THE painful wait may just about be over.
Under-achieving Parramatta and their frustrated fans have been forced to wait an NRL eternity since last playing finals footy.
As of today, the wait is 2826 days.
That should be about to change.
A dramatic 13-12 golden point win over Canterbury has Parramatta poised to roar into this season’s finals series.
In just his sixth game for Parramatta, Mitchell Moses kicked an extra-time field goal to split the 12-all score at full-time.
The Eels now sit on 20 competition points and have another bye in round 19.
That means Parramatta need to win just three of their remaining eight games to reach the required 28 competition points.
And among their opponents over the closing rounds are Wests Tigers, Canterbury (again), Newcastle and South Sydney.
Parramatta’s last finals appearance was the 2009 grand final, a 23-16 loss to Melbourne.
Since then disappointment has followed disappointment and their finals drought is the longest of any team in the NRL.
Maybe coach Brad Arthur has finally unlocked the Eels and the club’s massive blue and gold army.
Radradra raced over for a try in the first half.“There is pressure from us — the boys have worked hard and they want to play finals,” Arthur said.
“But we are still a long way off being there in September. We have a lot of work to do. Every win is important for us.
“We invited them back into the contest. The Bulldogs thought they earned the right to get back into the contest and they did.
“They had some big bodies out there and they were hard and aggressive. Their season was on the line. Their want and desire was there.”
Mitchell Moses is mobbed by Eels team mates after kicking the match winning field goal.Eels skipper Tim Mannah ducked away from finals talk.
“I know it’s a cliche but we just have to focus on our next game,” he said.
Asked about Moses’ pressure field goal, Arthur said: “It was nice for Mitch to do that, it was a big moment. He nailed it. He was nice and calm going into golden point.”
Mannah added: “He (Moses) seemed pretty happy after it. It was good to see him to have that special moment tonight.”
It was far from pretty last night but the two competition points were absolutely vital.
And the win was inspired by lock Nathan Brown, who made 42 tackles and ran for 225 metres from 26 hit-ups.
As for Canterbury, their season is now just about over despite nine rounds remaining in the regular season.
The Bulldogs sit stranded on 14 competition points and must somehow win six of their past eight games to reach the finals.
Parramatta were far from their best, but did enough to get the win.That winning run would seem incredibly difficult given their horrid first half performances recently although Canterbury were courageous in their fightback last night.
This could be the first season since 2004 that coach Des Hasler has failed to guide a team into the playoffs.
Canterbury re-entered the match — played before a crowd of just 14,061 — when winger Brett Morris scored out wide just 10 minutes into the second half.
That try reduced Parramatta’s halftime lead to six points.
With a massive amount of second half possession, Canterbury cracked Parramatta’s defence again through a solo effort to bench utility Matt Frawley.
The conversion levelled the scores at 12-all before Moses struck in golden point.
The one pointer came on the back of a penalty, which was Parramatta’s first since the first half.
Canterbury ensured a horrible start when winger Marcelo Montoya was sin-binned for a professional foul.
PARRAMATTA 13 (B French S Radradra tries C Gutherson 2 goals M Moses field goal) bt CANTERBURY 12 (M Frawley B Morris tries M Mbye 2 goals) in extra time at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, David Munro. Crowd: 14,061
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yeah i was surprised when i rocked up how small the crowd was i was expect a large attendance
Catch the train it is free with entry