2014 NRL Auckland Nines

Parramatta Eels 9's Jersey

GAME 3 | GREEN | Roosters vs Eels
11:25am AEDT | 10:25am AEST | 1:25pm NZDT | Ref: Brett Suttor
FULLTIME
EELS 18 (S Radradra 3, V Toutai tries; C Sandow 1/4 goals) def ROOSTERS 11 (M Pearce bonus try; D Tupou try; M Pearce 1/2 goals)

The Parramatta Eels have become the dark-horse for the 2014 Nines tournaments after consecutive dominant displays.

With their first match against the Roosters they raced to a 10-0 lead courtesy of a Semi Radradra double. Easts responded quickly with a bonus point try before scoring out-wide and they led 11-10 at half-time.

It was all the Eels though in the second half with Radradra crossing for his hattrick and Vai Toutai also adding to the scoreboard. They finished 18-11 winners over the 2013 NRL Premiers.

Parramatta's second match was against their traditional rivals, the Canterbury Bulldogs. The Eels were in no mood to let the Bulldogs into the match though.

Manu Ma'u crossed early on and that was quickly followed by Corey Norman's first try in Blue and Gold. Toutai then scored Parramatta's first bonus point try, taking Parramatta's lead to 15-0 at half-time.

Terepo crossed in the corner after Chris Sandow created something from nothing and took the score to 19-0. Sam Perrett crossed for the Dogs but the celebrations were short-lived when Radradra bagged his fourth try of the tournament. The Eels won 23-6.

Further good news for Parramatta is the form of their halves with both Sandow and Norman playing good games, controlling their team and kicking well. Sandow has been more impressive, drifting across field and slicing through the defence on a number of occasions.

Fuifui Moimoi has been one of the form forwards in the Nines, combining his ferocious charges with bone crunching defence and a wonderful kick-chase against the Bulldogs.

Parramatta's young forward pack has played without fear and have shown their full bag of tricks. Willie Tonga has also been playing well, often beating his man and positioning Radradra well.

The Eels will go into their final pool match tomorrow against the Broncos with 4 points and a +24 differential. With those stats the Eels have all but qualified for the quarter-finals with one game to play.

If Parramatta finish first in their group they'll play the second placed team in Group Blue.

Tomorrow the Roosters play the Dogs at 10:50am Sydney time

Eels play the Broncos at 11:15am Sydney time.

Semi Radradra against the Roosters.

Official Parramatta Eels website

The Dyldam Parramatta Eels have been knocked out of the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines, after a 17-6 loss to the Cronulla Sharks.

Running out to the quarterfinals in front of 50,000 vocal fans at Eden Park, the Eels began strongly, showing the grit in defence that saw them claim top spot in Pool Green.

But the Sharks weren’t mucking around, scoring first in the corner through Nathan Gardner, with an unsuccessful conversion.

The Eels hit back with some slick play from new hooker recruit Nathan Peats, with a sneaky pass to USA Tomahawks captain Sefa Paulo resulting in his crossing the line and converting his own try to put the Eels ahead 6-4 at the half.

The second half saw a few refereeing decisions and luck go against the Eels, with the Sharks racking up the first points through Val Holmes from a fast ball from Wright.

A short time later Nathan Stapleton added to their tally after the Sharks stacked the right edge to overlap our defence.

The boys were tiring, but Corey Norman looked to spark a renewed effort and head over the try line, but an offside call from the referee saw our chances dashed.

Cronulla Sharks 17 (Holmes, Stapleton, Gardner tries, Holdsworth 2 goals)
def.
Parramatta Eels 6 (Paulo try, Paulo 1 goal)

2nd QF | Eels v Sharks
1.55pm AEDT | 12:55pm AEST | 3:55pm NZDT | Ref: Gavin Badger
FULLTIME
SHARKS 17 (V Holmes bonus try; N Gardner, N Stapleton tries; N Stapleton 1/1, D Holdsworth 1/2 goals) def EELS 6 (S Paulo try; S Paulo 1/1 goal)