It has taken less than a week for the Parramatta Eels to add a new piece of silverware to their 2016 collection after the NRL stripped away their Auckland Nines title in their preliminary findings into the highly publicised alleged salary cap cheating. On a picturesque Saturday afternoon at Pepper Stadium the Eels prevailed 16-14 over the Newcastle Knights in a thrilling affair that brought the crowd roaring to life through a dramatic and suspenseful final period of play.

After finishing the regulation season undefeated and holding both the #1 offence and #1 defence the Parramatta Eels were deserved favourites coming into big dance but the Newcastle Knights acquitted themselves brilliantly and pushed the young Eels to their limits by executing a simple but highly effective game plan that zeroed in on the ruck defence of Parramatta. Newcastle’s highly athletic backrowers hammered away in behind the Parramatta markers and caused the Eels a world of problems throughout the game with only some astounding cover defence from the likes of Cliff Lea’Aetoa and Hyrum Wichmann preventing the Knights from capitalising further on the strategy.

Both teams had to deal with adversity throughout the game with the Knights hampered by an injury to their lock and skipper Brock Gardner while the Eels lost their own lock Uellington Seve early in the piece and would later lose powerhouse interchange forward Phillip Fanane to a knee injury in the second half. In spite of the setbacks both teams refused to give an inch throughout and interspersed among the frenetic attacking raids were periods of punishing defence.

The Eels were the first team to trouble the scorers when Hyrum Wichmann punched his ticket into the backfield with a show and go before linking up with Charbel Tasipale to post the first try of the game. Newcastle hit back in rapid fire fashion when halfback Phoenix Crossland procured his own show and go to fool the left-edge defenders for the Eels. Crossland had support to his right but threw a second dummy to beat Parramatta custodian John Paul Nohra to the line.

A penalty goal would secure a slender lead for the Knights early in the second half but Parramatta lifted in response to notch two remarkable tries worthy of the season highlight reel. The first came by the way of Wiliame Kei – who brought up his 20th try of the season – when he showed a pair of lightning quick feet to step back past 4 or 5 defenders to score near the posts. Charbel Tasipale would then secure his brace of tries when the Eels elected the run the ball down their right on the last tackle. Quick hands from the try scorer himself and Asaeli Vuicakau would put Cliff Lea’Aetoa into a modest amount of space before the barnstorming winger threw himself at the cover defence and some how got an offload away to Tasipale on the sweep around. Charbel took two attempts to bring the ball in and then showed off finishing abilities to make any NRL winger proud when he touched down in the corner.

Newcastle were far from finished though and caught the Eels short down their left-edge with a perfectly executed set move that saw Timanu Alexander cross out wide and then improve the position of the ball to allow Jock Madden to bring the scores within two points.

From there it was an unadulterated edge-of-your seat affair as possession swung from end-to-end. The Knights thought they had won it when Jock Madden dummied past the front line of defence near the death but a desperate tackle from Nohra on the goal line repelled the wily half. The Knights then had one last roll of the dice on the next play, playing down their left-edge short side but Vuicakau mustered up all the energy he had left to make a massive tackle on his opposite centre and then bundle him into touch as the cover defence of the Eels poured in to aid him.

Tempers flared up momentarily at the conclusion of the game as an errant Newcastle player vented his frustration in a poorly thought-out manner but it would prove to be a minor blemish on an otherwise terrific game of rugby league.

The victory caps a stellar season for coach Scott Jones, who would have been driven by the disappointment of last year’s Grand Final loss to the Cronulla Sharks. Jones has proven himself to be a shrewd manager of his young talents, instilling grit and discipline into them without taking away any natural attacking flair.

Despite clinching the Harold Matthews title, the season is not yet over for our boys as they will now travel to Queensland to face the winners of the corresponding state title, the Cyril Connell Cup in a bid to secure the National Title.

Additionally, several of our players earned selection in the NSW Under 16s squad and will meet the QLD 16s in a curtain raiser fixture for one of the Origin matches this year. While an official press release is yet to come Kyle Schneider, John Paul Nohra, Cliff Lea’Aetoa, Wiliame Kei, Matt Doorey and Harry Duggan were named to the NSW team following the Grand Final victory.

Kyle Schneider, captain and hooker for our Harold Matthews team was named the official Man of the Match and was certainly a worthy recipient of the award but I have a hard time going past Charbel Tasipale for TCT’s best on field. Tasipale continually made splash plays throughout the game with two tries and several massive tackles in the kick chase. Beyond Tasipale, Cliff Lea’Aetoa quickly recovered from some early issues under the high ball to shut down his side of the field in the long kicking game and was a huge presence rucking it out of our half before laying on Charbel’s second try.

Thanks for joining me throughout the 2016 District Representative season right here on TCT! There are still season reviews to do for both the Harold Matthews and SG Ball as well as a stack of Holden Cup and Intrust Super Premiership games to cover for the remainder of the year but this leg of the journey has been rather enjoyable.

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