Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Melbourne Storm Hang on for Grand Final Glory
Eleven years the Melbourne Storm have been in existence. Nine finals appearances they have made. Until this year, they had reached four grand finals and won two of them. Make that, now, three from five as they defeated Parrematta, 23-16, tonight at Australia stadium in Sydney in the 2009 NRL grand final.
A remarkable achievement, it must be said. Done too, in an era where the salary cap can be rather taxing on teams that have success. Melbourne have lost some extremely talented players because of their success, yet still manage to succeed despite it.
Tonight, in front of 82538 mainly Parrematta fans, Melbourne put in a clinical display. No frills football was the order of the day for them. It worked a treat, too. They played from in front for the whole match. While never completely putting the Eels away, Parrematta were forced to play catch up time and again. A sound kicking game, backed up by a faultless chase, time after time. Not only this, but, Melbourne contained Parrematta danger man, Jarred Hayne, for the full eighty minutes. So well, that Hayne never fired a shot. So too, FuiFui Moi Moi. Well, at least for the first half. Moi Moi was inspirational in Parrematta's second half comeback. But more of that later. Oh, and a referee's decision. What is a grand final without a whiff of controversy.
It took Melbourne only four minutes to get on the scoreboard. After having forced Parrematta into a goal-line dropout, they spread the ball wide to their left side attack, where Brett Finch put Ryan Hoffman into a gap, which he made the most of by charging twenty metres to score. With Cameron Smith's sideline conversion, Melbourne were 6-0 up.
This was the perfect start for Melbourne, and their previous finals experience seemed to be paying dividends. They were making good metres on each set of six without any costly errors. Parrematta, on the flip side, seemed a touch nervous and were making hard work of denting the Storm's defence. Not helping, also, was their kicking game which lacked any semblance of organisation or accuracy.
To their credit though, they did start to get on an even footing with the Storm. Maybe not on the scoreboard, but at least they were making forays into Melbourne's territory.
Problem was, though, that just as they had been looking more likely, Cooper Cronk made their life even tougher, when he through a dummy, broke the defensive line and passed back on the inside to Adam Blair, who gratefully took possession of the ball to race twenty metres to score in the right side corner.
A 10-nil lead which the Storm consolidated until half-time. It was a solid half of football from Melbourne, and a nervous one from Parrematta. Those nerves dissapated somewhat for Parrematta in the second half. And, this is where it gets entertaining. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, get yourselves some liquid refreshments, a light snack or three, find your seats and be prepared to be dazzled.
Parrematta had to score first in the second half to have any chance of pulling off a victory. Enter fuifui Moi Moi. If the UN weapons inspectors think they have got problems in Iran, they've seen nothing yet. Get them down to Australia, for there is a suspicion that there is a weapon of mass destruction being made. His name is Fuifui Moi Moi. It only took a couple of minutes for suspicions to grow, as Moi Moi rocked Brett White with a bone crunching tackle. This seemed to lift Parrematta, for in the 45th minute, Feleti Mataeo makes a forty metre dash down field. The Eels forge ahead towards the Storm's twenty metre line, where they go wide to their right side attack, finding Eric Grothe, who barges his way through three Melbourne defenders to score. Only six points down now, Parrematta seemed to be back in the match. But this was typical of their night. No sooner had they fought their way back, they relinquished their intensity. Greg Inglis was mighty thankful, too, in the 49th minute, as he regathered a Cooper Cronk bomb, under no pressure from any Parrematta defenders and strolled over to score under the crossbar. With the conversion, then another converted try to Billy Slater six minutes later, the match seemed to be Melbourne's for the taking.
To Parrematta's credit though, they did not give up. It took fifteen minutes, but the Storm seemed to be tiring, when Joel Reddy soars like an eagle to gather a last tackle kick from Jeff Robson, and score.
Where there is life, there is hope. Moi Moi certainly thought so. Not content to soley be a battering ram and make explosive tackles, Moi Moi decided to extend his range of capabilities to scoring twenty-five metre individualistic efforts. A fine one, too. And an effort that got his team within six points of Melbourne to trail 22-16.
The referees, Tony Archer and Shane Hayne had, until this point, a mistake free match. In the 76th minute, however, Archer awarded a penalty to Melbourne for a strip in the tackle. Melbourne gleefully took this opportunity to make their way down into Parrematta's red zone, where Greg Inglis calmly slotted a field goal to give his team a seven point lead and a 23-16 victory. Replays showed clearly that the penalty was wrongly given, when a knock-on should have been awarded.
