The weekend action rolls on for the Parramatta Eels after last night’s trial against the Wests Tigers. There are 3 games on the slate today but only one of those comes from the Junior Representatives with the SG Ball taking on South Sydney in Round 4.

Parramatta enter this game on the back of a stunning last-gasp victory over the Shark and have been reinforced by the return of Jezaiah Funa-Iuta and the season debut of Elijah-Shane Taupau. The Rabbitohs are yet to drop a game so this will be a tough challenge for our boys but it should be a cracking contest to follow as a result.

Kickoff is at 3:30PM and as always you can catch all of the action right here!

SG Ball Team List

 

1	Nathan Howlett
2	Dominic Farrugia
3	Andes Johansson
4	Corey Leigh
5	Lorima Rokosuka
6	Lorenzo Talataina
7	Lincoln Fletcher
8	Beau Lucien
9	Lachlan Coinakis
10	Ryda Talagi
11	Jezaiah Funa-Iuta
12	Christopher Petrus
13	Max Popo
14	Tom Summer
15	Wesley Pakoti
16	Elijah-Shane Tapau
17	Trace Beattie
18	Aidan Kebourian
22	Kai Wilson

 

Match Updates

 

First Half

 

The Eels will kickoff in the first half at Granville.

 

Lincoln Fletcher gets us underway as Popo and Lucien combine for the first tackle.Souths piece together a strong opener as they drive 10m into Parra’s half and send an attacking bomb to Rokasuka who calmly defuses it. Johansson and Farrugia get through some tough carries before a neat run in behind the ruck from Popo gets the Eels in position for a clearing kick from Fletcher.

Driving defence from Funa-Iuta and Coinakis in the next set as the Eels minimise South’s early territorial advantage. Howlett claims the kick but he is met heavily by the chasers. Petrus and Johansson with early carries now before Fletcher drives it down field. Good clearing kick but Souths are set to take it on the full.

How about that for intent! Lorenzo Talataina races up with a great read and hit down the left. Don’t see that kind of defensive aggression from halves too often! Souths conclude their set by just kicking out on the full and finally the Eels will start a set in plus field position.

Corey Leigh and Chris Petrus get the opening charges. Talagi centres the ball before Funa-Iuta storms down the right side! He brushes through defenders and is eventually dragged down after a big gain. To the left now as Talataina links up with Petrus and the big backrower threatens to bust through but is dragged down and loses the ball as he hits the deck. The Eels then concede a penalty for a high tackle.

They get very greedy on the touch finder and the Eels bat it back into the field of play. Nice effort there. Early ball for Johansson now and he nearly beats his opposite. Switch of sides from there as JFI gets another run – he is looked likely today. Unfortunately it falls apart after that with an errant pass from Fletcher to Talataina.

String of calls for Souths now as they get a set restart and then a penalty. Eels on the backfoot and the Bunnies capitalise with a shift down their right. A looped cutout pass finds the winger Joshua Ballard and honestly I thought the Eels had the defenders arriving in time there but Ballard rolls through the tackle attempt and gets the ball down in the right corner.

 

Try scored by Joshua Ballard. Conversion successful by Matthew Humphries.

Souths lead 6-0

10min gone

 

Oh it goes all wrong for the Eels now. Souths power through another strong set and put up an attacking bomb and Lorima Rokasuka times his jump awkwardly and spills the ball right into the hands of the chasers. A quick shift back centrefield from there and the Rabbitohs secure sort-of back-to-back tries.

 

Try scored by Lancelot Tovio. Conversion successful by Matthew Humphries.

Souths lead 12-0

13min gone

 

Eels need to be really careful that things don’t spiral now as Max Popo is put on report for high contact. But spiral it does as Parra caught flat-footed on the last tackle of the next set. No line-speed and too much passivity there as the South Sydney five-eighth Taj Alvarez fights his way over.

 

Try scored by Taj Alvarez. Conversion unsuccessful by Matthew Humphries.

Souths lead 16-0

16min gone

 

When will the Eels touch the ball next? Beyond the Rokasuka drop they have not seen the footy for close to 10min now. Again Souths push the ball over halfway before getting to their kick. Rokasuka does a better job reeling the ball in this time around but unbelievably Andes Johansson drops it cold on the very next play. Souths with the chance for the dagger now. They build to their left edge but lose momentum after a pass is bulleted to no one in the pocket. Next play Howlett tidies up the grubber nicely to get the Eels out of trouble.

