Round 5
Parramatta Eels 8 l. St George Illawarra Dragons 22

2009 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Better Eels beaten by Dragons
Sat April 11, 2009
Source: www.parraeels.com.au

The Pirtek Parramatta Eels have fought hard before eventually going down to an outstanding St. George-Illawarra outfit in round five of the Telstra Premiership, beaten 22-8 in front of over 19,000 fans at Parramatta Stadium.

The Eels came into the match with a reshuffled side following the release of Brett Finch, with Jeff Robson starting at halfback inside Feleti Mateo. Jarryd Hayne shifted from five eighth to centre, Ben Smith from centre to second row, and Nathan Hindmarsh from second row to lock.

The changes did result in a vastly different style of play to that of a week ago against the Roosters, the home side showing fire, better direction and a willingness to attack.

The fire was evident early as fisticuffs between Eric Grothe and Neville Costigan brought the 19,017-strong crowd to its feet. Big hits were also a feature, with Dragons prop Michael Weyman placed on report for a 14th minute high shot on Fuifui Moimoi.

Despite the frenetic pace of the match, the score remained at nil-all until the 21st minute when Jamie Soward got the Dragons on the board with a penalty goal from 20 metres out and 15 in from touch.

The Eels broke their duck in an identical fashion soon after, Luke Burt nailing a penalty to see an unlikely scoreline of 2-all approaching the half hour.

After 33 frantic minutes the Dragons opened their try account with a cameo from the goalpost, captain Ben Hornby taking a Soward kick just before colliding with the upright, the halfback falling over the line to score his side's first try.

Soward converted to put the visitors out to an 8-2 lead.

The Eels were able to keep up pressure on the Dragons line however their reshuffled backline was unable to manufacture the desired result, while the visitors got the rub of the green at the other end with Costigan awarded their second by the video referee for a 14-2 lead at half time.

If anything the Eels were guilty of trying too hard in attack early in the second half, handling errors while trying to offload cruelling their first two sets of six.

Soward made the Eels task that much harder midway through the half when he kicked his second penalty of the match to establish a 14 point lead, leaving the Eels more than two converted tries adrift.

Then a first tackle handling error gave the Dragons great field position and they looked to have taken full advantage, with Wendell Sailor crossing in the corner. However the try was denied by the video referee with Sailor's foot clearly going into touch before he got the ball down.

Given that lifeline the Eels soon received another, with Dragons lock Jeremy Smith sinbinned for a high shot with 13 minutes left on the clock.

However they couldn't convert despite enjoying great field position on the next three sets of six, poor handling seeing them stranded just inches from the line on two of their three attempts.

The Eels finally cracked the defence late in the match, Burt completing a clean sweep of points by scoring his side's only try with three minutes to go.

The Dragons would have the final say however, Sailor touching down on full time for Soward to convert for a 22-8 victory.

The Eels next match is a home fixture against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium next Sunday, 19 April.

TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP
St. George-Illawarra Dragons 22 (Ben Hornby, Neville Costigan, Wendell Sailor tries; Jamie Soward 5 goals from 5 attempts) defeated the Pirtek Parramatta Eels 8 (Luke Burt try; Luke Burt 2 goals from 2 attempts). At Parramatta Stadium. Crowd: 19,017. Sin Bin: Jeremy Smith (Dragons). Referees: Ashley Klein, Brett Suttor.


New look for Eels v Dragons
Tue April 7, 2009
Source: www.parraeels.com.au

Parramatta will take a whole new look into Friday night's round five clash with the Dragons at Parramatta Stadium, wearing a special one-off jersey bearing the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) logo on the chest.

Major sponsors Pirtek have given up their position on the front of the Blue & Gold jersey for the match in an attempt to raise awareness for PCFA and help fight the disease.

In addition to raising awareness for the fight against Prostate Cancer, the Eels will also be doing their bit to raise funds with each playing jersey to be signed and auctioned with all proceeds going to the PCFA.

Auction details will be confirmed in the week following the match.

Pirtek is also doing its bit to raise much needed funds, holding the Pirtek Fishing Challenge on Sunday April 19.

To be a part of the Pirtek Fishing Challenge, log on to www.pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au to register and help raise $100,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. There is $100,000 in cash and prizes to be won throughout the challenge.

In team news, Taulima Tautai will make his first appearance in First Grade for 2009 while Todd Lowrie slots into the second row for the Good Friday game.

Tautai replaces Joel Reddy while Lowrie's inclusion has seen Weller Hauraki named on an extended six man bench, which also features new addition Brendan Oake.

Eels v Dragons
Parramatta Stadium
Fri 10 April 2009
7:35pm
NRL

1 Luke Burt
2 Taulima Tautai
3 Ben Smith
4 Krisnan Inu
5 Eric Grothe
6 Jarryd Hayne
7 Brett Finch
8 Nathan Cayless [c]
9 Matthew Keating
10 Fuifui Moimoi
11 Nathan Hindmarsh
12 Todd Lowrie
13 Feleti Mateo

14 Kris Keating
15 Joe Galuvao
16 Tim Mannah
17 Broderick Wright
18 Brendan Oake
20 Weller Hauraki

Coach: Daniel Anderson

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