Match Review, Round 21 Vs Parramatta Eels
Prior to the Roosters’ Round 21 trip to Parramatta, recent results had started the bandwagon rolling. Following two stunning last minute victories at the SFS, the Chooks overcame a Brisbane fightback (spearheaded by the referees) to triumph at Lang Park. Eels supporters were entitled to feel just as optimistic as their season started to gain momentum with three straight wins. The ‘Hayne Train’ had transformed into the ‘Hayne Plane’ and Parra were flying high.
All of this meant that a sell out crowd crammed into Parramatta Stadium for a game that promised to be a blockbuster. As I arrived at the ground 90 minutes before kickoff (with tickets for the Northern Terrace purchased in advance), dozens of people were being turned away from the ticket office with the news that the game was sold out. The crowd of only 19,824 was disappointing considering the ground boasts a capacity of 21,487.
It didn’t take long for Mitchell Aubusson to open the scoring with a trademark charge down the right hand edge, outpacing the Hayne Train to cross in the corner. More misery was heaped on the Parramatta star when he was badly caught out by a deft Todd Carney kick for Sam Perrett, whose quick hands set up Shaun Kenny-Dowall for the Chooks’ second try of the evening. Making his 200th appearance for the club, Anthony Minichiello burst onto a Mitchell Pearce offload near the line as the Roosters extended their lead to 18.
Soon, though, the Hayne Plane took off when the Eels’ fullback broke three tackles to reduce the margin to six points. Five minutes later, Kane Linnett provided one of the highlights of the evening as he pounced on a loose ball to streak away down the left hand edge and set up Phil Graham for a four-pointer. The Roosters would have to settle for a 24-12 lead at the interval, however, as some sloppy defended allowed Nathan Hindmarsh to score just before half time.
The silver lining on the cloud of conceding those two soft tries was that the Roosters looked keen to make amends after the break. Almost immediately, Braith Anasta initiated a nice passing move to send Linnet over in the corner. Unfortunately, this marked the beginning of a frustrating 20 minute period where the Roosters received precious little of the ball, which was gifted to the Eels by some very dubious refereeing. Parramatta were given a vast swathe of their 11 penalties in this stretch of time as they hammered the Roosters’ goal line relentlessly.
Impressively, the young Chooks refused to buckle. The defensive effort was inspiring, able to repel wave after wave of blue and gold assaults to hold the Eels to nil in the second half. When Minichiello crashed over for his second try with about 15 minutes remaining, it signalled the beginning of party time for the tricolour fans who made the trip west. The Northern Terrace took particular joy in a couple of Jarryd Hayne errors, which prompted the mobile Chook Pen to imitate Hayne’s aeroplane pose in unison, much to the annoyance of the rather precious home fans.
The icing on the cake was provided by Frank Paul Nuu’ausala’s long range try and Phil Graham’s latching onto a grubber in the last ten minutes. For the first time in a long time, Roosters supporters chanted ‘we want fifty’ with some realistic prospect of actually reaching that score. The 48 point haul was aided by Carney’s accurate goal kicking, with the Number Six slotting all eight of his conversion attempts, including many from the sideline.
Heading into Round 22, the Roosters’ bubble is continuing to inflate. In the same week that Grand Final tickets went on sale, results like this one will have many optimistic supporters dreaming of seeing the Chooks compete on the first Sunday of October. We will be given a better indication of where the Roosters stand after next Sunday when they host St. George in undoubtedly the game of the season at the Sydney Cricket Ground. That fixture will see the two Premiership favourites lock horns, both in good form, and both keen to keep their campaign on track.
‘One week at a time’ is a footballing cliche, but it retains a great deal of truth. As easily as the Roosters have climbed the ladder, the tricolours are still at risk of slipping down into the bottom half of the eight if they fail to win tough games against St. George, Manly and the Gold Coast. It is imperative the games with Cronulla and North Queensland are not taken lightly, either, considering results earlier in the season.
But a win over the Dragons at the Cricket Ground next Sunday will see the bandwagon gather more pace, and supporters confident of a decent showing in September.
