Dyldam Parramatta Eels NYC vs Wests Tigers, 3.15pm, Saturday August 30 at ANZ Stadium

1. Mason Cerruto

2. James Gammidge

3. Tyrell Fuimaono

4. Dane Aukafolau

5. Jermaine Mati-Leifi

6. Michael Doolan

7. Troy Dargan

8. Alex Twal

9. Denzal Tonise (c)

10. Jamie Stowers

11. Jack Morris

12. Tom Field

13. Tom Amone

Interchange:

14. Dean Matterson

15. Kurt De Luis

16. Steve Dresler

17. Jye Challenor

 

 

Late Mail to come.

Update – The Eels are 1-17

 

 

Following a trouncing at the hands of the Gold Coast Titans, the Parramatta Eels have fallen out of the Top 4 and will need to find their feet quickly if they are to make a serious impression on the post-season. The inclusion of Alex Twal is a massive plus for the Eels. Twal has started to assert himself in the Intrust Super Premiership and while he way not make a flashy return to the 20s age group, he will be a resolute presence around the ruck for the Blue & Gold. Joining him there in his first outing after a very quiet mid-season transfer is former Australian Schoolboy Jye Challenor. One of my biggest criticisms of our Holden Cup squad in 2016 has been a lack of impact from their rotational forwards so here is to hoping that Challenor can go some way towards remedying that.

As always, join us here live at kickoff (3:15PM) for all of the action!

 

First Half

 

The Eels receive the kickoff deep in their in-goals and begin the process of working the ball out to halfway. Really simple stuff through the first three tackles. Dargan goes  pass wide to Morris on the fourth before we centre the ball on the last. Dargan hoists a bomb up and a good kick chase pins the Tigers just inside the field of play.

 

A really up-tempo defensive set follows from the Eels as they force the Tigers to kick from their 30m mark. James Gammidge fields the ball on the full and brings it back to 15m short of halfway. Fuimaono and Amone are used as bruisers early on before we go left to Auckafolau but are repelled. We get to our kick on the last but we are not synchronized and Dargan ends up kicking cross-field to Gammidge who bats it forwards. Turn over.

 

The Tiger are the first to blink in the early exchanges though as they make an unorced error on halfway. We go wide right from the scrum win as Fuimaono jinks off his left foot and passes to Gammidge who is tackled. Twal centres the ball and then Dargan runs it to the line where he is just taken in time. We then go to tackles to the right which culminates in Doolan trying to grubber into the in-goals but there are a couple of deflections are Tom Field ends up knocking on.

 

Simple set for the Tigers and it is complete with an early kick – and it is a good’un. The bounce catches Mason Cerruto off-balance but he does well to recover and clean it up around 15m off his goal line. The Tigers get over eager in defence on the following tackle and undo the good work of that kick.

 

Big bustling carry from Fuimaono off the tap restart as he makes a half break. The Eels force their way to the Tigers’ goal line on the second tackle and begin to work left. Denzal Tonise tries to sneak over under the cross bar but is held out and we continue to go left but are unable to breach the defences of the Tigers. Dargan kicks just to the right of the posts on the last and we get the ball from a bat back and go over but the referee quickly blows the play up after ruling the bat-back was infact, forward.

 

Good, honest set from the Tigers now as they roll their sleeves up. It is completed with a mid-field bomb that Cerruto takes well with two chasers gunning for him.

 

And bam! There you go! Out of no where the Eels have struck. I highlighted his inclusion in both the TLT post and in the pre-game wrap but Alex Twal is the man to open the game up as he makes a bust up the middle and links up with his five-eighth, Michael Doolan to put the Eels on the board first.  Nice pass from Twal there too as he drew the fullback nicely.

 

Try scored by Michael Doolan. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels lead 6-0

13min gone.

 

Plenty of metres for the Eels here. Good run by Morris to take the Blue & gold over halfway and they ice the set with a bomb that once more sees the Tigers take possession just inside the field of play. A hugely relieving penalty comes a few tackles later though and the Tigers get their first real set inside Parramatta’s half this game.

