The match started terribly for Parramatta when in the eight minute an innocuous grubber deflected off Jeff Robson and into open ground only to be picked up by the Warrior Lewis Brown for the first try, which was then converted.
However, the Eels fought back with some of their old razzle-dazzle. A Feleti Mateo offload was shuffled along the backline and Joel Reddy finally passed off to Kris Inu. Inu came to his opposite man, chipped over the top and the ever-present Brendan Oake picked up and passed in almost a single movement to put Tom Humble away.
It was hardly the play of a side struggling to score points. Would it spark the Parramatta brilliance of 2009. No. The Eels had plenty of opportunities to score the next try but couldn’t find a way through the Warriors defence, who tackled stoutly to prevent any further points. And then when play finally found its way to the other end, Parramatta opened up like a sardine can with an awful on-goal tackle from Justin Horo, allowing Ben Matulino to stroll through for the softest of tries.
The second half continued as a wet weather slog with plenty of dropped ball so it wasn’t surprising when the Warriors attempted a long-range penalty to make it an eight point advantage. However, former Eels James Maloney pushed the kick wide. The Eels then had an opportunity when Tom Humble put Joel Reddy into space but Reddy’s final pass to Kris Inu floated forward and the play was called back.
In the end, the real difference between the two sides was the kicking game. A nice grubber kick from Warriors hooker Ian Henderson resulted in a drop-out and from the ensuing six, New Zealand sent their biggest man Ukuma Taía on the field at our smallest man, Daniel Mortimer and the mismatch resulted in another four points to the Warriors.
New Zealand then extended the lead to 12 through a penalty, before Manu Vatuvai stole the ball from Krisnan Inu on the Eels goal line to make it an 18 point game and sink any slim hopes of Parramatta comeback.
The Warriors weren’t done with, though, with tries to James Maloney and another to Lewis Brown in the final minutes both of which Maloney converted before Isaac John rubbed salt into the wounds with a final minute field goal leaving the score at 35 to six.
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