HAROLD MATTHEWS
Parramatta Eels v St George Dragons
New Era Stadium, Saturday 26 March
10:00am
Referee: Cameron Paddy Touch Judges: Aaron Moller, Amber Fitzgerald
EELS 1 JOHN PAUL NOHRA 2 DANE OOSTENDORP 3 WILLIAM KEI 4 ASAELI VUICAKU 5 CLIFF LEA’AETOA 6 HYRUM WICHMANN 7 DYLAN BROWN 8 HARRY DUGGAN 9 KYLE SCHNEIDER (@) 10 MARK TEPU SMITH 11 MATT DOOREY 12 VALANCE HARRIS 13 UELLINGTON SEVE 14 RONAN KING 15 CHARBEL TASIPALE 16 PHILLIP FANENE 17 DALLAS KING 18 DENNIS MAITAIA 19 LUKE SOMMERTON 20 TYLER FIELD 21 PETER TEVAGA 22 JOSHUA BOUMELHEM 23 JAYDEN TANNER 24 STEFANO UTOIKAMANU 25 COACH SCOTT JONES
DRAGONS 1 ETHAN HICKS 2 VOLKAN ER 3 DARRYL SHARPLEY 4 NICHOLAS MAROUN 5 LEO IOANE 6 TYSON MARTIN 7 JOHN HARB 26/8 JESSE JACKSON 9 ANDREAS JOANNOU 10 SIMEONE TAATEO 11 LUCIANO SVAGELLI 12 LEROY MAGALOGO 13 HARRIS GEORGOPOULOS (C) 14 JYE MCRAE 15 DANIEL TEECE-JOHNSON 16 COOPER STEVENS 19 AIDAN O’MALLEY 22 INOKE SIALE 23 TE ARAHU MCLEAN-YOUNG 24 KEPA RAWHITI COACH GRAEME WYNN
First Half
The Eels get on the board first when backrower Matt Doorey splits the defensive line open. Lovely ball from Field I think there, with Doorey running the overs line. Doorey beats the fullback to score.
Try scored by Doorey. Conversion unsuccessful by Schneider
Eels lead 4-0
Parra are the next to score when a brilliant piece of individual work from Tyler Field leaves the Dragons in disarray. Field runs the ball down our left from 40m out from the Dragons’ goal line, he dummies to his left before stepping back to his right and just cuts right through. Lovely footwork and pace on display as he scores next to the posts!
Try scored by Field. Conversion successful by Schneider.
Parra lead 10-0
St George are yet to trouble the scorers when Parra notch up their third try. This one comes off the boot our right half, not sure if it is Wichmann or Brown today. It is a deft little kick though as he stabs it in behind their left-edge and a willing chase from the Eels sees them win the chase to a friendly bounce to score! Missed the scorer here, sorry, and there are some changes to the line up so the team is not per program.
Try scored by the right winger for the Eels. Conversion unsuccessful by Schneider.
Parra lead 14-0
Half Time
Parramatta Eels 14 lead St George Dragons 0
Second Half
The Eels continue where they left off in the first half as John Paul Nohra plants it down under the black dot. That one came off a brilliant offload from Phillip Fanane. Not entirely sure how he slipped that ball away!
Try scored by Nohra. Conversion successful by Schneider.
Parra lead 20-0
Hot damn! Can barely type that out before the Eels go the length of the Field on the second tackle! William Kei makes the break after a nice shortside play down the left and he is too quick and too strong as he beats the fullback and races to rest of the distance to the goal line.
Try scored by Kei. Conversion successful by Schneider.
Parra lead 26-0
The Dragons finally get on the board midway through the second half. A nice little bust by them down our left-edge forces John Paul Nohra to make a last ditch tackle on his goal line and from the following play the ball their #9 burrows through the scrambling defence.
Try scored by #9 for the Dragons. Conversion successful.
Dragons trail 6-26
Really nice try by the Eels to pretty much wrap things up. Mark Tepu-Smith does really well to create the initial break out of nothing before he is tackled and on the following play Tyler Field runs it to the retreating line and turns the ball back on the inside to a flying John Paul Nohra who streaks down field to score his second of the day.
Try scored by Nohra. Conversion successful by Schneider.
