Round 8
Parramatta Eels 28 d. Sydney Roosters 10

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Eels early blitz puts away disappointing Roosters
Mon May 7, 2007
Two tries in the opening ten minutes from New Zealand International Krisnan Inu ended any hopes the Sydney Roosters had of making it two wins on the trot with Parramatta emerging 28-10 victors.

Inu was a shock selection in the New Zealand side for the Anzac Test earlier this year where he was one of the few Kiwis who could hold his head up high in what was another predictable and disappointing result for New Zealand. Inu was given his chance to shine against the Roosters with Timana Tahu out and made every post a winner crossing in the 7th and 9th minutes for Parramatta to open up a 10-0 lead.

Further tries to Eric Grothe in the 22nd minute and Nathan Hindmarsh six minutes later pushed Parramatta well clear at 22-0 and they held that scoreline heading into half-time.

Four minutes into the second half saw goal kicking machine Luke Burt cross over and Burt landed his 4th conversion of the night to see Parramatta extend the margin to 28 points.

Parramatta put the cue in the rack and from there the match just fell away as the Eels did their job and the Roosters weren't up to the task.

Ashley Harrison did cross for a converted try in the 56th minute to get the Roosters on the board and than Sam Perrett scored in the final minute to put the Bondi boys into double figures.

Parramatta coach Michael Hagan after the match spoke about Inu's performance and said, "He's going to be a great player for Parra in the future. He's pretty silky with the football and his defence was good most of the time.

"He's going to get better as he gets more experience in the NRL. He can do things other players can't do."

Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson said, "We got right away from our game plan, we just drifted back to where we've been in the last six weeks and paid the penalty.

"We didn't turn up to play footy and we learned a good lesson. We turned up tonight and our heads weren't there.

"We worked really hard to get out of where we were and we're just back to square one.

"We go back to the drawing board. The only blokes who can get us out of here are us. We need to think about where we are, why we're there and how we're going to get out of it.

"We need to make a decision as a group of players and coach - do we want to do the hard work every week or do we just want to do it now and then?"

In fairness the Roosters had five players backing up from the farce known as City-Country in Anthony Minichiello, Braith Anasta, Craig Wing, Amos Roberts and Craig Fitzgibbon and all five very key players for the Roosters whereas some of the Eels key players didn't feature in the sub-standard clash where it's only meaning was not getting any players injured.




Anderson names nine-man bench for Roosters clash against Eels
Tue May 1, 2007
Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson has named a squad of 22 for Saturday night's clash against the Eels at Parramatta Stadium.

Anderson has named Heath L'Estrange, John Williams, Shaun Foley, Mitchell Aubusson and Joel Monaghan as cover for City-Country representatives Craig Wing, Amos Roberts, Anthony Minichiello, Braith Anasta and Craig Fitzgibbon.

The Roosters squad of 17 is unchanged from the Anzac Day victory against the Dragons, which was the Roosters 1000th victory in their 100 season history.

Sydney Roosters v Parramatta Eels
Parramatta Stadium
7:30pm, Saturday May 5, 2007

1 Anthony Minichiello
2 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
3 Sam Perrett
4 Sia Soliola
5 Amos Roberts
6 Braith Anasta
7 Mitchell Pearce
8 David Shillington
9 Craig Wing
10 Danny Nutley
11 Shane Shackleton
12 Craig Fitzgibbon (c)
13 Anthony Tupou

Subs:
14 Chris Beattie
15 Frank Paul-Nuuausala
16 Lopini Paea
17 Ashley Harrison
18 Heath L'Estrange
19 John Williams
20 Shaun Foley
21 Mitchell Aubusson
22 Joel Monaghan
(five to be omitted)

Tue May 1, 2007
• Eels forced into two changes for Roosters clash
  

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