Eels v Rabbitohs: Parramatta rookie Haze Dunster in line for remarkable NRL debut
Hours after being cut for Parramatta’s must-win finals clash with South Sydney, a little-known flyer is now on the cusp of an extraordinary debut at Bankwest Stadium.
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The bombshell suspension of veteran centre Michael Jennings has opened the door for a rookie flyer to make his NRL debut in Parramatta’s do-or-die clash with the Rabbitohs.
Following Saturday morning’s announcement that Jennings has been provisionally suspended for alleged doping, the Eels have successfully sought NRL dispensation to add outside back Haze Dunster to their 19-man squad.
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In a far from ideal scenario, Dunster, 21, could make his NRL debut by being catapulted into the starting line-up at centre.
The local junior had been included in coach Brad Arthur’s 21-man squad but was omitted when the squad was trimmed to 19 players last night.
Now Dunster is back in the 19 and in touching distance of an unlikely debut in the Eels’ biggest match of the year.
A gifted outside back, Rotorua-born Dunster came through the Eels’ SG Ball and Jersey Flegg sides before stepping up to Canterbury Cup in 2019.
Upgraded from a development contract, Dunster played in the Nines in 2020 and has been on the cusp of an NRL debut all year, consistently named on Parramatta’s extended bench but was unable to crack the first grade side.
He may get his opportunity on Saturday night.
ANASTA: CAN THE EELS MUSCLE THEIR WAY TO VICTORY?
There are no more chances on Saturday night when the Parramatta Eels take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs in an all-Sydney blockbuster elimination final.
Can Brad Arthur’s men shake their recent poor playoffs record to qualify for the club’s first preliminary final since 2009? Or will the Eels fall victim to South Sydney’s pointscoring rampage?
Premiership -winning playmaker Braith Anasta dives deep into the match-up to identify the strengths, weaknesses, the mindsets of the two teams and what he’d do if he was in charge of each side.
HOW THEY PLAY
The Eels are finding success when they use their pack to generate go-forward and second phase play. It’s a strategy that has worked well for them in season 2020. The Rabbitohs do damage when Damien Cook is given space around the ruck which puts defenders on the back foot allowing the likes of Cody Walker to exploit defences on both ides of the field. It’s turned them into a dark horse of the finals series, who have a saloon passage into to the grand final.
PARRAMATTA EELS
STRENGTHS
They’re at their best when Nathan Brown, Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard are steamrollering through the middle and are offloading and throwing short passes. I think that’s where it starts for them, it’s like a domino effect. It’s the forwards that help bring Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown into the game. When they are powering off the back fence through the middle and getting offloads, which give time and space to the halves, who then can bring their outside backs into the game. That’s when you know they’re on. That’s my key indicator for the Eels, if that’s the approach they’re taking in a game you know they are going to be at their best.
WEAKNESSES
They struggle to shift or move the ball around for 80 minutes. But their other big weakness is that they aren’t very adaptive. If the opposition adapts to their game plan and identifies their strengths and shuts them down, do they have option two? Do they have the ability to think on the run, ‘OK the opposition has shutdown our short passes, what do we do next?’. The right-side defence has been a real worry for the Eels this year and Cody Walker will be looking to pick off those right-side defenders by going out the back to the likes of Corey Allan and Alex Johnston.
MINDSET
Their strength is the middle and that’s their only chance this weekend, so their mindset has to be that they are going to go out there and rattle the Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs are scoring that many points at the moment, that if they control the ball and the middle, they will post plenty of points against the Eels. South Sydney have struggled this year when they have made errors. So the Eels have to go into this with the mindset that they are going to be up in the faces of South Sydney and forcing mistakes. The Eels have to be physical, they have to take them head on and bash the Rabbitohs up a little bit and hope they can put them off their game.
IF I WERE THE EELS
Stopping Cody Walker is the obvious one, he’s probably the best player in the competition right now. If I’m the Eels, I’m looking to shut him down and that will go a long way in trying to progress into week three of the finals. The hard thing is stopping an instinctive player, if Walker doesn’t know what he’s going to do next then it’s just about impossible for the Eels to stop that. But it’s stopping the combination between hooker Damien Cook and Cameron Murray is key for the Eels. If I’m Brad Arthur, I’m telling my players that we have to slow the ruck down to take Cook out of the game, which will help take Murray out of the game too because they work off each other. They are one of the most underestimated combinations in the NRL.
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SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
STRENGTHS
Their biggest strength, especially over the last six weeks or so, has been their ability to score points. It has been incredible. They get a sniff of good field position and they just find a way, both left and right of the ruck. They’re creative in attack too and pick opposition defences to pieces. They have managed to build an arsenal that includes a great mix of set pieces, trick shots and that stuff that is purely instinctive and based on the feel of the game. It’s special their attack at the moment. It’s easy to forget that last year in the finals, their biggest issue was the inability to score points. This year it’s their biggest strength.
WEAKNESSES
South Sydney can get the kind of momentum in a game that makes them unstoppable, they can be the opposite too. They can have periods where they make a few errors in a row and become quite vulnerable, that’s definitely a weakness. They can shoot themselves in the foot with the lack of ball control. I’ve spoken to Wayne Bennett who admitted it has been a problem for them over the last two seasons. But when they hold the ball they are a different team. Their mid-season revival has been on the back of controlling possession and improving their completion rates.
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MINDSET
Confidence and completions. They would be so confident at the moment, probably bouncing off the walls and they should feel good. They would have a good mindset as any side left in the finals series right now. They would feel like their attacking better than ever and I like points will come every time they touch the ball. As an ex-half, when you’re in form and scoring points you just feel on top of the world. It means Bennett can make sure they are able to focus on their defence because when they are in the attacking zone, the confidence is there that points will come if they can hold onto the footy.
IF I WERE THE RABBITOHS
If I were South Sydney I would be looking to double team the likes of Nathan Brown, Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard. I’d be stopping the offloads and trying to tighten up the ruck. I’d also be defending in numbers and making sure there is good speed off the line. The Eels forwards like to shift the ball around, so it’s important to limit that time and space other sides have allowed them to get away with in the past. It’s the offloads that bring Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown into the game. Shut down the offloads and in turn shut down the halves.
PREDICTION
South Sydney by 8 points