Not Our Night
If there was one play that summed up the game it was the Dylan Brown try. The kick went through and Latrell was casually jogging to the ball. At the same time Dylan Brown did all he could to get to the ball before it went dead.
Parramatta were all about the effort. The effort areas that we have been so good at this year just weren’t there.
The Start
It wasn’t a great start. Our great defence from this year had gone missing. Although it wasn’t the first time we conceded early.
It seemed like Parra had all the ball and field position in the first half. We were doing well enough to just hang on.
A disallowed try and try to Alex Johnston had us down by 2. Then another poor defensive error had the Eels cut us open, but this time we couldn’t stop them. That was 2 long range tries in the half. Something wasn’t right. The Eels were breaking tackles and offloading at will.
Hope
Then the play that gave us hope. A great try set up by Cody and Latrell to put AJ around. Once again down by 2.
We even had another chance and once again broke the Eels down our left side. AJ rightfully put the kick through. All we needed was a good bounce and it would have been another try. It wasn’t to be.
The last 5 minutes of the half would have been confident building for the boys. With the lack of possession and field position to only be down by 2 was a great result for us. Especially with how well we have been in second halves this year.
An early try to Campbell from a scrum put us up by 4. It looked like things were starting to fall into place.
The Set
Then the set that turned the game on its head. Just when we had momentum in the set Latrell gets the ball from dummy half and looks as though he doesn’t want to run. Then passes it to Cook who looked just as interested to have the ball.
From there Lachlan Ilias put the ball out on the full and gave the Eels great field position. Then we conceded a soft try to Bryce Cartwright.
Still we were only down by 2.
Out On The Full Again
Then another kick out on the full by Ilias. Again good field position for the Eels and our usual great defence let us down. We all of a sudden were down by 8.
We were still in the game but only just. Time was starting to get away. Still we have won from this position already this year.
The errors were starting to build now. The hope of a win was starting to fade. The frustration was starting to build. Then the Eels score again. Any hope we had was now gone.
Rub Salt In Wounds
Another try to the Eels just to rub salt into the wound. A disappointing night.
Ilias had a night to forget. His 2 kicks out on the full were costly. He wasn’t alone though. We still needed to defend our errors.
Despite the poor night there were some positives. Once again Cody was dangerous with ball in his hands.
Then we saw the AJ moves closer to the all time try scoring record. That is now 11 tries he has scored in the last 4 indigenous rounds.
Both Jai Arrow and Hame Sele did what they could to match the Parra pack.
A Disappointing End
In the end a disappointing end to what was a special night. Our first home game at the new stadium and the night we celebrate our indigenous culture. A game we usually put our best foot forward.
Now we move onto the Raiders. Without 3 of our Origin players. It will be another tough game and the start of a tough period with Origin.
Not Our Night.
By Josh Kemp for Bunnies TV.
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