Parramatta Eels Blog: The 1Eyed Eel

Parramatta now has six NRL players sitting on the sidelines with injuries, plus the AWOL Jamie Lyon, following David Vaeliki's season-ending injury last week. While Parra had been lucky until last week with only minor injuries afflicting the club, last week saw Vaeliki, Ronald Prince and Luke O'Dwyer all ruled out for extended periods of time.

While Lee Hopkins joins Chris Muckert and Ashley Graham in the return of the injured brigade, still not ready for gameplay are Fuifui Moimoi and Corey Pearson, while Aaron Cannings still has at least a month out of action.

Parramatta must now rank up behind Newcastle, South Sydney and West Tigers as the teams currently suffering the most disruption from injury.

Brian Smith has chosen exactly the same NRL side that took on the sharks, with the exception of adding Michael Vella to a five man bench.

1 - Wade McKINNON
2 - Matt PETERSEN
3 - Junior LANGI
4 - Luke BURT
5 - Eric GROTHE
6 - Daniel WAGON
7 - Adam DYKES
8 - Adam PEEK
9 - John MORRIS
10 - Craig STAPLETON
11 - Nathan HINDMARSH
12 - Nathan CAYLESS (C)
13 - Dean WIDDERS
14 - Michael VELLA
15 - Chris ARMIT
16 - Shane MUSPRATT
17 - Justin TSOULOS
18 - Chris THORMAN

Despite reports suggesting Chris Muckert would get a chance to show his wares against his old club in first grade, the powerful former North Queensland second rower has again been named in Parramatta's premier league team.

Meanwhile, Lee Hopkins is being eased back into the game after six weeks out with injury and he will start from the bench in reggies.

Exciting young fullback Joel Reddy last week got his chance in premier league after Wade McKinnon recieved a late call up, but this week the more experienced Steve Mowbray has been named as the reserve grade number one. Reddy has been at five-eighth in Flegg.

Young three quarter Ben Smith will partner Ashley Graham in the centres beating out both Matt Lantry and Brett Delaney who will play for the Flegg team. With Chris Thorman in the starting 18, Jeremiah Pai has been at five-eighth where he will partner half back Michael Witt.

James Webster will be hooker and captain. Webster might feel harshly done by considering he played consistently well while in first grade and Parramatta seemed to miss his nippy dummy half work last week.

Jim Curtis and Mal Kaufusi who both had good games last week are the starting props. Fred Peterson and Muckert will start in the second row, while exciting young lock Feliti Mateo retains his spot in the premier league side. Mateo is considered by many to be the most exciting young player in the Parramatta squad and after regularly standing out in Flegg, he now gets his chance to start mounting pressure for a first grade position.

1 - Steve MOWBRAY
2 - Matt GRUSZKA
3 - Ben SMITH
4 - Ashley GRAHAM
5 - Wise KATIVERATA
6 - Jeremiah PAI
7 - Michael WITT
8 - Jim CURTIS
9 - James WEBSTER (C)
10 - Mal KAUFUSI
11 - Fred PETERSEN
12 - Chris MUCKERT
13 - Feleti MATEO
14 - John McKIE
15 - Josh CORDOBA
16 - Peter ELLIS
17 - Lee HOPKINS
18 - Ryan HINCHCLIFFE

Michael Vella and Lee Hopkins are expected to return against the Cowboys this weekend, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald today.

Brian Smith should look back on yesterday's game and accept that he monumentally screwed up his interchange and in the end cost Parra victory.

Parramatta's bench provided almost nothing against the Sharks. Not that any of the interchange players played woefully, but they had very little opportunity as Smith seemed reluctant to make any changes to a side which, admittedly, was playing well.

However, Smith's preference to keep his strike players on the field backfired big time. Parramatta was unable to score enough points to skip away from the Shark's despite dominating and looking the much better team for most of the game.

By the final fifteen minutes, Parramatta was tiring and the Sharks were coming home strong. As it turned out, they came home too strong.

Let's examine Smith's interchange choices. We have no argument with Shane Muspratt in the absence of Luke O'Dwyer as he gives the team versatility and he didn't let the team down when he was on the field. He can cover a lot of positions and should give Smith the ability to choose impact bench players. However, that's not what we got on Saturday.

Chris Armit is simply not a interchange player. He has enormous potential and has played well when starting, but he's not effective as an bench player. He doesn't yet have the confidence to come onto the park and get heavily involved. He's not a big impact player and so if he isn't lightening the load of the rest of the fowards, he's not contributing much to the team.

Justin Tsoulos did make an impact (albeit not always a good one with some silly passes) when he came on, however in the second half, he was kept out of the game until the final ten minutes. Tsoulos' weakness is his mobility and when you have an opposition who is desperate to put points on the board, that is not the time to throw in your big, slow men. However, as the likes of Stapleton, Cayless and Peek had already done an enormous amount of work, Smith didn't have much choice. In overtime, Tsoulos was unable to come across and plug a gap up the middle of the ruck and the Sharks scored the try that won them the game.

Which brings up to David Vaeliki - a selection Smith will now be ruing. Vaeliki only came into the fray mid-way through the second half and as such his contribution was minimal. He wasn't able to take any of the workload off our tiring forwards, yet neither did he add any extra spark. In fact, the only thing Vaeliki was ever likely to do was damage the rib injury that kept him out of the New Zealand game the night before. As it turned out, it wouldn't be the ribs that would trouble him, rather a season-ending archilles injury.

The annoying aspect of this is that the previous week, Fui Fui Moi Moi showed exactly what you want from an interchange player. In ten minutes he turned the course of the game. Parramatta didn't have any one on the bench on Saturday who could do that. There was no James Webster style player, who might come on and make a break from dummy half, no rampaging forward who could get the opposition back on their heels. Mal Kaufusi might have fit the bill here. Worse still there was no forward Smith could trust with significant amount of game time just to take the load of the starting pack. Surely, Chris Muckert might have been a better option in this regard.

1Eyed Eel has enormous respect for Brian Smith but on Saturday, we think he screwed up royally.

Parramatta's lower grade, despite being weakened by key players being promoted, both scored come from behind wins again.

Jersey Flegg were down 22 to 12 before scoring an unanswered 20 points to win the game 33 to 22.

Premier League once again scored a thrilling last gasp victory. A very ordinary firsy half saw the Eels trail 24 to nil before they stormed home, scoring a try in the final minutes to win 34 to 30.

David Vaeliki will likely be out for the entire season after snapping his archilles tendon in overtime against the Sharks.

Wade McKinnon - 6 (6)
Was mostly safe but wasn't in the right place at the right time when Cronulla were able to score next to the post from Brett Kimmorley's crafty chip.

Matthew Peterson - 7 (7)
Probably Peterson's best game of the year. Typically enthusiatic and continually outpointed his opposite number in the air.

Junior Langi - 6 (26)
Wasn't able to reproduce his fabulous performance from last week. Made no mistakes but didn't have much of an impact.

Luke Burt - 5 (41)
Just didn't get involved in the centres, although his defence held up fine in the three quarters.

Eric Grothe - 7 (46)
Could have scored an eight or nine, but made some silly errors again once which resulted in a Sharks four pointer.

Daniel Wagon - 8 (?)
Brilliant defensive game, continually shutting down Cronulla attacking raid with perfect ball and all tackles. Finished with a monster count of 48 tackles.

Adam Dykes - 7 (50)
Again provided most of Parramatta's attacking spark but sometimes seemed to even outsmart his team mates. Made a number of crucual errors and can be blamed for Cronulla's second try. Kicking game was exceptional, though.

Adam Peek - 9 (34)
What a great game. Made 38 tackles, scored a great try and always looked dangerous when hitting the ball-up. 1Eyed Eel had grave doubts about Peek's ability to replace Vella, but he came through his biggest test of the year with flying colours. He and Hindmarsh were the best Parra players on the park.

John Morris - 5 (42)
Just about his poorest game of the year. Key mistakes let Cronulla off the hook or gave them the opportunity to pressure Parramatta on a number of occasions.

Craig Stapleton - 8 (47)
Has Stapleton ever made an error in Blue and Gold colours. Was again solid as a rock, making tough yards and defence was outstanding too.

Nathan Hindmarsh - 9 (54)
The man is a machine. Backed up from the test, made a truck load of tackles, made more hit ups than anyone and continually brushed players aside. Phenomenal effort.

Nathan Cayless - 8 (49)
Also did a huge amount of work when he was on the park and looked like he could slip a match-winning try at any time. He almost did with a pearler that found Daniel Wagon, but desperate last ditch defence saw Wagon held up over the line.

