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'They'll hurt you': Eels pile more misery on Warriors

(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Parramatta remain in the race for an all-important NRL top-four spot by accounting for the Warriors 28-18 at CommBank Stadium.

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At virtually full strength, the Eels were made to work for their victory by the Warriors, whose preparations were disrupted by a non-COVID sickness that swept through camp during the week.

But the New Zealanders had reason for positivity heading into Friday night’s game. They returned to Auckland for a win before the bye and had unveiled Andrew Webster as their new coach for 2023.

The Warriors’ confidence was evident in their defence early. The Eels were tackled 25 times in their 20 metre zone and forced three drop-outs before they could finally score.

When centre Waqa Blake broke through, his four-pointer marked the first time since round seven that Parramatta had crossed the tryline before their opponent.

Maika Sivo snaffled a wayward Shaun Johnson pass and streaked away 10 minutes later, teaming up with Blake for his second and the Warriors were 10 points in arrears.

But they refused to fold, striking back through Marcelo Montoya and remaining in the contest after the break thanks in no small part to ill discipline from both sides.

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In the first 10 minutes of the second half, referee Todd Smith blew his whistle for four errors, two penalties and two ruck infringements but the Eels were better equipped to rise from the mire and reignite their attack.

Seven members of Parramatta’s forward pack finished with over 100 run metres, laying the platform for a 15-minute period of dominance that saw them home.

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“We felt like we needed to target a number around metres tonight, which you need to control possession and then it gives you good field position,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said.

Isaiah Papali’i’s reported indecision about honouring his Wests Tigers contract made news this week but the headlines didn’t stop him from barging over with the try that set the Eels on the path for victory.

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“We just couldn’t build pressure,” Warriors interim coach Stacey Jones said.

“At crucial times, we came up with some errors and against a team like that, they’ll hurt you. They did that tonight.”

The win is crucial to Parramatta’s hopes of securing a top-four spot, especially given their tough draw to round the season out.

In their final seven regular season games, the Eels face only one side that are not currently in the top eight. They are now only outside of the top four on points differential.

“We look forward to (playing Brisbane) Thursday night,” Eels captain Clint Gutherson said.

“This is the type of footy you want to be playing at this time of year.”

The Warriors were already at long odds to play finals football but their latest loss all but confirms they will watch from afar.

By the end of the round, they could be as many as four wins out of the top eight and only one win off the bottom of the ladder, pending other results.

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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