Eels wary of finals talk as Sharks become latest scalp
August 2, 2009 - 6:11PM
Daniel Mortimer of the Eels is upended by the Cronulla Sharks defence at Toyota Stadium.
Photo: Getty Images
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson and his players will not admit it, but the NRL finals, for so long this season nothing more than a pipe dream, are now a distinct possibility.
Today's 30-0 drubbing of a Cronulla side with more injuries that a whole series of All Saints, made it three wins on the spin for the Eels and saw them climb to within three points of eighth-placed Newcastle, who they host next week.
A brace of tries from the irrepressible Jarryd Hayne and Joel Reddy, with Krisnan Inu also crossing in the whitewash, helped the Eels brush aside a game, but limited a Sharks side whose lack of firepower was once again exposed at Toyota Stadium.
Five goals from Luke Burt added the gloss to a powerful performance that delighted Anderson, who admitted he has been surprised by his side's recent run of form.
"We are accumulating some points, we are going to have to keep producing milestones week after week if we are to really make a charge, but we are being rewarded week by week with consistent performances," Anderson said.
"I am a fraction surprised at our form I have to admit, I didn't think we were playing well enough to generate consistency over 80 minutes week after week.
"I never wrote us off, but I thought we would have to do something that we haven't done all year.
"We have done that now, won three in a row, next week we have to do it again and win four in a row, but it is not beyond us."
Hayne scored a try in either half and had a hand in both of Reddy's with the centre's second coming after a 90-metre burst from the the NSW fullback that split the Sharks defence apart.
Anderson said despite Hayne's performance, he needed some encouragement from the coaching box to get more involved.
"He sort of comes into the game, handles the ball 20-odd times, scores a couple of tries and runs for a couple of hundred metres," said Anderson.
"We had to send a message out to him to get more of the ball. We want that from him and his teammates do too.
"Today the game went around him a bit but he can break games open and he did that. We have set a very high expectation benchmark of Jarryd Hayne and he stepped up to it today."
Sharks coach Ricky Stuart made no excuses for his side's defeat and admitted it was one of their poorer performances of a difficult season that sees them remain second-last on the ladder ahead of Sydney Roosters due to a superior for and against.
"We were poor, the players are trying but we just didn't have the ability," Stuart said.
"We were the flattest I have seen us all season and the lemon is just about dry, we have five weeks to salvage our pride, today wasn't acceptable."
"Out of 25 players I have available, the number of players I have injured would be in double figures," he said.
"But we have to get on with it, I have to find a way of changing things."
Stuart said he may also have to rest some of his younger players for the trip to Brisbane next week.
"I am not going to burn players out for results at this stage of the season, I can't be too hard on them because they are just learning to be first grade players."
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/spo...sharks-become-latest-scalp-20090802-e5q5.html
Eels keep finals flame flickering
Posted 2 hours 7 minutes ago
Updated 2 hours 6 minutes ago
Hayne was again instrumental for the Eels with two tries and one assist. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe)
A Jarryd Hayne-inspired Parramatta has kept its slim hopes of finals football alive with a comprehensive 30-0 thrashing of Cronulla at Shark Park.
The slippery skills of Hayne combined with the desperation of the Eels' goal-line defence and helped deliver Parramatta its third straight win to move to 11th, within three points of the top eight.
Hayne and form centre Joel Reddy picked up one try each in both halves with Krisnan Inu jogging on the spot to score the Eels' other.
Despite dominating 57 per cent of possession, including 62 per cent in the first half, the Eels won the game on the back of some tenacious work inside their own half against a willing Cronulla side.
Reddy said the clean sheet will help Parramatta as it pushes for an unlikely finals berth following an upset win over the Dogs last week.
"That's probably the most pleasing aspect of the game, keeping them to nil," he told Fox Sports.
"They did throw a lot at us, we had to defend our line for quite a long time.
"I think [coach] Daniel Anderson will be quite happy with the defence."
Reddy has recaptured a damaging combination with partner Eric Grothe in the latter part of the season and says the whole side is taking a more aggressive approach.
"We are being more aggressive and really putting it to teams," he said.
"We fell away from that towards the middle of the season.
"We've really picked that up, training hard, short passes and running hard."
Reddy scored the first of the game with a sensational finish in the corner after an off-load from Grothe, before Hayne barged his way over from dummy half to give the visitors a 10-0 half-time lead.
Luke Burt was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce from a Daniel Mortimer kick which he flicked back to a waiting Inu only five minutes from the restart to all but end the contest.
Hayne then cut through some sloppy defence with ease and set up another for Reddy.
The Sharks were gallant all afternoon but struggled to find the class and cohesion in the attacking third without injured pivot Trent Barrett.
Hardworking pair Nathan Hindmarsh and Todd Lowrie were also outstanding for the Eels.
Parramatta now hosts the Knights and Warriors in the next fortnight to keep its season alive.
Eels: 30 (J Hayne 2, J Reddy 2, K Inu tries; L Burt 4/5 conversions, 1/1 penalty)
Sharks: 0
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/02/2643471.htm?site=news
Eels make it three in a row
Published: 6:06PM Sunday August 02, 2009
Jarryd Hayne was once again the inspiration for in-form Parramatta as the Eels chalked up a 30-0 victory over an injury-hit Cronulla at Toyota Stadium on Sunday to keep alive their NRL finals aspirations.
Hayne and Joel Reddy ran in two tries apiece with Krisnan Inu also crossing the in whitewash as Daniel Anderson's side sealed a third successive win in front of a crowd of 12,246.
The NSW fullback had a hand in the Eels' opening score after just seven minutes when his offload to Eric Grothe found its way into the hands of Reddy who did well to dive over and score in the corner.
The Sharks welcomed back Paul Gallen after a month-long injury layoff but the absence of injured five-eighth Trent Barrett proved telling as they failed to find a way past some brilliant Parramatta defence.
The home side repelled a wave of Parramatta attacks for the next 30 minutes until Hayne darted over from dummy half for his 11th try of the season.
Burt's kick gave the Eels a 10-0 lead at the break.
The Eels scored the first points of the second period, somewhat against the run of play, when Matt Keating's kick outfoxed Nathan Stapleton and fell into the path of Inu who strolled over the line in the 46th minute.
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That try knocked the stuffing out of the Sharks and the Eels extended their lead further when Hayne (63rd minute) grabbed his second try after powering his way past three tacklers to score with Burt adding the extras.
Burt's penalty goal made the score 24-0 by the 67th minute but the Eels weren't finished with the irrepressible Hayne once again the creator for Reddy's second after a 90-metre run five minutes from time.
A miserable day for the Sharks was compounded with more injuries with Stapleton, Reece Williams and Scott Porter all limping off
http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-league-news/eels-ignite-against-sharks-2882699
Hayne was again instrumental for the Eels with two tries and one assist. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe)
