Roosters belt Eels in first game of Parramatta’s horror run home
The Roosters proved far too good for Parramatta on Thursday night, throwing the Eels’ premiership credentials dramatically into question.
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When Peter Sterling speaks, you listen.
Unfortunately for Parramatta, they couldn’t have picked a worse time to take the legendary halfback’s advice, and it could cost them dearly in the run to the finals.
Just days after Sterling said they should be more adventurous when coming out of their own end, the Eels played with plenty of enterprise but couldn’t hold onto the ball in slippery conditions in Mackay where the humidity was 81 per cent at kick-off.
And when they did hold onto the ball, their attack was worryingly vanilla.
The Eels will finish the round in fourth spot but face a daunting task to hold on after they lost 28-0 to the Roosters who join them on 28 competition points.
The men in blue and gold have a horror finish to the regular season, with games against heavyweights the Rabbitohs, Sea Eagles, Storm and Panthers to come.
Brad Arthur’s side tried to shift the ball whenever possible on Thursday night, and while it looked good, it was a terrible tactic in the slippery conditions that plagued them several times when coming out of trouble.
They made seven errors in the first half alone, and while the Roosters actually made more, they adjusted their game plan on the run and were able to hurt the Eels with short passes to their back-rowers.
Mitch Moses has his doubters but the Eels are desperately missing their halfback, who they hope will return next week to fix their misfiring attack.
HOT CHOOKS
Thursday’s result was the big scalp the Roosters needed to remind everyone they are still a factor in this year’s competition.
The Tricolours have picked on the bottom teams this season but hadn’t beaten a top-four side until Thursday.
And while they’ve been crippled by injuries in 2021, they still have a core group of stars that they can rely on.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was enormous and set the tone with two carries in the first set in his 250th appearance, Josh Morris repaid his coach’s faith with a try in his return, while James Tedesco and Joseph Manu are wreaking havoc across the park.
They probably won’t win the comp, but the Roosters deserve plenty of praise for what they’ve been able to achieve this year.
COSTLY LOSS
Parramatta’s loss won’t just hurt them on the scoreboard, with a number of key players picking up injuries.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard (groin) was forced off in the early exchanges and is looking at a few weeks on the sidelines, Waqa Blake failed a first-half HIA while Blake Ferguson needed to find headgear that fit after he copped a knee to the head that split him wide open and then left the field late with a rib complaint.
RADLEY REPORTED
The Roosters have their own concerns ahead of next week’s clash against the Panthers with both Victor Radley and Waerea-Hargreaves placed on report.
Radley’s high tackle is of most concern given he recently returned from a five-game suspension, while the club will also be sweating on the fitness of Morris after he came from the field in the second half with a hamstring injury.
The Roosters are already struggling out wide and will need to go to market in the coming days for some fit outside backs.
Originally published as Roosters belt Eels in first game of Parramatta’s horror run home
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