Sivo scores, coach happy with 2 points

Sydney: The Parramatta Eels still need a couple of weeks to polish things up before they can again be called premiership contenders, according to coach Brad Arthur.

He breathed a sigh of relief when his side managed to hold off tricky opponents in the Warriors 24-18 at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday. The Warriors were after three wins in a row and had secured four from their previous five games.

But the Eels shot out to a 16-0 lead with Maika Sivo’s opening try in the 4th minute and made Todd Payten’s men play catch-up football.

And the Warriors came close reducing the margin to just four points twice - at half-time (16-12) and again at the

67th minute mark (22-18) after a Hayze Perham try.

A Mitch Moses penalty stretched the lead to six and that’s where it stayed.

“We’ve still got a couple of weeks to get it right,” Arthur said.

“You couldn’t say that [Eels are premiership contenders] on the back of that performance right now, but the thing is we’ve got a really tough opposition there next week [Panthers] to challenge ourselves on. We’re up for the challenge.

“I was happy to get the two points. It was extremely important in the context of where we sit.”

Sivo’s Bati team-mate Waqa Blake also scored a try for Eels.

Meanwhile, Mikaele Ravalawa scored a try for St George Dragons as they went down 23-22 to Cowboy

Other results: Broncos 12-25 Panthers, Knights 38-10 Sharks, Rabbitohs 16-22 Storm, Bulldogs 14-18 Titans, Sea Eagles 32-34 Tigers, Raiders 6-18 Roosters, Eels 24-18 Warriors, Cowboys 23-22 Dragons.

- NRL.com