The Parramatta Eels were unable to overcome a 28 point deficit in Auckland, going down 29-16 to the New Zealand Warriors.
A poor opening 20 minutes from the Eels saw them hand the Warriors plenty of ball and field position, with the homeside only too willing to cash in.
Tries to Solomone Kata, Ryan Hoffman, Tuimoala Lolohea and Manu Vatuvei gave the Warriors a 22 point lead that threatened to greatly increase.
Parramatta really only had themselves to blame though. Poor handling coupled with lacklustre marker defence and mis-communication on the edges allowed Thomas Leuluai to run amok in the middle, with Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend given plenty of room on the fringes to run their side.
Debutant, John Folau wasn't often found out on his wing, despite four tries being scored down his edge. Poor defence in the middle was allowing the Warriors' to run rampant before spreading it wide and giving the young Folau next to no chance to shut the play down.
Following the opening 20 minutes though, it seemed that the Eels warmed into the match with the additions of David Gower and Danny Wicks to the fray.
A tighter middle defence saw Parramatta halt the Warriors' forwards and begin to gain some of their own field position.
The home side was able to protect their line up to half time, taking their 22 point lead to the break.
Brad Arthur ripped into his side at half-time and it looked like the Eels were intent on not being embarrassed in the second half, despite the Warriors crossing for their fifth try just five minutes into the half- Kata grabbing his second of the afternoon.
Following that, the Eels began to dominate. Some good work on the Eels' left edge from Manu Ma'u and Corey Norman put Reece Robinson down the touchline and he found Takairangi backing up on the inside.
A loose carry from Jonathan Wright saw him hand possession back to the Eels on his own line with Anthony Watmough finding David Gower for his first try in the NRL.
Reece Robinson was over just seven minutes later to put the Eels right back into the game. A great ball from Manu Ma'u put the speedster down the sideline who managed to somehow contort his body as the cover defence rolled him onto his back and put the ball down.
Just the one missed conversion from three attempts and it was 28-16 with 15 minutes to go.
Parramatta definitely looked like they would score again but a couple of dubious refereeing decisions let the Warriors off the hook with Shaun Johnson snapping a field goal with five minutes to go.
The Eels going down by 13 points.
Parramatta are at home next week to the competition leading South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night.
See More: http://www.bluegoldglory.com.au/2015/03/21/7709/warriors-hold-off-fast-finishing-eels
Replies
sandow should never had played today, hes ankle was not right, watmough also not right with injury ,parramatta was hit hard up the middle in the first 22 mts , being away, and sandow injuried and just passed the ball,we where sitting ducks.
but parra never gave up and finished the game full of running winning the last 60 mins 16 /7.
when all the best 17 take the field and jnr paulo, parra will make a long run of wins in my view.
biggest problem to our club is we need to sack hindy as defence coach or helper, let him play games on the matty johns show, we need a top class defence coach for all 3 grades faster then fast, our defence in the holden cup and wenty is a bloody joke, both coaches should be sack right now, there shit. ]
we have no real back up playing well at the moment.
in my view i agree brad arthur needs more control of wenty and the holden cup up as early as this week sack anderson right now too, let brad run the ship more,.if parra acts fast we have a good team here.
we play souths this week at home, we should get smashed, but will we?, there could be a huge upset next game.
parra lose when there got games they should win, and win games they have no real chance with, this could be a huge upset win over souths silly o yes worse is to come for the eels,if we lose brad arthur as a coach, there go's izzy falou and foren, on form and injuries in the club, we will lose 4 out of the first 5 games, that spells trouble,shit will hit the fan no doubt,,act fast parra win have to win the next 2 games badly.
Maybe that's half the problem with us Eels, we rely to much on reputation even when reputation carries no merit and / or has not been proven when and where it matters. In FG!
Secondly, to play with injuries in this game was understandable given our momentum from rounds 1 & 2 that didn't come off. I say we were lucky they lost Tomkins meaning they had to re-organise losing their structure and momentum the same way injuries changed our game last week vs the Doggies.
To carry those injuries into next week vs the Bunnies would be suicide for us in the long run. With a full fit squad and at home we would be tipped to cause an unlikely upset. But now I would rather we sacrifice this game and give our injured players the week off to recover. Use it to blood some up and coming youngsters if we need to go that far.
Not an ideal position and not what everyone likes to hear I know but I would focus on our next two games against the tigers and titans and suck this Bunnies game up...
Same crap. different year
The ill discipline causing opponents to gain extended periods of possession (stupid penalties and turnovers) that result in lop sided times of possession that leads to points has been a problem since 2010.....2015 is no different so far........Case in point - Parra doomed themselves in the first 20 by not be mentally strong (stupid penalties and turnovers)....was where the game was lost. You gotta, at some point look at where coaching needs to cure this illness........as the players and captains CAN NOT
Poor on field Leadership is still problematic
Halves, inconsistent (as usual) and ineffective when scoring and or applying pressure is required
Nothing.....absolutely NOTHING has changed from last season
Cant WIN when you give away so much possession then Parra compound that by failing to build pressure
Look for Parra to remain Jeckyl and Hyde when comparing home and away form.
Look for Parra to continue to have opponents (esp the good teams) place cricket scores against Parra when playing away
Look for Parra to miss the 8
Look......it's just the same old Parra
NOTHING HAS CHANGED
Poor discipline, Poor Leadership (on field), and Poor / Inconsistent play from the halves has, was and STILL ARE the problems
So Tele1 who do we blame?
Players, coaching staff, culture or the refs - who?
Not the refs, that's for sure.
Parra has a Leadership void (on the field) - they hand the opposition extended periods of play through repeated penalties / turnovers.....then dig themselves into a hole they can get out of
Personally I blame our Captains for that
I blame the coach for being unable to fix that
I blame our halves for being unable to apply the best form of counter attack - and that is to apply pressure back on opponents (repeat sets) , or at worst - attacking kicks
I said the same 3 things all last year.....(well we have brought Foran after all) and will say the same 3 things in 2015 until Foran arrives
People said that Watmough was the answer at Captain (or as an on field Leader) - I said that was never going to be the case.
All the coaching in the world cannot replace on field Leadership - so I give BA the biggest pass mark of our 3 infallible's- Parra simply does not have the personalities required with our Leaders and the consistency of mental toughness and football smarts from the halves.
It's a double whammy -how else do you explain the Jeckyl and Hyde performances between GOOD Parra and BAD Parra
the only saving grace is that its only round 3.
there is enough to suggest that we will improve throughout the year. I don't know what we are going to do when we play the bunnies on Friday but we cannot afford that start again and especially against the bunnies.
Ma'u was immense and I think we need him a healthy as possible.
hoppa's positional play needs improvement as against the best fullbacks he will struggle.
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