It was a match that the Eels were in a position to win after jumping out to an eight point lead. In the end, the match was decided in a two minute period that saw an Eels trial disallowed, and then a Sharks try given. There wasn't anything between the two teams - it was just who was going to get the rub of the green on the night.
What the game has again made apparent is that Parramatta are incredibly reliant on Jarryd Hayne - we have yet to win a game while he has been on representative duty. In fact, you can probably say we haven't won a game when Jarryd has been off his game, either. The reality is when you have a player like Hayne - you build a lot of your structures around bringing him into the game and when he is not there, it's like playing with your half a leg chopped off.
In the NRL, there isn't that much between the top and bottom teams. If the top teams performs at eighty percent and the bottom team performs at optimum performance, it will generally be the latter that prevails. That was the case in this game.
The Sharks certainly turned up to play - given their recent successes against us, they had reason to go into this match with an unfamiliar sense of confidence. And they had all the running in the opening period of the match, but the Eels dug deep in defence to held on and then took advantage of a Luke Burt intercept of a promising Sharks attack. Burt headed down field then linked up with the ever-present Daniel Mortimer who then found Tom Humble, who streaked away for his first NRL try.
However, the Sharks would continue to press and they were rewarded for their efforts and a mountain of possession with two tries that would take them out to a 10 to six lead.
The Eels desperately an opportunity to attack and when they got it, it was Tim Mannah who put the Eels on the front foot busting through the Cronulla defence but just getting pulled down short of the line. Jeff Robson was able to take advantage of that and he burrowed over from dummy half to put the Eels back in front.
Daniel Mortimer then extended that lead just before half-time when he chipped and chased, got a favourable bounce, kicked ahead again and then picked up to score. It was more like the Mortimer of last year and he certainly had his best game of the year.
Leading 18 to 10 at half-time, Eels fans were probably feeling cocky but that optimism belied the fact that the Sharks had dominated most of the first period and that two of our tries involved significant levels of good fortune. We hadn't yet built pressure of looked particularly good in setting up structured attacks, without our go-to man on the field.
To their credit, the Sharks stuck to their game despite getting behind and it was a move that the Eels would be well-aware of that put them back in the match, when Tim Smith produced his trademark left-foot step and broke through the Eels defence to score. There will no doubt be much talk about how the Eels attack was lacking in this match, but the tries we let in were relatively soft and that stout defence we've become known for in recent week just wasn't up to that same standard in this match.
Then came the crux moment of the match. Parramatta looked to have hit straight back when a charge-down saw the ball land in the Eels possession and we raced away to score. However, the video referee adjudged Ben Smith to be in an offside position and the try was disallowed and penalised. That saw the Sharks get a big hike down the field and they would score off an the ensuing set of six, when a bomb into the in-goal was failed to be defused and then popped up to Paul Aiton for the match-winning try.
This game was always going to be something of a learning experience for the Eels. In the absence of Jarryd Hayne, other players need to learn to step up. Daniel Mortimer lifted his game a notch but both Kris Keating and Feleti Mateo probably needed to improve their involvement.
That was very much the case in the final minutes of the match - we had numerous opportunities to land a final blow - but it was a matter of the ball not getting into the hands of the right player at the right time.
However, it's not a bad thing for the Eels to have to work through this process. It gives the side an opportunity to see where they are at, without Hayne, and there needs to be a number of players who continue to play a bigger part in the side's attack. Unless you're one of the alarmists - and yes, there are a few - there is not too much to be troubled by. We're not the same side without Jarryd Hayne - just like the Storm are far inferior without Cameron Smith, the Cowboys are lacking without Thurston and Brisbane are no good without Lockyer. You take a world-class player out of any team and they come dramatically back to the field.
But it does demonstrate that more than anything we need Hayne to stay fit and healthy. It would be time to be alarmed if that ever ceases to be the case.
Replies
but
I can't see mkeating holding his spot once we have everyone back
humble to bench mkeating to winnie
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