 

They begin working the ball down our left-edge before centreing play mid-count. Our line speed drops off a bit mid-way through the set allowing the Tigers a decent opportunity on the last tackle but they run the ball and look for their fullback on an inside play and the interior defence of the Eels pushes across nicely to pull him down for the turn over.

 

The Tigers strike back light a bolt out of the blue. A poor bomb from Dargan is taken with ease by the Wests Tigers’ custodian and an equally poor kick chase follows. The #1 honestly doesn’t have to do much to slice through and then he pins his ears back. Mason Cerruto is there in cover but positions himself poorly and is beaten on the outside. He recovers and tries to ankle tap the runaway Tiger but a string of highsteps sees the flying fullback clear as he touches down in the corner. Awful footy right there from the Eels.

 

Try scored by the Wests Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers trail 4-6

18min gone.

 

The Tigers cause a bit of damage with some second phase play on the fourth tackle as our right-edge is caught out a bit. They end up running it down their left-edge short side on the last and catch us out but the line-breaking ball honestly looked a good metre of two forward. The touch judge is right there and is happy to allow play to carry on and Cerruto can’t beat the 2-on-1 as the Tigers go back-to-back in consecutive sets. Regardless of the no-call on the pass, that was weak stuff from the Eels.

 

Try scored by the Wests Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 10-6

21min gone.

 

The Eels piece together a better defensive set this time around and bring the ball back via Gammidge but there isn’t much doing in attack. Tom Field brings up the last around halfway and Doolan sends up a bomb but the Tigers come away with it as their right winger catches the kick nicely. Not much doing for the Tigers this set right up until the last. They send up a decidely ordinary bomb that falls in behind the defensive line. No one wants to play at is and the Tigers get the ball on the bounce and somehow engineer a line drop out from the following kick. Riding their luck here.

 

Hah, and as I type that they cash in that dang-fangled luck once more. They execute a back line movement down our left edge quite poorly with the ball hitting the deck between their centre and winger but it takes a perfect bounce to find their #5, Obeid Kharwan, and as you so often see once the ball hits the ground – defensive structures fall apart as defenders hesitate to commit one way or the other and Kharwan strolls in to score in the corner.

 

Try scored by the Wests Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers lead 14-6

27min gone.

 

The Eels get the ball back after an average set by the Tigers and utilise plenty of dummy-half running to work their way back into the grind. Dargan completes the set with a decent kick that rolls into the Tigers’ red zone and is cleaned up around 12m out.

 

Wests are restricted to their 30m mark in reply as the Eels look to rally defensively after bleeding three straight tries and the kick by the Tigers on the last has far too much gusto behind it as Cerruto watches it roll dead in-goals for a coveted 20m restart.

 

Parramatta work their way into the the Tiger’s half but then turn the ball over meekly and compound the matter by conceding a penalty. The Tigers will resume play 10m into Parra’s half.

 

Working right to left the Tigers spend a handful of tackles testing the Eels’ right-edge out before swinging back to the opposite edge where they make an error trying to force an offload. Looked like a 50/50 call there but the Eels were probably due one such call.

 

Tyrell Fuimaono makes his second bust of the game now but is pulled down after making a good 25m and in the midst of trying to exploit a numbers advatage down the left-edge on the next play the Eels can’t find the right pass and the ball rolls into touch behind Maiti-Leifi after catching a hand from the Tigers.

 

It feels like we are playing a gear too low at the moment. Our structure inside the Tigers’ red zone is not threatening them at all with our passes and lines lacking that crispness needed to create defensive indecision. It comes as no surprise that we cough the ball up trying to force an offload as play was winding down. Cerruto the culprit there.

 

The Tigers continue to give the Eels a look in, mind you. They turn the ball over on halfway yet again but the Eels continue to execute poorly as Kurt De Luis is correctly pinged for utilising a blocker to play out to his supporting runners behind. Really frustrating stuff to watch here.

 

We hold the Tigers up over the line down our left-edge and they then immediately look to shift the ball to their own left. We hold out but when they come back to our left we are incredibly lucky to not concede again when their final pass back inside is dropped with a clear run to the line. We are at all sorts here.

 

None the less we have a 20m restart, which is in turn quickly followed by a penalty and thus we go right back onto the attack in the red zone. We take a number of cracks at the line near the upright with a series of short ball from dummy half and sure enough on the second or third such attempt Kurt De Luis is successful in burrowing over as he spins through the initial contact and gets underneath the auxiliary defenders.