Luck, though, is part of any sport at times, and Melbourne were good enough to cash in on the good fortune that came their way. That is what good teams do. Not to mention, surviving what very nearly ended up being their very own nuclear winter.
A remarkable achievement, it must be said. Done too, in an era where the salary cap can be rather taxing on teams that have success. Melbourne have lost some extremely talented players because of their success, yet still manage to succeed despite it.
Tonight, in front of 82538 mainly Parrematta fans, Melbourne put in a clinical display. No frills football was the order of the day for them. It worked a treat, too. They played from in front for the whole match. While never completely putting the Eels away, Parrematta were forced to play catch up time and again. A sound kicking game, backed up by a faultless chase, time after time. Not only this, but, Melbourne contained Parrematta danger man, Jarred Hayne, for the full eighty minutes. So well, that Hayne never fired a shot. So too, FuiFui Moi Moi. Well, at least for the first half. Moi Moi was inspirational in Parrematta's second half comeback. But more of that later. Oh, and a referee's decision. What is a grand final without a whiff of controversy.
It took Melbourne only four minutes to get on the scoreboard. After having forced Parrematta into a goal-line dropout, they spread the ball wide to their left side attack, where Brett Finch put Ryan Hoffman into a gap, which he made the most of by charging twenty metres to score. With Cameron Smith's sideline conversion, Melbourne were 6-0 up.
This was the perfect start for Melbourne, and their previous finals experience seemed to be paying dividends. They were making good metres on each set of six without any costly errors. Parrematta, on the flip side, seemed a touch nervous and were making hard work of denting the Storm's defence. Not helping, also, was their kicking game which lacked any semblance of organisation or accuracy.
To their credit though, they did start to get on an even footing with the Storm. Maybe not on the scoreboard, but at least they were making forays into Melbourne's territory.
Problem was, though, that just as they had been looking more likely, Cooper Cronk made their life even tougher, when he through a dummy, broke the defensive line and passed back on the inside to Adam Blair, who gratefully took possession of the ball to race twenty metres to score in the right side corner.
A 10-nil lead which the Storm consolidated until half-time. It was a solid half of football from Melbourne, and a nervous one from Parrematta. Those nerves dissapated somewhat for Parrematta in the second half. And, this is where it gets entertaining. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, get yourselves some liquid refreshments, a light snack or three, find your seats and be prepared to be dazzled.
Parrematta had to score first in the second half to have any chance of pulling off a victory. Enter fuifui Moi Moi. If the UN weapons inspectors think they have got problems in Iran, they've seen nothing yet. Get them down to Australia, for there is a suspicion that there is a weapon of mass destruction being made. His name is Fuifui Moi Moi. It only took a couple of minutes for suspicions to grow, as Moi Moi rocked Brett White with a bone crunching tackle. This seemed to lift Parrematta, for in the 45th minute, Feleti Mataeo makes a forty metre dash down field. The Eels forge ahead towards the Storm's twenty metre line, where they go wide to their right side attack, finding Eric Grothe, who barges his way through three Melbourne defenders to score. Only six points down now, Parrematta seemed to be back in the match. But this was typical of their night. No sooner had they fought their way back, they relinquished their intensity. Greg Inglis was mighty thankful, too, in the 49th minute, as he regathered a Cooper Cronk bomb, under no pressure from any Parrematta defenders and strolled over to score under the crossbar. With the conversion, then another converted try to Billy Slater six minutes later, the match seemed to be Melbourne's for the taking.
To Parrematta's credit though, they did not give up. It took fifteen minutes, but the Storm seemed to be tiring, when Joel Reddy soars like an eagle to gather a last tackle kick from Jeff Robson, and score.
Where there is life, there is hope. Moi Moi certainly thought so. Not content to soley be a battering ram and make explosive tackles, Moi Moi decided to extend his range of capabilities to scoring twenty-five metre individualistic efforts. A fine one, too. And an effort that got his team within six points of Melbourne to trail 22-16.
The referees, Tony Archer and Shane Hayne had, until this point, a mistake free match. In the 76th minute, however, Archer awarded a penalty to Melbourne for a strip in the tackle. Melbourne gleefully took this opportunity to make their way down into Parrematta's red zone, where Greg Inglis calmly slotted a field goal to give his team a seven point lead and a 23-16 victory. Replays showed clearly that the penalty was wrongly given, when a knock-on should have been awarded.
