The Eels posted eight tries, with left winger Arthur Miller-Stephen bagging a double, when they accounted for the Knights in an impressive trial victory in Newcastle on Friday night.
After opening the scoring in the second minute, the Eels were never headed in a performance which would have pleased new coach, Jason Ryles.
It was always going to be an interesting encounter with both Ryles and Newcastle’s Adam O’Brien naming a mix of experienced and rookie players.
In the Eels first possession of the match, Kelma Tuilagi’s tap back from a Dylan Brown kick found a Knights’ hand, resulting in an Eels scrum feed ten metres out from the Newcastle line.
Off that scrum, a dummy and left foot step from Dylan Brown split the home side’s defence, and the Eels would then play from in front.
Completions from Parra were at a premium for the next fifteen minutes, and when an attempted 40/20 kick sailed wide of the mark, the Knights took full advantage by constructing a try for former Eel Greg Marzhew.
From this point, the Eels errors abated, whilst the Knights struggled to complete any sets. Riding both possession and momentum, Parra’s halves relished the opportunity to unleash their outside men.
A penalty to the Eels from a ruck infringement took them deep into Knights territory and set the stage for Ronald Volkman to create space for Isaiah Iongi in the red zone, before the fullback recruit bulleted a pass for Jake Tago to cross in the right corner for a 10-4 lead.
Brown and Volkman continued the Eels domination of the first half when they linked for Volkman to deliver a “no-look” pass to Kelma Tuilagi who broke the line and strode away for the Eels third try.
Just before the break, Ryley Smith was denied a try when the match officials ruled that Kelma Tuilagi knocked on in the lead up play. But the Eels had still not finished their scoring for the first half.
In their next visit to the Knights’ red zone, the Eels opted to run the ball on the last tackle. In a left side block play, Dylan Brown passed out the back to Joash Papalii who proved too elusive for the Newcastle defence.
Going to the sheds with an 18 point lead, the Eels would soon learn a quick lesson about controlling possession.
Unable to complete their first four sets of the second half, the Eels invited the Knights back into the contest. Logan Aoke, Kyle McCarthy and Jermaine McEwen all crossed for the Novocastrians, leaving them just four points adrift with 22 minutes remaining.
Tyson Gamble had engineered the Knights’ fourth try with a magnificent 40/20, followed by an immaculate short ball for McEwen. However, his next kick proved costly for the home team when it resulted in a seven tackle set for the Eels.
After play advanced deep into the Knights’ half, replacement Eels half Josh Lynn went to the line and delivered a ball for Joash Papalii to break the defence and find Jordan Samrani in support for his first try in Eels colours.
In an effort which mirrored the first half, the Eels then completed their last twelve sets of the game to completely overwhelm their opponents.
In the set after points, a blindside play on the last tackle saw Joey Lussick, Apa Twidle, Araz Nanva and Arthur Miller-Stephen combine to traverse fifty metres for Miller-Stephen to register the first of his brace of tries.
Apa Twidle was again involved in the Eels next try, joining a right side shift before finding Samuel Loizou who grounded the ball with a diving finish.
Twidle then made it three try involvements in a row when he linked with Joash Papalii for Arthur Miller-Stephen to complete his double. The try and the Josh Lynn conversion took the Eels past the forty point mark.
The Eels victory, which included eight tries and eight line breaks, earned them 14 points in the Witzer Pre-Season Challenge. Their nine offloads in the match fell one short of the ten required for the final bonus point.
The Eels next face the Tigers in a double header at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night.
Eels 44 (Tries: Arthur Miller-Stephen 2, Dylan Brown, Jake Tago, Kelma Tuilagi, Joash Papalii, Jordan Samrani, Samuel Loizou Goals: Ronald Volkman 3, Josh Lynn 3) defeated Knights 18.
