Accusations from Manly following their round three win over Parramatta that the Eels forwards were “soft” was all the motivation they needed to record a thumping win in round 16.
The Eels piled on six tries to one to run out 34-4 winners in the return fixture to move themselves back inside the top eight for the first time this season.
“They took it personally after round three, when they came out and said our middles were pretty soft,” skipper Clint Gutherson told Fox Sports after the match.
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“And when you say that to the likes of [Reagan Campbell-Gillard] and the big boys in the middle, they’re going to take it personally.”
Even without star halfback Mitchell Moses and Junior Paulo due to Origin commitments, the Eels were dominant against a Sea Eagles outfit that clearly lacked the direction of their own halfback, skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, and Tom Trbojevic.
The Eels’ all-new halves combination of Ryan Matterson and Daejarn Asi – in just his second game for the club and second NRL game at half back – proved more than capable.
“We lost Junior and Mitchy to higher levels, and we spoke about it after the game last week just the next man up mentality,” Gutherson said.
“Daejarn was great, Matto [Ryan Matterson] was outstanding in the halves, we just needed to come back home and get a win.”
The win was the Eels’ fourth on the trot, and will lift the Eels into eighth on the ladder when the dust settles on round 16 on Sunday afternoon.
Gutherson said he had instructed his stand-in spine, with the inclusion of understudy hooker Brendan Hands, to keep it simple.
“We just wanted to keep it simple, play from the post, and we did that tonight,” he said.
“We’ve been saying it the whole time – we got unlucky in those first games … it’s just the way footy goes sometimes.
“We’re playing a lot better footy than we were at the same time last year. We just need to believe in what we’re doing and I think it’s shown in our last month of footy.”
“We didn’t go anywhere, we’re playing the footy we want to play, and it’s starting to click now.”
The Eels piled on six tries to one, and had several in the second half disallowed. On kicking duties in the absence of Moses, Gutherson kicked five from six.
Coach Brad Arthur said it was exactly the kind of “boring” win he had been hoping for.
NRL Highlights: Eels v Sea Eagles – Round 16
“We knew we were missing some personnel in the spine. It’s hard to enjoy that, but I was really proud of the boys,” he said.
“The bit I’m really pleased about at the moment, is they’re enjoying the tackle and enjoying working together in defence.”
Parramatta will look to solidify their position in the top eight when they travel to the Sunshine Coast next weekend to tackle the Dolphins.
The Sea Eagles will travel to Melbourne to take on the Storm.
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