Luck, though, is part of any sport at times, and Melbourne were good enough to cash in on the good fortune that came their way. That is what good teams do. Not to mention, surviving what very nearly ended up being their very own nuclear winter.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Warrior's outclassed by finals bound Storm
Stacey Jones played his 261st Nrl match tonight at Mt Smart Stadium. It was his last. And, dare say, not his most memorable, as his side went down 30-0 to the Melbourne Storm. A clear, calm evening along with 14734 mightily keen supporters of the little general, turned up to witness Jones' last stand.
Unfortunately for them, the old magic wasn't anywhere to be seen, as Melbourne ran in six unanswered tries. It was, from the Storm, a clinical performance that had the scent of a team fine tuning their performance for a finals onslaught, beginning next week. A judicious kicking game, that continually forced their opposition to bring the ball out from deep within their red zone. It also forced the Warrior's to concede six goal line drop-outs. It took time, but the pressure built. And, it told in the second half.
The Warrior's had done exceedingly well to limit the damage to 12-0 at the break. Tries to the ever present Billy Slater and centre, Will Chambers. For they had not had their share of possession. Despite, surprisingly, having Simon Mannering back from injury, to give some much needed size in the centres, they were still without Captain, Steve Price and their only attacking weapon this year, Manu Vatuvei. And, it showed. Many was the time that the Warrior's got themselves in attacking positions. Alas, just as many was the time that they offered nothing, once in those attacking locations. All season long, last tackle options involved kicking high for Vatuvei. Hard to do when he's not there. So what did they do? Well, one would like to inform you all. Unfortunately not possible, as one could not see any plausibly good options been taken.
Despite a strong first up set of six at the start of the second stanza for the Warrior's, it was more of the same. Melbourne, too, provided more of the same. And in the case of Greg Inglis, superstar extraordinaire, it was an sparkling array of attacking deliverance. For, in the 46th minute, Inglis scooped the ball up from the play the ball, charged off up field, to go where very few men ever get to go, a seventy metre dash to the opposition's in-goal area to touch down.
16-nil down, the floodgates were about to open. The Warrior's could no longer stem the tide. A second try to Will Chambers in the 54th minute, gave Melbourne a twenty point buffer. Also gave the Warrior's very little hope of a comeback.
And, so it turned out, as the gates opened and the tide turned into a torrent. Seven minutes later and winger, Dane Nielson, scored in the left corner, off what has to be said, was a dubious pass. Cameron Smith converts from the sideline. It's a fine goal, that's to be sure.
The storm rounded of their gleefully efficient scoring spree with a 70th minute try to Ryan Hinchcliffe, to take the score out to 30-0. Where it stayed.
For the Warrior's, it was a disappointing way to send Jones off. But, their performance tonight was symptomatic of what has happened all season. Great effort put in, but on attack, the evidence presented was non existent.
While fans would have hoped to see their team perform better, a scoreline such as tonights may at least have a silver lining, in that it was evident that this is a club that has major problems.
Unfortunately for them, the old magic wasn't anywhere to be seen, as Melbourne ran in six unanswered tries. It was, from the Storm, a clinical performance that had the scent of a team fine tuning their performance for a finals onslaught, beginning next week. A judicious kicking game, that continually forced their opposition to bring the ball out from deep within their red zone. It also forced the Warrior's to concede six goal line drop-outs. It took time, but the pressure built. And, it told in the second half.
The Warrior's had done exceedingly well to limit the damage to 12-0 at the break. Tries to the ever present Billy Slater and centre, Will Chambers. For they had not had their share of possession. Despite, surprisingly, having Simon Mannering back from injury, to give some much needed size in the centres, they were still without Captain, Steve Price and their only attacking weapon this year, Manu Vatuvei. And, it showed. Many was the time that the Warrior's got themselves in attacking positions. Alas, just as many was the time that they offered nothing, once in those attacking locations. All season long, last tackle options involved kicking high for Vatuvei. Hard to do when he's not there. So what did they do? Well, one would like to inform you all. Unfortunately not possible, as one could not see any plausibly good options been taken.
