Match Report: Farewell, my captain

In the end, the two points didn’t seem to matter much. It was a shot season, but all that really mattered was sending out our captain on a high note. So when the video referee declared “benefit of the doubt’ to give Nathan Cayless his first try in three years you knew that there was a footballing god. And while not even this footballing god could manufacture an act of such divine providence to give the Eels a victory, he did manage to save the planet from another Nathan Cayless nudie run. Parramatta went down 26 to 12 and it was a match that encapsulated everything about this season. Early attacking opportunities were squandered when the final pass fell short and then when the glut of posession shifted, Parramatta defended bravely holding out the Warriors for four consecutive sets of six. In the end, unable to go through the Eels, they produced the kind of play that has been missing from the Eels playbook all year, with a sweet little grubber kick behind the Eels three-quarters which Jerome Ropato picked up to score, although Jarryd Hayne almost did miraculously in an attempt to hold him up outwide. Parramatta hit back soon after, although they were the benefit of some good fortune when a penalty kick for touch just rolled out short of the corner flag. And Timana Tahu produced some quick thinking to tap and dive over the like. Luke Burt converted to give the Eels a six to four lead. But the Eels have never had luck run their way for long this season, an Eels attacking opportunity that saw Jarryd Hayne chip and chase only saw the Warriors break away with no-one but big props Justin Poore and Tim Mannah to chase. Both did well to make consecutive covering tackles, but they couldn’t stop Brett Tate from going over in the corner and the score was back to eight to six. New Zealand maintained that advantage into half-time. Early in the second half, came a turning point. A ball that looked, from the bleechers at least, like it had been knocked down by New Zealand was ruled an Eels mistake and then a penalty for talking back, put the Warriors right onto the attack. New Zealand boast enough big, attacking players that you just can’t expect to defend your line all night, and come out on top and Jesse Royal eventually went over under the posts. A similar try followed from some short-offloading from the Warriors fowards and Kevin Locke dived across before the Warriors eventually got a backline movement going and Manu Vatuvei stormed down the wing to put the game out of Parramatta’s reach. The head of all Eel’s fans dropped. It was clear there would be no victory to send out Captain Courageous Nathan Cayless out as a winner. Nor, departing juniors Feleti Mateo, Krisnan Inu or Kris Keating, but when Cayless dived on a Mortimer grubber into the in-goal, it gave the Blue and Gold faithful a too-rare opportunity to celebrate at their home Stadium. A touching send-off for the captain ensued at the game, with the crowd allowed onto the field to watch a well-produced presentation to Cayless. It wasn’t sad, rather it was a club’s display of pride in a man who has broken incredible milestones as the NRL’s longest-serving captain.

I'm sorry but I feel Parramatta missed the mark with the presentation to Nathan Cayless. I went onto the field to watch, really hoping to get some good photos. However because they did not put a stage up I could not see anything. To have Nathan simply standing on the ground surrounded by players and officials meant a lot of people would have missed seeing anything other than what was on the screen. I also think there were Warriors fans that were very disrespectful and behaving like complete f***wits. I was almost knocked over by 2 guys (Warriors fans) who stole the padding from the posts and seen another couple pulling up turf from the middle of the field. Also the comments of the Warriors fans near me were disrespectful. I think Nathan deserved a better send off then he got, he has been an outstanding captain, player and role model over his 14 years with us, a person and player I admire greatly. I would have liked him to do a lap of honour also before the presentation started so everyone could see him up close and clap him as he passed. While I think the club did try to make it special I think they missed it, and I was very disappointed.

Replies

The Captain September 5, 2010 at 8:03am

From one proud captain to another, farewell Captain Caylo. You will be missed.
David September 5, 2010 at 9:01am

Farewell Cayless. You will never be forgotten as our captain.
bronnie September 5, 2010 at 9:33am

I'm sorry but I feel Parramatta missed the mark with the presentation to Nathan Cayless. I went onto the field to watch, really hoping to get some good photos. However because they did not put a stage up I could not see anything. To have Nathan simply standing on the ground surrounded by players and officials meant a lot of people would have missed seeing anything other than what was on the screen. I also think there were Warriors fans that were very disrespectful and behaving like complete f***wits. I was almost knocked over by 2 guys (Warriors fans) who stole the padding from the posts and seen another couple pulling up turf from the middle of the field. Also the comments of the Warriors fans near me were disrespectful. I think Nathan deserved a better send off then he got, he has been an outstanding captain, player and role model over his 14 years with us, a person and player I admire greatly. I would have liked him to do a lap of honour also before the presentation started so everyone could see him up close and clap him as he passed. While I think the club did try to make it special I think they missed it, and I was very disappointed.
Al September 5, 2010 at 9:54am

It saves them having to decide on the merits of the incident. Both sides out, over and done with. Sucks, I agree.