Dean Widders - 7 (33)
Didn't let anyone down. Did a lot of work in defence, but wasn't quite as potent with his attacking runs today.

Chris Armit - 4 (24)
We're not sure how many minutes Armit actually played because he presence was barely noticeable. Needs to try and be more dominant when he does get a run.

Justin Tsoulos - 5 (5)
After today's game, 1Eyed Eel reckons Tsoulos might just be Australia's next Shane Webke. A big call, considering we only gave him a five. He tried too hard to push passes today and let the team down in doing so. His mobility in defence is a worry and had someone else been on the park in overtime, the winning Cronulla try might have been shut down but Tsoulos didn't have the pace to clean up what should have only been a half-break. However, Tsoulos is a monster and was almost impossible to bring down even when he had four players clinging to him. No doubt, he is going to develop into something special.

Shane Muspratt - 5 (5)
Didn't have much of a chance to make a difference, but didn't let the team down at any stage either.

David Vaeliki - 4 (36)
Why bother putting Vaeliki on the bench? Was only injected late into the game and added nothing which is not surprising considering the rib injury he is carrying. We understand he provides utility value, covering any injury concerns in the backs but with Wagon and Morris in the team, both of who can play just about anywhere, we can't understand why that was needed. Parra tired badly at the end and considering Parra's bench offered very little, its not hard to work out why.

Parramatta's unbeaten run at home has been broken with Cronulla winning in overtime via a try to Nigel Vagana.

The Eels looked to be on the way to a grinding victory after they led 14 to eight for most of the second half.

However, the Sharks scored off a Kimorley kick next to the post to tie it up and send it into overtime before the match winning try came on Cronulla's first set of six.

The Eels got off to a great start when Eric Grothe scored another spectacular, long range try tramping over defenders, brushing off the full back then sprinting away from the cover defence to score.

However, minutes later Grothe went from hero to villain, try to throw a stupid pass off the first tackle inside his own twenty which was dived on by Phil Bailey, who then went over from the ensuing play the ball.

The Eels had opportunity after opportunity to put a four-pointed on the board but just couldn't get across the line and, arguably against the flow of play, Cronulla scored the next try. Adam Dykes made a simple knock on then commited a double error rushing out of the defensive line leaving an overlap that allowed Matthew Rieck to score out wide.

Parramatta went to the break trailing but were dominant for most of the second half. Adam Peek capped off a tremendous game as starting prop crashing over for his first try in four years off a sweet Dykes pass. Then Matt Peterson, who had consistently won the ball in the air against his opposite number Rieck, was again too strong and pluck off a John Morris cross field kick to score and give the Eels a 14 to eight lead.

They Eels held that lead for 25 minutes, however they begun to tire noticeably in the final fifteen minutes.

David Vaeliki went down with a knee injury just before Cronulla scored, leaving the Eels short in defence and had to be carried from the field after the bell.

Wade McKinnon named in the centres played fullback with Luke Burt in the centres. Despite playing most of the game last night, Nathan Hindmarsh again played a full eighty minutes.

According to radio reports this morning Nathan Cayless will play despite the headclash with his brother, Jason in last night's test.
UPDATE: Cayles, Nathan Hindmarsh and David Vaeliki have all been cleared for today's game. In late changes, Shane Muspratt is believed to be back in the top grade team, with Chris Muckert back in reserves and Chris Thorman likely to be the 18th man.
UPDATE: Latest radio reports now have Wade McKnnon in the starting line up and David Vaeliki starting from the bench.

Exciting English recruit Chris Thorman and Cowboy Chris Muckert have been added to today's NRL squad to play Souths after Ronald Prince has been booked in for knee surgery, reports The Herald today. Luke O'Dwyer's knee will also be operated in.

Nathan Hindmarsh justified his call up to test level in Australia's big win against New Zealand last night.

Today the media is lauding Hindmarsh's effort in what was an outstanding team performance.

Said Paul Kent in The Daily Telegraph: "As the game wore on Nathan Hindmarsh became the dominant forward runner on the field.

"Hindmarsh was outstanding. Sometimes maligned at rep level, he played his best game of football in a rep jersey last night, his short legs pumping as he went through tackler after tackler. "

Also in the Telegraph, Petre Frilingos wrote: "Nathan Hindmarsh broke enough one-on-one and gang tackles to prove he has shaken the representative monkey off his back."

The game wasn't so good for Nathan Cayless who clashed heads with his brother and had to be replace. He did however return later in the game, so may be a chance of playing for The Eels today.

Former Parramatta livewire Denis Moran has been the try scorer in UK Superleague for the past two seasons and has signed with the London Broncos for another three years, reports this profile piece in the UK media.

David Vaeliki will undergo a fitness test to decide if he plays today, according to stuff.co.nz, however if he does the New Zealand Rugby League may "raise concerns".

"NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz said he understood Vaealiki, who was ruled out with rib damage at a team medical on Monday, was not capable of playing the test because the injury affected his ability to pass, fend and take the high ball.

"Cordtz said he would wait to see if Vaealiki played for his club before commenting further.

Nathan Cayless will take back the captaincy of the New Zealand test team, after the suspension of Ruben Wiki, according to various media reports on Thursday.

Mid-season injuries can either be a blessing or a curse. Last year they were a curse. With the likes of Hindmarsh and Cayless having extended stints on the sidelines, Parramatta was unable to win enough games early to put themselves in striking distance of making the top eight.

However, 1Eyed Eel feels some of the injuries affecting Parramatta right now, could actually be a blessing in disguise.

Thankfully, none of the injuries have been too serious. The worse was Aaron Cannings broken arm, but even three months out is only around half the season.

On the other hand, injuries to the likes of Chris Muckert, Lee Hopkins, Ronald Prince and Mick Vella have been relatively minor and they have given the Eels the opportunity to blood lower grade players in First Grade. Prince, Luke O'Dwyer, Junior Langi, Chris Armit, Shane Muspratt and Fui Fui Moi Moi have all found themselves with opportunities to tackle the NRL and Justin Tsoulos looks like he might get the same chance this week.

So far, they have all stepped up to the mark and whereas last year we lost all the tight games, this year we’re winning them.

Already, the Eels have a squad of around 25 players who have tasted first grade this year and none have looked out of their depth. And that’s with quality players like Michael Witt, Chris Muckert, Chris Thorman, Mal Kaufusi, Ashley Graham and Jeremiah Pai who are still itching to get their call up. That’s 30 players in the squad with definite first grade ability and we haven’t even started talking about the young stars that are ripping it up in Jersey Flegg.

Promising young lock Luke O'Dwyer has a possible leg fracture and is set for an extended stint on the sidelines, according to a thread on the LeagueUnlimited Forums.

The timing couldn't have been worse with Parramatta already struggling with injuries as well as players backing up from representative games. Dean Widders will likely be starting lock with Shane Muspratt taking his place on the bench.

UPDATE: The thread suggests that O'Dwyer's injury will keep him off the paddock for 12 months.

Jamie Lyon has been "hanging out with my mates, playing X-box, fishing and pig-chasing" and is about to start a job as a trainee casual barman at Wee Waa bowling club, he told the Telegraph today.

Eels fans still holding out some hope that Jamie Lyon might have a sudden change of heart, can give it up, according to a story on NZoom.com.

Lyon's manager Allan Gainey was quoted as saying: "He's back home, it's all over. He won't play again until the end of 2006," Gainey said.

"He's isolated himself (from the club). It's a very bizarre, unique situation."

Meanwhile, the same article says that Ali Lauiti'iti has already received offers from English and NRL clubs. Considering the Eels have no room to move under the salary cap, it would seem unlikely they're any chance of wooing the big Kiwi.

The Eels may have a second crack at dynamic New Zealand forward Ali Lauti'iti, who has been released from the New Zealand Warriors.

Lauiti'iti is reportedly earning $325,000 per year, according to a story in The Australian.

Eels boss Denis Fitzgerald did tell The Australian that the Eels had expressed an interest in Lauti'iti two years ago, but said there was no room left in the Eels salary cap.

However, he did say that he would speak to the coaching staff about the player's new found availability.

Only last week, Justin Tsoulos found himself back in Jersey Flegg, however the young prop has made a sudden leap after he was named in the Eels NRL team this week.

Michael Vella's knee injury and Fuifui Moimoi's rib injury has forced the Eels to reshuffle its prop. Chris Armit has been dropped back to the bench, a curious move considering he had his best game of the year last year and Craig Stapleton and Adam Peek have been named as the starting props.

