PENRITH THE KINGS OF WESTERN SYDNEY
Cleary’s courage helps Panthers make prelim final
JUNIOR Paulo dropped it and that was it.
With the line beckoning and Penrith under increasing pressure with a minute left on the clock, the Eels prop flapped at an unwanted ball and, as it dropped to the ground, so did Parramatta’s hopes of sealing back-to-back finals wins for the first time since 2009.
Penrith will advance to the NRL preliminary finals with an 8-6 win over the Eels and face the Melbourne Storm in a rematch of last year’s grand final.
Parramatta started brightly when Waqa Blake crashed over the whitewash after a Dylan Edwards blunder under the high ball.
Kurt Capewell struck back for Penrith before Nathan Cleary’s penalty goal kept the Eels at bay.
But it wasn’t enough in a finals game that went down to the wire with Parra unable to crack the Panthers’ resolve and force victory.
Maybe this is the game Parramatta turned the corner. Maybe this is the game when all those knocks on them, the ones which said they were flattrack bullies, that said they folded like a cheap suit when the pressure got too much and that said they just didn’t have another gear.
Parramatta have been criticised under Brad Arthur’s tenure for being all talk and no trousers.
They defeated Melbourne a few weeks before the finals series kicked off and everybody thought it was a flash in the pan.
But in this game they dealt with everything that the Panthers threw at them. Sometimes you win them, sometimes you lose them.
Marata Niukore played like a man possessed, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Paulo ran like they didn’t know any other way than at 100mph and Mitchell Moses kicked the ball with an unrivalled purchase.
“Mitchell has kicked it higher, further and he’s tested the back three more. Dylan Edwards has been all at sea because of him,” said Fox League’s Braith Anasta.
Clint Gutherson was in everything, Will Smith played centre, lock and hooker and Blake Ferguson acted as if this game might have been the last thing he did, let alone his last game in the blue and gold.
“Penrith have had so much ball but the Eels have to take a bow,” said Fox League’s Gorden Tallis. “To have that much footy against you and with great attacking footy they had an answer to every question.”
But in the end the errors told for the Eels, they kept defending but when they got the chance to attack the gas had been taken out of them.
Viliame Kikau’s agent reckons the Penrith back-rower is worth $800,000.
If anybody was considering paying him that, well, then they probably ought to watch the first half of this game and think again.
Fox League’s Cooper Cronk flagged Kikau’s introduction from the bench as being one of the dynamics to change the game after a flat performance against Souths.
“He needs a reaction in this game,” Cronk said. “He’s obviously got the contract talks that shouldn’t be in the headlines.
“He needs to come off the bench after 20-25 minutes and go after the contest.”