 

Try scored by Kurt De Luis. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels trail 12-14

39min gone.

 

There is barely 30 seconds left on the clock after Doolan’s conversion and the Tigers take as long as possible to get back to halfway. The ball is actually set on the tee but the siren rings out with the kicker at the top of his approach and that will do us for the first half of footy.

 

Half Time

Wests Tigers 14 LEAD Parramatta Eels 12

 

Second Half

 

Parramatta are kicking off in the second half.

 

Solid start for the Tigers as the drive their way 20m into Parra’s half. The show a run-play on the last with a pump fake back inside to their fullback but kick ahead with a very shallow grubber. They regather but the Eels cover defence quickly converges on them and kills the ball.

 

The reply from the Eels is equally solid as a string of decent carries a good kick and chase trap the Tigers 5m off their goal line. As with the first half, the Tigers are the first to blink as both teams trade their opening blows – this time with a slight knock-on from dummy half. Parra set a scrum 30m out from the Tigers’ goal line.

 

De Luis and Challenor slam it up the middle before the Eels go right with Field via Doolan. Challenor gets another carry to bring up the last where Doolan has to hurry a grubber away while under duress which sees the Tigers easily clean it up.

 

Ooph, that one hurts. The Eels concede a penalty late in the tackle count and the Tigers will get a golden chance to open the scoring in the second half. Scratch that, second tackle penalty comes the way of the Eels as they Tigers are pinged for an obstruction play around the ruck. I will take that!

 

Nice right-edge shift for Parra there as Fuimaono makes a half break and offloads to Matterson in support but he is quickly tackled. Dargan thinks he has the right-edge of the Tigers up too far and tries to kick in behind for Maiti-Leifi but it is a poorly struck kick and the Tigers come away with it courtesy of Kharwan. Squandered set there.

 

The game is really see-sawing now as the Tigers quickly bring the ball back to Parra’s red zone but again their final pass comes unstuck. A certain try goes begging there as the around the corner offload doesn’t stick. Parramatta are clinging tenuously to a thin thread there.

 

A soft-penalty for a hand on the ball helps the cause of the Blue & Gold and they start the following set on halfway. Amone plays out the back to Matterson who finds Cerruto for a nice gain down the right-edge. The Eels quickly shift play back down their left-edge where they think that Doolan (?) has crashed over but after consulting with his touch judge the referee decides he was held up. Dargan salvages the situation on the next tackle when he traps Kharwan in-goals with a cute grubber.

 

Line drop out for the Eels now and a penalty comes from the first tackle. Might have been dangerous contact there. Field centres the ball. Tonise scampers out of dummy half next and his collared. Next up is Dargan who tries to slice his way through and is barely held out but he paves the way forwards for Tonise to take his second shot at a short-range effort and this time around he skittles the ruck defenders! The Eels needed that one as it felt like the game was slipping away from them.

 

Try scored by Denzal Tonise. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels lead 18-14

53min gone.

 

Good run by Challenor from the kick off. The Eels quickly swing down their left to find Morris for a decent gain and he is followed by Amone who darts in behind the ruck. Dargan looks to slow the tempo of the game down as he rolls in behind Kharwan and finds touch. He might be annoyed with himself with the angle of the kick though as it is marked on the 20m line of the Tigers.

 

Some second phase play for the Tigers early in this set as Kharwan flings a ball out wildly. Wests end up going edge-to-edge without troubling the Eels but the Parramatta defenders get too zealous trying to drive a ball-runner to the ground and are pinged for it. We will need a big set of goal line defence here.

 

Wests start by working the ball down their right-edge in the opening tackles and then go left. The Eels meet them well and force play to come back to the opposite side which in turn sees Obeid Kharwan drop the ball cold as the Tigers look to feed him early ball. Ordinary stuff right there folks.

 

Metres are tough for the Eels early in this set. Cerruto and Fuimaono are driven back before some scrappy second phase play opens the ruck up slightly for the Eels. Fuimaono comes back for another carry and makes some precious metres in behind the ruck. Twal brings up the last and the Eels get to their kick, a mid-field bomb, that is taken easily by the visitors.

