Legendary coach Phil Gould has questioned Parramatta‘s decision to rest a host of stars for their final-round clash with Penrith, predicting it will dilute their resurgence and declaring “a full-scale dress rehearsal” would be best.
After stunning the Storm in a 22-10 boilover in Brisbane last Saturday, the Eels have opted to rest five players for their match against the Panthers on the Gold Coast on Friday.
Coach Brad Arthur has sidelined Clint Gutherson, Mitchell Moses, Junior Paulo, Marata Niukore and Waqa Blake for the game as he lifts his eyes to what will likely be an elimination final a week later.
But after the Eels managed to win just the second of their last six games in the upset of the Storm last week, Gould has cast doubt over Arthur’s thinking.
“It’s an interesting decision from Brad Arthur and this is where I may have handled it differently,” Gould said on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
“When I look at what Parramatta did last week, which was so much better than anything else they’ve produced not just this year (but) in the last couple of years … Their upset win against the Melbourne Storm was thoroughly deserved and they dominated from the early stages of the game and they put in a really quality 80-minute performance of intensity. Then to dilute that the following week and think I can pick it up again in a fortnight?
“I don’t know. I don’t know whether or not I would have gone into this one with a full-scale dress rehearsal and think, ‘Well now that we’ve got there let’s keep it there, now that we’ve got there let’s maintain the rage, let’s practice it again’.
“And I know that risks injury and the finals are a big thing.”
The fifth-placed Eels would even be a long shot to steal a top-four berth if they had named a full-strength side for the Panthers game.
Parramatta would need to beat Penrith and have Manly lose to North Queensland to score the double chance that a top-four finish guarantees.
“It must have been an interesting discussion at Parramatta this week as to whether we keep the momentum going or whether or not we desperately need the rest,” Gould said.
“Now they’ve opted for the one where they’ll be less criticised, I think, in resting their players … Gutherson, Paulo, Niukore, Moses and Waqa Blake come out of the team. That’s a fairly healthy drop-off.”
The Panthers, on the contrary, will take an unchanged line-up into the final-round fixture.
“The Panthers have gone the other way, saying we want a full dress rehearsal before we play our finals opponent the following week, knowing full well that if we win that we get a fortnight off anyway, leading into the preliminary final,” Gould said.
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