FERGO ON FIRE
Dynamic winger’s double helps Eels to a surprise win
PARRAMATTA have stormed back from 16-0 down to claim a stunning six-point NRL upset over Canberra in Darwin.
The Raiders roared to a three-try lead after half-anhour last night via a dynamic first-half display from star fiveeighth Jack Wighton.
And they still held a slender four-point lead with 18 minutes to go until Blake Ferguson brought the modest 5391 crowd to life with a 70m intercept try.
A 67th-minute solo effort from Mitchell Moses sealed back-to-back Eels wins for the first time since the opening two rounds of the competition. The victory lifts Parramatta back over the Wests Tigers into eighth on the ladder, while the fourth-placed Raiders will rue a missed shot at second spot.
Ferguson was among the Eels’ best with two tries and running 149 metres, while prop Junior Paulo chipped in with 170 metres.
Eels coach Brad Arthur said his team was too impatient early in the match.
“We made two to three clean line breaks and tried to score in the next play so we just lacked real patience,” he said post-match.
“As a footy team, we’ve got to learn that we don’t have to score off every play.
“Sometimes, you’re not going to be at your best but you’ve got to try and find a way to keep yourself in the game and fight our way back, which we did at 16-0. “Five weeks ago, we wouldn’t have been tough enough to be able to do that.” The signs were ominous for Parramatta when Wighton put Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad through untouched in the fourth minute.
Wighton powered his way over from dummy-half soon after, before his line break resulted in Sebastian Kris soaring over Maika Sivo in the 32nd minute. But the injection of the Eels’ bench changed the contest.
Just as the Raiders looked to take a huge lead into the break, Manu Ma’u and Ferguson whittled the lead to four points with tries in the final three minutes of the half.
A shining light for Canberra in the first half, Wighton had a horror second period and finished with a game-high five errors.