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Post by Electric Eel on May 23, 2020 19:00:21 GMT 10
Round 9, 2005: Parramatta 50 d Nth Queensland 12
SMH
Eels 50 Cowboys 12
An undermanned Parramatta showed they were the whole shooting match against the more fancied Cowboys, reports Greg Prichard.
Parramatta coach Brian Smith talked about the Eels having dodged a lot of bullets before turning the gun on the opposition at Parramatta Stadium. It was fitting given they were playing the Cowboys.
It was not a game of two halves yesterday, but rather a game of one 20-minute section during which North Queensland held sway followed by the next 60 minutes in which Parramatta blew them away.
After the Eels had gone into the game minus centre Timana Tahu, winger Eric Grothe, hooker Mark Riddell and prop Paul Stringer, it looked on paper as if the Cowboys had been presented with a golden opportunity to pick up two points away from home.
The game began like they were were going to take advantage, too, when winger Matt Sing scored in the second minute after second-rower Carl Webb had held a defender off with one hand and passed with the other.
Centre Josh Hannay's conversion made it 6-0 and North Queensland appeared to be in a groove, but a couple of tremendous chances they had to establish a lead of up to 18-0 before the game was 20 minutes old weren't taken. The way the game is these days, that can be a mortal sin.
As soon as Parramatta found they could fire a shot and hit the target - which they did when halfback Tim Smith delivered a banana kick to his right in the 22nd minute and five-eighth John Morris followed through to score - the game turned around for good. Two more beautifully placed kicks from Smith, which led to tries from replacement forwards Luke O'Dwyer, in the 25th minute, and Fui Fui Moi Moi, in the 29th, and the Eels had broken North Queensland's back to lead 18-6.
The Cowboys never looked like getting back into the game and another stunning result was carved out in this crazy competition.
"We dodged some bullets," Smith said. "We dodged quite a lot of bullets, actually, before we got away with that game.
"The way the game is now, if one team misses its chances and the other team hangs in there, then that other team is going to be a chance.
"We went from 6-0 down - and what could have been 12 or 18 points down - to a situation where we were 18-6 up. It was quite incredible."
Again, the way the game is these days, an 18-6 lead with the match still in the first half isn't remotely a guarantee of a win, but once Parramatta had taken control they reigned with an iron fist.
Spectacular things the Cowboys often try and normally pull off simply didn't work, and the effect of their chief playmaker - halfback Johnathan Thurston - gradually diminished from the effect of a heavy knock to the hip he had taken early. Thurston was replaced during the second half once there was no longer any hope of a rescue.
North Queensland's deputy sheriff - assistant coach Neil Henry - was doing the talking on behalf of the club after the game.
It wasn't that coach Graham Murray was too angry with the performance to talk himself - he was quite approachable in the dressing room later - it was just that Henry had effectively prepared the side with Murray away coaching the City Origin team. Henry felt he had a duty to take his week's work all the way to the wire.
Henry denied the Cowboys players had perhaps been guilty of taking a long look at the team sheets, noticing Parramatta were missing a quartet of stars and thinking it was going to be a lot easier than it was.
"I wouldn't say it was arrogance," Henry said. "We were outplayed. We completed 10 out of 10 sets early, but we only completed three out of our next eight because Parramatta were putting enormous pressure on us. Defensively, we always seemed to be on the back foot after the first 20 minutes."
Of the four Eels who were late withdrawals, only Tahu was never a hope to play on the day.
Grothe, Riddell and Stringer could have all played at a pinch. They were carrying only niggling injuries, but they were tired from having played in the City-Country game in Lismore on Friday night and Smith decided to stand them down and go with fresh legs.
"They weren't happy about it [the decision]," Smith said. "And I'd be disappointed if they reacted any other way. They're footballers, they want to play.
"It was a gamble to leave them out, but it was a sign of our respect for the way North Queensland have been playing that we decided to go in with fresh guys who weren't at risk of running out of energy."
