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Parramatta have put a week of drama behind them with a 16-12 victory over St George Illawarra at Pirtek Stadium on Saturday Night.
PARRAMATTA 16
ST GEORGE 12
A hat-trick to Semi Radradra, and great defence at the end of the game, moved the Eels to 13th on the ladder and within striking distance of the top 8.
In an explosive start to the match, both teams would score in the opening four minutes of the match.
The Dragons would score first through Euan Aitken before they dropped the ball immediately after the restart.
The Eels, through Radradra, would make them pay as he scored his first try for the night in the corner to level the match up.
Scoring would then dry up as defence took over the contest.
The Dragons, in the 11th minute, would have a try disallowed because of an obstruction on Chris Sandow.
Contact was made to the Eel player but he did act for the penalty nicely.
Twenty minutes later, after limited chances, the Dragons would score a penalty after four straight sets.
The 8-6 scoreline would be the half time score.
Four minutes later the Eels would score again to take the lead for the first time.
Radradra would score his 37th try in his career, after a knock to the head 30 seconds earlier, to give the Eels a 12-8 lead.
A few minutes later, a decision from the referees, would effectively hand the momentum to the Eels.
A try from Aitken, from a flick pass from Farrell, was deemed to be forward after he tapped the ball back in play from touch.
There was no conclusive decision either way from the video, but because the original decision was no try that was what it remained as the Eels won the ball back.
From my viewpoint it didn’t look forward.
Two minutes later, a third try to Radradra, would hand Parramatta an 8 point lead.
Despite a late try to the Dragons, the Eels would hold on with great defence in the final few minutes.
Two passes into touch, from Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop, didn’t help the Dragons.
They now remain in 3rd position on the ladder but could be joined by three other teams on the same points at the end of the weekend.
Their grasp on a top 4 spot is starting to slip.
The Eels now take on the Tigers next week with the Dragons facing the Cowboys at WIN Stadium.
The Parramatta Eels will look to put a poor week off the field behind them when they take on the St George Illawarra Dragons at Pirtek Stadium.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 7:30pm AEST.
It has been a fortnight to forget for the Eels, after their impressive win over Melbourne in Round 14. First, before the match against the Storm, their CEO Scott Seward resigned from the club. It was then revealed that the club was in damage control over a secret one million dollar clause in Kieran Foran’s contract that allowed him to take that payment if he left the club at any time from next year and beyond.
Later it was revealed that two contracts were lodged with the NRL. One had the clause with the other being for less money with no clause in the deal.
Foran, who was stunned with what happened, is now unhappy about how he has been treated at the club and is yet to make a decision on whether to sign and stay at the Eels for 2016 or go somewhere else.
It got worse yesterday for the Eels when they club has to take Nathan Peats’ car because of salary cap issues.
Thankfully, for them, the focus turn to on-field action today.
Despite plenty of criticism, throughout the season, the Eels could move to within one game of the top eight with a win tonight.
They also have a fantastic record against the Dragons, who have surprised this season. Sitting in third, two games behind Brisbane and North Queensland, St George have lost their last two matches including a 19-14 loss over the Roosters on Monday.
They now play at a venue they have only won three times at – out of 12 matches at Pirtek Stadium. The last time these two met resulted in a 36-0 win by Parramatta. I guarantee that won’t happen again today with the defence of the Dragons this season.
They are the leading defensive team in the NRL and come up against the ninth best attack in the competition. How the attack of Parramatta, breaks down the defence of the Dragons, will ultimately decide who wins today.
If the match has plenty of tries then the Eels are right in the match to cause the upset.
If it is close, and tight, then the Dragons will favour those conditions. What isn’t helping the Eels is their injury list. five players are out from the squad that took on Melbourne. It is almost a shopping list of outs.
These include Reece Robinson (cheekbone), John Folau (omitted), Nathan Peats (ACL), Anthony Watmough (injury), and Kaysa Pritchard (omitted).
In for the match comes Luke Kelly, Will Hopoate (Origin), Daniel Alvaro, Cody Nelson and Joseph Paulo.
Nelson, who will play at hooker, will make his debut. The Dragons on the other hand are unchanged after Monday night football.
How the Eels cope with almost a third of their squad out, from their last match, will be fascinating. Can they combine quickly and defeat the Dragons?
This match will be closer than people think. The Eels are playing good football and the Dragons have lost their last two.
I still favour the Dragons to just hold on but don’t be surprised if the Eels come out playing with fire after an off-field week from hell.
Prediction – Dragons by 1.
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