Parramatta has vowed to handle the heat and ‘ambush’ the Cowboys in North Queensland next Friday as they look to qualify for their first Grand Final since 2009.
If their trip north earlier this year is anything to go by, the Eels are facing a real disadvantage as they take on the Cowboys in Townsville, downed 35-4 by Todd Payten's side in hot and humid Darwin earlier this year.
Including two trips north to Mackay in 2021, Parramatta have recorded just two wins in the Townsville region since 2000, with their last 14 trips north resulting in 11 defeats and a draw.
Despite the adversity, Eels enforcer Ryan Matterson said his side would be ready to deliver an ambush against the home town favourites.
“It’s always a tough trip up north, especially now with the way they’re playing,” Matterson told NRL.com following Friday night’s win against the Raiders.
Parra are flying
“The main thing we learnt from our last game is don’t bring the Cowboys to Darwin because they’re used to the temperature so next year we’ll bring them to Canberra or Melbourne, that’s what we’ve learnt.
“But now we’ve got no excuses. They played well enough to earn themselves that home final so we’ve just got to go up there and ambush them.”
“We train in Kellyville in pre-season and it gets up to 35 degrees so we aren’t strangers to the heat and I think at night in Townsville will hopefully be very different to Darwin.”
Parramatta exorcised their NRL finals demons on Friday night to book a spot in their first preliminary final in 13 years with a 40-4 victory over the Raiders.
Match Highlights: Eels v Cowboys
The Blues utility said his side is under no delusions as to how big of an occasion it will be in Queensland’s North against the surprise packet of the 2022 season.
“We’ve never lost two in a row, so we’ve had that mentality about flushing very quickly, addressing what we needed to address but then moving on to how we can play our best football against Canberra,” Matterson said.
“We've done that and now we’ve got to shift our minds and prepare for next week.
“The Cowboys are playing some really good football and are coming off the back of a rest this week so after watching our game, I can imagine they would be getting into their review nice and early.
‘It’s the first time they’re playing a big semi at their new stadium so I think it’ll be a good challenge but I think both teams will be up for it."
Part of North Queensland's review will no doubt centre on stifling Parramatta's league-leading offload game. Matterson, who himself is ranked fifth in individual offloads this year, expects North Queensland to adopt a similar attacking flair.
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“It’s the play off the ball that all these sides left in the competition are really good at,” Matterson said. “The Cowboys have a very similar pack to Canberra, they’ve got some big bodies, they go forward and they’ve got a lot of offloads.
“I know personally that when I’m up against a side that offloads, suddenly you’re defending double the tackle set. You’ve got to get up and tackle again. Canberra did a few late ones tonight which really hurt us.
“Offloads are changing the game, especially with how fast it’s being played now. Offloading comes off the back of running hard, that’s our mentality.”
An Eels junior, Matterson, who won his first final in the blue and gold on Friday, said his side is prepared “to do whatever it takes” for the Parramatta army to return home one win away from Grand Final glory.
“The Blue and Gold army, they’re rugby league fanatics. They turn up rain, hail or shine. No matter who we’re versing, no matter how we’re going, they’re always in our corner and they’re the loudest fans I’ve ever heard and they’re so passionate,” he said.
“You could see when they were doing the Viking clap it was just a little bit of a get it up you to Canberra because that’s how much it meant to them.
“There’s a lot of people moving on from the club, especially this team so this could be our last chance playing together and that’s what we spoke about before going into the Canberra game.
“Every game could be our last and we’ve still got a job to do so we’re not going to drive up to Townsville for a holiday, we’ve got a job to do and I hope we can come back and tell our fans we’re going all the way this year.”