In the end it was the Cowboys who couldn't find any more ammunition.
The Eels never stopped firing shots.
SMH
Eels 50 Cowboys 12
An undermanned Parramatta showed they were the whole shooting match against the more fancied Cowboys, reports Greg Prichard.
Parramatta coach Brian Smith talked about the Eels having dodged a lot of bullets before turning the gun on the opposition at Parramatta Stadium. It was fitting given they were playing the Cowboys.
It was not a game of two halves yesterday, but rather a game of one 20-minute section during which North Queensland held sway followed by the next 60 minutes in which Parramatta blew them away.
After the Eels had gone into the game minus centre Timana Tahu, winger Eric Grothe, hooker Mark Riddell and prop Paul Stringer, it looked on paper as if the Cowboys had been presented with a golden opportunity to pick up two points away from home.
The game began like they were were going to take advantage, too, when winger Matt Sing scored in the second minute after second-rower Carl Webb had held a defender off with one hand and passed with the other.
Centre Josh Hannay's conversion made it 6-0 and North Queensland appeared to be in a groove, but a couple of tremendous chances they had to establish a lead of up to 18-0 before the game was 20 minutes old weren't taken. The way the game is these days, that can be a mortal sin.
As soon as Parramatta found they could fire a shot and hit the target - which they did when halfback Tim Smith delivered a banana kick to his right in the 22nd minute and five-eighth John Morris followed through to score - the game turned around for good. Two more beautifully placed kicks from Smith, which led to tries from replacement forwards Luke O'Dwyer, in the 25th minute, and Fui Fui Moi Moi, in the 29th, and the Eels had broken North Queensland's back to lead 18-6.
The Cowboys never looked like getting back into the game and another stunning result was carved out in this crazy competition.
"We dodged some bullets," Smith said. "We dodged quite a lot of bullets, actually, before we got away with that game.
"The way the game is now, if one team misses its chances and the other team hangs in there, then that other team is going to be a chance.
"We went from 6-0 down - and what could have been 12 or 18 points down - to a situation where we were 18-6 up. It was quite incredible."
Again, the way the game is these days, an 18-6 lead with the match still in the first half isn't remotely a guarantee of a win, but once Parramatta had taken control they reigned with an iron fist.
Spectacular things the Cowboys often try and normally pull off simply didn't work, and the effect of their chief playmaker - halfback Johnathan Thurston - gradually diminished from the effect of a heavy knock to the hip he had taken early. Thurston was replaced during the second half once there was no longer any hope of a rescue.
North Queensland's deputy sheriff - assistant coach Neil Henry - was doing the talking on behalf of the club after the game.
It wasn't that coach Graham Murray was too angry with the performance to talk himself - he was quite approachable in the dressing room later - it was just that Henry had effectively prepared the side with Murray away coaching the City Origin team. Henry felt he had a duty to take his week's work all the way to the wire.
Henry denied the Cowboys players had perhaps been guilty of taking a long look at the team sheets, noticing Parramatta were missing a quartet of stars and thinking it was going to be a lot easier than it was.
"I wouldn't say it was arrogance," Henry said. "We were outplayed. We completed 10 out of 10 sets early, but we only completed three out of our next eight because Parramatta were putting enormous pressure on us. Defensively, we always seemed to be on the back foot after the first 20 minutes."
Of the four Eels who were late withdrawals, only Tahu was never a hope to play on the day.
Grothe, Riddell and Stringer could have all played at a pinch. They were carrying only niggling injuries, but they were tired from having played in the City-Country game in Lismore on Friday night and Smith decided to stand them down and go with fresh legs.
"They weren't happy about it [the decision]," Smith said. "And I'd be disappointed if they reacted any other way. They're footballers, they want to play.
"It was a gamble to leave them out, but it was a sign of our respect for the way North Queensland have been playing that we decided to go in with fresh guys who weren't at risk of running out of energy."
In the end it was the Cowboys who couldn't find any more ammunition.
The Eels never stopped firing shots.
