Final Team List

 

Dyldam Parramatta Eels Holden Cup v Wests Tigers, Sunday 11 September, Allianz Stadium

1.     Mason Cerruto

2.     James Gammidge

3.     Tuimavave Afualo

4.     Atini Gafa

14.     Michael Doolan

6.     Dean Matterson

7.     Troy Dargan

8.     Alex Twal

9.     Denzal Tonise (c)

10.   Jamie Stowers

11.   Jack Morris

12.   Tyrell Fuimaono

13.   Tom Amone

Interchange

15.   Kurt De Luis

16.   Tom Field

17.   Jye Challenor

18.   Reed Mahoney

 

There is one surprising late change for the Eels with five-eighth-come-utility player Michael Doolan moving from the extended bench to the wing in place of Jermaine Maiti-Leifi. Doolan’s promotion to the left flank means that newcomer Reed Mahoney holds his place on the bench as the impact hooker.

 

First Half

 

Odds are that Cerruto and Doolan will switch around during the game.

 

Shocking start for the Tigers! Parra kick it deep in goals and the Tigers drop it!

 

Stowers and Amone truck the ball up through the early parts of the set before we swing left where Matterson loses the ball trying to dive forwards and clean up an errant pass. The Tigers fly onto the loose ball and race a good 35m downfield. Bad start from both teams here.

 

The Tigers work into the Eels’ red zone with several tackles to spare and go to their right before centreing the ball. They complete their set by rolling the ball in behind down the right edge of the Eels and they looked to have scored through Masters but he is called offside! Phew.

 

Fuimaono and Gafa combine to take us out of our half with a couple of powerful carries. Tonise plays out to Dargan who turns Morris back inside. We then play the left edge shortside but the Tigers defend it well. That brings up the last and we bomb to our right edge but the ball sails too deep for our chasers and the Tigers get an uncontested take.

 

Early kick from the Tigers in this set as they look to hoof it deep. Gammidge floats back and takes it nicely over his shoulder. The Eels pound it up the middle through the first 4 tackles of this set before going left to the Dargan/Morris connection again. Dargan looks to bomb the right edge of the Tigers this time around but Kharwan takes the ball perfectly with the kick chasers bearing down on him.

 

Wests look to test out our left edge defence through this set but there is little room to be had as they complete the set with another long kick to Gammidge. Afualo and Twal give us plenty of go-forward early in this set before we horribly butcher a shift down our left edge that sees Doolan try to bat a ball back in before it finds touch only for Kharwan to clean it up for the Tigers. We then concede a penalty trying to slow down Kharwan’s play the ball.

 

Once more the Tigers focus on our left edge defence but we are equal to the challenge – even in the red zone. The try to roll the ball in heind once again but there is a knock on in the contest by the Tigers so Parra get off the hook again.

 

The Eels pick up their first penalty of the game when Amone rucks the ball out and some quick thinking from the young bull sees him pinch 35m with a quick tap. Parra then play out down their left edge before coming back to their right where Doolan is jammed on by a defender. Dargan ties to earn a repeat set with a grubber from short range but it is played at by a defender and Dargan dives on it for the fresh set. We then slow build from the right to the left where Dargan takes the ball to the line, cuts out Morris and hit Gafa with a lovely face ball to get the winger-come-centre over the line! First blood to the Eels!

 

Try scored by Gafa. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels lead 6-0

11min gone

 

Twal and Amone cart the ball up early this set before Morris gets a carry. Twal comes back for his second run and looks to offload but it catches a Tigers’ hand and Twal scoops it up for a fresh set. Some of the running going our way here, even if they are correct calls.

 

We keep it simple through the extra tackles as we work our way into the red zone but Dargan is left in two minds on the last and puts in a late grubber that doesn’t trouble the Tigers at all. The Tigers are just trying to establish their game up the middle and they stick to bombing Gammidge on the last but he is resolute under the high ball.

 

Tui Afualo puts his stamp onto the game with a great bust down the right! We pile on the pressure as we then swing right where Dargan cuts out two inside men to hit Cerruto with the money ball! No he has dropped it! And worse, Kharwan plucks it out of the air and races 75m to score! That is a twelve point turn around and by god it hurts. Gammidge and Amone give chase but can’t reel him in.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lock it up at 6-all.

17min gone.

 

Safe set by the Tigers after points as they ruck it out and kick centrefield where Doolan gobbles the ball up. The Eels get some traction up the middle as their back comes infield and work it out. We then look to work it down our right where Fuimaono beats the first defender and offloads to Afualo but the young centre drops it cold. Missed chance there.