The Eels have assumed that representative players Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless will back up from the Friday night test and David Vaeliki has also been named in the team despite a rib injury ruling him out of the New Zealand team. Ronald Prince has been named on a five man bench and may be there to cover Vaeliki if he does not recover from the injury in time.

Lee Hopkins was not considered, again but Corey Pearson's name was no where to be seen. The prop who has struggled to recover from a back injury was not listed in any team but was not in the "not considered" list either.

The team is:

1 - Luke BURT
2 - Matt PETERSEN
3 - Junior LANGI
4 - David VAEALIKI
5 - Eric GROTHE
6 - Daniel WAGON
7 - Adam DYKES
8 - Adam PEEK
9 - John MORRIS
10 - Craig STAPLETON
11 - Nathan HINDMARSH
12 - Nathan CAYLESS (C)
13 - Luke O'DWYER
14 - James WEBSTER
15 - Chris ARMIT
16 - Dean WIDDERS
17 - Justin TSOULOS
18 - Ronald PRINCE

Coach – Brian Smith
Not Considered
Aaron Cannings
Lee Hopkins
Jamie Lyon
Fuifui Moimoi
Michael Vella

Shane Muspratt might consider himself a little unlucky, finding himself back in Premier League despite a relatively strong performance in the NRL last week.

With Wagon back in the side, Muspratt has had to make way. While, he did not manage to excel against Manly, he did some handy things including a sweet cut out pass that send David Vaeliki across the line in the dying minute of the game.

Ashley Graham has stepped up one grade. Although named in Premier League last week, he played in Jersey Flegg where he scored a try. He has been named in Premier League again this week.

Jim Curtis has moved from the second row to prop where he will partner Mal Kaufusi. Peter Ellis and Chris Muckert, who impressed observers first game back from injury will start in the second row with Jeremiah Pai back to lock.

1 - Wade McKINNON (C)
2 - Matt GRUSZKA
3 - Matt LANTRY
4 - Ashley GRAHAM
5 - Wise KATIVERATA
6 - Michael WITT
7 - Chris THORMAN
8 - Jim CURTIS
9 - Shane MUSPRATT
10 - Mal KAUFUSI
11 - Chris MUCKERT
12 - Peter ELLIS
13 - Jeremiah PAI
14 - John McKIE
15 - Josh CORDOBA
16 - Ryan HINCHCLIFFE
17 - Steve MOWBRAY
18 - Nathan McMILLAN

Remember the days when it seemed Parramatta's game was on free-to-air television single almost every week. Unfortunately, since Parramatta fell into its woeful 2003 form slump, Eels games have seldom rated as match of the round.

However, the Eels will be back on Friday Night Footy next month with the NRL announcing that the Dragons vs Eels game at Parramatta Stadium has been scheduled for the Friday night slot on May 21.

Both teams have strung together a couple of victories after suspect early season form and they both have big fan bases. The clash at Parramatta Stadium is likely to draw a huge crowd, regardless of the fact that it will be shown on free-to-air.

Apologies for the late player ratings, but the time for the Fox game was incorrect and we were not able to watch the game till it was replayed today.

1. Luke Burt - 6 (35)
Managed to grab hold of a charging Soloman Haumono long enough for the cavalry to arrive but on another occasion made an awful attempt at tackle. Relatively quiet game.

2. Matthew Peterson - 6 (25)
Allowed Scott Donald to get on his outside, which directly resulted in Manly's first try and was lucky that Manly was unfairly ruled a strip when he lost the ball hitting the ball up from the scrum. However, he was typically enthusiastic and those mistakes aside, contibuted fairly.

3. Junior Langi - 9 (20)
1Eyed Eel's man of the match. Put through a smart grubber for Peterson's try and then put a great step on the opposition before sending Stapleford away for another four pointer. Also made at least two try saving tackles, so that's 24 points difference he made to the team. Also worked hard to get back and do some bullocking dummy half runs early in the tackle count. No mistakes, no missed tackles. The best performance by a pack all year.

4. David Vaeliki - 6 (32)
Solid performance capped off by scoring the match winning try.

5. Eric Grothe - 7 (40)
What a try, breaking a tackle then running the length of the field. Was a constant handful, but still needs to cut those couple of handling errors, he seems to make in every game

7. Adam Dykes - 6 (43)
Not his best game for the Eels. Good work out of dummy half, but his kicking game was a little off and he made a couple of errors that relieved the pressure when the Eels were on the attack.

9 - John Morris - 6 (37)
Morris wasn't quite on his game either. Allowed his kick to be charged down which resulted in the Steve Menzies try and also contributed a couple of key errors. May have been named at half back but played his usual hooking game.

8. Michael Vella - 4 (35)
Left the feel early but his involvement in the early minutes was satisfactory.

? - Shane Muspratt - 6 (6)
Gave Parramatta more options. His hit-ups were satisfactory but showed touches of class like a nice grubber into the in goal and great vision to send a cut out pass across to David Vaeliki for the final try. Made good use of limited time on the field.

10. Chris Armit - 6 (20)
Despite suffering a knee injury did plenty of work in attack, making good, hard yards. Has just about cemented his spot in the top grade and Cannings is going to have trouble making his way back at this rate.

11. Nathan Hindmarsh 8 (45)
Only a couple of uncharacteristic handling errors cost him getting a nine. Workload was again unbelievable making 42 tackles and his 15 hit ups yielded 112 metres. Was a constant handful and has become the game's pre-eminent expert at stripping the ball in one-on-one tackles.

12. Nathan Cayless 7 (41)
Cayless was again a little consistent. Dropped the ball, then created a try, missed a tackle that resulted in a try then scored one himself. Was particularly damaging in attack this week.

13. Luke O'Dwyer - 6 (27)
O'Dwyer's defence was terrific and really filled the shoes of Daniel Wagon in that regard. Was very successful in containing the ball and racked up 27 tackles. Like most in the team made a couple of errors, but he is getting more involved and 1Eyed Eel will predict now that he'll start at centre next week.

14. Dean Widders - 6 (26)
Solid game from Widders, who only didn't start because of an administrative stuff-up by the coach.

15. Craig Stapleton - 9 (39)
Best forward on the park. His 15 hit ups generated a massive 136 metres. Finally got plenty of minutes and kept working the whole game and didn't let it affect his rock solid defence. Admittedly, 1Eyed Eel has been a big fan of Stapleton all year so we may be a little biased but we think he must be the starting prop week in, week out.

16. Adam Peak - 5 (25)
Considering he almost pulled out due to Asthma, this wasn't a bad performance. Always seems to have one brain explosion every game, this time being a needless penalty for a late tackle that verged on a cheap shot.

17. Fui Fui Moi Moi - 7 (7)
Was only on the park for a handful of minutes but made his presence felt with a couple of barnstorming runs and some damaging defence. Is absolutely the impact front rower that will lift Parramatta to greater heights.

David Vaeliki has been ruled out of Friday's test match "who failed to get through a medical check on rib cartilage damage suffered playing in Parramatta's win over Manly", according to an AAP report.

It would seem unlikely that one extra day will be enough for Vaeliki to be fit for the Eel's clash against the Sharks. If he does not play, Parramatta will have to find another centre - a position it has struggled to fill all year since Jame Lyon's shock exit.

Parramatta's depth will be tested next week with a host of Eels under injury clouds.

At the post match media conference, Brian Smith confirmed that Michael Vella had a cartlidge problem in his knee which caused him to come from the field early in the game. Fuifui Moimoi injured his ribs, which restricted his playing time and Chris Armit also had a knee problem. Additionally, Adam Peak almost pulled out of the game during warm up after his asthma flared up.

"Poor old Craig Stapleton was the only fit prop out there," Smith said. Smith said that the shortage of fit staff meant that the Eels had to take a gamble and put Moimoi back into the game despite his rib problem.

"Fui did his ribs but we had to put him back on which was a gamble - his English is better than my Tongan, and I don't really know whether he was saying that he was right or he was busted."

Moimoi made a big impression in his NRL debut for the Eels, with Smith admitted his entry "changed the game".

"The momentum of the game was changed after he came onto the field. He only played 9 or 10 minutes at that juncture but it was a cameo of some note. It will take some beating."

On top of the injuries, Nathan Cayless and Nathan Hindmarsh will both be backing up from representative duties in the Sharks game.

The Eels took out all five grades this weekend after the Jersey Flegg, Premier League and NRL teams all fought back from deficits to record victories.