Despite a strong first up set of six at the start of the second stanza for the Warrior's, it was more of the same. Melbourne, too, provided more of the same. And in the case of Greg Inglis, superstar extraordinaire, it was an sparkling array of attacking deliverance. For, in the 46th minute, Inglis scooped the ball up from the play the ball, charged off up field, to go where very few men ever get to go, a seventy metre dash to the opposition's in-goal area to touch down.
16-nil down, the floodgates were about to open. The Warrior's could no longer stem the tide. A second try to Will Chambers in the 54th minute, gave Melbourne a twenty point buffer. Also gave the Warrior's very little hope of a comeback.
And, so it turned out, as the gates opened and the tide turned into a torrent. Seven minutes later and winger, Dane Nielson, scored in the left corner, off what has to be said, was a dubious pass. Cameron Smith converts from the sideline. It's a fine goal, that's to be sure.
The storm rounded of their gleefully efficient scoring spree with a 70th minute try to Ryan Hinchcliffe, to take the score out to 30-0. Where it stayed.
For the Warrior's, it was a disappointing way to send Jones off. But, their performance tonight was symptomatic of what has happened all season. Great effort put in, but on attack, the evidence presented was non existent.
While fans would have hoped to see their team perform better, a scoreline such as tonights may at least have a silver lining, in that it was evident that this is a club that has major problems.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Warrior's fail to Gate Crash El Magic's party
The New Zealand Warriors travelled to Australia to take on the Canterbury Bulldogs in the penultimate round of regular NRL season today. Aim: ruin Hasem El Masri's farewell party with an away win. Didn't work, though. Rather like their overall plans for the 2009 season.
A high scoring affair, 40-20, that had a bit of everything. 41835 adoring fans of El Masri's, tries aplenty, a perfect eight from eight conversions from the great man himself, offloads galore( particularly from the Warrior's in the second half as they played catch up). And a prop stealing an opportunity for El Masri to score a farewell try. Someone forgot to tell Jarrod Hickey that props are not supposed to run thirty metres to score, when he could have passed inside, for El Masri to get a perfect going away present.
Most of all, this was a day of celebration for the fourteen year veteran.A man that is the all time leading points scorer. And, a man that not only could kick goals, but knew how too find his way to the try line. One hundred and fifty nine times, in fact. Would have been one more if Jarred had passed the ball. Hasem sends his best wishes for the upcoming festive season, Jarred! A man of rare humility, a man of great integrity, a man that brings people of different races together. A great man.
For the first fifteen minutes, the Bulldog's hopes of sending El Masri out on a high were looking shaky. Despite a 2nd minute penalty to El Masri, they were down 4-2 and the Warriors were looking far the stronger of the two teams. Especially as Bulldog's playmaker, Brett Kimorley, had left the field early in the match with a suspected season ending injury. A fractured cheekbone which may also have damaged his eye socket. He gained this, as Jerome Ropati was on the rampage down the warriors left side. A head clash as Kimorley tried to effect the tackle. Ropati offloaded to Manu Vatuvei. Vatuvei only had one to beat, Luke Patten. The General, surveying his options for the upcoming battle, finds that there is not enough time to formulate a battle strategy as Vatuvei steamrolls his way straight over the top of the enemy, to give his team a 4-2 lead. Patten does live to fight another day however.
It looked like the Warriors were going to cause a boil over as they dominated the game for the next ten minutes. Not to be, this time. The Bulldogs, with an inspired Michael Ennis leading the way, gradually started to gain the ascendancy, first with a 19th minute David Stagg try. Then Josh Morris opened his bottle of form, and discovered it fizzing with a three try haul. Well, lucky him. All in the space of eight minutes, too. The third being of a very fortuitous nature. The Warrior's, having been awarded a penalty with one second of the half remaining, put a bomb up for Patrick Ah Van's wing. Ah Van got up high and batted the ball back. Problem was though, it was a Bulldog's player who scooped on the loose ball and passed to Morris, who sprinted ninety metres to touch down.
With the conversion, the Bulldog's had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead at the break. And so it proved. To the Warrior's credit, they did not give up and played their hearts out for the full eighty minutes. They added another three tries to their tally, to give Vatuvei a second and prop, Sam Rapira a rare double. Problem was, their opposition also added another two touchdowns to Greg Eastwood and the already discussed, Jarred Hickey.
It was never going to be enough though. The Bulldog's were a superior unit, although it remains to be seen how Kimorley's injury will effect their chances of progressing to the grand final.
In the end, though, the day was about El Masri. A man that through all the rugby league scandals of recent times, to his credit, has stayed out of trouble.
