Ferguson stars as Eels demolish Dogs
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Back-to-back intercept tries kept Parramatta on their resurrection path as the Eels continued their unbeaten start to the 2019 Telstra Premiership over the hapless Bulldogs on Sunday.
The Eels beat Penrith in round one before the commanding 36-16 round two win over the Dogs. But can they continue on their path of destruction, when they face the premiers the Roosters in round three next Friday night at ANZ Stadium?
It was at that venue on Sunday that the Eels showed their eight-point win over the Panthers a week earlier was just the beginning. It was 20 points this time.
Match: Bulldogs v Eels
Round 2 -
home Team
Bulldogs
16th Position
away Team
Eels
2nd Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
The Eels broke the game open early in the second half with Blake Ferguson intercepting a Josh Jackson pass in the 45th minute and then Shaun Lane having sharp eyes and reflexes on a Raymond Faitala-Mariner pass four minutes later and the scoreboard had skipped out to 30-10, still with half an hour to play.
It had game analysts scratching their heads as to whether there had ever been two intercept tries in a row by the same NRL team.
The Eels broke the game open early in the second half with Blake Ferguson intercepting a Josh Jackson pass in the 45th minute and then Shaun Lane having sharp eyes and reflexes on a Raymond Faitala-Mariner pass four minutes later and the scoreboard had skipped out to 30-10, still with half an hour to play.
It had game analysts scratching their heads as to whether there had ever been two intercept tries in a row by the same NRL team.
Things had to turn and they did. Gutherson set up Ferguson for a try in the 28th minute and then scored one of his own running off the break from hooker Reed Mahoney.
Suddenly the Eels were ahead 12-10 and scores stayed that way at the break.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half stunned the Dogs home fans, when the Eels ran in three tries. Recruit Dylan Napa scored a consolation try – his first in Bulldogs colours – in the 63rd minute.
But the Bulldogs were still 14 points behind with 14 minutes left.
Eels back-to-back intercepts could be NRL first
Smart work by rising five-eighth Dylan Brown to put Jaeman Salmon through a gap in the 68th minute and then back him up to score the Eels sixth try, blew the lead out to 20 points.
In other match news, there were three HIA tests for Josh Hoffman and David Gower (Eels) and Adam Elliott (Bulldogs) with all players passing.
Junior Paulo also produced a strong 50-minute effort in his first game back at Parramatta after three years at the Raiders.
