The Eels suffered only their second loss of the season when they were run down late in the round 9 clash with the Cronulla Sharks.
Despite this loss they are still well placed on the ladder, and they have a game in hand following the postponement of their game against Manly earlier in the season. Now in fourth place, this game pitches Parra against the sixth placed Bulldogs.
Today’s match will also see the first inclusion of players from the 2025 SG Ball team. Isaac Jim and Lorenzo Talataina are expected to start in the match with Elijah-Shane Tapau the 18th man.
The action commences at 4pm and comes from the Bulldogs alternate lower grade home ground at Hammondville.
| 1 | Bradley Avery |
| 2 | Mohamed Alameddine |
| 3 | Tuvaka Palu |
| 4 | Antioch Faitala-Mariner |
| 5 | Dakota Kakoi |
| 6 | Lorenzo Talataina |
| 7 | Josh Lynn |
| 8 | Damascus Neemia |
| 9 | Jack Hudson |
| 10 | Isaac Jim |
| 11 | Domenico De Stradis |
| 12 | William Lewis |
| 13 | Tyrese Lokeni |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Patrick Spence |
| 15 | Raffaele De Stradis |
| 16 | Lennox Risati |
| 17
18 |
Javahn Stevenson-Hala
Elijah-Shane Tapau |
Bulldogs kicking off. Big Jim with the first carry. Solid opening set where Parra put it high on the last from the 40. Dogs now in yardage. Penalty against Jim 30 out, but Dogs fail to find touch as Alameddine catches it well in field. Eels penalty close to halfway. Big shift right late in the set but the last pass sails over everyone’s head and into touch.
Dogs ball ten out. They get tothe last and Avery takes the catch inside his quarter. Eels penalty and it finds touch 30 out. Bit scrappy mid set. Oof- big hit on Avery ten out. Up it goes on the last and the Dogs pick up the scraps.
They get tothe teams continue to trade sets until the Dogs get a penalty just on their side of half way. Good attacking position but they squander it with an early drop.
Good metres in that set from Parra but they lose their way on the last, first trying to run it and then with a kick that nobody was ready for. Dogs ball ten out. This game is being played between the quarter lines at this stage.
Dogs penalty now – no idea what for and they’re deep into Parra’s half. Another penalty follows for a strip. Last tackle grubber which rolls over the sideline in goal. Hang on, the touch judge says it’s off Avery who is blowing up about the call. Drop out. Mountain of possession with yet another penalty for a high shot. That’s about six consecutive sets. The weight of the defence takes its toll as the Dogs crash over between the posts.
Conversion successful
Bulldogs 6 lead Eels nil after 20 minutes.
Eels kick off and there’s an early penalty to the Dogs in this set after points. Back to the quarter and that was too easy. They shift the ball left and the 5/8 beats a couple of defenders and slams the ball over the line. The grounding looked a bit dodgy but it was probably ok.
Conversion unsuccessful
Bulldogs 10 lead Eels nil after 22 minutes
The Eels need to get and hold onto the ball. They haven’t had possession for about ten minutes. Oh that doesn’t help. The Dogs get to their kick and then Parra loses possession at the start of the set. More possession, more territory for the Dogs.
it’s looking grim now as the Dogs make short work of breaching the Eels defence on a right side shift and their big centre bumps away Eels defenders to score.
Conversion successful
Bulldogs 16 lead Eels nil after 26 minutes.
Parra just can’t complete a set and the ref is hammering them with penalties in defence. Another penalty and yet more red zone defence here for Parra. Soft stuff here from Parra’s left side defence as the Dogs simply go through the hands to the right and it’s a try in the corner.
Conversion misses.
Bulldogs 20 lead Eels nil after 31 minutes.
This is a very poor performance so far from the Eels but let’s see if they can get something happening here as the Dogs lose possession 15 out from their line. Left from the scrum and Avery chimes in. He looks like scoring but is pulled down millimetres out. Hang on the ref has called that he’s lost the ball and Avery and team mates are blowing up deluxe. No calls going their way today.
Dogs work back upfield. A big left side shift and Faitala-Mariner goes for the intercept but it’s simply handing the Dogs another set from the scrum. They again split Parra’s defence, this time through the middle and are brought down about 20 out. Lucky escape for Parra now as the ball is lost in contact next set.
Parra finally complete a set and the Dogs take the high kick two metres out. Dogs attempt a 40/20 on the last and Avery just stops it. More defence now as Kakoi loses possession in the quarter.Geez that was close. Last tackle kick takes a deflection and one of the Parra players just manages to get his hand on it a split second before the Dogs chaser. Line drop out.
The ref blows the whistle to take the kick and as Lynn starts to bounce the ball before the kick the siren sounds. Yep, the ref wants it taken. He goes long with the kick and thankfully for Parra the play is shut down.
