TOUGH Dragons forward Dean Young has taunted rivals Parramatta - suggesting the Eels will carry psychological scars into Sunday's qualifying final grudge match.
"I think there will be some mental scars for them coming back to Kogarah," Young said.
On the back of St George Illawarra's crushing 37-0 win last Friday night, the gun-shy Eels will be forced to return to the same venue in front of the same hostile crowd against the same opposition.
The Dragons' legion of supporters and even past greats are determined to make life uncomfortable for the Eels when they return to the famous Red V's Sydney headquarters.
St George Immortal John Raper said the Eels would have horrible thoughts returning to WIN Jubilee Oval. "The biggest test facing Parramatta is going back before all those Kogarah fans again," Raper said.
"They will be out in full force for this game, as I will be.
http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/#sidebar-start
"Parramatta will go into this game with low morale; the Dragons will be on a high after such a decisive win.
"I don't think Parramatta will want to go back to Kogarah again."
Parramatta were last night posted $2.40 outsiders for the final with St George Illawarra comfortable $1.55 favourites.
However, utility forward Young, the son of Dragons premiership-winning captain Craig Young, warned his club was prepared for a rejuvenated Eels team this Sunday.
"It will be a totally different game for them. Parramatta are a confident bunch of blokes and they have the best player in the world there in Jarryd Hayne," Young said.
"And they will get a lot of confidence in having Nathan Hindmarsh back."
Eels skipper Nathan Cayless refused to concede his side was rattled by the heavy last-round defeat, but did say his team would rather play at the SFS. "It would be great to play at a venue like the SFS," he said. "More of our supporters could then come along.
"But the Dragons are minor premiers and they deserve their home ground. We played there last weekend so we know to expect a hostile crowd. We know what we're in for."
Cayless said his team was ready and primed for a significant improvement this Sunday.
"We can't play as poorly again as we did last Friday," Cayless said. "Credit to the Dragons, they were very strong defensively and through the middle of the field.
"We let ourselves down by playing some dumb footy. It was a tough night - we weren't in the game at all.
"I think we were guilty of getting too far ahead of ourselves. The coach addressed that during the week. There were certainly no signs during the week that we were going to play that way.
"Maybe we thought it was a matter of turning up and playing but I don't think we will play that badly again."