 

The Eels then gift the Tigers a chance inside the red zone when Gammidge jumps too early to contest a bomb and he drops it. Wests capitalise on it when Master overpowers Afualo on the edge to free his arms and dump the ball off to his winger.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers lead 10-6

22min gone

 

And now the Tigers are running riot as they finally break our left edge open. They work a one-man overlap to set Kharwan free into the backfield and Kharwan backs himself to beat Doolan with a grubber kick. The ball is perfectly weighted by Kharwan is beaten to the bounce by a team mate as the Tigers race out to a two-score lead.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers lead 14-6

25min gone

 

Flat kick off from the Eels here. Wests work in up the middle for three tackles before taking it down their right edge. They end up 5m into Parramatta’s half on the last and bomb it down our left edge where Doolan takes it well. Cerruto and Gafa cart it up for their forwards early in this set before Fuimaono gets the ball down our right edge where he makes a solid run. The ball comes back to Morris on the penultimate tackle where he earn a much needed penalty.

 

Gafa is first up the set. Twal follows. We then go down the blind to Morris who is barely pulled in. Good defence there. Dargan runs the ball on the fourth with the defence in his face and Matterson has to kick it and does a pretty ordinary job as he picks out a defender with his grubber and even worse the Tigers turn it into a huge counter attacking raid as they race out past halfway before Cerruto go make a cover tackle. Things go from bad to worse as the scrambling Eels fail to come up with any answers when the Tigers move the ball from their right to their left and they cross for their fourth try of the game. Our decision making from the halves is really cruelling us here.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 20-6

31min gone.

 

Oooph. Late penalty to the Tigers there. Looked like a lost ball in the ruck, to be honest but those are the breaks. Game defining set here.

 

The Tigers direct their forwards down our left edge before going to the other side of the posts before a late offload opens up the line for the Tigers. They quickly shift it back to their right before Dargan’s weak attempted tackle is swatted away with impunity by a big Wests forward who then links up with his outside men as the Tigers continue to run rampant over a very dissapointing Parramatta outfit. I called that a game defining set and we just did not lift at all.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 26-6

35min gone.

 

Another big set from the Tigers now as they complete the possession by kicking on our 40m line. Doolan takes the ball well and the Eels get a penalty as the chasers are offside.

 

Afualo makes a strong carry to start the set. Fuimaono and Twal centre the ball through the next two tackles. De Luis goes to the sticks before the Eels play down their left edge and finally execute a movement down their left edge out to Cerruto. Nice hands from most of the left edge there as Gafa gets the release ball to Cerruto to put the bearded Eel over. Cerruto does a good job of centreing the ball as well to aid Doolan with the upcoming conversion.

 

Try scored by Cerruto. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels trails 12-26

39min gone.

 

One last set for the Eels here and Fuimaono makes a bust out of nowhere! He has Gammidge to his far right but the defenders get between the two Eels but Tyrell throws an insane blind flick ball to Afualo after committing the fullback! Afualo strolls in to make this a two-score game out of nowhere! Incredible work by Fuimaono and good hustle by Afualo.

 

Try scored by Afulao. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels trail 18-26

 

Half Time

Parramatta Eels 18 trail Wests Tigers 26

 

Second Half

 

Here we go. After practically handing the game to the Tigers after a dreadful first 35min the Eels have stormed back into the game with a frenetic 5min window of explosive play.

 

Twal, Tonise and De Luis get the Eels moving this set before Matterson dabs it in behind on the fourth. Decent kick and chase. The Tigers reply with a solid set as they gain 40-odd metres before bombing Doolan. He loses the ball back in-goals and has to clean it up before beating several chasers to make a good return. The Eels go on to pick up a penalty as Gafa is taken a smidgen high down the left.

 

Twal carries the ball strongly before Dargan gets over zealous on the third tackle and throws an all-or-nothing cutout ball to Cerruto. Mason has no real estate to work with and is bundled into touch easily by the Tigers. Poor play by Dargan there.

 

Huge play by the Tigers now as the Eels are caught napping at the back with a great 40/20 attempt. No one was near that ball as it rolled into touch.

 

The Tigers waste no time punishing the Eels for the lapse in concentration as they crash over with an all-too-simple short ball down our left edge. Dargan the culprit in defence there as he is just shrugged off by the Wests backrowers en route to the goal line.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 32-18

46min gone.

 

Massive shot by Tonise from the kickoff as he buries the Tigers’ runner. The Tigers still end up working the ball to halfway and getting to their bomb. Cerruto looks pretty uncomfortable under this one but he ends up securing the ball.