Second Half
The Eels will need to improve markedly but they’ve stated the second half atrociously, kicking the ball over the dead ball line and giving away the penalty.
Thankfully the Bulldogs throw a forward pass on their last tackle ten out as the Eels were looking vulnerable.
Finally the Eels strike back with a combination of individual carries from the likes of Alameddine, Hudson and Ra De Stradis to gain good metres before they spread the ball right inside the quarter. Avery digs into the line and gets close before finding Kakoi for an untouched stroll to the line.
Conversion misses.
Bulldogs 20 lead Eels 4 after 43 minutes.
Not good. The Eels can’t complete the set after points and the Dogs are immediately back to the quarter. The ball is spun left and Alameddine knocks down the pass to save the try. Scrum to the Dogs. The Eels are barely hanging on but the star Dogs half, Woods, won’t be denied and beats about three Eels defenders to score an individual try between the posts. He converts his own try.
Bulldogs 26 lead Eels 4 after 49 minutes
The Dogs complete the set after points and Parra do well in their reply with Will Lewis breaking the line on the fifth then Lynn earning a line drop out on the next play. On that was so close. Lynn pokes through in front of the posts and looks to offload in the tackle but the ball is at the feet of Stevenson-Hala and the Dogs claim it.
Whoopee! A penalty to Parra next set. The Eels drive back towards the quarter. Hudson darts out of dummy half on the back of a quick play the ball and cuts through for the try.
Lynn converts.
Bulldogs 26 lead Eels 10 after 55 minutes.
Talataina doing Talataina things late in the set after points beating a string of defenders. High kick on the last but a poor chase and the Bulldogs fullback gets back towards half way.
Eels penalty on their next set. The Eels throw a high ball up on the last and Lewis competes for the ball right on the line. He might have knocked on but it’s back to normal programming as the ref awards a penalty to the Dogs.
High ball from the Dogs on the last. Alameddine fumbles it and it rolls off his shoulder and down his back. You can guess the call. Seriously what is going on! Dogs scrum. A couple of plays into the set they go right and their winger gets outside Alameddine for the try.
Conversion successful
Bulldogs 32 lead Eels 10 after 65 minutes.
Eels go for the short re-start but the Dogs tap it back and regather. Mid set error and it’s a Parra scrum just on their side of half way. That is simply not good footy from Lynn off the scrum. He drifts left and is unaware of the Bulldogs defender who chases and hits him right as he was about to pass. The ball goes down and the whole process was like giving the dogs a set restart rather than the Eels getting a scrum.
Parra survive the set. They get to Lynn’s kick but there’s a bad miss in defence a couple of tackles later and the Bulldogs break through the middle of the ruck to take play to Parra’s quarter. All kinds of trouble looks likely but Lynn bats down a pass. Dogs scrum and they go perilously close before they drop it on a crash ball.
Spence goes for a 40/20 out of dummy half and on days like these you know what happens – yes the ball takes a bounce back in field. The Dogs go wide and right early and the winger breaks free. He finds Woods in support and the star half strolls away for a try in the corner.
Conversion misses.
Bulldogs 36 lead Eels 10 after 75 minutes.
A late highlight for Eels supporters as firstly Will Lewis has a strong charge and then Talataina again does some light stepping to beat about half a dozen defenders inside the Dogs quarter, but his offload hits the ground and it’s fumbled. Dogs scrum.
The games is over but strong Eels defence causes a Dogs error ten out. The Eels celebrate. Parra play out a decent set in attack and Hudson goes from dummy half on the last and looks close as he tries to wrestle free to ground the ball. No, the ref has penalised him for something.
The Dogs don’t quite finish their next set as the siren sounds.
That was a game that the Eels players and coach will be glad to see the back of. The Eels were very, very poor, and that’s being kind. Outside of that the ref was confusing in his calls and not one 50/50 call fell Parra’s way. All that aside, the Dogs were deserved winners and their halfback is an NRL star in the making.
This ref is fucked
After a couple of poor calls the eels have just shit the bed. Been poor. Bulldogs players tower of ours. They are massive.
He’s not keen on our play that’s for sure but this is the worst I’ve seen from Parra this year. Maybe even worse than the first half vs Souths.
This has to be the worst marked field I’ve ever seen
It’s a shocker!
Hudson and Lynn icing out half the line was disgusting. They had a new no.6 step in who could assist but decided to play by themselves. Ironically their two tries came from the assist of the no. 6 that they were icing out LOL
Disappointing result!
Is this grade the future of the club?
We must be doing better than that.
This was basically the worst version of everyone and the team. Missing quite a few players including Apa Twidle, Teancum Brown, Richie Penisini and Matt Hunter. Apa returns from injury this week.
Thanks sixties
Bad loss ,but still interested how young Jim and talataina,went way off grade or ,okay
Jim didn’t get a huge amount of game time. A couple of individual runs from Lorenzo but nobody shone today.