Campbelltown Stadium: The Benny Hill theme song should have played the entire 80 minutes. There were so many embarrassing moments during Friday night’s Spoon Bowl.
There were kicks out on the full, dodgy captain’s challenges, awful tackles, players dropping off players thinking they were held, and silly passes off the ground in the in-goal. Even the ballboys had a rough night when they kicked two balls onto the field at one stage, then left the Tigers waiting for a ball when ready to kick off.
In the end, Parramatta won 60-26 against the Wests Tigers. They finished with 14 men after Dylan Brown suffered a knee injury, as did Will Penisini, while Daejarn Asi underwent a head injury assessment. The Eels ran a little harder, played the ball a little faster, and simply wanted the win more.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard kicked the final goal of the game, which suggests a move to St George Illawarra might actually happen over the summer.
The Tigers looked flat from the opening set with players walking in back play.
The 17,311 fans who travelled to Campbelltown Sports Stadium had plenty of belief their side could avoid a third-straight wooden spoon.
The Tigers were chasing their first hat-trick of wins since 2018. Lachie Galvin and Api Koroisau and backrower Samuela Fainu had proven there was hope for the Tigers after all.
What a disappointing finish. Benji Marshall was one of the great entertainers, but the first-year coach would have cringed watching his players try to score off every set.
You could understand the desperation late in the game when chasing points, but not in the early exchanges.
They lost Api Koroisau to the sin-bin for a lifting tackle on Eels fullback Clint Gutherson, and the Eels run in three tries. It was the 16th time the Tigers had a player sent to the bin this year. Discipline needs to be something Marshall addresses over the off-season.
There was a novelty factor early, and those inside the ground on a warm September night were prepared to ignore the errors if it meant a little bit of entertainment. But the further Parramatta pulled clear on the scoreboard, the more painful the night became.
The M5 Motorway was a car park for most commuters coming from the city before the game. And to think they paid plenty in tolls for this privilege.
Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva and Royce Hunt and Jack Bird are coming next year. If we are being fair dinkum, they will need another 12 months to build.
When Jason Ryles takes the reins at Parramatta, he will welcome plenty of star cavalry back, including Mitchell Moses.
Spoon Bowl. Thank heavens it is only one round a year.