 

The Eels spin the ball down their right to Afualo who is eventually pulled down by three of four defenders. The ball comes back centrefield where De Luis takes the final run of the set as the Eels bomb the Tigers on the last. The ball is well taken by the Tigers just in the field of play.

 

Better defensive effort from the Eels here as they pin the Tigers inside their 40m mark. Doolan fails to trap the ball with his foot through as the kick races behind him but a decent return undoes most of the bad work.

 

Simple set by the Eels here as they just work it into the Tigers’ half and get to their kick via Dargan. He looks for the bomb once more but it just outstrips his chasers and then the Eels undo their good work as they are pinged in the ruck. The Tigers will start their new set on halfway.

 

Wests go down their left early in this set. Afualo races up to put on a big shot but mistimes his run and the Eels recovery immediately to kill the move. The Tigers continue to raid our right edge but the Eels stand firm, in a rare defensive display, before the Tigers kick back to the opposite side of the field where Gafa takes the ball but is driven into the in goals.

 

The weight of the repeat set proves to be far too much for the Eels as a simple backline movement by the left edge of the Tigers is all too much for the Eels. Gammidge is the guilty party here as he misses a one-on-one tackle that opens up the pathway to the tryline.

 

Try scored by the Tigers.  Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 38-18

55min gone.

 

The Eels are quickly gifted a break when the Tigers make an error from their first run of the kickoff set. Morris is used from the scrum win. Challenor and De Luis throw themselves at the try line before we go left where Cerruto has to head back in field. As with far too many of our other red zone sets, our halves go AWOL on the last and Gafa has to kick it down the shortside only for the ball to catch a defender and bring an end to the set as Gafa dives on the ball.

 

And with that passage of play you can pretty much shut the book on the Eels in 2016 as the Tigers race the length of the field to score a great try. Plenty of arm-grabbing by the Eels in that run though.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion unsuccessful.

Tigers lead 42-18

60min gone.

 

Embarrassing stuff here now as the Tigers nearly open the Eels up at will. Our right edge are just eviscerated through second phase ball. We somehow hold out though and the Tigers end up kicking the ball dead.

 

Cerruto has a nice run up the middle as he spins through the line and trips over. Amone straightens the attack up the middle before Dargan chip-bombs it down the left but the Tigers are just too good and defuse it with ease. A penalty quickly follows two tackles later.

 

Hahahaha. McDonalds would be proud of that soft-serve effort as Liddle just races through the a paper thin defensive line to score. Not much else left to say there.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 48-18

65min gone

 

The Eels deadset have no idea what they are doing now as they throw the ball around like headless chooks on the last before Doolan gets a botched kick away. Somehow the Tigers come up with a weak error to reward a thoroughly undeserving passage of play. The Eels say thanks, let us return the favour as an overly optimistic backline movement from the scrum win sees Cerruto thrown into touch. Scintillating stuff on display here…

 

The Eels finally break the line when Reed Mahoney loops out of dummy half and links up with his outside men after baiting the interior defenders. Fuimaono offloads to Stowers I believe and the Eels get out to near halfway before an odd one-on-one strip exchange between Mahoney and a Tiger leads to a scrum for the Eels.

 

With nothing left to play for, not even pride if I am quite frank, the Eels roll the dice from the scrum with Doolan chipping over the top. He and Cerruto chase through and although Cerruto is run off the ball he gets a foot to it that allows Doolan to scoop it up and fall over the line.

 

Try scored by Doolan. Conversion successful by Doolan.

Eels trail 24-48

73min gone.

 

The Eels put together a strong set from the kickoff as they march deep into the Tigers’ half but Mahoney’s kick from dummyhalf skews off the foot and ends up far too deep. The Tigers have clearly switched off though as they come up with their own error working it out.

 

Oh dear. Cerruto is the final link man in a rare good-looking backline movement and all he has to do is tip it on to Afualo but he instead passes it a good 2m forwards right to the defender. Quality stuff right there.

 

Fittingly the Tigers get one last score and it comes from one of their best as the backrower Masters steps and weaves through a throng of thoroughly disinterested defenders. I don’t think there was a single Eels trying there.

 

Try scored by the Tigers. Conversion successful.

Tigers lead 54-24

79min gone.

 

The Tigers play out one final set before driving the ball into touch with a couple of second left and that will draw an extremely disappointing close of the season for the young Eels.

 

Full Time

Wests Tigers 54 DEF Parramatta Eels 24