The New Zealand Warriors will be looking to end their five-game road losing streak this season when they travel to ANZ Stadium to take on the Parramatta Eels. Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the game, starting from 7:50pm AEST.
Both sides are coming off wins last round, with the Eels very impressive against a flat Souths side and the Warriors outclassing an understrength Brisbane Broncos in Auckland.
Both sides are essentially unaffected by Origin, with only the Warriors Jacob Lillyman a participant. He has been named 18th man by Stephen Kearney and I would not expect him to feature in this fixture.
For the Eels, Nathan Brown who was close to returning last week is a certain start at lock this week. Suaia Matagi is the starting prop with Beau Scott moving to the bench. Siosaia Vave (calf) and Tim Mannah (ribs) will not feature. Will Smith has come onto the bench in jersey 19.
For the Warriors, Solomone Kata returns at centre with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad making way. I would have liked to see Kearney show a bit more faith in Nicoll-Klokstad given the good start he has made to his NRL career, but he seems to favour the often underwhelming Ken Maumalo on the wing.
The Warriors will be hoping last weeks win might be something of a fire starter for them as they look for consecutive wins for the first time since rounds 5 and 6 this season.
The Eels were very slick in their first half hammering of the Rabbitohs last weekend, but only won the game by 6 points.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, they have had a habit of letting teams slowly manoeuvre their way back into games.
The Warriors will get a rare road win in Sydney tomorrow night and it will truly kick-start their season albeit three months late.
Prediction
Warriors by 4.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the game, starting from 7:50pm AEST.
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
Thank you for joining me tonight on The Roar's coverage of Parramatta Eels versus New Zealand Warriors. It was the Eels who were victorious tonight 32-24. What did everyone think of the game? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
MATCH REPORT The Parramatta Eels have recorded a 32-24 victory over the New Zealand Warriors in what was at times a shambolic exhibition of rugby league. The Eels were down to just one fit man on their interchange bench in the second half as a result of injuries to Kayser Pritchard (head), David Gower (hand) and Josh Hoffman (ankle). Parramatta started the game on fire with two tries inside the first ten minutes as the Warriors came out onto ANZ Stadium half asleep. In typical New Zealand fashion, they clicked into gear and responded with two tries in quick succession to lock the scores at 12. As the Warriors looked to be getting on top, a poor kick by Shaun Johnson, if you could call it a kick, only a toenail might have grazed the ball landed in the hands of the Clinton Gutherson who passed to Semi Radradra and he galloped into the open field to score an important try just before half-time to give the Eels an 18-12 lead at the major break. The second half started with a high intensity which looked to favour the Warriors, but they were not making as many metres as the Eels and Parramatta slowly began to get on top. A run of penalties to the Eels led to a penalty goal and then a Tepai Moeroa try looked to have sealed the game for the Eels as they led 26-12 with just over 20 minutes to play. The Warriors turned this see-sawing game back in their favour once more thanks to consecutive tries to Ryan Hoffman and Roger Tuivasa Sheck in the 64th and 71st minutes, setting up a grandstand finish with the Eels leading 26-24. New Zealand made a series of strange choices with ball in hand in the closing stages, including kicking on 4th tackle after making 60m already during one set and Simon Mannering inexplicably dropping the ball inside his own half as the Warriors looked to be on the attack. Clinton Gutherson put the cherry on top of a gutsy Eels victory with a try on the full-time hooter as the Warriors completely switched off and let the makeshift five-eighth push himself over the line for the match winning try. Overall this wasn't a pretty game of rugby league compared to the lofty standards we experienced on Wednesday night for example, but is an accurate reflection of where these sides are at present. The Warriors are inconsistent and the Eels are overachieving given they are without their best player in Corey Norman. A solid win for the Eels all in all.
Jusy
Guest
There is no consistency, a penalty for one thing and then same thing happens later and it's play on.
Sylvester
Guest
That was a pretty dreadful game, but I enjoyed the ups and downs of it all.
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
FULL TIME STATISTICS Parramatta 32 Tries: Auva'a, Hoffman, Radradra, Moeroa, Gutherson. Penalty goals: Gutherson (1/1). Conversions: Gutherson (4/4) New Zealand 24 Tries: Mannering, Maumalo, Hoffman, Tuivasa-Sheck. Conversions: Johnson (4/4) Completions Eels 81% (29/36) Warriors 76% (26/34) Runs Eels 168 Warriors 166 Metres Eels 1681m Warriors 1501m Linebreaks Eels 5 Warriors 7 Tackles Eels 302 Warriors 323 Missed tackles Eels 33 Warriors 34 Errors Eels 7 Warriors 9 Penalties conceded Eels 7 Warriors 9
Sylvester
Guest
Pretty poor from the refs all round. Warriors got a few in their favour, possibly more to Parra. Doesn't really excuse another inconsistent game from the Warriors.
Craig
Guest
What an awful exhibition of rugby league.
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
FULL TIME Gutherson converts after the siren. The Eels win this game 32-24 tonight.
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
79' TRY PARRAMATTA- Clinton Gutherson The Eels lulled the Warriors into thinking they were just going to take the last tackle. Gutherson barges over 5m out unmarked. Awfully soft from New Zealand considering the state of play. Dear me. PAR 30 NZW 24
Sylvester
Guest
Johnson held off the ball. No penalty.
Stu
Guest
Johnson tackled without ball. No high shot. Refs been in blue and gold this hslf
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
78' PENALTY PARRAMATTA The Eels will tap... PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
78' Mannering throws the ball to nobody at the 30m line. Eels ball. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
77' Gutherson runs towards the sideline and then puts in a hard, low kick. The Warriors will feed the scrum 10m out from their line. A smart play by the Eels. Just over 3 minutes remaining for the Warriors to pull off a miraculous victory. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
76' Ben Matalino and Daniel Alvaro with an alteraction in the middle of the scrum. Calls for sin bin for a Matalino face-palm. The scrum is being re-packed. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
76' A brilliant set from the Warriors is butchered by a lazy forward pass by Solomone Kata on the left.. The Eels are out on their feet and want the full-time hooter desperately at the moment. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
75' Moses completes the set and kicks into touch 15m out from the Eels tryline. The Warriors have packed the scrum to stop the clock. We have a big finish coming up. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
74' Parramatta are leaking metres and the Warriors kick on 4th tackle through Luke in somewhat of a let off. Bizarre. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
73' CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL NEW ZEALAND- Shaun Johnson A routine conversion for Johnson and he makes no mistake. PAR 26 NZW 24
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
72' TRY NEW ZEALAND- Roger Tuivasa Sheck We have a game! A great run by Isaac Luke mid-set and Tuivasa-Sheck saves what was an awful final tackle play with Shaun Johnson appearing clueless. RTS runs a hard angle just shy of the posts. PAR 26 NZW 22