St George Illawarra held off a spirited fightback from Parramatta to post an entertaining 34-20 victory in their NRL trial match in Perth on Sunday.
The Dragons raced out to a 16-0 lead inside 35 minutes but the Eels ran in four of the next five tries to close the gap to just two points with 13 minutes remaining.
But with the game on the line St George lifted another gear, with tries to hooker Nathan Fien and Michael Lett in the dying stages securing the six-tries-to-four win in front of 9,450 fans.
Both sides fielded a mix of first-graders and up-and-comers, with last year’s Dally M Medal winner Jarryd Hayne, Nathan Hindmarsh, Fuifui Moimoi and Justin Poore missing for the Eels and Jamie Soward, Matt Cooper, Brett Morris and the suspended Beau Scott among a host of players not featuring for the Dragons.
St George were on the back foot for much of the opening 15 minutes but against the run of play last year’s minor premiers struck first, with a dangerous bomb from Fien finding a running Jason Nightingale five metres from the line.
Nightingale couldn’t handle the ball but Nick Emmett ran on to the spillage to open the scoring.
A neat inside pass from hooker Luke Priddis to front rower Ricky Thorby opened up the Eels’ defence for the second try of the night, with Bronx Goodwin’s conversion making it 10-0 after 30 minutes.
Parramatta were struggling to stem the tide and Nightingale made it 16-0 five minutes before half-time when he shook off three Eels tacklers in a 30m sprint to the line.
The Eels were lucky not to be further in arrears with Goodwin fumbling a pass with the line in sight before Lett’s try was disallowed due to a forward pass.
Parramatta made the most of their double hit of good fortune, scoring on the stroke of half-time when a neat grubber kick from Kris Keating put Robson over, making it 16-4 at the break.
Eels winger Etu Uaisele closed the gap to 16-8 early in the second half and although a Jake Marketo try extended the buffer out to 22-8, Parramatta were clearly on the charge.
Their dominance of possession paid off just a minute before three-quarter time, with Kris Keating and run-on captain Feleti Mateo exchanging passes to expose the Dragons’ defence.
But despite closing the gap to two points the Eels couldn’t land the killer blow, with the Dragons racing in two late tries to secure victory.
“We had a few young players, I thought it was a like a furnace blast for them,” Eels coach Daniel Anderson said.
“We got caught a little bit physically by the size of the Dragons but they got better as the game got on.
“We started to play with a bit more conviction and confidence. I thought we played very conservatively (in the first half).
“But in the second half they stressed the line.
“Feleti (Mateo) came on and I thought he made a big difference … and gave us some opportunities.”
St George stand-in coach Steve Price was pleased with how his team performed.
“I’m sure a lot of the senior guys get a lot of confidence out of those younger boys who got the opportunity today, especially Jake Marketo and Beau Henry and Kyle Stanley got a good opportunity out there,” Price said.
“Across the board we were very pleased with the first hit-out.”
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
Touche my friend who is on a thread of a sport he doesn’t seem to like! that is a stupid comment, Rugby League could say the same about there TV deal since the Super League war.
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
what other major rugby league game mate? And if you are talking about SoO that is included in the TV deals so it doesnt matter. Its like if I give you 26 weeks which give you more revenue than 24, I would expect more money overall for the 26 than the 24. It doesn't matter, but I do have to say Touche my friend who is on a thread of a sport he doesn’t seem to like! that you don't make much sense with your grammatical errors. Please read and think what you say.
dave
Guest
The ARU deal is more than $140 million more than it had in 1995. Do you have memory loss about the history of the ARU ?
dave
Guest
Does Jarryd Hayne knows that NRL list includes all major rugby league games played in Australia not just the NRL ? Probably have something to do with the AFL having teams in all major capital cities in Australia and AFL competition been a truly a national sport.
dave
Guest
Here's your church's website. http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/ You havent mention the other countries yet.
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
I think these money deal predictions may change in the short future (next 2-3 years), since a lot of things will come into play. Union gain the Melbourne Rebels, A-league may expand again. AFL have 2 new teams, and Rugby League will (hopefully) have an independent commission and MAY expand. And Jarryd Hayne keeps saying he is unable to reason why the NRL has higher viewership than the AFL yet gets less money. So hopefully he is our next negotiator. Honestly.
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
popularity has varied definitions, the game registered 8000 new players last year, the new SANZAR deal hasnt been released and until the other codes have their new arrangements it cant be speculated because there is no comparibility. the game is in a low in terms of marketability i agree. im unsure of what they get from the asian bledisloe, but i do know they have more than 15 million in reserve (as in outside of normal cashflow).
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
Ummm, I have ppl from my Church living in Kazakhstan and I do not know where you get your idea about them losing RL. In fact it has come popular with many kids who see soccer as a hard game to play in the snow. Touche my friend who is on a thread of a sport he doesn't seem to like. Hey, that can be your new name. And Georgia is a bad example, since they are getting rid of most sports, especially due to the Russian conflict. Ukraine is also keeping well (again we have missionaries from Church that LIVE over THERE). Moldova, really, come on, that place is an economic disaster, nothing will survive over there, not even your precious Union. Also the dutch competition is starting to get more expanded, even the Belgians are stating to play club league with some of them. My family are from there and live there. Man, you really didn't choose the right thread to do this on, did you Touche my friend who is on a thread of a sport he doesn't seem to like!
Realist
Guest
Oh boy. The game's popularity and marketability hasn't been lower since the 1980's. The new SANZAR deal for the ARU isn't much better than the old one (which means the so-called "brilliant" new Stupid Rugby competition that RU fans reckon will take the game past rugby league hasn't translated into a huge increase in TV revenue). The Bledisloe Cup match in Asia concept is the only thing keeping the ARU in the black, though it has cheapened the value of the Bledisloe Cup.
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
nope, it started growing a year after JON came back.
Realist
Guest
"You have no idea how close the ARU came to declared bankruptcy in the 1980’s. " The ARL is sliding backwards though, isn't it?
dave
Guest
Amen
dave
Guest
A few ex nrl players are calling the current nrl game and rules touch footy.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
i.e. none of them are going anywhere and you can keep having these dumb conversations for another five years.
dave
Guest
I remember that first game and it was downhill from there to crowds of 6000 in mid 1996. Did you missed that ?
John Ryan
Roar Pro
I suppose it breaks the monotony of living in Melbourne,unless you a Gangster
dave
Guest
Record crowds to what ?
John Ryan
Roar Pro
you must have missed the 25000 who watched the REDS at the WACA ground selective memory Dave
John Ryan
Roar Pro
Scoring 100 pts a game 15 man 7s your back where you started some yrs ago.or are you just going to call it non tackle rugby may as well watch AFL
John Ryan
Roar Pro
Funny how they attracted record crowds in the only season before the NEWS LTD mongrels came along,I assume you can read, go read up on it