Eels captain Gutherson taking no notice of Storm record

Jasper Bruce | July 25, 2023

Parramatta captain Clint Gutherson says the Eels will take confidence from their ability to stick in close games rather than their superior recent record against Melbourne, as they fight to keep their season alive.

Approaching the final six weeks of an unusually close regular season, the eighth-placed Eels are inside the top eight on for-and-against only and face three top-four sides in their final eight games.

They will need to win at least one of those clashes to finish with a winning record.

“Every team knows how tight it is and knows how serious every game is,” Gutherson said.

“We have to win, otherwise we might not be there when you want to be playing. We’re not shying away from that.”

The Eels are one of few teams who have the wood over their round-22 opponents – perennial heavyweights Melbourne.

Since 2020, Parramatta have won five of seven clashes for a better winning percentage over Melbourne than any other NRL side. 

Winning in Melbourne on Friday could hoist the Eels as high as sixth on the ladder, but Gutherson does not believe Parramatta had an advantage over the Storm as compared to their premiership rivals.

“I don’t think we’re suited more than anyone else,” he said.

“It’s about getting up for the game. It’s a massive battle to go down there to win.”

Personnel issues will also work against the Eels with regular first-graders Dylan Brown, Maika Sivo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard suspended and Shaun Lane joining the casualty ward after dislocating his elbow in last week’s loss to North Queensland.

But Gutherson said recent history proved Parramatta could win understrength. 

Parramatta claimed six of eight games between late April and late June, a stretch of the season during which they lost Campbell-Gillard and Lane to injuries and Brown to suspension.

“You’d love to have your whole squad on board but it’s not the way it is,” he said.

“We’re sticking together and the confidence we have as a squad as players and as a captain, we know that we can put in good performances.

“That last two months we played really good footy, even when we lost.”

The Eels have received a boost in the run to the finals with the return of hookerJoey Lussick, who played nine games for the Eels in 2021, from English powerhouse St Helens.

Lussick, contracted through to the end of 2025, bolsters an Eels side that has lost first-choice hooker Josh Hodgson to a season-ending neck injury.