Finals Week 1
New Zealand Warriors 10 l. Parramatta Eels 12

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

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

Eels win thriller in Auckland
Fri September 7, 2007
The Eels have drawn first blood in the 2007 NRL Finals with a come-from-behind 12-10 win over the 4th-placed Warriors.

In a fast-paced first half with few chances to either side, it was the Warriors who looked the more controlled.

There was drama in the opening minute, with Parramatta Eels skipper Nathan Cayless flooring Warriors prop Sam Rapira with shoulder contact in the chin. A dropped ball was missed but once Rapira shook off the big hit, play resumed.

Mistakes and penalties flowed freely in the first half, with a touch finder by Eels halfback Tim Smith failing to cross the line early on.

Both sides had a try disallowed in the opening half.

First was the Warriors, with a bat-back from a Grant Rovelli kick going forward into the Eels before an attempted grounding was ruled a knock on. Unfortunately for the Eels, a big chance to go the length of the field went begging as the play was called up for the video referee decision.

Next was the Eels, with Timana Tahu having the ball knocked loose a metre from the line, only for Nathan Hindmarsh to pick it up and ground it. Tahu lost the ball forward in the tackle, so a knock-on was ruled.

There were simple turnovers from both teams, with the Warriors Epalahame Lauaki making crucial errors in his own half the most notable.

Ultimately, the opening half was a fast-paced, loose contest with some big hits in defence and some poor options from both sides in attack.

The second hald began where the first half left off, with the Warriors looking in control and the Eels struggling to match their intensity.

The Warriors opened the scoring in the 46th minute, with a try to Todd Byrne. Michael Witt, the NRL's best sharp-shooter in 2007, showed he was fallable pushig the kick wide to leave the scored 4-0.

The match continued to see-saw with the Eels looking flat and disorganisaed and the Warriors overly adventurous with the ball at times despite having back to back sets on the Eels line.

On the back of some timely penalties, the Eels finally got across the stripe with some great work in the air by Brett Finch, batting the ball back for Feleti Mateo to make a diving catch and slide across the line. Kris Inu made no mistake with the kick and the Eels led 6-4 after 65 minutes.

The game went up a notch in intensity, with the Eels building some momentum on the back of their confidence-building try. It only took 6 more minutes for the momentum to translate into more points, with Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne pinching a try that went to the video referee for confirmation. Inu was again successful and the Eels looked in control.

The biggest drama was to come. In the 77th minute, Michael Witt kicked across field on the last for Todd Byrne who ran down field and delivered a pass back inside to Witt in support. Witt dropped the ball short of the line under the attention of Chad Robinson, but referee Tony Archer sent it upstairs for review. The replay revealed that Witt was tackled before in possession of the ball, but video referee Bill Harrigan pulled out another mystical ruling, awarded a penalty try to the Warriors. It will be debated in the coming days whether this was the right ruling, but more controversy was to come. Michael Witt landed the conversion from in front and it was 12-10 with 3 minutes to go.

In the subsequent set, the Warriors bombed high midfield and Eels five-eighth Brett Finch appeared quite clearly to knock the ball forward, however referee Tony Archer allowed play to continue, effectively snuffing out the Warriors last shot at a win. A Steve Price chargedown wasn't advantageous to the Warriors, and the Eels held the ball until the final siren rang.

Overall, the match was fast-paced with some tough stuff, but probably not typical of Finals football. Possession didn't appear to be a concern for the players more often than not, and both sides chanced their arm at the wrong time repeatedly. Ultimately, the Eels ability to hold out the Warriors in the second-half after the opening try was telling, and once the Eels managed to score their first the momentum was all with them. Both side will need to improve in the following weeks to challenge the Storm and the Sea Eagles, however the Eels can be satisfied with a performance that saw them up against a capacity crowd full of black jerseys at a venue that's tough to travel to and win at.

The Eels have a few injury concerns coming out of the match. Halfback Tim Smith has a shoulder complaint, although it's a different shoulder and he completed the match. Centre Ben Smith didn't finish the game, sustaining knee ligament damage and is a 50/50 proposition next week. Eels interchange PJ Marsh is the biggest concern, with a thumb problem that could rule him out.

The Warriors came through unscathed.


Warriors issue warning to fans buying scalped tickets
Wed September 5, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Vodafone Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah today issued a buyer-beware warning to anyone considering buying scalped tickets on the internet for Friday night's NRL play-off at Mt Smart Stadium.

A number of tickets have been listed for auction on trademe.co.nz for the clash between the Vodafone Warriors and Parramatta.

"As the Vodafone Warriors, we have done all we practically can to stop this practice happening," said Scurrah.

He pointed out there was a warning about on-selling on the front of tickets for the Vodafone Warriors-Parramatta match.

The warning reads: "It is a condition of sale that this ticket may not without prior written consent of the NRL, be resold at a premium nor used for advertising or other commercial purposes (including competitions/trade promotions) or to enhance the demand for other goods of services. If a ticket is sold or used in breach of this condition, the bearer of ticket will be denied admission."

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz

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Sun September 2, 2007
• Week #1 Finals Draw
  

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