Dyldam Parramatta Eels captain Tim Mannah was pleased with the Eels victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs, however the forward knows the importance of the Blue and Gold having another strong performance when they take on the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Monday April 6.
Mannah spoke to the media yesterday before the Eels visited the Children’s Hospital at Westmead for their annual Easter Egg Drop visiting patients spreading some Easter cheer.
“It’s great coming here for the Easter Egg Drop. We have had a relationship with this hospital for the last few years and every time you come here, you always get touched whether it is your first time or your fortieth time,” Mannah said of the visit.
“It’s always a special time, seeing some smiles on their faces is definitely an experience you can’t get anywhere else.”
Easter Egg Drop Gallery
Whilst the Eels came away 13 point victors over the 2014 defending premiers, who had remained unbeaten for close to 7 months, Mannah reflected on the game that will give the Blue and Gold plenty of confidence for their 2015 campaign.
“I wouldn’t say the win last week you can build a season on it, but it’s definitely a performance we can use to get a bit of confidence and be aware of our ability, Mannah said.
“That’s pretty much the benchmark for us now so we just have to maintain that and keep it up every week”
Whilst the Eels are faced with several injuries and doubt over Reece Robinson, who will visit the NRL Judiciary tonight to contest the grading of his Grade Two Dangerous Throw, Mannah was confident in the depth of the Blue and Gold squad for the coming weeks.
“I have complete confidence in whoever comes into this side that they will slot in and do their job,” Mannah said.
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“The coaching staff have done a real good job in building a really good mentality through the squad over the last 18 months and instilling that belief that whoever comes in is prepared and they are ready to do their job."
“I have full confidence that whoever comes in will be fine” he added.
Eels halfback Chris Sandow had a dominant performance on the field on Friday night against the Rabbitohs, and whilst Mannah praised Sandow, the captain also acknowledge the rest of his team mates for their efforts.
“Chris Sandow is definitely a player that when he is on, he is on and you just give him the ball and let him do his thing. In saying that, there were another 16 guys there that night that did their job and made it a lot easier for Chrissy to do his thing,” Mannah said.
“When Chris is on his game, he is very hard to stop but without everyone else doing their job on Friday night, he can’t excel the way he did, so it’s really important that everyone around him helps him and the same way he helps every else.”
Round Five Team List
Mannah was taken early from the field for a concussion test, however the front rower explained the situation was all a misunderstanding.
“I wasn’t concussed but I can understand the situation,” Mannah said.
“My shoe came off in a tackle, so I stayed down to put it on and they thought I stayed down because I was knocked out, “ he laughed.
“When I came up I went to put it back on, and as I was trying to slip it back on they thought I was stumbling so I can understand the confusion.”
The Eels will clash with the Wests Tigers this week and ANZ Stadium, and Mannah and the Eels will be focused on maintaining and improving from their Round Four performance.
“I think the Tigers have started the year really well and they have had some really strong performances and their coaches have done a really good job with them.
“But for us, we don’t want to look too far ahead and don’t want to look too much into their team. It’s more about our own backyard and what we can control.”
“We had a good win on Friday night but there is definitely some things we can improve on so we will work on that during the week and hopefully come Monday week we will be a better team.”
Click here to view information on Integrated Easter Transport for the Round 5 clash.
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