As reported previously, Parramatta's first grade team fought back from 14 nil down to win by six points and it was a similiar story in the lower grades. The Jersey Flegg team which features NRL players Ashley Graham and Justin Tsoulos were down 19 to 12 at half time but went on to win by 44 to 19.

Premier League also won 34 to 26 after also letting in the first couple of tries. Observers said that Michael Witt, Chris Thorman and Jeremiah Paul all played well and that Chris Muckert made an impressive return from injury.

Nathan Hindmarsh has won a spot in the second row for Australian in Friday's night test against New Zealand, where he will line up again team mates, Nathan Cayless and David Vaeliki.

After the ARL received advice that Ben Kennedy would not be fit for the test match, selectors then named the Parramatta legend to slot into the starting side at second row.

Lining up against Hindmarsh and the rest of the Kangaroos will be Nathan Cayless and David Vaeliki who were both names in the New Zealand team.

Vaeliki will play fullback while Cayless will pack down in the front row with brother Jason.

Parramatta stay only two points astray of Premiership front runner the Canterbury Bulldogs, following a thrilling 32 to 26 win over Manly today.

The Eels slumped to a 14 nil deficit before scoring three quick tries to go into the half time break leading 18 to 14.

However, former Eel Kane Cleal was the first player to score after the break putting Manly back in front, before Eric Grothe scored a stunning length of the field try.

Craig Stapleton then scored before Manly went in to make it a two point ball game.

The Eagles looked liked they might pull off an upset after going over out wide, however the try was disallowed after the final pass was judged to be forward. David Vaeliki then put the game beyond doubt, scoring in the final minute to give the Eels a 32 to 26 victory.

Jamie Lyon has told the Sunday Telegraph that he won't play again this season for Parramatta and that he is dissapointed by the club's decision not to let him go around for the Wee Waa Panthers.

The Sunday Telegraph article said that Lyon will start a new job as a barman at the Wee Waa bowling club and would train and act as waterboy for the Panthers for the rest of this year.

"I won't be going back - not this year, anyhow. Further down the track I don't know," Lyong told the Telegraph in an exclusive interview.

Lyon said it was "really dissapointing" that Parramatta didn't grant him a release. "All I wanted to do was play here in Wee Waa with my mates and try and get some enjoyment back of the game. That's why I left. I just wasn't enjoying it anymore."

Lyon said he had "a good yarn with everyone including some of the boys who were all trying to talk me into staying but I had already mate up my mind".

For the fourth consecutive week, Corey Pearson will be a late withdrawel from the Parramatta side to play Manly tomorrow, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Herald also reported that Luke O'Dwyer was favoured to play five-eighth.

With Pearson out, Parramatta must promote someone else to the bench with 1Eyed Eel tipping that Shane Muspratt will get a much deserved chance to demonstrate his skills again in the NRL.

UPDATE: The Sunday Telegraph has confirmed Shane Muspratt will be in this afternoon's NRL squad.

Brian Smith will reportedly name a replacement for Daniel Wagon today. The question now is who will it be?

Throughout the year, Smith has shown a preference for sticking with his squad of top players and after a good win last week he will be keen to reward the players who did the job.

With that thinking, the most likely option is for Luke O'Dwyer to fill in at five-eighth. Like Wagon, he will not play a traditional five-eighth role, rather he'll play as a second lock along side Dean Widders, leaving Dykes and Morris to control the halves as they have done all year.

However, there are probably five other options for Smith. Both Jeremiah Pai and Shane Muspratt could play a similiar game to Wagon. Pai is very much built in the Wagon mould, while Muspratt is a versatile utility who has probably been the best Parramatta player in Premier League throughout the year. Muspratt could also move to hooker or interchange hooker, as he has been playing rake in reggies, allowing Smith to shift Morris to five-eighth.

The final option would be to throw Michael Witt or Chris Thorman in at five-eighth, or even play one of them at half and move Dykes to pivot. Thorman is getting better in Premier League, while Witt has shown he is up to first grade standard and being thrown in the deep end might draw the best out of him.

1Eyed Eel thinks O'Dwyer will get the job because its the least disruptive move. It will be a good test for the up and comer. If that happens though, what will the bench look like? Corey Pearson has been named on a five-man bench but his inclusion would leave the Eels with three interchange props - a strategy that did not work well earlier in the year and with the number of quick play-the-balls that are currently a part of the game right, that could leave Parra short on mobility.

If Pearson does play, we think it likely he will come into the starting team with Armit, who was playing as a second rower in Premier League, moving back to the bench. Pearson's pre-season form was very good and the lack of game time that Smith has given Armit even when starting, suggests he feels the young front rower still needs more time before he is really up to the rigours of the NRL.

While the Eels Premiere League division has won or drawn a couple of close games, 1Eyed Eel can't help but feel the team is underperforming considering the talent it has avaiable.

In the halves, we have an England A representative in Chris Thorman and Michael Witt who was being touted as a possible State of Origin contender earlier in the year. Wade McKinnon is probably the most experienced Premier League full back in the game while Wise Kativerata has already played in the NRL this year. Jeramiah Pai and Shane Muspratt both have NRL experience and Justin Tsoulos, Fui Fui Moi Moi and Mal Kaufusi are all first grade quality props.

Depending on injury, at various times we have had players like Junior Langi, Chris Armit and Ronald Prince who have all performed well in the NRL playing in Premier League as well.

Really, the team should be carving up its opposition. Yet, the reserve Eels just fell over the line against Souths, drew with an understrength Newcastle squad and lost to an understrength St George team.

1Eyed Eel hasn't been able to cast our eye over Parra' Premier League efforts for a couple of weeks and we certainly missed a thrilling game last week. After the Eels were well in front, the Bunnies fought back to level the scores up before Owen Craigie potted a field goal late in the game which looked like it would give Souths an unlikely victory. However, in the final ninety seconds Shane Muspratt sent Matthew Gruska away on an 80 metre run to the line to give the Eels a late 28 to 25 win.

PB from the LeagueUnlimited Forums has kindly let us use some of this player observations.

PB said that Fui Fui Moi Moi was his man of the match, despite the fact that he continues to give away undisciplined penalties (at one point he apparently threw the ball at the South's halfback's head mid hit-up, according to PB). Scored the first try, making a 55 metre barnstorming run that left bunnies scattered around the park.

Shane Muspratt looked "looked like a first grader playing reserve grade", PB said, playing with a lot of "agression and passion".

PB said that Jeremiah Pai could replace Wagon "if for no other reason than he refuses to pass the ball."

"He did once, and we scored."

Kafusi was good, but PB feels his fitness is keeping him from firsts and said backrowers Fred Peterson, Jim Curtis and Peter Ellis all worked hard.

Both Wade McKinnon and Wise Kativerata were safe, while Matt Gruska was a villian turned hero, firstly bombing a try with the try line wide open before going on to score the match winner. PB said he liked the looked of both Brett Delaney and Matt Lantry, both big, fast centres.

While both Witt and Thorman "controlled the game well", neither were exceptional and did anything that would demand a first grade call up.

Former Eels great Peter Sterling has urged Parramatta to rethink the tough stance it has taken over preventing Jame Lyon from playing for the Wee Waa Panthers.

Sterling told Radio 2UE and was later quoted in The Australian saying: "Jamie's not trying to dud Parramatta. If he wants to play in the bush it would be a great thing for country rugby league."

However, Parra boss Denis Fitzgerald appears unlikely to back down. He described the meeting held yesterday as "hard hitting" and said Lyon was "surprised" by the refusal to grant a release.

Fitzgerald told AAP he certainly "had not ruled out" Lyon playing again for the Eels.

"If he doesn't play for us this year we will have another chat at the end of the season."

Nathan Cayless told The Australian that Lyon "hasn't totally pulled the pin."

"He is going to think about it for another few weeks or so. He is a mate. We have grown up together. It's a tough situation, but all you can do is offer him support.

"He's pretty stubborn, but at least he's going to think about it for a bit longer. But he's got to do what he thinks is best for him. We have proven that we can play on without him. We are a good team, but with him we are a classy side.

Parramatta has denied Jamie Lyon a release to play for the Wee Waa Panthers, following his meeting with the club today.

On the official Parramatta website, Denis Fitzgerald was quoted as saying: "I can confirm that Jamie has not, and will not, be granted a release from his contract with the Parramatta Club in order that he can play for any other Club, including the Wee Waa Panthers".

Fitzgerald did give Parra supporters some hope that Lyon would return saying: "The discussions were long and fruitful. Jamie has asked to return to Wee Waa where he can make a decision on his future. We expect an answer from him some time next week".