 

Both sides content with trading sets in the neutral zone currently. Parramatta get the ball back and don’t throw any serious shots at the Tigers until Doolan’s bomb on the last. The ball is allowed to bounce and the Tigers get a fortuitous bounce as the pill finds their custodian amidst a number of Blue & Gold chasers.

 

Wests keep looking to create opportunities for Obeid Kharwan. They swing the ball over to him midway through this possession and he grubbers ahead for himself but the ball rolls into touch about 12m out from the Eels’ goal line.

 

The Eels fall back to a basic set right up until the last tackle when they make the poor decision to run it. Dargan seems a bit off his game today as he feeds the ball to Morris with nothing on. The rangy backrower has to fling the ball back to support and the Tigers come away with it – although I do have a question mark as to whether they knocked on. A penalty immediately follows the turnover as tempers flare up. I missed the root of the call there but both teams converged briefly for a five second fracas.

 

The upswing in defensive commitment continues for the Eels now as they repel the Tigers for a full set on their goal line. Dane Auckafolau does well to clean up the grubber on the last and stay in the field of play.

 

Fuimaono continues to play powerfully as he makes his third (?) break of the game. He links up with support on his inside and the ball ends up with Mason Cerruto one pass later but he slips into contact at the last line and loses the ball! That was a chance to break the backs of the Tigers.

 

Two sets later the Eels cough the ball up softly, trying to force an offload and now the pressure is piled upon their own shoulders as the Tigers set a scrum 30m off the Eels’ goal line.

 

Wests go two plays down their left-edge before coming back to their right but the Eels do a good job of reading the blocker play out to the three-quarter options. The Eels hold out until the last and have the one-to-one defensive setting as the Tigers look to run the ball on the last but Maiti-Leifi simply makes a dreadful attempt on Kharwan as he goes way too high and Kharwan crosses in the corner.

 

Try scored by the Wests Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers lock the scores up at 18-all

70min gone.

 

Great take by Gammidge there as the Tigers complete their set with a bomb. He was under plenty of pressure.

 

Twal takes a solid carry to bring up the last tackle and Dargan looks to wrong foot the fullback with an angled grubber back to the posts but the ball is cleaned up without a trouble.

 

There is a reprieve and a gold chance for the Eels to split the score now as the Tigers cough the ball up shy of halfway. It isn’t a particularly memorable set but Dargan completes it with a nice stab at a field goal an the referee raises his arm in agreement.

 

Field Goal successful by Troy Dargan.

Eels lead 19-18

74min gone.

 

Solid set there for the Eels and Dargan puts in a nice kick to complete it. The kick chase isn’t as good though as Dargan leads it on his lonesome and his beaten but the reinforcements come to wrap the Wests fullback up. The Eels somehow hold out through the following 5 tackles but one the last they knock on right on their goal line! Oh my. Can’t help but laugh at the comical nature of it all.

 

Wests go right and then left and somehow hold out as the Tigers lay the pressure on thick and heavy. The visitors are held up over what looked to be over the line but are ruled to have lost it in the field of play! Hold onto the the edge of your seats here.

 

And right there is why as the Eels make a stupid error in the ruck working the ball out of their half. The Tigers will set a scrum 40m out from Parra’s goal line with 2:30 on the clock.

 

Holy moley! What was that? The Eels have won the scrum against the feed and Denzal Tonise has strolled into the backfield! He strides out a good 60m to fall ultimately 5m short of a game sealing try! What an effort!

 

The Eels can smell the blood in the water as they move the ball from the far right to Dargan on the left who has a 4-on-2. Dargan holds the ball up momentarily before firing the pill out to Maiti-Leifi, who bizarrely hesitates before stepping back in field to score! Phew!

 

Try scored by Maiti-Leifi. Conversion successful by Doolan

Eels lead 25-18

79min gone.

 

The Tigers have enough time left for a kickoff, despite the 7-point differential and they go short only for the Eels to bat it into touch.

 

Parra have somehow held on here to jag and ugly and arguably undeserved win but you won’t hear any complaints from me!

 

Full Time

Parramatta Eels 25 DEF Wests Tigers 18