Saturday, May 22, 2004
Eels flogged by makeshift Dragons
The Parramatta Eels were last night booed by many of their own supporters as they left the park a humiliated outfit after being outpointed by a St George team missing most of its star players.
The debilitating loss with put intense pressure of Brian Smith with the Eels now having lost four consecutive home matches.
AAP descibed the Eels as "woeful", the Sydney Morning Herald said "Eels disgraced", Sportal said the Eels were "inept" and "embarrassed" while The Australian said "the club is in crisis".
It was a game most observers thought Parramatta should have won comfortably, with so many of St George's first choice squad not playing. However, despite dropping a lot of balls, the Dragons were simply too creative and too enthusiastic for the Eels.
Tries to Reece Simmons and Eric Grothe in the early minutes raised questions about the defensive form of both outfits. However, both teams managed to hold on for the rest of the half with the only points scored a Mark Riddell penalty.
Despite going into half time, only two points time, the signs were not good for Parramatta. They had a ton of possession but seldom did they look likely to threaten the Dragons. Halves Chris Thorman and Adam Dykes were at times, terrible, and Parramatta looked disjointed and lacking spark. Meanwhile, the Dragons had two tries disallowed and only for poor handling could have scored another couple as their players continuously managed to get passes away.
In the second half, that dangerous pattern played out to the full. Parramatta had nothing to offer in attack - it's performance best reflected by a 30m Adam Dykes run across field that only saw him tackled into touch - while the young Dragons players started to hang onto more ball as their confidence lifted. Dragons half Matthew Head was superb and created countless opportunities for St George with clever kicks and passing.
Meanwhile, Parramatta's defence disintegrated and by the end of the match the Dragons were running in tries at will.
There have been few more heartbreaking performances for Eels fans than this.
The debilitating loss with put intense pressure of Brian Smith with the Eels now having lost four consecutive home matches.
AAP descibed the Eels as "woeful", the Sydney Morning Herald said "Eels disgraced", Sportal said the Eels were "inept" and "embarrassed" while The Australian said "the club is in crisis".
It was a game most observers thought Parramatta should have won comfortably, with so many of St George's first choice squad not playing. However, despite dropping a lot of balls, the Dragons were simply too creative and too enthusiastic for the Eels.
Tries to Reece Simmons and Eric Grothe in the early minutes raised questions about the defensive form of both outfits. However, both teams managed to hold on for the rest of the half with the only points scored a Mark Riddell penalty.
Despite going into half time, only two points time, the signs were not good for Parramatta. They had a ton of possession but seldom did they look likely to threaten the Dragons. Halves Chris Thorman and Adam Dykes were at times, terrible, and Parramatta looked disjointed and lacking spark. Meanwhile, the Dragons had two tries disallowed and only for poor handling could have scored another couple as their players continuously managed to get passes away.
In the second half, that dangerous pattern played out to the full. Parramatta had nothing to offer in attack - it's performance best reflected by a 30m Adam Dykes run across field that only saw him tackled into touch - while the young Dragons players started to hang onto more ball as their confidence lifted. Dragons half Matthew Head was superb and created countless opportunities for St George with clever kicks and passing.
Meanwhile, Parramatta's defence disintegrated and by the end of the match the Dragons were running in tries at will.
There have been few more heartbreaking performances for Eels fans than this.
Comments:
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I've supported Brian Smith all year, but my support for him is hanging by a thread. There was no attack, defence was crap and we were out enthused. I even thought most of the players were playing ok, it was just that there was no team coordination - and the coach has to take responsibility for that.
# posted by 
: May 22, 2004 at 10:48 AM
: May 22, 2004 at 10:48 AM
On a positve side (until I changed channels in disgust), Justin Toulos (apart from a dumb penalty) and Wade McKinnon tried their hearts out.
And I've been patient with Brian Smith but no longer. Something is wrong. Injuries aside we should be doing better. Dykes form has dived. I'm unsure on Thorman. He hasn't set the game alight and makes some dumb options but (and I could be wrong - I think Thorman is still unsure of how he fits into the team with Dykes) he show glimpses of talent.
There seems no direction or penetration in attack. The team needs to rebuild in the backs. Take a gamble and throw Witt back into the deep end and Thorman at 5/8. I understand that the club still thinks Witt needs to develop an all round game. Bugger wasting him in premier league.
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And I've been patient with Brian Smith but no longer. Something is wrong. Injuries aside we should be doing better. Dykes form has dived. I'm unsure on Thorman. He hasn't set the game alight and makes some dumb options but (and I could be wrong - I think Thorman is still unsure of how he fits into the team with Dykes) he show glimpses of talent.
There seems no direction or penetration in attack. The team needs to rebuild in the backs. Take a gamble and throw Witt back into the deep end and Thorman at 5/8. I understand that the club still thinks Witt needs to develop an all round game. Bugger wasting him in premier league.
# posted by : May 22, 2004 at 3:53 PM
: May 22, 2004 at 3:53 PM << Home
