Weary players earn rest after bounce-back win

Eels coach Brad Arthur says he will give his exhausted team a few days off after a gruelling period of footy capped by a physical 26-16 win over Wests Tigers.

Coming off a five-day turnaround after a shock loss to Manly, the Eels dug to deep to turn a 12-4 deficit into a comfortable win.

The Eels were getting to the point where players were pushing through injuries but now have 10 days to prepare for a round 12 match against Canterbury.

Nathan Brown (hip) and Maika Sivo (knee) backed up against the Tigers while others such as Blake Ferguson (knee) were rested against Manly.

Then there is front-row pairing Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo who have been playing enormous minutes to fill in for the absences of other players.

"I thought we started a bit tired off the back of a short turnaround but we get a good long turnaround now and we can regroup with a couple of days off and go again," Arthur said.

"They've been working hard for a good period now."

Halfback Mitch Moses made a welcome return from a calf injury against the Tigers.

"He was still a bit rusty tonight Mitch but he did make a difference. His kicking game was good. He was helpful," Arthur said.

Former Tiger Ryan Matterson dominated discussion in the lead-up but lasted just 15 minutes before a heavy knock ruled him out with an HIA. Arthur said Matterson's clash against his former teammates had not been a factor within the group.

"He's just disappointed. His health's all right and that's the main thing," Arthur said.

"He's got a 10-day break so he'll be all right for next week.

"I told him [during the week] the game is not about Ryan Matterson, it's about Parramatta and the Wests Tigers. That was a 30-second conversation, that's all it was, he prepared the best he could all week with his teammates.

"Plenty of blokes come and go from club to club, it was two teams trying to have a crack at it."

A silver lining to Matterson's injury was the big minutes played by second-gamer Andrew Davey, who again looked assured at the top level.

"He was good. We threw him out there and he did a really good job," Arthur said.

"I probably left Reg out there, he was looking to play the full 80 off the back of 80 last week.

"He played 65 or 68 minutes again straight tonight and probably wanted to stay there for the full game but that's a big effort for a front-rower off the back of a five-day turnaround."