The Official site said: "Present at the meeting were Jamie Lyon, his manager Allan Gainey, along with Parramatta Eels Chief Executive Denis Fitzgerald, General Manager of Football Sports Greg Mitchell, Head Coach Brian Smith and Football Manager Tony Zappia".

Daniel Wagon will miss only this week's game against Manly after deciding to take an early guilty plea, according to a report on the Adelaide Advertiser website.

According to various media reports, James Lyon has been “invited to attend” a meeting with Parramatta boss Denis Fitzgerald today, to discuss a release that would allow the international centre to line up for his home club the Wee Waa Panthers. However, it’s not the first time Lyon has been tipped to meet with Parramatta officials before failing to show up.

In other news, the club is still deciding whether to challenge Daniel Wagon’s Grade 4 striking charge.

Up to five former Eels will line up against their old club when Manly takes on Parramatta this weekend at Brookvale Oval.

Winger Scott Donald and Daniel Heckenberg are both in the starting side, while three ex-Eels have been named on a five-man bench – Shane Dunley, Kane Cleal and Kyle Leuleui.

Steve Witt retains his place in the Newcastle side but Steve Crouch has been dropped back down to Premier League for the Roosters. Meanwhile, former Parramatta front rower Alex Chan has ousted Rodney Howe from the Melbourne Storm team with his return to the side from suspension.

Who'd be an NRL coach? Parramatta bulked up in the off-season to try and combat the dominant bash and barge style of play and five weeks into the competition it seems quick play the balls and dummy half running is back in vogue.

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald today, Roy Masters wrote that so far this year its been a return to the Super League era with "quick play-the-balls, easy metres from dummy-half, covering half the field in five tackles" the way the game has been played so far this year.

Masters quoted statistics that show there have been 1,704 fast play the balls this year compared to 991 last year.

"It is a style that suits the 'shoot and scoot' Dragons but it disadvantages teams with big packs and clever halves, such as Brisbane and Penrith. Nor does it suit Parramatta, who bought size in the off-season."

Noting these facts its easy to see why some Parramatta players, originally on the outer are now back in vogue. James Webster, was left out of the opening game, but has quickly re-established his place in the team. Dean Widders was also shunned in the early part of the season as Parramatta went for size but his mobility has proven a god-send to the team and he was promoted into the starting line-up last week. Luke O'Dwyer lacks size but has been able to maintain his place on the bench. Meanwhile, Chris Armit's mobility has probably been the factor that has seen him chosen over bigger options like Justin Tsoulos, Fui Fui Moi Moi and Mal Kaufusi.

In fact, Parramatta no longer has a "monster" pack, at all. Vella, Armit, Morris, Cayless, Hindmarsh and Widders would not rate in the top half dozen packs in terms of size, especially when you throw Luke O'Dwyer into the mix off the bench.

Fortunately for the Eels, while Smith bought some size, he also has plenty of mobile forwards to call on. Lee Hopkins is another mobile forward, who is very effective out of dummy half and that may help him win a place back on the bench when he returns from injury.

The statistics also support's Smith decision to play a dual-lock strategy. With so many metres being gained close to the rucks, the need for a five-eighth to create scoring opportunities for himself and the outside backs are lessened. A player like Daniel Wagon who is defensively strong and able to tighten up the rucks makes far more sense in this scenario, especially when John Morris is able to drift out on dummy half and take the five-eighth role when needed.

Brian Smith has named the exact same side as he named last week, with the caveat that Daniel Wagon's selection is subject to judiciary.

Luke O'Dwyer has again been named at lock, despite the fact that Dean Widders started there last week and excelled in the role. That may be the best tip that if Wagon does miss a week or two as expected, O'Dwyer will fill his shoes.

Corey Pearson has again been named on the five man bench and Junior Langi has kept his spot despite some defensive problems last week.

1 - Luke BURT
2 - Matt PETERSEN
3 - Junior LANGI
4 - David VAEALIKI
5 - Eric GROTHE
6 - Daniel WAGON*
7 - Adam DYKES
8 - Chris ARMIT
9 - John MORRIS
10 - Michael VELLA
11 - Nathan HINDMARSH
12 - Nathan CAYLESS (C)
13 - Luke O’DWYER
14 - James WEBSTER
15 - Craig STAPLETON
16 - Dean WIDDERS
17 - Adam PEEK
18 - Corey PEARSON

*Subject to Judiciary

Ashley Graham will return at centre in Premier League this week against Manly but no sign yet of Chris Muckert or Lee Hopkins.

According to the Official Parramatta website, neither Muckert or Hopkins were considered this week.

Brett Delaney was not named in either the Premier League side or Jersey Flegg so we assume he sustained an injury last week. Also missing is Fui Fui Moi Moi. At least, we think he is missing as Mal Kaufusi has been named in both the starting pack and on the bench which will be a mighty effort.

1 - Wade McKINNON (C)
2 - Matt GRUSZKA
3 - Matt LANTRY
4 - Ashley GRAHAM
5 - Wise KATIVERATA
6 - Michael WITT
7 - Chris THORMAN
8 - Mal KAUFUSI
9 - Shane MUSPRATT
10 - Justin TSOULOS
11 - Fred PETERSEN
12 – Jim CURTIS
13 - Jeremiah PAI
14 - John McKIE
15 - Peter ELLIS
16 - Mal KAUFUSI (??)
17 - Steve MOWBRAY
18 - Nathan McMILLAN

Those Eels fans wanting to see a change at five-eighth will almost certainly get their wish with Daniel Wagon charged with a grade four careless tackle. While early reports suggested Michael Vella may be in trouble following his use of the forearm against one of South's players, it was Wagon's tackle that broke the nose of Souths forward Luke Stuart that has been brought before the judiciary, AAP reported.

If Wagon takes an early plea he will miss one match, while he faces a two match suspension if he fights the charge.

While Stuart was falling in the tackle, it's likely that Wagon will take the early plea. That will give coach Brian Smith some food for thought. Luke O'Dwyer may move to five-eighth allowing Smith to persist with his dual-lock strategy or he could promote Chris Thorman or Michael Witt into the top grade and experiment with a more traditional halves combination. Reports have suggested that Thorman is likely to get the call up before Witt. Shane Muspratt who played plenty of five-eighth for the cowboys is another option, as is utility Jeremiah Pai.

The chorus suggesting Australian selectors should have another look at Nathan Hindmarsh has been getting louder and louder over the last 24 hours.

An AAP report said that selectors "were given more food for thought when Parramatta second rower Nathan Hindmarsh put his hand up for selection."

"Hindmarsh wasn't named in a preliminary 25-man squad by selectors two weeks ago but forced his way into calculations with his commanding performance in the Eels' 41-20 win over South Sydney at Parramatta Stadium on Monday.

"Newcastle's Ben Kennedy is a certain selection in the Australian second row while St George Illawarra's Shaun Timmins seems the likely option at lock.

"That leaves Hindmarsh, Michael Crocker and Bryan Fletcher - who played well for Souths on Monday - vying for the vacant spot in the second row alongside Kennedy.

If Parramatta win the games they are expected to win over the forthcoming month there is every chance that come Round Nine they will be sitting at the top of the table - or at least very close to it.

The Eels are currently only one win shy of the top four teams - Penrith, Brisbane, Canberra and Canterbury - as they enter a period with a series of games they will be expected to win.

Parramatta play the inconsistent Manly this week who are languishing in second last place and are currently favourites for the wooden spoon. They then back up at home against the only team going worse than Manly - the Sharks. That's followed by another home game against North Queensland before the team gets a bye in week nine.

Parramatta will be expecting to take eight points from those four rounds which would certainly have them in the top three and very possibly on top of the table. The Broncos take on the Panthers, Bulldogs and Raiders in coming weeks so there will be losses among the top four teams.

Indeed, if Parra can continue its dominance at home, the winning streak may continue up to the half way mark in the competition. Round ten sees Parramatta play Melbourne followed by St George the week after, both at Parramatta Stadium before an away game against the Tigers.

Considering doomsayers felt that the Parramatta team would need time to gel, this could leave Parramatta in a remarkable position as the team enters the tougher period of its draw. Parra should go into its games against teams like the Panthers and Roosters full of confidence and with a team that has had time to settle into a new playing style and establish new combinations.

Of course, it will only take a couple of shock losses to upset the applecart but the Eels will be very well placed for a top four finish if they knuckle down over the next two months and deliver the results they are capable of.

