roster.
