Harold Matthews
First Half
Good match brewing here after witnessing the early exchanges between the two teams. Parra have a 6-0 lead courtesy of a nice try to backrower Matt Doorey but WSAS have piled on the pressure in reply.
Parra extend their lead through a lovely backline play on the last. The run it down their left from mid-field and William Kei slices through to score!
Parra lead 12-0 after the conversion by Schneider.
Second Half
William Kei earns his brace of tries shortly into the second half with another good-looking left-edge movement.
The conversion is good from out wide.
Parra lead WSAS 18-0
CLiff Lea’aetoa over now, down the opposite flank through a slick backlline movement once again. The Eels have been a bit rusty in the mid-field in the second half but have been clinical in the red zone.
The conversion is sweet from the sideline by Ronan King, who also took the last conversion attempt.
Parra lead WSAS 24-0
The Eels running riot in the second half, despite a number of incomplete sets, as William Kei completes his hat-trick down the left sideline. Good involvement from John Paul Nohra as he chimed in from the back there.
Schneider is back on and nails the extras from out wide.
Parra lead WSAS 30-0
I can’t keep up with young Kei anymore! Parra march down field from the kick-off set and then force an error from their kick and kick-chase. The Eels waster little time to convert on the chance as they spin it to their left where Kei strolls over.
The conversion fails to raise the flags for the first time today.
Parra lead 34-0
Holy moley, make that five tries for Kei! Superb athleticism from his winger, Joshua Boumelhem there as he bats a grubber back in to the in-goals as he leaped into the air.
The conversion is nailed.
Parra up 40-0
I officially can not keep up, I am actually missing footage on the camera trying to type! Matt Sommerton blitzes over now as the Eels seemingly have broken the back of the WSAS.
The conversion is good.
Parra racking up the points to lead 46-0
And that score by Sommerton will do us as the siren rings out to bring an end to the game
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 46 DEF Western Sydney Academy of Sport 0
SG Ball
First Half
First blood for the Eels in the 18s as Noel Auckafolau crosses in the left corner. Nice ball from Johnny Fonua to put him over there.
Seve misses from the sideline
Parra lead WSAS 4-0
Lightning quick strike from the Eels now as they crash in on the back of a penalty. Big bookend, Steve Dresler steams onto a short ball on the goal line and is just too strong for the defenders!
Turnbull kicking now and he raises the flags.
Parra lead 10-0
Tui Afualo in now on the back of a simple move in the backline. Parra with all the running here.
The conversion is no good from out wide.
Parra lead 14-0
Try assist to Turnbull now as he kicks into the in-goals for his partner in crime, Alex Seve. The lively five-eighth gets to the ball first to score and Parra extend their lead.
Turnbull converts from 5m to the left of the posts.
Parra up 20-0
Outstanding footwork from Seve on the goal-line there. Left-foot step, right-foot step and over as he beats two defenders to go over.
The conversion is good.
Parra lead 26-0
The carve up is on now as Oregon Kaufusi is over under the posts. Soft defence there mind you.
Turnbull adds the extras.
Parra leading the Academy 32-0
Awesome lead up work from interchange dummy half, Adam Campbell there as he puts Alex Seve into a huge hole. Seve gets run down in the opposition’s red zone but a couple of plays later, Ethan Parry someone grounds the ball over the line despite the attention of numerous defenders. Fair effort that.
Turnbull is on the money again from the tee.
Parra lead WSAS 38-0
More money plays from Turnbull in the following set as he runs the ball on the last and sends Tui over for his second try with a gorgeous ball. Half time will be upon us with that play and boy do WSAS need it.
Turnbull makes it a maximum value score from the sideline.
Parra leading 44-0
Second Half
Great individual effort from Ellie Elzahem there as he scores from about 25m out. Make the bust on the back on his own work and beats the fullback 1-on-1. Tremendous stuff.
Turnbull converts
Parra lead 50-0
Haze Dunster is the beneficiary of some good work on his inside by Ethan Parry as he ends up crossing in the right corner.
Turnbull is hitting them sweet today as he slots it from the sideline again.
Parra lead 56-0
Finally ones goes the other way! WSAS are in via their winger Kallum Mackay. It comes from a simple but well executed backline shift down their right-edge. Parra get caught on the backfoot as they slide across allowing Mackay to step back across the line and find the gap to get over.
The conversion is unsuccessful.