Even the Daily Telegraph admitted things were looking good for the Eels. "For Parramatta supporters, the team's performance augurs well for the future after the disappointment of recent years."

Parramatta's good run without major injuries continued on the weekend with Brian Smith reporting that players came out of the Souths game with only bumps and bruises.

With the majority of Parramatta's injured brigade due back this week, the Eels will have only a couple of players on the sidelines. Ronald Prince will likely be out for another month while Aaron Cannings likely has another two months to go before he is back in action. Ashley Graham, Chris Muckert and Corey Pearson are expected to be back against Manly while Lee Hopkins is also a chance at returning for that game or soon after.

Parramatta was missing Jamie Lyon a lot, Brian Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald

The Eels are due to meet with Lyon tomorrow, where Lyon will ask for a release that will allow him to play for the Wee Waa Panther. Asked if he would be attending the meeting, Smith said: "I'm not sure whether I'm required . . . I'm certainly happy to go if they want me to.

"We're missing him a lot. We've got a big hole on our right side at the moment that we've tried to fill with three different blokes and we'd love to have him back."

Junior Langi played in Lyon's position again Souths, but like Matt Peterson before him, made a number of defensive errors that resulted in opposition tries.

Assuming Lyon does not return, Parramatta young gun Ashley Graham, who should be back from injury next week against Manly, shapes as the man most likely to fill the hole at right centre. While likely to spend a couple of weeks in Premier League regaining fitness, Graham is almost certainly the player Smith will have in mind to fill Lyon's shoes over the rest of the year.

Whilst Parramatta penalties have hurt the team during key times in 2004, Brian Smith revealed in the post match press conference that it is an area the Eels are desperately trying to work on.

"We have punishment at our Club for guys that give away penalties, our blokes are hauled over the coals for giving them away - we are doing everything we can to educate our players not to give them away," Smith said.

Smith said that penalties were the "most telling stat in the game at the moment".

"You know everyone talks about the importance of a repeat set, but the best repeat set in the business is a penalty, because you get the ball for another 6 tackles and you get to kick the ball upfield, provided you find touch."

As such, it was particularly important that referee's got these calls right, he said.

"There were some today that when you look back at them you say that simply wasn't a penalty, and when we drill our players, they drill us back."

"If the referee was a player or coach he would be very wary about awarding penalties because of that stat that says it leads to tries - so the message is don't get them wrong."

"I am not talking about Shayne Hayne today - this is across the board, it is a statistical fact that there are more penalties this year than ever before."

Parra chief executive Denis Fitzgerald said he couldn't guarantee there would not be a repeat of the fiasco that hundreds of fans unable to get into the Souths game in time for kick off, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"We were taken by surprise by the number of people. With 12,000 people . . . paying at the gate all within an hour of the game, we just won't be able to ever have a situation where everyone just flows in."

A massive crowd of over 18,000 people were at the game to see the Eels beat the Bunnies.

1. Luke Burt - 6 (29)
A solid rather than spectacular performance. Looked dangerous but one bad knock on from a kick was a black spot on his game.
2. Matthew Peterson - 6 (19)
Peterson is much better on the wing. Let's face it, he'll aways make a few errors in every game, you just don't tend to notice them on the wing.
3. Junior Langi - 5 (11)
Defensive misreads can probably be blamed for two of South Sydney's first half tries and he didn't make an impact offensively.
4. David Vaeliki - 7 (26)
A better game from Vaeliki, highlighted by his first half try
5. Eric Grothe - 7 (33)
How fast is Grothe? Very, very fast. There is no better sight in the game then Grothe in open territory. Still made a couple of mistakes but he's definitely one of the best wingers going around at present.
6. Daniel Wagon - 7 (28)
Wagon bounced back to form today. Was defensively outstanding.
7. Adam Dykes - 8 (37)
Did make a couple of mistakes but who cares when he creates at least a couple of tries every week.
8. Chris Armit - 5 (15)
Starting prop but again didn't see as much game time as some of the interchange props. Probably needs to get more involved to nail down this position as he finished the game with only six hit ups.
9. John Morris - 7 (31)
Was great again, today. Looked dangerous and was once again Dykes perfect foil.
10. Michael Vella - 8 (31)
Very strong performance. 15 hit ups gained 123 metres and was dominant in defence.
11. Nathan Hindmarsh - 9 (37)
Couldn't have played any better. Made 35 tackles and was great in attack, looking dangerous every time he touched the ball.
12. Nathan Cayless - 9 (34)
Cayless' best game of the year by far. Made a mighty 158 metres from 17 hit ups as well as making 34 tackles.
16. Dean Widders - 7 (20)
Promoted to starting lock, he filled the job admirably. Was the busiest defender on the park making a massive 38 tackles and really took a lot of heat off Hindmarsh, which arguably left the Parra second rower with more petrol in the tank for attack. Only let down by the one missed tackle that resulted in a second half South Sydney trial. Must be kept as starting lock.
14. James Webster - 5 (25)
Wasn't needed until late in the game, but didn't do anything wrong.
15. Craig Stapleton - 7 (30)
Continues to impress off the bench, continuously making good metres and making important tackles. 10 hit ups for 88 metres.
13. Luke O'Dwyer - 6 (21)
Didn't get much game time, but when he did showed his class by busting a couple of tackles to score a try.
17. Adam Peek - 5 (20)
Got good time, but isn't asserting any authority. Made a couple of silly mistakes and his 12 hit ups only resulted in 69 metres.

Nathan Hindmarsh was widely hailed as the man of the match in Parra's comfortable 41 to 20 win over Souths.

AAP's report on the game, focused on Hindmarsh, with Brian Smith singling the Parramatta second rower out for praise.

"He's a tremendous player," Smith was quoted as saying.

"He is a machine. He hasn't got an ideal body. He's got a sway back and fat gut and funny bum. But physiologically he's got something inside him and he keeps going and going.

"He gets tired after five minutes like everyone else. He's just got a capacity to keep going and I think that's a hallmark of champions in any era from our game."

Asked why Hindmarsh hadn't yet locked down in the NSW or Australian sides, Smith said: "He's a bit of a shy bloke, he's not one that's going to step up and say listen get out of my way I'm going to run this play. He'll just stand back and let the rest of them do it and then pick up the all scraps. That's the sort of personality he has so I understand why he hasn't grasped it at that level.

"But if they persevere with him and someone takes him under their wing, I don't think he would let anybody down. He's a phenomenal performer in my view."

Hindmarsh said he'd "love" to play rep footy again.

"I haven't played a Test for Australia. Once we get Parramatta on track then I'll start thinking about representative football."

Parramatta outclassed South Sydney to score its ninth consecutive win at Parramatta Stadium, finishing the game in front 41 to 20.

Parra always held a comfortable lead after scoring the first two tries. Nathan Cayless got the scoring underway when he took a flat pass close to the line and crash through the goal line defence. That was followed by an outstanding try to Eric Grothe who showed phenomenal pace to get around a Souths winger and fullback Brad Watts. Nathan Hindmarsh can be credited with the try assist after he stole a ball one-on-one from Willie Peters before Grothe was put into the clear.

Souths hit back after new Parra centre Junior Langi misread the play, coming off his line, creating a hole for Shane Rigon. However, Parra hit straight back when David Vaeliki used his strength to get over out wide from a simple blind side attack.

Souths were able to go to half time with some hope after they scored in the 40th minute, when Junior Langi again failed to stay on his man and Luke MacDougall was able to score wide out.

However a double to John Morris in the first ten minutes of the second half looked to give Parramatta an unasailable lead.

The first try saw Nathan Hindmarsh create a try with a tough offload, then Adam Dykes sliced through the Rabbitohs defence from dummy half before he kicked ahead with Morris winning the chase for the ball.

However two tries to Souths made the game interesting game. Dean Widders who started the game instead of Luke O'Dwyer at lock fell off a tackle which allowed Ashley Harrison to score, then the Rabbitohs scored a great try after second rower Mark Minichiello grubbered through for himself before regathering and sending Willie Peters away.

Despite the comeback, the Eels always looked to have more points in them. Luke O'Dwyer bagged his first NRL try when he brushed through some flimsy Souths defence then man of the match Nathan Hindmarsh bagged a well-deserved try using his strength to push over in the dying minutes.

Parra won both lower grade games today against the Bunnies taking out Jersey Flegg 32 to 16 and Premier League in a thrilling finish 28 to 25.