A fine career that, rightly, should be celebrated.
A high scoring affair, 40-20, that had a bit of everything. 41835 adoring fans of El Masri's, tries aplenty, a perfect eight from eight conversions from the great man himself, offloads galore( particularly from the Warrior's in the second half as they played catch up). And a prop stealing an opportunity for El Masri to score a farewell try. Someone forgot to tell Jarrod Hickey that props are not supposed to run thirty metres to score, when he could have passed inside, for El Masri to get a perfect going away present.
Most of all, this was a day of celebration for the fourteen year veteran.A man that is the all time leading points scorer. And, a man that not only could kick goals, but knew how too find his way to the try line. One hundred and fifty nine times, in fact. Would have been one more if Jarred had passed the ball. Hasem sends his best wishes for the upcoming festive season, Jarred! A man of rare humility, a man of great integrity, a man that brings people of different races together. A great man.
For the first fifteen minutes, the Bulldog's hopes of sending El Masri out on a high were looking shaky. Despite a 2nd minute penalty to El Masri, they were down 4-2 and the Warriors were looking far the stronger of the two teams. Especially as Bulldog's playmaker, Brett Kimorley, had left the field early in the match with a suspected season ending injury. A fractured cheekbone which may also have damaged his eye socket. He gained this, as Jerome Ropati was on the rampage down the warriors left side. A head clash as Kimorley tried to effect the tackle. Ropati offloaded to Manu Vatuvei. Vatuvei only had one to beat, Luke Patten. The General, surveying his options for the upcoming battle, finds that there is not enough time to formulate a battle strategy as Vatuvei steamrolls his way straight over the top of the enemy, to give his team a 4-2 lead. Patten does live to fight another day however.
It looked like the Warriors were going to cause a boil over as they dominated the game for the next ten minutes. Not to be, this time. The Bulldogs, with an inspired Michael Ennis leading the way, gradually started to gain the ascendancy, first with a 19th minute David Stagg try. Then Josh Morris opened his bottle of form, and discovered it fizzing with a three try haul. Well, lucky him. All in the space of eight minutes, too. The third being of a very fortuitous nature. The Warrior's, having been awarded a penalty with one second of the half remaining, put a bomb up for Patrick Ah Van's wing. Ah Van got up high and batted the ball back. Problem was though, it was a Bulldog's player who scooped on the loose ball and passed to Morris, who sprinted ninety metres to touch down.
With the conversion, the Bulldog's had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead at the break. And so it proved. To the Warrior's credit, they did not give up and played their hearts out for the full eighty minutes. They added another three tries to their tally, to give Vatuvei a second and prop, Sam Rapira a rare double. Problem was, their opposition also added another two touchdowns to Greg Eastwood and the already discussed, Jarred Hickey.
It was never going to be enough though. The Bulldog's were a superior unit, although it remains to be seen how Kimorley's injury will effect their chances of progressing to the grand final.
In the end, though, the day was about El Masri. A man that through all the rugby league scandals of recent times, to his credit, has stayed out of trouble.
A fine career that, rightly, should be celebrated.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Stolen
Stolen
Thirty-six points go missing
New Zealand Warriors management, in conjunction with the NRL have called in the Parramatta police to investigate the alleged theft of thirty-six points, tonight at Parramatta Stadium. Warriors management have accused the Parramatta side of stealing the points, but Parramatta players have countered this with accusations of poor defence on the part of Warriors players.
In what turned out to be an easy case to investigate, sources from within Parramatta police have said that the only offence they will be charging the Parramatta players with, is that of being in possession of more than their fair share of ball over the first twenty minutes of the match. Parramatta coach, Daniel Anderson conceded that they could not defend this charge as the facts were undeniable. However, he did say that he was pleased that once they got hold of this possession, they used it in what he considered a meaningful way, and was sure their team's fans would forgive them.
In a twist of irony, the same sources have claimed that the Warriors players and coaching staff would be charged with aiding and abetting their rivals in running up an inordinately large score. Also, a charge of poor defence will be levelled at them.
Both lots of defendants are expected to appear in court on Monday morning. Warriors coach, Ivan Cleary, bristling with fierce indignation when told of the charges, claimed credit should be given to the Parramatta attack. While Parrematta's attack was good, experts say that this does not allow for a 40-4 defeat and that the Warriors defence of their defence will not stand up in court.
