NRL Blog Video!

Eels absolutely PUMMELLED

Match report:

JAMIE Soward and Mark Gasnier made the incisions and Matt Cooper and Ben Hornby delivered the knockout blows as St George Illawarra crushed Parramatta 30-0.

The Dragons' seventh NRL win in eight games moved them into top spot above Brisbane on for and against, while Parramatta slumped to their fifth loss.

Renowned for dour defence-dominated play, the Dragons proved at Kogarah they could be pretty as well as gritty, particularly in the first half.

Halfback Hornby and centre Cooper both scored two first half tries, as the Dragons bolted to a 22-0 lead at the break.

Five-eighth Soward gave representative selectors plenty to ponder, throwing the final pass for three of the Dragons' five tries, two of which came from his line breaks.

In the centres, Gasnier and Cooper terrorised the Eels, with the former giving teenager Jacob Loko a torrid time.

Parramatta started solidly enough in the first quarter, with forwards Fuifui Moimoi and Tim Mannah making metres with determined running.

The Eels invariably finished their sets with high kicks, which the Dragons defence had little problem defusing.

Soward got the Dragons rolling with a sixth minute penalty and busted the line 12 minutes later to set up Hornby's first try.

Cooper fended off Joel Reddy to score the home team's second try three minutes later.

Gasnier then stepped around Loko and combined with Soward to send the supporting Hornby over for his second try.

Their fourth and final first-half try came from a scrum deep in Eels territory, with Gasnier setting up Cooper for his second four-pointer.

The Dragons didn't entirely cast off their cloak of conservatism with Soward kicking for goal at 22-0 five minutes into the second half.

The game went into a lull before Soward galvanised the 19,319 crowd again with another break in the 58th minute that resulted in a try for Beau Scott, though Cooper might well have completed a hat trick had his five-eighth thrown the pass to the other side.

Round 8 - Sea Eagles VS Cowboys

Sea Eagles lose by two points to Cowboys :-(

The Manly Sea Eagles have lost their third game of the season to the North Queensland Cowboys 22-20.

Losing by just two points, the Sea Eagles did hold on until the dying minutes but were outdone by North Queensland. Both teams desperate to hold onto a winning streak, the Cowboys dominated in the first half before it evened up in the second and turned into a very tough battle.

Manly scored first when Will Hopoate threw a nice pass to Michael Robertson who went over in the corner. The conversion was whipped away from the posts as Manly took an early lead. But things suddenly slipped away as Matt Bowen raced away to score the first of his two tries for the evening.

Will Hopoate made a rare error, knocking on in goal and in turn giving it straight to Jonathan Thurston who scored. His conversion sailed over as they took the lead 10-4. Then a try to Aaron Payne right before half time gave them a lead of 16-4 as they ran into the half time.

A tough second half was ahead as both teams tried to hold onto a win. Matt Bowen took his second try and a conversion from Thurston took the lead to 22-4. The Cowboys didn’t score for the rest of the evening and began to falter as the Sea Eagles went in for the kill.

Tries to Hopoate and Michael Oldfield in a matter of minutes had every Sea Eagles fan holding their breath for a win. Tony Williams was put on towards the end of the match and was outstanding on the field. Assisting in the try to Hopoate, he also made a number of runs to put the Sea Eagles in with a chance.

The heartbreaking moment came, however, when Michael Oldfield was denied a try by the video referee after it was ruled that Jamie Lyon knocked on the ball. The momentum was decimated and the win seemed out of reach. Anthony Watmough and Jamie Lyon put the Sea Eagles within two points but with only a minute left on the clock, a miracle was not going to happen tonight.

The Sea Eagles went down to the Cowboys 22-20.
Manly are currently 5th on the competition ladder.

Doing the 'Eagle Rock'

Round 7 - Sea Eagles VS Panthers

Sea Eagles win three games in a row!

The Manly Sea Eagles have kept Fortress alive with a win against the Penrith Panthers at Brookvale Oval, 22-16.

With Brett Stewart ruled out again, Will Hopoate was moved to Fullback with Michael Oldfield again taking residence on the wing. It proved to be a successful night for Oldfield as he scored another try.

The Sea Eagles defence proved to be the one of the best parts of the match as they held the Panthers to four points for 70 minutes of the match. The Panthers looked to be in as Sandor Earl crossed but the video referee disallowed the try.