In Greg Pritchard's Insider column in the Sun Herald this week, he writes that "the latest word is if anyone is elevated from [Parramatta] premier league soon, it will be Englishman Chris Thorman at five-eighth".

Thorman impressed observers in last week's reserve grade game.

Nathan Cayless has admitted to the Sun Herald that he is still to find his best form.

"I personally looked at this season as a chance to rebuild some confidence. I missed a lot of games last year through injury and realised it would take me a while to get back to the level I was playing at."

He said the Eels form had been patchy and "we're not playing that well at the moment" but said he was confident the team was "on the right track".

The Sun Herald today reported that Jamie Lyon's aborted 2004 season cost the Eels $100,000. It said Parramatta players are payed in monthly installments and that Lyon received five payments dating back to November that totalled $104,166.

The article probably represented the first real printed piece that was critical of Lyon's walkout, stating that while Parra paid Lyon for his pre-season work, it won't see any benefit from it and has been left with a gaping hole in its roster.

"Lyon put the preparation, but the club has missed out on the player displaying the fruit of that labour on the field and they cannot replace him in a hurry because there is obviously no one remotely that good available."

The article confirmed Lyon is looking for a release so as he can play for the Wee Waa Panthers.

As was expected Corey Pearson has withdrawn from the team against Souths, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Coach Brian Smith had earlier said that Pearson was expected to be back the following week against Manly.

Coach Brian Smith has shown never failing loyalty and perseverence with his first tier of players, sticking with players like Mick Vella and Daniel Wagon even after below par performances.

That's despite the fact, that there are a good number of top grade quality players waiting for their chance in Premiere League.

1Eyed Eel commented earlier in the year that with the plethora of depth in the squad, there would be intense competition for places as players competed for precious spot in the top grade.

However, Smith has so far indicated that the only way to lose a top grade position is through injury. Not one player has been dropped for performance reasons, despite more than a couple of woeful performances throughout the year.

Injuries has seen former Parramatta Premiere League players, Steve Witt and Steve Crouch get the call up into the top grade for their respective new clubs, Newcastle and Roosters.

Steve Witt will finally get his crack at first grade, after many years at Parramatta, starting at five-eighth next to Kurt Gidley while injuries and suspensions at the Roosters give Steve Crouch his chance.

Parramatta's injured troops may return en masse against Manly the week after next.

Brian Smith said in an audio interview on the Official Parramatta website that Ashley Graham and Chris Muckert would both likely line up in Premiere League against Manly. Corey Pearson, while named on a five man bench again this week, is more likely to return for the Manly clash and Lee Hopkins was also probably just "a couple of weeks away" from returning from an eye socket injury.

As regard to Ronald Price, who is out with a knee injury, Smith said that although the doctor still wanted to see more MRI scans "at this stage it certainly doesn't look like he is going to be requiring drastic knee surgery and missing the entire season".

Smith said he thought the match against Canberra was probably the Eels best performance of the year, let down only by some glaring defensive errors caused by poor communication.

"Most of the poor execution… was in the defensive area - just missed some simple tackles or we had guys trying to take the world on, on their own, rather than working in combinations"

"When we lost that communication and combination we tackled poorly and let them break our line too easily."

"I don't think we were a disgrace... I was a bit cheesed off with the lapses we had in executing our defensive line but I think we can build on that."

Junior Langi has won his way back into the top grade, following Ronald Prince's knee injury.

Langi did nothing wrong and scored the match winning try when he was promoted to the top grade against Newcastle both coach Brian Smith stuck with Matt Peterson at centre in last week's match against Canberra.

However, with Prince out, Smith has opted to move Peterson, who made a number of defensive mistakes at centre, back to the wing, while Langi will play alongside David Vaeliki in the three quarters.

Other than that the side is unchanged from the previous week, despite being comprehensively beaten by Canberra last week.

1 - Luke BURT
2 - Matt PETERSEN
3 - Junior LANGI
4 - David VAEALIKI
5 - Eric GROTHE
6 - Daniel WAGON
7 - Adam DYKES
8 - Chris ARMIT
9 - John MORRIS
10 - Michael VELLA
11 - Nathan HINDMARSH
12 - Nathan CAYLESS (C)
13 - Luke O’DWYER
14 - James WEBSTER
15 - Craig STAPLETON
16 - Dean WIDDERS
17 - Adam PEEK
18 - Corey PEARSON

Promising young utility Brett Delaney has worked his way up to Premiere League, following impressive showings in Parramatta's Jersey Flegg team.

Delaney was one of Parramatta's star players in the team that walloped Canberra 52 to nil last week and he has been named in the centres for Premiere League this week. The Eels coaching staff showed they have a very high opinion of Delaney when he was named in the top team during one of Parramatta's pre-season trials and he did play some Premiere League last year.

Fred Peterson has kept his spot in the second row, with Mal Kaufusi still on the bench.

1 - Wade McKINNON ©
2 - Matt GRUSZKA
3 - Matt LANTRY
4 - Brett DELANEY
5 - Wise KATIVERATA
6 - Michael WITT
7 - Chris THORMAN
8 - Fuifui MOIMOI
9 - Shane MUSPRATT
10 - Justin TSOULOS
11 - Fred PETERSEN
12 - Jim CURTIS
13 - Jeremiah PAI
14 - John McKIE
15 - Peter ELLIS
16 - Mal KAUFUSI
17 - Steve MOWBRAY
18 - Nathan McMILLAN

Ronald Prince's injury is not as bad as was feared, according to reports, and he should only be out for two to three weeks.

While the injury at first looked identical to the season ending knee injuries that took out Andrew Johns and David Seage for Newcastle last week, Parramatta doctors are confident it is only a knee sprain.

According to injuryupdate.com.au this week should see the return of Chris Muckert, Corey Pearson and Lee Hopkins.

Hopes that Parramatta's Jamie Lyon would return to play for the Eels seem to have dissapeared after he told the Sunday Telegraph that he wanted a release so he could play out the season for Wee Waa.

The Telegraph article said: "After walking out on the Eels three weeks ago and turning his back on a lucrative contract with the club, Lyon said he has no intentions of going back. "

It quoted Lyon as saying: "I am still real good mates with all the players and with Brian. It was just the full-on football which got me down."

:-(

1. Luke Burt - 6 (23)
This game typified Burt's season. He continues to impress in attack, running the ball well as well as always backing up for short kicks and offloads, but his defence was problematic. Mogg easily fended him off twice, and he never looks a chance of stopping tries as the last line of defence close to the line.

2. Ronald Prince - 5 (11)
Showed good speed when he made a nice sideline burst and was unluckily grabbed by the shirt. However, he doesn't run the ball out of dummy half as effectively as some of Parrmatta's other options on the wing. His knee buckled mid way through the first half and he didn't complete the game

3. Matthew Peterson - 3
Defence was continually exposed in the centres. Got Parra off to a shocker start when a tragic defensive misread allowed the first Canberra try and he finished the game with four missed tackles. Looked much better when he was moved to the wing and surely he is better placed in the position.

4. David Vaeliki - 3 (19)
Very quiet in attack. Never looked threatening and his attempt at tackling Ian Hindmarsh late in the game was just embarrassing.

5. Eric Grothe - 8 (26)
Thank God for Eric. Continually took the ball up hard, consistenly breaking the first tackle and always looked dangerous. Cover defence was also good and made the most metres of any player in the team.

6. Daniel Wagon - 3 (21)
On occasions Wagon looked dangerous in attack and it was his inside ball that saw Adam Dykes. However, he made a number of uncharacteristic handling errors that let Canberra off the hook on a number of occasions. What's more, Wagon is the man that Parra relies on to harden up the ruck and he made a number of crucial missed tackles, including one that led to a Canberra try.

7. Adam Dykes - 7 (29)
As always looked the Parramatta player most likely to create a try, which he did as well as scoring one of his own. Has arguably become the most important Parramatta player in the team. He did make a couple of errors last night and his general kicking was not quite as good as it has been, with kicks continually rolling over the dead ball line.

8. Chris Armit - 5 (5)
After a promising opening to the game, he didn't seem to get a lot of game time. Made five strong hit-ups which yielded 43 metres making him the most effective forward on a metres gained per hit-up basis. But, he never seemed to be on the park.

9. John Morris - 5 (24)
Morris tends to go well when Parramatta is going well. He needs a bit of space and some momentum running Parra's way to show his best and got neither last night. Didn't stand out in any way.

10. Michael Vella - 6 (23)
If you take away that single dropped ball then Vella had a pretty good match. Did a fair bit of work in attack and even more in defence and didn't miss a single tackle. However, that spilled ball resulted in a Canberra try and he's just got to get that out of his game.

