HOME TOWN BOY SHINES IN EELS TRIAL VICTORY OVER PANTHERS
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The Pirtek Parramatta Eels have defeated the Penrith Panthers 34 points to 12 in their opening NRL trial match of 2008, played Saturday at Exies Oval, Griffith.
Home town hero Jeff Robson was arguably the standout performer at halfback for the Eels, however it was the all round quality of the Eels performance which most pleased head coach Daniel Anderson.
"I'm happy with the team, and I'm happy that we seem to have got out of it unscathed as well," Anderson said after the match.
"We looked threatening every time we had the ball, especially when we built a bit of pressure. And we had to defend a number of sets on our line, which we did very well."
Robson, born in nearby Leeton and raised in Barellan, made his return to the area a memorable one by scoring the first try of the match after backing up 50 metre break from second rower Brendan Oake.
In his first appearance in the blue & gold jersey Robson touched down next to the posts, Krisnan Inu's conversion seeing the Eels lead by 6-nil after as many minutes.
"I thought he had a really professional, intelligent game, which is what you want your halfbacks to do," Anderson said. "I thought Jeff made a huge contribution tonight."
Despite running into the wind in the first half the Eels enjoyed the run of play and soon extended their lead to ten points, Todd Lowrie diving on an Inu grubber to score his side's second try.
The 10-point buffer remained until early in the second quarter, when five eighth Kris Keating reaped the rewards of a 70 metre break from Tongan international Etu Uaisele to touch down out wide for a 14-nil lead.
With their defence forcing the young Panthers into mistakes deep in their own territory the Eels rounded out the half with a barnstorming try to prop Tim Mannah, who bumped off three defenders to score from 15 metres out.
Greg Nichols converted for a 20-nil lead at the break.
Nichols marked the resumption of play with a try just seconds after the kick off, crossing midway between the posts and the left hand touchline to establish a 24-nil buffer.
The Panthers then found their stride and kept the Eels pinned in their own quarter, at one point forcing drop outs on three consecutive sets of six.
The Eels defence eventually cracked, the Panthers getting on the board through a converted try from close range to replacement Luke Clydesdale.
With both sides tiring in defence the fourth quarter reaped the most points, with 16 added to the scoreboard inside the final ten minutes of play.
The Panthers crossed for their second with ten minutes remaining, Tim Glasby touching down in a mirror image of the Clydesdale try to keep it interesting at 24-12.
However back to back four pointers from Nathan Gardner and Jeremy Latimore rounded out the scoring and secured the Eels the win, the score finishing at 34 points to 12.
After the match Anderson had nothing but praise for the hospitality shown to both teams by the people of Griffith and the Riverina.
"I think it's a real benefit for us as a club to come away here," he said. "We've had a really nice couple of days, the weather's been perfect for Rugby League tonight. It's what our game's about, we have to deliver back to the country where we can."
The Eels and Panthers face off again next Saturday night at CUA Stadium, Penrith.
NRL TRIAL MATCH - FULL TIME SCORE - EELS 34, PANTHERS 12
Eels 34 (Jeff Robson, Todd Lowrie, Kris Keating, Tim Mannah, Greg Nichols, Nathan Gardner, Jeremy Latimore tries; Krisnan Inu 1 goal from 2 attempts, Greg Nichols 1 goal from 4 attempts; Nathan Gardner 1 goal from 1 attempt) defeated the
Panthers 12 (Luke Clydesdale, Tim Glasby tries; Luke Gordon 2 goals from 2 attempts).
At Exies Oval, Griffith
Crowd: 4,000 (approx)