Parra lead 32-6
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 32 DEF St George Dragons 6
SG BALL
Parramatta Eels v St George Dragons
New Era Stadium, Saturday 26 March
11:30am
Referee: Cameron Mitchell Touch Judges: Benjamin McMurray, Stephen Bourke
EELS 1 JOHN FONUA 2 NOEL AUKAFOLAU 3 TUI AFUALO 4 ETHAN PARRY 5 HAZE DUNSTER 6 ALEX SEVE 7 TRAVIS TURNBULL 8 OREGON KAUFUSI 9 ADAM CAMPBELL 10 STEVE DRESLER 11 JOSH CARR © 12 FILIA UTOIKAMANU 13 JOSH CURRAN 14 VEA TAPA 16 VINNIE TIKERI 17 MICHAEL TUPOU 18 KYLE CASSEL 19 TAUFA AFU 20 ELIE ELZAKHEM 25 BENI VALU COACH NATHAN CAYLESS
DRAGONS 1 ISRAEL SEUFALE 2 ALLAN TUIGAMALA 3 JACKSON COLLINS 4 SETEFANO IKAMUI 5 DEAN XENOS 6 JACK BURRASTON 7 KIERAN WYLD 26/8 DYLAN CLIFFORD 9 JOEL HOLDSWORTH (C) 10 ELIJAH HUNT 11 DANIEL STOJANOVSKI 12 JEFFREY TUITAVUKI 13 JOEL BRADFORD 14 JACK WHITE 15 JAYDN FIELD 16 WILLY TAITI-TAANOA 18 JOSH SULI-RUKA 19 STANLEY MALAE 20 DAVID NAUFAHU 21 DANIEL DE VECCHIS COACH BRAD LIGGINS
Several changes for the Eels today. Fonua is replaced by Taufa Afu, Afualo is out but I missed his replacement. Turnbull is out with a rolled ankle and Vinnie Tikeri shows his utility value as he slots into the halves. Will hopefully be angle to clarify the Afualo replacement when the teams take the field.
Correction, the ground announcer just forgot to name Tui. He is suited up and out there for the game!
First Half
The Dragons have scored first, much to the chagrin of the home crowd after suggestion of a knock on there. Really messy stuff as both teams scramble to nag a grubber kick down the left-edge of our goal line. The Dragons end up with it and cross in the corner. Not really sure what was the right call there.
Try scored by the Dragons. Conversion unsuccessful.
Dragons lead 4-0
THE. DRESLER. The try scoring sensation that is the Parra bookend is in again. The way was opened for him after a nice little shift down our left-edge. Seems like Tui is playing left half with Parry at left centre. Haze Dunster is at fullback with Afu on the wing. Vinnie Tikeri is playing at right centre. Back to the play, we moved the ball to the left and then on the next play Tui finds Dresler who steams through the defence to score.
Try scored by Dresler. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 6-4
The Eels make it rapid strikes when Josh Curran plows over after getting turned back inside on the goal line by Adam Campbell. We started sluggishly but have roared to life.
Try scored by Curran. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 12-4
What do we have here? Josh Carr has got his jersey number confused! He takes the ball down the right-edge as we attack the St George goal line. He shimmies past the first defender and flirts with the sideline before launching himself at the line like a winger! The touchy nods to the ref and we have a try! That is a win for all forwards in the world.
Try scored by Carr. Conversion unsuccessful by Seve.
Parra lead 16-4
The jinking run is usually the calling card of Alex Seve but Tui Afualo is one that calls upon that particular talent this time around. We get to our last tackle as we hammer away once more at the St George goal line and Campbell’s pass to Tui is wayward which forces the fill-in half to race back to clean it up. He opts to run at the fractured defensive line and steps his way through! You wouldn’t believe it.
Try scored by Afualo. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 22-4
Half Time
Parramatta Eels 22 LEAD St George 4
Second Half
Lovely piece of play there from Tui and Filia! Afualo turns Filia back inside after darting to the outside and Utokiamanu streaks through the gap and links up with Benny Valu who scores under the posts! Beautiful footy.
Try scored by Valu. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 28-4
The Dragons score their second try of the game and again it comes from a popped up ball from a grubber. They ran it from dummy half on the last before try stab it through. Parra play at it in the front line of defence but can’t secure possession as it shoots up off a hand and the hooker who kicked it reclaims the pill to score.
Try scored by #9 for the Dragons. Conversion successful.