WSAS trail Parra 4-56
Ooooh cheeky stuff from Adam Campbell there! Deviously selling of a dummy from dummy half there as he then darts down the short side and catches the Academy with their pants down to score. Very, very clever stuff.
Turnbull sprays it slightly to the right for a rare miss today. He is hooked for the effort…I kid, just getting iced with the game well and truly over.
Parra lead 60-4
Scratch that, Turnbull is back on as Seve gets a breather in his place. Travis has an immediate impact coming back onto the field playing directly to the line and cutting out his first runner to find Steve Dresler flying onto the pill. Dresler is just too powerful as he somehow finds a way to get the ball down for his double.
Turnbull makes it 6 points.
Parra lead 66-4
Both teams get a couple of more possessions to impact the scoreboard but nothing comes of it.
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 66 DEF Western Sydney Academy of Sport 4
40’s any chance in the future of providing the eels team lists? Cannot find them anywhere would love to see the teams as part of the follow ons, along perhaps with the final stats for each game.
Tah!
Don’t have the link Col but I think they are on the NSWRL site.
Thanks mate, after some searching got the details, see a couple of close wins again
Watched the matches today in the company of Forty, Joe and Parrathruandthru. Some observations:
* William Kei is an absolute standout in the Harold Matts, and not just because of the number of tries that he scored. The young bloke looks dangerous on every possession.
* Travis Turnbull is certainly a player of the future. Playing up a year and plenty of players have him covered in terms of size, but he’s a major talent.
* Alex Seve also shines in this line up. Strong 5/8 build.
* Steve Dresler – if this young bloke isn’t an NRL star of the future I’ll be stunned. The Titans’ loss is the Eels’ gain with this talented prop. Strong carries and great game sense.
* Tui Afualo – can’t believe that this young bloke is only 17. His strong, stocky build makes him a difficult proposition for the opposite centre to tackle, and he has the skill set to play closer to the action. A player to keep an eye on.
I agree with all these observations Sixties. I also think that Johnny Fonua and Sean Keppie are worth a mention too: the former is slick and glides across the park like a figure-skater; the latter is raw and tough – development staff must really enjoy their time with him.
Sean Keppie really surprised me when I first laid eyes on him this year. Really filled out between 2015 and 2016 and looks a handy prospect in the front row now. Comes across as a really nice kid as well. Spoke to him at the ground today and unfortunately he is looking at ~3 weeks on the sideline due to a fracture underneath his thumb.
Fonua is funny one for me to grade. Usually fullbacks tend to typecast themselves in the lower grades e.g. dominant runners, ball-players, support orientated but Fonua falls in between them all. His running game hints at elusiveness and deceptive strength but he doesn’t make a huge amount of breaks (although plenty of useful metres) and he chimes in pretty well from the back without really serving as a focal point for the attack. The raw materials there are interesting for sure and hopefully he kicks on for us.
Great read 40/20. I was interested in Schnieder for Harold matts. He seems a very busy and tough kid. Any thoughts on today? And Sixties, think Tui is the centre? He was an outstanding player as a primary school kid too. Grew up in Mt Druitt Lethbridge park. V tough. I just worry he’s height is going to make him play in the forwards later on..Any thought She?
He could be likened to a young Hurrell. Physically, as a 17 year old, he is a very strong build for a centre. His skill set could see him play in other positions. I don’t see him getting any taller – whether they pick modern centres based on height alone I can’t say.
Schneider is a pro. He just gets into everything and plays at such a consistent level, be it from hooker, lock or half. He usually plays huge minutes (if not the entire game) for the Harold Matts but given the scoreline we could afford to spell him today. Exactly the sort of recruit you want to bring into your system, kudos to the club for getting him to Parra.
Tui Afualo is indeed a centre and sixties’ comparison to Hurrell is quite apt – at least physically and in the manner that he runs the ball. He is far advanced on Hurrell in both vision and ball-playing, which is why he is actually the deputy to Turnbull and Seve as a half when something happens to them. Both Hurrell (when fit and motivated) and Solomone Kata have shown that there is space in the NRL for short but physical centres and Tui certainly brings that with the ball in hand. More importantly he is a powerful and aggressive defender with an excellent sense of timing. He might not be able to pull off the brutal hits in the NRL with quite the regularity that he does at the moment but the willingness in defence is an excellent building block for when he hits the pro-system.
Are you concerned Afualo is too tall or too short for a centre? In our NRL team we have Jennings (180cm) and Takairangi (194cm) at centre, so I don’t think height matters too much.
