As the Dyldam Parramatta Eels prepare for their Round 16 clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons at Pirtek Stadium this Saturday (27 June 2015), we take a look back at the last time these two sides met.
The Eels headed into their 2014 clash with plenty of confidence, winning their past six games at Pirtek Stadium, and the home side were put under the pressure early with some free-flowing football shown by the Dragons who threatened to post the first points.
However the Eels defence held strong as it repelled a Dragons attacking raid that was struggling to find it’s rhythm, with several final passes going to ground.
The Eels stayed in the arm wrestle and went on to score the first points of the game after 20 minutes, through a bullet like cut-out pass from hooker Nathan Peats. The pass came off the back of a penalty which saw the Eels attacking the Dragons line and the pass found Ken Sio sneak down the right edge to score under the posts.
Dragons halfback Benji Marshall, who was just recently making his return from rugby union, showed plenty of first half nerves and after throwing an earlier forward pass, a loose ball was swooped on by Eels five-eighth Corey Norman who streaked 80m to score his first try as an Eel.
The whitewash continued after halftime with prop Junior Paulo busting through the defensive line after just four minutes. The forward proved too much to handle for the Dragons forwards and Paulo offloaded to Jarryd Hayne in support for a try under the posts.
And when the Eels found themselves close to the try line, a pass from Peats through the hands of Norman, Sandow, Ma’u and Hopoate found its way to Ken Sio for his second of the day.
While Joseph Paulo twice had his efforts disallowed by the video referee, Pauli Pauli was unstoppable close to the line as he scored a four pointer to put the game beyond doubt at 30-0.
Hayne finished up the day with a second in the corner as the Eels made it 6 tries for the afternoon.
Dyldam Parramatta Eels - 36 (Sio 2, Hayne 2, Norman, Pauli. Sandow: 6/6)
St George Illawarra Dragons - 0
