Parra Bask In Moment Of Youth
Sun Herald
Sunday July 16, 2000
Eels 48
Raiders 10
PARRAMATTA, the youngest team in the National Rugby League, threw away their training wheels yesterday.
The Eels emerged from a distressing week to deliver a cut-throat attacking performance and blitz fellow finals candidates Canberra.
As much as it was a critical win in the desperate battle for finals spots, it was just as important as an exciting preview of the future for the Eels.
Despite being without five-eighth Jason Smith and lock Daniel Wagon, who were suspended in the wake of the controversial match against Newcastle in the previous round, plus an injured brigade which included prop Michael Vella and hooker Daniel Irvine, the game was over well before half-time.
The Eels had reached 30 points just once in the previous 23 rounds this season, when they beat St George Illawarra 30-24 at Parramatta Stadium in round 15, but they led 30-0 at half-time yesterday.
Eels coach Brian Smith did not attend the post-match media conference, instead sending his brother and assistant coach Tony.
The public reason was to give Tony Smith and another member of the club's coaching staff, Daniel Anderson, experience at such tasks, but Brian Smith had made it clear in the lead-up to the match that he thought media coverage of the Smith and Wagon incidents had been unfair.
Later, in the dressing-room, Brian Smith was asked whether he wanted to say anything himself about the win. He replied: ``No need to. It was all said out there on the field."
He was right about that. Parramatta were dynamic in all of the basic areas of the game and when, on top of that, the passes stuck, it was goodnight Raiders.
Parramatta had Canberra stretched in defence from as early as the third minute, when centre Jamie Lyon nearly scored. He's 20. Winger Pat Richards, who is 18, nearly scored in the eighth minute and second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh, 20, posted the first try in the 12th.
Centre David Vaealiki, 19, scored in the 23rd minute, Lyon in the 35th, hooker Dennis Moran, 23, in the 38th, Vaealiki again in the 47th and fullback Brett Hodgson, 22, in the 74th. Hodgson also kicked eight goals from eight attempts.
The Eels' other two tries came from winger Jason Moodie, who, at 26, is an elder statesman.
The Eels entered this round in seventh place and while they haven't quite booked a spot in the finals, they are close. They will be three points clear of ninth place at the end of the round, with only two rounds left.
Canberra coach Mal Meninga was understandably disappointed. ``If we're good enough to make the finals we should be good enough to win on the road," he said. ``We've just got to forget about what happened today and concentrate on next week."
The excitement was palpable in the Parramatta camp. Even the normally media-shy lock Jim Dymock, the most experienced player in the team, was full of quotes.
``These young guys aren't frightened," Dymock said of his teammates. ``Parramatta have a great development program. The young blokes train with us, so when they make first grade it's not like they're being chucked in at the deep end. They're confident. They're ready. They back their own ability."
PARRAMATTA 48 (D Vaealiki 2, J Moodie 2, J Lyon, D Moran, N Hindmarsh, B Hodgson tries; B Hodgson 8 goals) beat CANBERRA 10 (B Costin, M McLinden tries; L Williamson goal) at Parramatta Stadium. Crowd: 13,171. Referee: B Harrigan.
THE VERDICT
THE Eels blew the Raiders off the park before half-time. They kept the ball alive, supported each other and used the full width of the field in attack and, in defence, made their tackles count. It was a fabulously adventurous performance.
Canberra helped, through an inept defensive effort, but the emphasis deserves to be on what Parramatta did right.
- GREG PRICHARD
THE FIXTURES
TODAY
Bulldogs v Tigers
(Stadium Australia, 2.30pm)
Roosters v Panthers
(Sydney Football Stadium, 2.30pm)
Dragons v Broncos
(WIN Stadium, 2.30pm)
ROUND 25
FRIDAY
Storm v Raiders
(Olympic Park, Melbourne, 7.30pm)
SATURDAY
Broncos v Warriors
(ANZ Stadium, 2.30pm)
Cowboys v Roosters
(Dairy Farmers Stadium, 7.30pm)
Panthers v Eagles
(Penrith Football Stadium, 7.30pm)
SUNDAY
Sharks v Eels
(Toyota Park, 2.30pm)
Bulldogs v Dragons
(Stadium Australia, 2.30pm)
Tigers v Knights
(Campbelltown Stadium, 2.30pm)
(NSW times)
WEB SITE: www.leaguehq.com.au
NRL TABLE
P W D L F A
Pts
BRONCOS 23 16 2 5 6I4 326 34
STORM 24 13 1 10 620 483 27
KNIGHTS 24 13 1 10 624 490 27
EELS 24 13 1 10 426 398 27
ROOSTERS 23 13 - 10 497 486 26
RAIDERS 24 13 - 11 458 449 26
PANTHERS 23 13 - 10 483 490 26
SHARKS 24 12 - 12 530 401 24
Tigers 23 11 2 10 441 536 24
Dragons 23 11 - 12 510 570 22
Bulldogs 23 9 1 13 407 471 19
Eagles 24 9 - 15 428 564 18
Warriors 24 7 2 15 374 602 16
Cowboys* 24 7 - 17 402 548 12
* Loss of two points for having 14 players on field.
THE STATS
EELSRAIDERS
TOP TACKLERS
I. Hindmarsh 20 27 J. Croker
N. Cayless 20 26 R. Wiki
S. Kelly 19 23 J. Morgan
J. Lyon 18 22 D. Furner
MOST HIT-UPS
N. Cayless 19 16 L. Davico
I. Hindmarsh 14 12 R. Wiki
D. Westley 11 9 T. Payten
N. Hindmarsh 10 7 A. Peters
COMPLETION RATES
33/41(80%) 19/28(68%)
TIME IN POSSESSION
60% 40%
MISSED TACKLES
15 41
LINE BREAKS
14 3
ERRORS
7 10
(Statistics: InfoSports)
© 2000 Sun Herald