Michael Oldfield scored his fifth try this season and the first for the match. Daly Cherry-Evans’s kick went unconverted as the Sea Eagles took the lead. Steve Matai scored his first try of the season off a nice inside ball from Kieran Foran. The conversion took them to 10-0.

The Panthers’ David Simmons scored a try in the corner which was not converted to take the game into half time at 10-4.

Steve Matai and Michael Robertson bagged second half tries and with a penalty goal to the Sea Eagles, they held a lead of 22-4 over the Panthers. Michael Gordon converted both these tries, the Panthers not strong enough to take the game. The Sea Eagles won 22-16.

Next week they face the North Queensland Cowboys at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

What a mighty and unexpected win from the Eels!

It was just another Sunday afternoon game for the Eels at Parramatta Stadium, with the Gold Coast Titans leading the game all the way through till the 79th minute. The score with a minute to go was Titans 18, Eels 16.

However, a bit of Mortimer brilliance and Shackleton luck gave Parramatta the try they were looking for, and a victory which showed the reward of playing the full 80 minutes of the game. The Eels converted the try, and the final score was 22-18, Eels way.

Shackleton was in the right place at the right time. The forward missed all bar 22 minutes of last season after tearing his hamstring against St George Illawarra in the opening round.

"Just being on the field is a reward in itself," Shackleton said.

Hindmarsh said of Shackleton's recovery: "It's the hardest I have seen someone come back from an injury like that -- day in, day out doing what he needed to do to get on the field.

"I haven't seen someone that dedicated for a long, long time."

A great day for Shackleton, and an even greater day for Parramatta! GO THE EELS!

Titans Get A Victory...(finally) :)

Jubilant scenes were witnessed at Fortress Skilled Park on Friday night as the unfancied Gold Coast Titans pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory over a stunned West Tigers outfit. It was Mark Minichiello's 78th minute try from short range that ultimately delivered the coup de grace to the ailing Tigers outfit, but loyal fans of the Titans Legion would have been pleased with their side's come back in what was an undulating encounter.
The Tigers threatened to rack up a Cricket score, leading by 14-0 with fifteen minutes gone by on the clock. A powerful try to the rampaging Simon O'Dwyer and a dubious video referees decision to award Chris Heighington a four pointer after a goal-line scramble left the Titans reeling both personell wise and and on the scorecard, but a late first half double from the mercurial William Zillman brought the Gold Coast outfit back into reckoning.

A lacksidasical display from the Tigers in the second half set the door ajar, and it was the ever-present captain Scott Prince who gleefully obliged, scything through a tiring defence to put the home side ahead for the first time in the match.

It capped off a sensational week for the the Titans who were bouyed by the midweek long-term acquisitions of Cronulla enforcer Luke Douglas and the prodigal son, Jamal Idris. 'It was a gutsy effort byt he boys, and i'm sure this will be the catalyst to put our season back on track', said the elated Titans coach John Cartwright.

Greg Bird has been cleared to play this week as he recovers from minor facial graizing as the Titans now turn their attention to the Parramatta Eels on Sunday afternoon.

NRL Ladder as of Round 6

Here is a link to the NRL ladder. Out of the 16 teams in the competition Sea Eagles are 5th, Titans are 13th and Eels are 15th. Push it up Manly!

NRL Ladder

Round 6 - Manly Sea Eagles VS New Zealand Warriors

Sea Eagles win the battle against the Warriors!!!

The Manly Sea Eagles won convincingly over the New Zealand Warriors at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night, making this their fourth win for the season.

Try to New Zealand's Lewis Brown at the start of the match. The try was left unconverted and the Warriors had a four point lead.

Michael Oldfield continued his outstanding form by picking up a nice kick from Jamie Lyon to score the first points for the Sea Eagles. Daly Cherry-Evans converted the kick and the Sea Eagles now had a 6-4 lead.

Michael Robertson didn’t disappoint either as he raced to the corner to score shortly after. The kick went unconverted as the Sea Eagles held a 10-4 lead. Matt Ballin was then denied a try but it didn’t take long for Jamie Buhrer to make up for it. The gun youngster bulldozed his way to the try line taking his third NRL career try. The try was left unconverted but were now with an ever increasing lead.

After an exciting first half, the Sea Eagles stole the show in the second. A try to Joe Galuvao and conversion to Daly Cherry-Evans took the lead to 20-4. The Warriors took a try with only minutes left in the game but they’d run out of time to take the win.

Manly won the game 20-10.