St George trail 10-28
Much like Carr before him, Oregon Kaufusi might need to be checked for concussion as he has forgotten what position he is playing. He fields the ball near the posts as the Eels start an attacking set in the St George red zone before drifting to his lift and hitting Dresler with a pin-point short ball that nets his fellow big man his second try of the day.
Try scored by Dresler. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 34-10
Another great little piece of work by our left-edge. It is set up for a similar looking move to the last time, where Afualo turned Utoikamanu back inside but this time Tui takes the ball down the left sideline and it ends up with Noel Auckafolau who dives over in the corner.
Try scored by Auckafolau. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 40-10
Doubles all day for the big men! That was Josh Curran chalking up his brace as he chased through on a Seve bomb and out leaps the fullback to score! Fair effort from the tireless backrower who has really lead the way for the Eels today.
Try scored by Curran. Conversion successful by Seve.
Parra lead 46-10
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 46 DEF St George Dragons 10
Is young Dennis getting a run on the wing today in the Matts mate?
Kei is an outstanding prospect. It seems like he is braining them again!
Yep, Dennis came into the starting team at the expense of one of the named wingers. Our left-edge didn’t see a great deal of ball, even with the threat of William Kei down there, but he took a circus catch in the first half when he fielded a long kick over his shoulder.
I hope that the SG Ball doesn’t pay the penalty from those two unfortunate losses. They are a class above most of the teams but the competition is only brief and only some teams get a bye (luck of the draw!).
who were the standouts in matts & ball today, herd the parra matts tyler field5/8, john paul fullback and kyle schneider hooker we good. i herd ball alax seve half, dressler front row were also very good.. can you elaborate.?
You got pretty good tips there, dessy.
Tyler Field and John Paul Nohra probably stole the show in the Harold Matthews. Field was a threat every time he ran the ball while Nohra continues to grow as a fullback week-in and week-out. His positional and support play are excellent and he is a subtle playmaker from the back. Matt Doorey had another excellent game before a knock to his knee saw him iced early. Kyle Schneider played much like he always does, which is a fair compliment, because the young man is a professional in his approach to the game.
The stand outs for the SG Ball included Josh Curran, Alex Seve, Steve Dresler and Tui Afualo. Curran was hugely productive up the middle, doing some important work in defence as well as chalking up a brace of tries. In the absence of Travis Turnbull, Seve was very composed. Marshaled the team nicely and kicked well. Quite a talented player and probably flying under the radar a bit with some of the hype towards other young halves at the club.
Speaking of halves, beyond an errant pass and a poor grubber Tui Afualo performed extremely well for us as the left-edge half. He didn’t play as a run-first half but the threat of his running game opened up more space on the edges and he executed some lovely plays with Filila Utoikamanu and Noel Auckafolau. His powerful build really belies the vision he possesses and he has a mean competitive streak that you love to see in your young talent.
Finally there is Steve Dresler (aka THE DRESLER) who might just be the recruitment steal of the year, even considering the grade. He shares that chip on the shoulder competitive attiitude with Tui and has a big, athletic frame to back it up. Massive weapon in the red zone against the defences of the SG Ball, testament to the fact the he notched up a further two tries today to his season tally. He has a good motor and a quality offload to him as well. Could be the real deal heading down the road, everyone that has seen him play has left wildly impressed with the quality of his work.
I really have a massive wrap on Dresler. It will be interesting to see if he steps up to NYC after the conclusion of SG Ball. I think he’d handle the quick step up easily. I think it’s rare to see such game sense in young front rowers. Everything about his play screams ” future NRL star”. He doesn’t dominate because of his size. He dominates because his game is so dominant!
I sort of remember reading somewhere that both of these teams were young and a lot of the players will back up next year. Is this true, if it is it is good news for the future.
Sounds like Dressler is smashing it again.
Staff and fans from the Titans were unhappy that they let him go as they really felt that Dressler was going to be something special for the Titans.
Now he can be something special for the Eels!!!
He had a similar contract signing issue to Roberts.
Souths made a big play to sign him. Luckily he decided on the Eels. Without putting too much on him, he really looks like one out of the box.
Be interesting if Parra keep Dressler or some other team (Dogs) gets under our guard and steals him away like Klemmer.
He is a definite keeper.
Great read again 40/20, thank you. How is Turnbull the half going? Is the one from Brisbane?