The Dyldam Parramatta Eels defeated the Melbourne Storm 26-22 on Monday night (15 June) with a brave performance despite sustaining a number of injuries, and Eels skipper Tim Mannah praised the side’s efforts that saw them come away with the two points.
The skipper was a stand out for the Blue and Gold as he earnt his third Man of the Match performance of his career for his 172m from 15 runs, four tackle breaks and 38 tackles in his 46 minutes on the field.
“I think it is really nice to get the reward,” Mannah said after the game.
“Like Brad touched on, our effort has been there the last few weeks but we have lacked that ability to finish games off, especially last week. It was nice to get the reward for our efforts tonight.” Mannah added.
The Eels trailed early as the Storm crossed for two tries, however the Blue and Gold fought valiantly to steady the ship and headed into the half time sheds trailing by two points after two tries to Semi Radradra.
“They definitely came out of the blocks better than we did,” Mannah said.
“Once we got ourselves back in the game, and we started to get a fair share of possession, it really made a difference with the way we played our footy.”
“A couple of tries helped, but once we started getting back in the game with the ball, it definitely helped.”
The victory may have come at a price, with the Eels to do further testing on Reece Robinson, Nathan Peats and Kaysa Pritchard this week after receiving injuries in Monday night’s clash. However Mannah was proud of the Blue and Gold’s efforts who did what they needed to do to come away with the win.
“We weren’t really sure who was playing where, but the boys showed a lot of character tonight to focus on getting their job done no matter where they were.” Mannah said.
