Kieran Foran has given Parramatta a reminder of what might have been as he played a key role in the Warriors beating the Eels 22-10 in Auckland. It was Foran’s second match for the Warriors and his first against Parramatta after he left the club mid-season last year.
The Warriors look a much better side with Foran partnering Johnson in the halves. He gives them the direction they have often lacked. The win was the Warriors second in a row, while Parramatta have slumped to their fourth straight loss.
The Eels fielded a reshuffled backline after the mid-week withdrawal of fullback Bevan French with a knee injury. Clint Gutherson dropped back to fullback, Brad Takairangi moved to five-eighth and Kirisome Auva’a came off the bench into the centres.
Parramatta opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Nathan Brown scored under the posts, after running strongly onto an inside ball from Takairangi.
The Warriors then hit back with three unanswered tries to finish the first half strongly and head into the sheds leading 16-6.
The first was scored by backrower Bodene Thompson off a Shaun Johnson grubber kick. Simon Mannering crossed for their second try soon after when he ran a great line off a Kieran Foran pass.
Bodene Thompson then crossed for his second try four minutes before half-time after Blake Ayshford put him in the clear with an inside basketball style pass.
The Eels needed to score first in the second half and they did in the fifth minute when winger Josh Hoffman scored out wide off a Takairangi pass.
They then had two tries correctly disallowed by the bunker. One was due to a great try saving tackle on Semi Radradra by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who forced him into touch when he looked certain to score.
Midway through the second half, Foran made a clean break and drew Gutherson before putting winger Ken Maumolo over for the try.
That took the Warriors out to 22-10, a lead they maintained for the rest of the match in a solid 80-minute performance that will give their fans hope for this season.
Final score
New Zealand Warriors 22
Parramatta Eels 10
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