Ugly. Gutsy. Jason Ryles called it “special.”
The Eels’ 26-22 victory over the Warriors in Round 26 at Go Media was anything but pretty. For me, it was sublime.
"The way the players fought and hung in. They had 11 of the last 15 sets, and it felt like they were coming...playing for a top four spot," Ryles told us post-game.
Resilience
Statistically, the heavily favored Warriors owned the contest. Foxsport shows they had 55% possession, almost 70% territory, and a massive 27-4 advantage in red-zone tackles. They won penalties and restarts 12-5, made more line breaks (5-4), and missed fewer tackles (24 to the Eels’ 44). It meant the Warriors’ were building steamroller-like momentum.
Overcoming Achilles' Heels
Under relentless pressure, the Eels who made almost 400 tackles dug in and found a way a win. They scrambled, hustled, and refused to break. The Eels (14th) even beat the Warriors (4th) at their own game. The Eels made less errors (6-8) and had better completions (31/35 at 91% vs 36/44 at 81%), beating the Warriors (best completions, least errors per game in the NRL) at their own game (nrl.com). Errors and poor completions (fourth-worst for both, nrl.com) have been the Eels' Achilles' heel all year. Plus, they iced many of their chances often against the run of play. It kept them in the game. It's also symbolic. The improvement theme.
Kaizen
The turnaround has been stunning. To start the season, the Eels won one of six conceding 34 points per game. They’ve now won four of their last six conceding only 17.7 per game. That's comparable to the NRL’s best defences (Dogs and Raiders concede 17.6-17.7). Until late July, the Eels were 0 / 8 against current top-8 teams. Since then we're 3 / 4. We're not meant to. Coming into last night we were 2/10 outside Commbank. No Gutherson, RCG, Dylan Brown, Sivo, Matto, Lane, Simonsson, Hands, Lussick. $4-5m worth of cap.
Individually, there were standout efforts everywhere last night. There wasn't a poor player on the field.
J’maine Hopgood was colossal. Playing the full 80 minutes for 61 tackles and just one miss (nrl.com). Jack Williams, Junior Paulo, and Kelma Tuilagi (above) produced big moments and magic (Getty Images).
Iongi scores a scorcher (Getty Images). The back three, Foxxy, Lomax, and Iongi, combined for a mammoth 612m (nrl.com).
It could not have been scripted better: Foxxy marked his 200th NRL game with a runaway length-of-the-field try (Getty Images).
Drama
The contest also delivered late drama. With minutes on the clock, Adam Pompey looked to have scored a match-winning try. But the Bunker ruled that Warriors prop Demitric Vaimauga had knocked on.
Foxsport's Greg Alexander blasted the call: "I don’t think his hand went anywhere near the ball."
Despite Cooper Cronk and James Graham agreeing with the bunker's call, Foxsport doubled down with an article soon after entitled ‘Disgraceful’: Bunker Controversy Shakes up Finals Race as Eels Strike Hammer Blow".
“I don’t know if there’s enough evidence to overturn it that he touched it,” Warriors' coach Andrew Webster said.
The Warriors Owned the Field. They owned the Stats. They won the Territorial Battle. But the Eels Owned the Scoreboard and Won the War. Confidence and belief growing. Can we dare to dream? Next week is another test to end the season. To win when expected.
Highlights, Go Media, Auckland
Warriors' fans turned out in force as they have in recent seasons (Getty Images).
The nabbed Warriors' streaker felt the pain.
The Two Fullbacks Fighting Fire with Fire (Getty Images).
Replies
On top of the world NOS haha
I'm looking forward to superbowl 60
We are destined to meet, it would make an amazing game- i can visualise it already
Dont be a stranger NOS, your input on this site is valued.
Should've happened last year too, but, this could be the year for it. Was so good to see your boys dismantle KC in the SB.
Thanks Mick, as is yours, things are a bit hectic but I'll drop into chat NFL with you (HKF & anyone else interested also) without a doubt.
Maybe a separate blog page dedicated to NFL enthusiasts is the answer- lets see if super would be keen
11 of the last 15 sets to the Warriors is crazy. I take it this is from the 50th minute, when Eels had scored (Iongi's first) to go 20-4 up?
The second-half play-by-play makes for an interesting read:
- 40th to 50th minute: Warriors penalized twice but Eels take a 20-4 lead (after Iongi's first try)
- 50th to 65th minute: the Warriors received both set restarts (2) and a penalty (1) to score twice in the 50-60 min range and trail 20-16 before Iongi's second try at 64 mins to make it 26-16.
- 65th to 80th minute: the Warriors again received both set restarts (2), scoring once, disallowed once, to get close at 26-22.
Apparently once the Eels had built a lead, the Eels could not go near the ruck without conceding a 6-again or penalty? But once the Warriors were down 20-4 at the 50th minute mark, the Warriors all-of-a-sudden became absolutely perfect in the ruck despite needing to play catch-up football? And let's not forget the referee ruled against the Eels three times and the bunker overruled. The Warriors falling behind 20-4 and miraculously playing perfect catch-up footy just does not pass the sniff test, dear NRL.
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