How tall is Tui Afualo anyway?
Well, he is short, stocky and strong, with skill to offset any perceived disadvantage that may likely arise (forgive the pun) from his lack of height. As 60s said, it doesn’t look like he will be getting much taller any time soon. All we can hope for is that he doesn’t shrink on us either! If he were to fulfil his potential and play NRL, his versatility may likely see him occupying positions on the field none of us ever saw coming. It has happened to many other juniors in the past that dared to dream big.
He’s a few cms taller than me and I’m around 177cm, so I’d say he’s around the 180-182cm range. Decent for a centre, good enough to make first grade.
Thanks forty,
We’re the matchs recorded ?
Would love to watch these two demolition matches.
Good start to the year.
Forty will post highlights this week. There were official videos being shot today, with orders being taken for copies of the match.
Can’t wait!
Cheers for the update guys. Turnbull sounds like a freak. How young will he end up in the top 25?
Fair point mate! Every club is trying to stockpile halves (look at us with Dargan, Doolan, Turnbull and Seve) these days, hoping that one of them is ‘the one’. He is off-contract at the end of 2018 and will be turning 19 at that point in time and I would be shocked if we got a NYC-into-second-tier deal out of him. Likely to be Top 25 or bust, in my opinion.
Sorry boys but u cant make to big a call on players when you win 60-4. Wait till we face some genuine opposition ,given these kids have the talent you say and i do believe you but weve seen how most dont even crack it in 20 s but having said that i dont doubt their talent .
I don’t think anyone is judging them on just this game. Most of these kids have been in our system for well over a year.
Exactly, these opinions are not based on one outlier thrashing of an opposition team. The odds definitely suggest that the majority of this squad will miss out on lengthy NRL careers but at the same time a fair bit of my feedback on these kids comes from sources external to the Eels. Our current SG Ball squad is as good a crop of kids as your likely to assemble these days given how hard all clubs scout and how much money some clubs scrounge up to convince kids to join them.
Keep in mind as well that we have something like four 18 year old players across our SG Ball squad. The vast majority of our starters are playing a year up in an age group where that one year can make a huge difference in physiques (see my comment on Sean Keppie above!).
You may be right on some of these kids and i respect your judgement because there based on regular observation unlike myself nowadays but all im saying is stay grounded ,the obstacles in front of these kids are huge . Anyway theyl get thier opportunity ,has anyone noticed the higher and quicker turnover in the 20s since BAs been here .SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT . There will probably be the odd mistake but its better than our old policy of keeping duds in the system for 5 seasons and hoping ,just my opinion boys ,and great informative blogs forty .
They are not duds. They are kids/young men who are merely seeking to make their way in life. You mentioned the obstacles before them being huge, and often those are insurmountable. The simple most obvious difficulty is the lack of opportunity to play NRL. When players such as Jarryd Hayne and Nathan Hindmarsh (kids themselves once) forge careers as first-graders, it denies opportunity for other players to make it themselves. It’s too long ago to even remember just how many promising halves missed out on their opportunity to make an impression as first-graders during Allan Langer’s success at the Broncos – except, of course, John Plath who had to settle for being the team’s utility/bench impact player.
Also, age group structures can be misleading. Before they know it, players find themselves in open age structures, lumped in with all those who came before them, and, soon, all those biting on their heels, too, from lower age groups/divisions.
Finally, changes at the top – coaching regimes and philosophies – can also have a trickle down effect on up-and-coming players, with their abilities, body shapes and skills, among a myriad of other concerns, constantly being re-examined and revised. Be glad that all we have to do is watch this from a safe distance!
Chris, you are right, & as mentioned in one of the other posts, big winninng margins do not adequately (my words not the others) give a true reflection of a teams real abilities as there is not quite the pressure on the team as a tight match. Being only at one match here at Wyong in Rd 1, the early game was very much a cake walk as the score showed.
The SG ball was another story again, as the eels had a win but not after letting down their guard to allow the CC side a sniff but went on to win by a decent margin. Following week they lose to a Balmain side by 2 points, only win by the Tigs so far, but shows a tighter comp as the age brings on higher standards.
Thanks for all the info & great comments by all. Good stuff & the future does look fair/
Dont mind retracting the word duds mate but once again here comes the softly softly approach that thankfully is slowly being addressed , higher up thinks the junior system is soft mate,fact !!