Parramatta won their first Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup (Under 17s Girls) trophy off the back of a sterling first half in the 26-10 win over the Central Coast Roosters in today’s Grand Final at Leichhardt Oval.
The Eels were never headed in the four tries to two victory making amends for a loss to the Roosters (24-14) in Week One of the finals.
“We dropped the ball four or five times on tackle one in that game and were down 18-0 but for the rest of the game we barely made an error,” Eels coach Ryan Walker said.
“I knew if we held onto the ball today and got into an arm wrestle we’d be able to win the game with fightback like that.”
The Eels also took out defending premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (22-20) in last weekend’s Preliminary finals to further signal their intentions.
This time they were the ones leading 18-0 at the half-timebreak. But a rejuvenated Roosters in the second half added quick points to intensify the contest.
It was Roosters captain and five-eighth Mia Vaotuua (pictured below), who won Player of the Series, with Eels fullback Irae Savea (pictured above) awarded the Player of the Match.
Dual international Lisa Fiaola, whose named adorns the trophy, was there to present players with their medals and awards.
“It was a team effort today and that’s what it takes to win grand finals,” Walker said.
“I’m just so proud of the girls. This is six months in the making and they deserve it.”
Today Parramatta won the field possession game in the first half, holding Central Coast scoreless.
The Roosters only made it into the Eels 10-metre zone twice in the opening 30 minutes.
Parramatta’s forward pack led by second-rowers Kaizen Morgan-Pritchard and Mere Sivo dominated the middle and laid the platform for halfback Temieke Withers and Savea to find the gaps.
It was Withers who did that first with a nice solo try in the third minute, when space opened up before her on the Roosters right edge.
It was only 10 minutes later when Withers was again in the action sending a cut-out pass to her centre Georgia Wansey as again the Roosters right-side defence let them down. Both tries were converted by hooker Bailey Ma-Chong for a 12-0 lead.
The ‘coach-killer’ came seconds before the halftime hooter, when Eels winger Freedom Crichton Ropati scored her 10th four-pointer for the season.
The Roosters were a different side in the second half after a pep-talk from True Blues Jayme Fressard, Isabelle Kelly and Jocelyn Kelleher – their triumvirate of coaching staff.
The Roosters scored two quick tries after the break to forward Pesalili-Star Combo and utility Ayva Papalii, off a brilliant dummy-half run and then a long ball from fullback Stella Hall.
The scoreboard had condensed to 18-10 with the momentum flowing the Roosters way.
But then up stepped Eels prop Isabella Bell, who fended, pushed and twisted over the line with another Ma-Chong conversion for a 24-10 lead. She then added a penalty goal six minutes later (26-10) to make the Roosters job that little bit harder with nine minutes left on the clock.
Ropati Crichton’s try-saving tackle and then a one-on-one steal in the 58th minute summed up the Eels determination to take the Lisa Fiaola Cup back to the clubhouse.