11. Nathan Hindmarsh - 6 (28)
Hindy again did a mountain of work, making 44 tackles but he also missed five, at least one of which resulted in a try. Was contained in attack and never looked overly threatening.

12. Nathan Cayless - 6 (25)
The captain again contibuted an inconsistent game. He continues to go from very good to very bad. Showed his great skills when a superb cut-out pass sent Ronald Prince away and his 15 hitups garnered 116 metres. Also made 32 tackles but game was spoilt by some key errors and missed tackles.

13. Luke O'Dwyer - 5 (15)
Has yet to stamp his presence in the NRL. At the moment, seems to be concentrating on not making mistakes, which is understandable considering his rapid rise to this level. Still building his confidence.

14. James Webster - 6 (20)
Gave great service out of dummy half and his enthusiasm always seems infectious. Didn't do a great deal bar for the basics, but the team always seems to go better when he is on the park.

15. Craig Stapleton - 5 (23)
Once again, didn't make a single mistake but his running wasn't quite as effective in this game.

16. Adam Peek - 5 (15)
Running was slightly more effective than Stapleton off the bench but he attempted to push a suicide pass that turned over the ball in perfect attacking position.

17. Dean Widder - 6 (13)
Cemented his position on the bench with another good display. When on the field, he looked the most dangerous of Parra's forwards.

The Parramatta Eels vunerability against smaller, quicker running players was exposed on Saturday as Mark McLinden and former Eel Clinton Schifcofske made the Blue and Gold defence look inept for much of the 80 minutes.

The Eels went down 26 to 12 but were never in the game are giving up a 20 to nil lead before they managed to put on a late try at the end of the first half.

Mark McLinden was absolutely dynamic for the Raiders and every time he got the ball, Parra fans held their breath as the player once dubbed Supermac continually exposed Parramatta's defensive failings.

It was a big game for all of the former Parramatta Eels in the Canberra team. Schifofske was awesome continually stepping and cutting his way through the Eels defence, Ian Hindmarsh and Michael Hodgson both scored tries, Brad Drew made a successful return from injury and Adam Mogg made a fantastic line break and was great in defence.

The Eels made a solid start to the game. No early dropped balls and some tough running out of their own quarter gave Parra fans early confidence that the Eels might have gotten the early round dropsies out of their game and that they had turned up focused and ready to play against a tough Raiders outfit.

However, it was not long before Parramatta's much publicised defensive problems were once again shown up by the Raiders.

The Raiders got on the attack in Parramatta's quarter in the eight minute and sent the ball wide, with plenty of bodies in motion, Matt Peterson rushed up out of the line and made a horrendous attempt at what might have been mistaken for a tackle and allows Schifcoske to slide straight through and put the ball down.

In the 20th minute, Mark McLinden took the book dummied, stepped and cut straight through two of Parramatta's defensive anchors - Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless - before drawing Luke Burt and putting Michael Hodgson in under the posts untouched.

Parra found themselves under continual pressure as McLinden, Schifcoske and co. continued to make line breaks, while Parramatta kept coughing up the pill, making it impossible for them to turn the tide. Adam Mogg made a sensational break, busting a tackle and then fending of Luke Burt not once, but twice only to lose the ball in a try-saving Eric Grothe tackle. Mick Vella then dropped the ball, as he has so many times this season, and from the ensuing six Canberra were over again. Once again they had plenty of runners in motion and Mark McLinden found centre James Evan, who was awarded a try after the video referee ruled there had been no obstruction.

Parramatta had shown little in attack in the first half. Only Eric Grothe and Adam Dykes were looking threatening, and it was Dykes who would give Parramatta a glimmer of hope when Daniel Wagon turned the ball back inside to Dykes who used some nice footwork and strength to crash over close to the line. Burt converted to send the teams into oranges at 20 to 6.

With interchange hooker James Webster sent back out to control dummy half in the second time that allowed Adam Dykes, and to a lesser extent John Morris, to be more creative and the Eels were rewarded 15 minutes in when a Dykes grubber allowed Burt to touch down next to the post. That made it 20 to 12 after the Burt conversion and Eels fans were allowed for the first time to think they were in with a shot. Dykes went close to scoring again when he grubbered for himself close to the line, however just when they were ready to apply the blowtorch, the Eels made simple handling errors. Daniel Wagon spilled a couple of balls when the Eels were in great attacking positions, but he wasn't the only Eels let down by their hands.

Parra's bad luck continued when Canberra almost scored after Ronald Prince's knee gave way in defence allowing the Canberra winger to break free.

With the clock ticking down and it looking more and more unlikely that Parramatta could score the two tries they needed to win the game, a Canberra decision to run the ball on the last tackle paid dividends. Starting with a deft Brad Drew pass, Canberra managed to keep the ball alive before finding Ian Hindmarsh who shrugged off an awful David Vaeliki attampt at tackle to touch down besides the post.

The clinical dispatch of the Eels was complete.

Parramatta's Premiere League team once again showed that the club's defensive problems aren't restricted to its top grade. The team which is riddled with first grade talent once again scored enough points to win two games but leaked six tries again to go down 32 to 30. Both teams scored six tries with goal kicking being the difference. Winger Matthew Gruska and fullback Wade McKinnon scored two tries, while Wise Kativerata and Shane Muspratt both bagged a try each.

The good news for the club was that our Jersey Flegg side beat Canberra 52 to nil!

In Harold Matthews, Parramatta beat Illawarra 14 nil, while the result was reversed in SG Ball with Illawarra winning 18 to 16.

Not a single Eel has made it into the preliminary Australian 25 man squad for the upcoming Anzac Day test, including star Parramatta second rower Nathan Hindmarsh.

While few Eels would have considered themselves likely, Parramatta fans who consider Hindmarsh the best second rower in the world will be outraged that the Australian Rugby League doesn't consider him in the top echelon of players.

The second rowers picked ahead of Hindmarsh are: Michael Crocker, Craig Fitzgibbon, Ben Kennedy, Trent Waterhouse and Bryan Fletcher.

Click here for the full team.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Chris Muckert is expected to be back from a fractured eye socket injury next week.

In this week's Big League, editor Neil Cadigan rates Luke Burt as potentially one of the game's superstars.

"Two stunning tries Burt has starred in - one he created for Eric Grothe with his brilliant returning of a kick against Brisbane and the other that he scored against Newcastle last Saturday night - indicated that Burt may finally be ready to establish himself as one of the game's genuinely brilliant runners of the football, a player who can take your breath away. "

"I really believe his ability to find open space from fullback and his extraordinary anticipation and sense of opportunism could see him join Anthony Minichiello, Rhys Wesser and Billy Slater as the most exciting running fullbacks in the game."

Nathan and Ian Hindmarsh will clash on the field together for the first time as NRL rivals in this week's matchup between Parramatta and Canberra.

Speaking on the official Parramatta website, Brian Smith said there would be "no love lost" and he certainly wouldn't want to get between the two.

In the Canberra Times, Ian Hindmarsh admitted that they weren't the closest of brothers.

"We never have spoken a lot and we haven't got many common interests. We don't fight or anything like that, but we are not as lovey-dovey as a few of the other boys I know are with their brothers. We talk about once a fortnight or month.

Claiming he was the older brother, so had the "wood" on Nathan, Ian told the Times that they had played plenty of football together in the backyard so "I know what I have to do".

"It wasn't ever too nasty in our backyard until someone got the shits. It was usually one-on-one or two-on-two with the sisters involved.

"But I'm not going to worry about him too much and just take on Parramatta on as a team. You can't just focus on him and I need to worry more about their whole team in general. I may not even get to tackle him."

The Eels are determined not to allow the kind of trouble that erupted during last week's Bulldogs and Roosters clash, announcing tough new measures against trouble makers or anyone who throws anything on the field during a clash.

The club, in conjunction with Parramatta Police, has announced that anyone who throws objects onto the field will be immediately ejected and may also face on-the-spot fines and bans.

An Inspector Buckley was quoted in a press release as saying: "We will not tolerate criminal or anti social behaviour at sporting events at Parramatta Stadium. Police have been instructed to take action against these people by eviction from the ground. Offenders could face monetary fines or even arrest and court action. The Parramatta Eels have indicated its support to the police by enforcing bans on trouble makers."

Dennis Fitzgerald said that "there have been very few incidents in the 18 years that Parramatta Stadium has been operating. We are determined to ensure that the safety and security of spectators is maintained at all times."