Brendan Wood reviews the Parramatta Eels dominant 40-12 win over the Wests Tigers at Bankwest Stadium. Here’s how the game went.
SCOREBOARD
Eels 40
Tries: Clint Gutherson (12, 69), Joey Lussick (30), Waqa Blake (46), Mitchell Moses (48), Maika Sivo (49)
Goals: Mitchell Moses (13, 17, 32, 47, 49, 50, 70, 80)
Player of the Year Points
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – Mitchell Moses (Parramatta Eels)
2 pts – Isaiah Papali’i (Parramatta Eels)
1 pt – Clint Gutherson (Parramatta Eels)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty Images1st Half
It was a tight contest in the opening exchanges with both sides solid in their first sets. The Eels had the better of the field position and were able to put the Tigers under pressure. After several attacking sets, the Eels eventually broke through when Nathan Brown offloaded for Clint Gutherson who sliced through a tackle to score.
The home side followed this up with another strong surge into the Tigers’ half. While they couldn’t cross the stripe, the Eels were awarded a penalty after Alex Twal obstructed Joey Lussick as he chased through a kick. Mitchell Moses opted to take the two points and the Eels extended their lead to eight.
The Eels refused to let up, receiving some help from the Tigers as they were awarded several set restarts. The defensive workload began to take a toll on the Tigers as fatigue set in. Joey Lussick caught the Tigers napping when he darted out of dummy half and scored to extend the lead to 14.
Once again, the Eels found themselves on the attack after some sloppy play from the Tigers. Mitchell Moses looked to have scored when he recovered a Clint Gutherson grubber in the in-goal. However, the bunker found Moses lost the ball in the process of scoring and the try was overturned.
After having hardly any possession, the Tigers finally got themselves in a position to attack. Despite being under fatigue, the visitors found their first points when Luke Brooks split the defence and passed to Jacob Liddle who scored under the posts. Although they dominated the majority of the first half, the Eels only managed an eight point lead at the break.
HALF-TIME: Parramatta Eels 14 Wests Tigers 6
Embed from Getty Images2nd Half
There was action from the opening set of the half when Ryan Matterson made an early error. The Tigers returned the favour when they made an error of their own a minute later. In the next set, the Eels made a break when Shaun Lane offloaded to Dylan Brown. Brown was eventually tackled, but Shawn Blore held back Joey Lussick on the play and was sin-binned for a professional foul.
Following the binning of Blore, Daine Laurie was smashed in a tackle by Isaiah Papali’i, causing the ball to come free. Waqa Blake cleaned up the loose ball and scored untouched. Off the next kick-off, Mitchell Moses split the defence again. He had plenty of support, but he didn’t need any as he dummied and raced away to score. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Eels avalanche of points kept coming.
Once again, it was Mitchell Moses tearing the Tigers to shreds. He made another break and passed to Maika Sivo who finished off the break with a try of his own. With a healthy lead at their disposal, Sivo went from hero to villain when put a high shot on Adam Doueihi. The result of the play found Sivo in the sin-bin and Doueihi off the field with a HIA.
With the man advantage, the Tigers found something to keep the game alive. After a scrappy period of play, they eventually found some space out wide and James Roberts stepped back inside the cover defence to score. After the Roberts try, the Eels resumed their dominance.
Off the back of a penalty, Nathan Brown offloaded to Clint Gutherson who sliced through several tackles to score again. There was more controversy to follow, as Isaiah Papali’i was sin-binned when he dropped a knee onto the head of Luciano Leilua. Ultimately, the sin-binning didn’t make a difference to the result, the Eels running out 28 point winners.
FULL-TIME: Parramatta Eels 40 Wests Tigers 12
Embed from Getty ImagesInjuries
Luke Garner – leg
Adam Doueihi – concussion
Match Review Committee
Maika Sivo (Eels) – Grade 2 High Tackle Careless – Early Guilty Plea 1 match ban, Guilty at Judiciary 2 match ban.
Isaiah Papali’i (Eels) – Grade 1 Contrary Conduct – Early Guilty Plea $1,150 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $1,500 fine.
Luke Brooks (Tigers) – Grade 1 Dangerous Throw – Early Guilty Plea $1,350 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $1,800 fine.
Tom Amone (Tigers) – Grade 1 Contrary Conduct – Early Guilty Plea $1,150 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $1,500 fine.
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