Sharks and Eels to sink or swim in big Friday clash

Author: Sharks Media
Timestamp: Thu 9 Mar 2023, 05:58 PM

While the Sharks went down to Souths last Saturday night, also looking for their first win of 2023 are the Eels following a golden point loss to the Storm, with the two highly rated teams set to come together in a Friday night blockbuster at CommBank Stadium.

After a strong opening 40-minutes the Sharks were their own worst enemies in the second period, as the Rabbitohs took advantage of the high error count of their opponents in running away with the win.

However the Sharks have addressed some of the issues from round one, with Cam McInnes explaining his team understand what went wrong in the Souths loss, while appreciative of the difficulty of the challenge the Eels are likely to present.

“There are things we can improve on in all areas. Some of the errors we were making you wouldn’t want to be making in under-6’s. Not good enough,” was the blunt assessment of the week one performance from McInnes.

“The early rounds you’ve got to complete, stay tough, stay in it, you don’t need to force things, and it’ll come.

“But it’s going to be a tough game, they play for 80 minutes, they are a very good side, Grand Finalists last year. We know it’s going to be a big game, but we’re excited for that,” McInnes added.

For Friday’s match the Sharks will field a squad featuring a couple of forced changes to the team which went down to Souths.

Wade Graham lost an appeal against a high tackle charge during the week and will be sidelined for four matches, with Jack Williams also unavailable after failing his head injury assessment in the Souths game.

Into the team comes Royce Hunt, who missed round one, along with utility Connor Tracey after the versatile local junior had his first hit out for 2023 playing fullback for the Newtown Jets in their win over Souths last Saturday afternoon.

Nicho Hynes has again been ruled out with a calf issue, with his place to once more be taken by Brayden Trindall, who has the confidence of his teammates to perform to a high standard at CommBank tomorrow night.

“It’s a big gap with Nicho not playing, but I thought Brayden Trindall was great for our team last week and our best player on the night,” Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey said. “He’ll do a job for us again this week.”

“I thought Tricky was outstanding (against Souths) so there was no excuse on that front,” McInnes agreed with his teammate. “We’re really lucky to have three quality halves and a couple of young ones coming through as well.

“I was pleased for Tricky, but we know he can play like that,” McInnes said.

In the head-to-head numbers from matches played between the two teams, the Sharks hold the slight advantage, having won 48 games as opposed to 42 by the Eels.

In recent times, the Sharks have won seven of the past 10, while this is just the second match between the teams at CommBank Stadium, with the Eels winning 28-4 in Round 3, 2021 at their only previous meeting at the venue.

Parramatta has won three of its past four and 32 of 44 games overall at CommBank Stadium (73%), including nine of the 12 games played at their home base last season.

Giving the Sharks some encouragement on Friday night is their away record in 2022, the Cronulla side winning eight of 12 matches on the road as the away team, including each of their last six games by a margin of 12 points or more.

The Eels will be looking to avoid two losses to start the season for just the second time in 11 seasons, while the result last weekend against Souths continued the Sharks poor record in round one matches. In games played since 2010, the Sharks have won just twice and have the worst opening round record of any team in the NRL.

And a deep dive into statistics show that the Sharks had best not fall behind at half time, having not won a game when trailing at the break since Round 19, 2019.

In player milestones, Eels half back Mitch Moses will play his 200th NRL match, the number seven debuting in the NRL for the Wests Tigers in 2014. Sharks winger Sione Katoa would like to continue a streak which has seen him score a try in seven straight games, with Oregon Kaufusi to face his former club for the first time, the now Sharks interchange forward playing 71 matches for Parramatta, included amongst those the 2022 Grand Final.

The Sharks squad is 1-17 as selected on Tuesday, with Tom Hazelton and Mawene Hiroti retained on the extended reserves list.

The Sharks v Eels match is scheduled for a 6.00pm kick-off at CommBank Stadium, with the Newtown Jets to play Parramatta in a NSW Cup curtain-raiser, kicking off at 3.00pm.

Round 2 - Round 2 - Friday 10 Mar

Full Time

Eels

Sharks

Team Lists

Backs

Fullback for Eels is number 1 Clinton Gutherson

Fullback for Sharks is number 1 William Kennedy
Winger for Eels is number 2 Maika Sivo

Winger for Sharks is number 2 Sione Katoa
Centre for Eels is number 3 Will Penisini

Centre for Sharks is number 3 Jesse Ramien
Centre for Eels is number 4 Waqa Blake

Centre for Sharks is number 4 Siosifa Talakai
Winger for Eels is number 19 Bailey Simonsson

Winger for Sharks is number 5 Ronaldo Mulitalo
Five-Eighth for Eels is number 6 Dylan Brown

Five-Eighth for Sharks is number 6 Matt Moylan
Halfback for Eels is number 7 Mitchell Moses

Halfback for Sharks is number 7 Braydon Trindall

Forwards

Prop for Eels is number 8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard

Prop for Sharks is number 8 Toby Rudolf
Hooker for Eels is number 9 Josh Hodgson

Hooker for Sharks is number 9 Blayke Brailey
Prop for Eels is number 10 Junior Paulo

Prop for Sharks is number 10 Braden Hamlin-Uele
2nd Row for Eels is number 11 Bryce Cartwright

2nd Row for Sharks is number 11 Briton Nikora
2nd Row for Eels is number 12 Matt Doorey

2nd Row for Sharks is number 12 Teig Wilton
Lock for Eels is number 13 J'maine Hopgood

Lock for Sharks is number 13 Dale Finucane

Interchange

Interchange for Eels is number 14 Jirah Momoisea

Interchange for Sharks is number 14 Cameron McInnes
Interchange for Eels is number 15 Jack Murchie

Interchange for Sharks is number 15 Royce Hunt
Interchange for Eels is number 16 Wiremu Greig

Interchange for Sharks is number 16 Oregon Kaufusi
Interchange for Eels is number 17 Makahesi Makatoa

Interchange for Sharks is number 17 Connor Tracey