Tough set naturally follows as the Eels try to muster off their goal line. Tom Summer has a decent run to create time and space for Coinakis to clear the ruck and drill the ball downfield. Finally Souths stumble just a little bit when the touch judge spies a forward pass on a raid from their right edge.

Fletcher dummies and runs from the scrum as JFI chalks up another run next tackle. Left through multiple hands as Summer plays to Popo at the line but the lock forward bobbles it in contact. Jeez it is tough sledding right now and the Eels are not doing much to help themselves.

Scrum is set on halfway for Souths  and they break to the left. They switch play to the right next tackle before centreing the ball. Their halfback Humphries makes a half break and offloads to support but the Eels scramble and on the next tackle they repel the barge over attempt and force the turnover on tackles.

Souths are then caught inside the 10m mark for an incredibly timely penalty.

Pakoti and Summer with early runs. Right as Fletcher turns outside inside to Talataina who passes back to Lincoln who does very well to catch a tough pass. Finally some rhythm and tempo for the Eels and they make the most of it as they spin left. Talataina shows his explosive first step to create the opportunity as he finds Howlett on the sweep and Nathan then basketball passes to Rokasuka who touches down in the corner.

 

Try scored by Lorima Rokasuka. Conversion unsuccessful by Lincoln Fletcher.

Eels trail 4-16

26min gone

 

Summer is clipped high on the kickoff return but the ref misses it. JFI continues to power through work and he and Popo both provide big runs. Left to Petrus whoruns in hard but is met across the ball and the big backrower loses the pill just inside South’s half.

Thankfully the Rabbitohs don’t ask anything of the Eels and then give Rokasuka the easiest in-goals defusal he will get all year for a 20m restart.

Fletcher punches the ball downfield early in the extended set but it is a sharp option. He turns Souths around and makes them play from their goal line. Howlett claims the reply kick on his 20m line as the Eels inch ahead in the present arm wrestle.

Ah damn. Leigh sparks something from nowhere as he dances through the defence of the Bunnies and races 40m downfield before he is tracked down. It has the Eels ready to kick down the door but he makes a mistake in the PTB. Gee that stings.

Bang! Trace Beattie! The spinal adjustment. Alas the Eels keep getting in their own way – although there is a suggestion of a strip there – as the ball is lost early in their next set putting Souths on the attack again. An obstruction from a decoy runner however sees Souths blow the chance and let the Eels off the hook.

A nice dart from Coinakis has Popo into half a gap before the lock tries to link up with Fletcher. The pass misses the mark and Souths jump on the loose ball but then lose it in resultant tackle only for the ref to bizarrely rule Parra knock on. Interesting call to say the least there.

An incorrect PTB by alignment on just about the final play of the half gives the Eels the ball on South’s 40m mark. Fletcher will take a crack at the penalty goal from long range but infront of the posts. He has the distance but narrowly misses to the left and Souths think about the gamble to

 

Penalty conversion attempt from Lincoln Fletcher unsuccessful.

 

Half Time

South Sydney Rabbitohs 16 lead the Parramatta Eels 4

 

Second Half

 

Farrugia and Funa-Iuta rip in with strong openers but Summer drops it coming to halfway as the Eels fail to complete their first set of the second stanza. At least Souths don’t capitalise on the chance as they lose track of the count and get trapped on the last.

Rokasuka, Johansson and Pakoti ruck it out before Fletcher looks for a 40/20. Nice strike and it finds the carpet but does not get any kind of favourable roll and becomes a strong clearing kick instead.

Again the Eels insist on gifting their opposition a premium chance to score as Johansson chooses to attack a narrow short side rucking it out and he is driven into touch. Just poor game sense from our lads thus far.

Souths pick up two set restarts for a seriously extended attacking set on Parramatta’s goal line. Dom Farrugia saves a certain try and nearly turns it into a 12-point turn around when he nearly intercepts the final pass of attacking movement. It earns the Eels a temporary reprieve though and in the next set the Bunnies get it wrong as JFI pounces on a loose ball.

Lorenzo Talataina sparks a line break from nothing but then gets too cute with a pass that finds nothing but the ground. Souths recover and threaten to counter attack before Pakoti I think it is makes the tackle and jolts the ball loose. Manic run of play.

It leaves the Eels in possession though and while red zone trips have been rare for Parra today they have proven to be quite efficient. This time they play to the right as Howlett feeds Farrugia a nice, clean ball to score in the corner. Another tough attempt for Fletcher as he lines up from the right sideline and unfortunately sprays it.

 

Try scored by Dominic Farrugia. Conversion unsuccessful by Lincoln Fletcher.

