Round 25
Eels 0 l. Broncos 23

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Parramatta on shaky ground after loss
Mon August 28, 2006
Parramatta's miracle return to form ran out of steam yesterday as the Broncos delivered a 23-0 smashing of the Eels in front of their big home crowd at Parramatta Stadium.

The Broncos have now scored 53 un-answered points in the past two games in an amazing turnaround of their losing streak. It places the Brisbane club with their best form coming into a finals series in years.

The Eels suffering the loss of Nathan Cayless for the rest of the season during the week, left the club with no recognised props fit and it showed as the Broncos employed the same power game in the forwards that not even the Bulldogs forward pack could handle the week before.

The bad news was compounded for the Eels with stand-in halfback Jeremy Smith unlikely to play again this season after suffering a bad break of his hand following on from Tim Smith's injury. It now leaves the Eels short in both the front row and halfback position, two of the most important positions on the park. Tim Smith is reportedly not far away from coming back though.

Speaking at the post match media conference Parramatta coach Jason Taylor remarked on whether the Eels bubble had burst,

"We played against a team that played really well today. You guys have been the ones talking about the bubble. We have just been playing one game at a time. Today we didn't play so well and the opposition were really good," said Taylor.

"We probably had some chances in the second half today but to be honest we probably missed our chances in the first half, we needed to have some points on the board in the first half I thought. The things that we have been doing well in the past few weeks we did not execute so well today."

"The top 8 for us, as I have been saying to the boys all along was a bit of a myth. We were only there on for and against, and unless we won every game until the end, we weren't going to stay there."

"A long time ago, we talked about giving ourselves a great shot to make the semis and enjoying our footy until the end of the year and making sure the season didn't fizzle out."

"Now you guys want us to be disappointed, and I don't mean that disrespectfully, but you are saying "are you disappointed" - well, we are in the 8 and we are going to rip right into it and enjoy what we've got between now and however far we can get. How we react to that loss is what matters."

"What we do from here is a result of how we react to that. The boys understand that. Moping around about a loss is not going to help us at all. But we are there. There are a lot of teams that will swap with us, I'll bet."

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