The Sea Eagles play the Penrith Panthers at Brookvale Oval next week.

Beau Ryan - Diary of a DJ

Fresh from the Footy Show!

Whats the Matta Parra?

It was a devestating game of Friday night football this week for Parramatta.

Starting the game with a 14-0 lead, things looked very much their way. Fans were on their feet for the 'Hayne Plane'.

However, the game quickly changed when Hayne re-produced his famous headbutt. Hayne was sent to the sin bin, and was followed quickly by Nathan Hindmarsh and Michael Ennis from the Bulldogs.
With both teams 2 players down, the Bulldogs went on equalising the points to 14-14 before half-time.

Things didn't get better, with Ben Barba and Jamal Idris continuing to add points. Parramatta showed signs of the form that led them to a shocking 38-0 defeat against the Storm last week.

The final score was 34-14, and along with this defeat is what is more than likely the loss of the Eel's season.

Titans Update

The Canterbury Bulldogs player Jamal Idris (pictured right) has just signed a 5 year deal with the Titans "cheering". He has, as of Tuesday, rejected a deal from the Newcastle Knights which would've had him training under the super coach Wayne Bennett. Rumour has it the deal from the Knights was massive but Idris has chosen to focus his loyalty to the Titans.

As of the next season of the NRL Idris will play for the Titans under a 5 year contract. He is said to be quite sad for his departure from his teamates at the bulldogs but is excited to be moving on. One factor affecting his decision to move clubs was the advice from fellow indigenous player Preston Cambell.

Titans woeful Performance Against the Cowboys :(

Yes sadly this week the mighty Titans have yet again...lost.. They tried, they failed outting the loss tally to an uncomfortable 4. With one win this season and 4 losses and to top it off being bottom of the ladder the titans really needed a win this week to boost some fan support, sadly they are most likely lossing faith in their almighty. But that isnt to say they didnt put up a fight this week. Steve Michaels put up quite a galliant fight yet again, showing us throgh his recent performance that is someone to watch out for on wing maybe in origin in the next few years?? But still an overall dissappointing performance for the titans this week so lets hope they can lift their game up for the game this week against the west tigers and maybe get a few more victories on the lagger before the much anticipated clash against the parra in sydney!!cant wait!

Storyboard!

This is the story board of our blog. It's a rough sketch of the basic layout we will have when we complete our blog of the NRL teams the Manly Sea Eagles, Gold Coast Titans and the Parramatta Eels.

As you can see each week we each have our own little 'rant' about our respective teams. We hope to linking videos and images to be better showing our teams progress, skills and stats. Obviously the actual blog will contain colour and relevant background as well as much larger detail and longer text.

Round 5 - Manly Sea Eagles VS Cronulla Sharks

What a game!!! Sea Eagles steal the win from the Sharks!!!

Coach Des Hasler said the “football Gods must have been smiling on us today” as they won a heart stopping match at Shark Park 19-13.

Trailing 7-0 at half time, with 20 minutes to go in the second half, the Sea Eagles looked like they’d be heading back to Brookvale without the two competition points. But speedstar Michael Oldfield was the hero as he scored the winning try right on full time. The Sharks couldn’t believe what had happened. The Sea Eagles had won, unbelievably.

The Sea Eagles remained scoreless in the first half, despite coming close at one stage before being denied by the video referee.Their attack improved in the second half but were still struggling to match the Sharks’ strength. A try to Kieran Foran with 20 minutes left in the game had the Sea Eagles still in the match as they trailed 13-6.

Big George Rose took it upon himself to try and even the scores. He steamrolled a number of Sharks players in order to get his first try of the season. With a conversion from Daly Cherry-Evans there was only one point in it as the final 10 minutes began to tick down.

The remainder of the match was intense as the Sharks were trying to hold onto their lead, and the Sea Eagles were battling to snare the win.When Daly Cherry-Evans booted a field goal with less than a minute left, the crowd were preparing themselves for extra time.

But before you knew it, Michael Oldfield was racing down the sidelines to score as the full time buzzer sounded. The Sea Eagles were ecstatic as they ran to each other in celebration.

The Sea Eagles play the Warriors at Brookvale Oval on Saturday at 5.30pm.

Hello and Welcome !!!!

Hi footy fanatics and welcome to our blog! We will be discussing how our favourite teams - 'Gold Coast Titans', 'Parramatta Eeels' and 'Manly Sea Eagles' are going in the 2011 first grade NRL competition.