The last time Parra played the Storm minus their Origin stars it almost ended in an embarrasing loss - 2008. - Eels Blogs

The Storm did have Geyer and Cronk in the halves.Courier MailParramatta Eels hold off Melbourne Storm surgeby: By Dean Ritchie •From: The Daily Telegraph •June 29, 2008 5:00PMPARRAMATTA 24 MELBOURNE 22 PARRAMATTA halfback Brett Finch last night admitted there was "nothing illegal" in three controversial penalties which helped his side to a 24-22 win over a decimated Melbourne at Parramatta Stadium yesterday.Referee Ben Cummins, who had a horrible afternoon, penalised the Storm three times for late hits after Finch had kicked the ball - at least two of those could be deemed soft.Parramatta scored twice only moments after the penalties to set-up a vital, if unimpressive, victory.Storm player Sinbad Kali collided with Finch in the 31st minute, Eels centre Joel Reddy scoring one minute later.And Melbourne prop Jeff Lima hit Finch late in the 66th minute with Eels centre Krisnan Inu crossing seconds later.Rugby league has lost its tough image if they were penalties.Melbourne were privately angry at the penalties but refused to go public with their criticisms.Even Finch was surprised, saying: "There was nothing illegal in them - there was no drama. I jumped straight to my feet."One of them I was waiting for a drop-out. I didn't even know it was a penalty."They targeted me a little today and the big thing (in the game) is protecting kickers. Maybe they were late and I thought they may have learned after the first penalty."Melbourne assistant coach Michael Maguire, who attended the post-match media conference, was worried about the penalties and said his club would talk this week with NRL referees coach Robert Finch."Definitely we will look at it," Maguire said. "Sinbad hardly touched him (Finch). Finchy fell over."Storm halfback Cooper Cronk added: "They scored a couple of tries from them. But we need to protect the kicker."Melbourne - without nine Origin players - were courageous yesterday.They possibly did enough to win but a 5-1 penalty count against them in the first half damaged their chances of springing the upset of the season.Both sides scored four tries yesterday, with Melbourne actually shooting out to a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes. There were nine players in the Storm side yesterday who only a few in rugby league would know.The best thing to say about Parramatta was that they won and grabbed two desperately needed competition points, which puts them back in the eight."The 5-1 penalty count makes it difficult," said Cronk, who was exceptional yesterday. "Our kids deserved a win. To fall short is very disappointing."After a tough month of football, the Eels seemed to lack that killer instinct."It was scratchy but it was a game we needed to win," conceded Eels coach Michael Hagan."I thought mentally we were down a touch and that reflected in the way we played. It was a difficult week and everyone was talking about it (Melbourne missing nine players). We may have noticed it subconsciously. I had concerns at halftime. There were indicators that we weren't on our game."Parramatta skipper Nathan Cayless said fans were entitled to be disappointed with his team's performance."We've got all our players on deck," Cayless said. "We just let ourselves down by our standards."It's a game we'll forget about quickly and now look to the Penrith match (next Sunday)."It was a frustrating game."Finch was Parramatta's best, Cronk a stand-out for the Storm.Cronk showed wonderful maturity yesterday in guiding his rookie side around the field.He is a class player and unlucky that he plays in an era when Queensland has Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston and Scott Prince.PARRAMATTA 24 (K Inu, J Reddy, T Tautai, T Williams tries; L Burt 4 goals) MELBOURNE 22 (S Manu 2, C Cronk, J Tomane tries; S Turner 2, C Cronk goals) at Parramatta Stadium. Referee: B Cummins. Crowd: 12,597.

"Yeah 100%
I meant more of 'if we didnt push from the start' type of thing. Yeah Lomax would have played against us, but maybe some of the suspect calls wouldnt have happened.
All speculation and hindsight really. Im sure there would have been…"

"It's time to start bringing in some young blokes. They did well towards the end of last year Guymer,Moretti etc. TDS needs time in reserve grade have papa as utility. Hopgood offers very little. Get rid of Brian Kelly. Need to ask everyone was Dylan…"

Fui and Captain Cayless were the winners earning the spots at front row for the team.Now onto Hookers, a position that had limited options.Anyway not long now til our starting 13 is settled.https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3Q9GTXJ1. Hayne2. Radradra3.…

Replies

slip June 13, 2015 at 11:02am

Cause I can see it happening again. What has changed in 7 years? Although, Parra were better back then. And I like the history of Parra.
Camo73 June 13, 2015 at 11:06am

I'm sure we can jag a loss this week
Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst June 13, 2015 at 11:07am

I think we will get flogged on Monday. Melbourne 13+ on the TAB around $5.00 are good things.
- slip > Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst June 13, 2015 at 11:11am
  
  If Parra lose 13+ there should be a Police investigation.
The Badger June 13, 2015 at 11:13am

Hey slip - we might have actually been been worse back then as it appears we had NIL origin players and today we have a whole one.

"We've got all our players on deck," Cayless said.

Also, the year after (2009) saw us pretty much where we are today before beating Melb and going on that Hayne inspired run. No Hayne this year tho.
- slip > The Badger June 13, 2015 at 11:18am
  
  2008 - finished 11th. This year could be another spoon. 1997 - 2009, only missed the finals 3 times - 2003, 2004 and 2008. I'd rather back then.
- BE STONE COLD > The Badger June 13, 2015 at 9:48pm
  
  2008.... Um Hayne was playing Origin
josh jones June 13, 2015 at 11:17am

I'd be more confident about the possibility of winning this game with the origin guys playing.
josh jones June 13, 2015 at 11:25am

This game is all about attitude. If we don't hold the storm to 3 tries max, then massive problems in attitude.
Gower Power June 13, 2015 at 12:25pm

This is one of the 2 games we can afford to lose on our run to the finals this year.

of 2

This reply was deleted.

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The last time Parra played the Storm minus their Origin stars it almost ended in an embarrasing loss - 2008.

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