Eels look to create their own fairytale
PARRAMATTA players are still reeling from a series of unfortunate events that forced them out of last season’s NRLW finals series.
But they’ve flipped the script and get the chance to complete the ultimate form of revenge against the team that benefited the most from their spectacular slide down the ladder on the final day of the regular season.
The Roosters never sat inside the NRLW top four until the final round last season. They sweated on the Broncos to beat the Eels by more than 16 points, which they did with a 38-4 shellacking that knocked Parramatta out of the top four.
The Roosters went on to win the competition, having beaten the Eels by a single point in the regular season to rub further salt into the wound.
Fast forward a few months and the blue and golds have produced an even bigger miracle to scrape into fourth spot, having waited until round 5 to win their first and only game of the season against Brisbane.
They did the hard work last Sunday and then watched the Roosters belt the Titans to help them finish fourth and set up a semi-final showdown between the sides this Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.
“The Roosters were the underdog comeback story last season, and I feel like we are that now,” Eels co-captain Simaima Taufa said.
“We’re making it our own journey and path because we don’t know their story and how they came together as a group to get to a grand final. All I know is that our players here are looking forward to continually getting better as a group.
“I feel like we are the most improved team throughout the competition.”
Centre Tiana Penitani knows that the Eels have received little support from pundits this week but she says everyone inside Parramatta’s four walls is confident they can pull off the upset of the season.
The Eels were clinical against Brisbane and played without fear, having lost their previous three matches by a combined margin of 10 points.
“We’ve never had any doubt,” she said. “I know that everyone has written us off going into the semis, but our losses were all small margins. If we play like we did on the weekend, then we can absolutely go all the way, and we’ve always had that faith from the very beginning.
“We knew it was going to be a matter of time until we’d play our best, and we definitely have improvement left in us.”