It is expected that, while all members of the team tried their utmost, most Warrior's players will come in for strong sentencing, but Manu "the beast" Vatuvei will survive with his reputation intact, after a strong showing, which included one try from a Stacey Jones last tackle kick. Sound familiar? While it is to be conceded that a try is a try, this appears to be the Warrior's definition of an attacking play. Their only one, all season, it seems. As one of historys great wits, Oscar Wilde, once wrote, "to define is to limit".
On the other side, while Parramatta did commit one of the seven deadly sins, Gluttony, during the first twenty minutes, at the very least they used it with an effervescent zest that was too net them three tries in that same time span. In the case of the first and third tries, they were both instigated by the best player on the field, Jarrod Hayne. Both times he severed the Warriors defence, to set up Joel Reddy and Matthew Keating, who both scored close to the goalposts.
With those and one other to Daniel Mortimer, Parramatta were already ahead, 18-0. Vatuvei got his touchdown in the 32nd minute. That was to be the Warrior's first and last joy of what was a soul searching eighty minutes. Up until then, there had only been one team in the match. From then onwards, there was only one team in it.
The remaining fifty minutes brought dividends for Parramatta, in the nature of four more tries. Except for one, the rest were converted by Luke Burt. Which will go along way to helping secure Parramatta a top eight birth. Before the match they had a points deferential of -46. Those conversions not only helped secure a large win, but brought the deferential back to -12. This will be crucial in their charge for a finals berth.
For the Warriors, they tried different playing staff, but it proved to be a case of another week, another loss. The season's end can't come soon enough for them.
Thirty-six points go missing
New Zealand Warriors management, in conjunction with the NRL have called in the Parramatta police to investigate the alleged theft of thirty-six points, tonight at Parramatta Stadium. Warriors management have accused the Parramatta side of stealing the points, but Parramatta players have countered this with accusations of poor defence on the part of Warriors players.
In what turned out to be an easy case to investigate, sources from within Parramatta police have said that the only offence they will be charging the Parramatta players with, is that of being in possession of more than their fair share of ball over the first twenty minutes of the match. Parramatta coach, Daniel Anderson conceded that they could not defend this charge as the facts were undeniable. However, he did say that he was pleased that once they got hold of this possession, they used it in what he considered a meaningful way, and was sure their team's fans would forgive them.
In a twist of irony, the same sources have claimed that the Warriors players and coaching staff would be charged with aiding and abetting their rivals in running up an inordinately large score. Also, a charge of poor defence will be levelled at them.
Both lots of defendants are expected to appear in court on Monday morning. Warriors coach, Ivan Cleary, bristling with fierce indignation when told of the charges, claimed credit should be given to the Parramatta attack. While Parrematta's attack was good, experts say that this does not allow for a 40-4 defeat and that the Warriors defence of their defence will not stand up in court.
It is expected that, while all members of the team tried their utmost, most Warrior's players will come in for strong sentencing, but Manu "the beast" Vatuvei will survive with his reputation intact, after a strong showing, which included one try from a Stacey Jones last tackle kick. Sound familiar? While it is to be conceded that a try is a try, this appears to be the Warrior's definition of an attacking play. Their only one, all season, it seems. As one of historys great wits, Oscar Wilde, once wrote, "to define is to limit".
On the other side, while Parramatta did commit one of the seven deadly sins, Gluttony, during the first twenty minutes, at the very least they used it with an effervescent zest that was too net them three tries in that same time span. In the case of the first and third tries, they were both instigated by the best player on the field, Jarrod Hayne. Both times he severed the Warriors defence, to set up Joel Reddy and Matthew Keating, who both scored close to the goalposts.
With those and one other to Daniel Mortimer, Parramatta were already ahead, 18-0. Vatuvei got his touchdown in the 32nd minute. That was to be the Warrior's first and last joy of what was a soul searching eighty minutes. Up until then, there had only been one team in the match. From then onwards, there was only one team in it.
The remaining fifty minutes brought dividends for Parramatta, in the nature of four more tries. Except for one, the rest were converted by Luke Burt. Which will go along way to helping secure Parramatta a top eight birth. Before the match they had a points deferential of -46. Those conversions not only helped secure a large win, but brought the deferential back to -12. This will be crucial in their charge for a finals berth.
For the Warriors, they tried different playing staff, but it proved to be a case of another week, another loss. The season's end can't come soon enough for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)