2022 NRL Round 4, Eels 48 Dragons 14 – Report
Craig Cauchi reviews Sunday nights clash between Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons.
MATCHDAY RESULTS
SCOREBOARD
Paramatta Eels
Tries: Dylan Brown 6, Mitchell Moses 16, 75, Nathan Brown 43, Reed Mahoney 50, Clint Gutherson 52, Waqa Blake 59, 67
Goals: Mitchell Moses 7, 18, 44, 51, 54, 68, 76
St George Illawarra Dragons
Tries: Jack Bird 34, Tariq Sims 70
Goals: Zac Lomax 35, 40, 71
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty Images1st Half
A major reshuffle to the Dragons starting pack after last weeks loss to Cronulla looked to have ignited their attack but the Eels defence scrambled well to keep repelling them in the opening 5 minutes. A Zac Lomax error halted the Dragons momentum and the Eels made them pay with Dylan Brown slicing the defence to pieces with his quick footwork. Ill-discipline crept back into the Dragons game and the Eels went on to put together a fast 15 minutes of footy and looked like scoring off every play. They were over for their second after a break from Dylan Brown was followed up by a kick through from Mitchell Moses, who was the first to regather the ball. The Eels seemed to fall back in intensity as the bench players came on and yet the scramble from their defence never waned with the Dragons continuing to throw the ball around. After a clever interchange of passes between Aaron Woods and Frances Molo, Ben Hunt ran clear of the defensive line and kicked ahead for Jack Bird to get the Dragons on the board. They almost scored again in the final seconds of play but settled for a penalty goal as the siren sounded on what was probably the most entertaining half of the round.
HALF-TIME: eg. Parramatta Eels 12 St George Illawarra Dragons 8
Embed from Getty Images2nd Half
The Eels exploded in the second half turning on the points in a 20 minute performance that killed the match. Nathan Brown started the try scoring rout and after that the Eels couldn’t be stopped. They went back-to-back with tries to Reed Mahoney and Clint Gutherson. Mitchell Moses was superb in directing them around the field and his strong kicking game led directly to two tries. The Dragons barely touched the ball in the opening twenty minutes and it took them just as long to finally get some good attacking ball. The result was an intercept try to Waqa Blake, who moments later added a second off the back of a Dylan Brown cut out pass. The Dragons broke up the procession with a try to Tariq Sims but it did little to blunt the momentum of the Eels with Mitchell Moses scoring a great team try to cap off a fantastic second half for the Eels.
FULL-TIME: eg. Parramatta Eels 48 St George Illawarra Dragons 14
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – Mitchell Moses (Eels), 2 pts – Dylan Brown (Eels), 1 pt – Reed Mahoney (Eels)
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