Eels trail 8-16

47min gone

 

Terrific set after points as Funa-Iuta really stamps his authority on this contest. Two carries for the captain as he and Pakoti punches holes through the ruck defence of the Bunnies. Parra run it on the last as Talataina slips a late pass away to Howlett. The fullback hares into the open field before stabbing a grubber back infield to a big man! It is Elijah-Shane Taupau in support and he times his chase perfectly to fall onto the bouncing ball and claim the back-to-back try for the Eels. Just like that the game has roared to life.

 

Try scored by Elijah-Shane Taupau. Conversion successful by Lincoln Fletcher.

Eels trail 14-16

50min gone

 

Now the try scorer backs up with the first carry. A good one from Taupau there. Popo and Pakoti cart it up next before JFI is turned inside by Fletcher. He is met with a bell ringing hit though and it leaves him dusty. Big contact. Fletcher goes high on the last but it skews wildly off his boot and sails well over the sideline. Poor end to a good set.

Souths are playing more conservatively in the second half and it is to Parra’s benefit. They don’t threaten too much in the next possessio and end up striking a grubber too heavily off the boot for a 20m restart.

Farrugia with a nice carry and offload early on as the Eels begin to build. They pick up a set restart but an error from Pakoti follows and he is upset with himself there. Parra were set up with a full attacking set there.

Rokasuka reads the attacking kick from the Bunnies nicely and weaves back to catch the kick on the full. Petrus sets up the attacking bomb with a good carry before Fletcher is taken out kicking the ball for a big penalty.

Talataina resets the attacking shape as he turns back to Fletcher. Parra re-allign from there and execute a beautiful left edge shift. Lorenzo finds Howlett with a cutout on the sweep and the fullback then puts it on a platter for Rokasuka as the winger bags his second of the game. He even manages to centre it a bit for Fletcher’s attempt at goal. He slots it and the Eels have the lead for the first time today.

 

Try scored by Lorima Rokasuka. Conversion successful by Lincoln Fletcher.

Eels lead 20-16

58min gone

 

Lucien steams onto the ball and drives it 25m out on tackle one. Petrus follows up close to the 40m mark before the Eels shift left to Talagi. Talataina has another dangerous run before Souths rip the ball out as Fletcher reclaims it. Six again for the Blue & Gold but Popo gets over zealous next play and loses the ball. Full set there at hand and a chance to bury Souths. Shame to squander that.

Nice tackle from Petrus and Talagi to shut down the South Sydney halfback. The Bunnies lose track of the count after that and run it without direction on the last for an easy turnover.

Big penalty! Farrugia fights hard to fall forwards in heavy contract and earns the whistle.

Talagi the option first play. Right to Fletcher who is belted and barely holds onto it. Great shot. Again it unravels with tackles in hand as Fletcher passes to Popo a couple plays later and it is grassed. Two chances for Parra to shut this one out and both times they unravel.

Souths build into position for an attacking kick but Farrugia reads the grubber kick perfectly. Been a good second half for the right winger and he is on the spot there. Rokasuka provides a big run next play as the Eels storm over halfway care of a big run from Funa-Iuta. Fletcher rights the wrongs of the kick he send out on the full earler with a wicked bomb that Souths claim but end up getting carried into touch! Perfect bomb. And it is the captain that slams the door shut! Jezaiah Funa-Iuta has been on a tear all game – even when errors were mounting up elsewhere – and he smashes into the goal line defence before spinning and offloading to Beau Lucien who dives over! The hammer blow from the Eels!

 

Try scored by Beau Lucien. Conversion successful by Lincoln Fletcher.

Eels lead 26-16

67min gone

 

Long kickoff from Souths as Lucien steams onto the pill again. Funa-Iuta adds to his mountainous pile of work before Talataina and Beattie nearly slice open down the left. Johansson plunders metres in their wake before the Eels go right for Fletcher to roll a kick along the carpet. Souths trap it in the field of play but have the length of the field to go with not much time and chasing two scores.

Oh goodness, Howlett and Rokasuka get it so wrong on the kick return as Nathan gives up a simple return to pass to Lorima. He didn’t need to pass but it wasn’t a bad one and Rokasuka drops it cold. It gives Souths one last play before the siren sounds and they look to have scored in the corner but there is an obstruction and that will do us. An awful first half from the home team has given way to a spirited second stanza that has again seen them pinch an improbable win! They have piled on 26 unanswered points to claim their 3rd win of the season and remain unbeaten after 4 rounds.

 

Full Time

Parramatta Eels 26 defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 16