‘It was hard to watch’: The Eels star hurt most by last year’s finals exit

Parramatta’s premiership push last year ended in the worst possible way, but a key player missing that night is back to flip the script.

Panthers players celebrate last year’s win over the Eels in the finals.

Eels fans still cringe when you mention last year’s semi-final loss to Penrith because they know deep down they could so easily have won that and gone on to lift the trophy instead of their western rivals.

But their name wasn’t engraved on the trophy that year. Instead, it was Penrith who went all the way after they edged Parramatta 8-6 in an epic encounter in Mackay.

The stats were pretty much even in all the major categories but the result could’ve been very different, with the Eels denied a penalty late in the game when Mitch Moses was dragged back by Jarome Luai.

This was the tackle that led to the winning penalty goal just before halftime. Picture: NRL Photos

There are a few key differences heading into Friday’s derby out west, with the loser of this one getting a second chance.

But the biggest difference is that the Eels will have Reed Mahoney on the paddock this time after his 2021 campaign was derailed by a couple of shoulder injuries that meant Ray Stone had to play out of position in a role that requires a specialist No.9.

“It was hard to watch,” Mahoney told the NCA NewsWire.

“When I left the game when I did my shoulder against Souths, I knew my season was over. It was really hard to sit back and watch the boys play finals footy. That’s what’s motivating me this year.

“I was still in camp in Queensland because I’d had my surgery up there, so I watched it on television at home.

“It was so hard to watch but I think we’ve grown from that and we take a lot of experience from that game.

“That was 12 months ago now and things are completely different. We’re in the top four because we worked really hard throughout the year to put ourselves in this position.”

Reed Mahoney first hurt his shoulder in Round 13 against Newcastle. Picture; Ashley Feder/Getty Images

Mahoney is off to the Bulldogs next season, which is why he’s desperate to leave Parramatta with the club’s first premiership since 1986.

He narrowly missed out on a State of Origin berth this year and finished the regular season with the most tackles in the NRL (939) and also the equal-most tries (eight) out of the competition’s dummy-halves.

Back-rower Isaiah Papali’i knows how close his side went to knocking off the Panthers last season and he says having their nuggety hooker back in the middle will be a huge advantage this time around.

“I was actually thinking about that,” he said.

“We had an awesome game against them last year and Reed is going to be a massive boost for us. He’s been awesome all year and I don’t think anything is going to change for this game.

“Penrith got the win and they went all the way.

“You could argue that we were the better side on the night, but overall, they took every opportunity in the finals and made sure they came out on top every single week.”

The Eels will start Friday’s game as outsiders even though they’re the only team to beat Penrith twice this season, including a win at BlueBet Stadium that snapped the Panthers’ 21-match winning streak at home.

“Everyone’s saying we beat them twice but that means absolutely nothing this weekend. They’re the reigning premiers for a reason and they play so well at home,” Mahoney said.

“We’re really confident in our four walls. We’re really confident in the plans that Brad (coach Brad Arthur) has put together to beat Penrith, so we’ve just got to trust that again.”