Tim Smith: Indefinite leave

PARRAMATTA halfback Tim Smith has been granted indefinite leave from the NRL club to overcome his battle with bipolar disorder.

Smith approached the Eels this morning and advised his team-mates at training today of his plans to take time away from the sport and return to his family on the Gold Coast to recover from his mental health problems.

Smith says he has been battling with bipolar disorder for 18 months and told his team-mates he wants to get himself right before he can begin to focus on football again.

"This morning I made a request to the club to be stood down from this weekend's game," said Smith, reading from a prepared statement.

"They have granted me leave and I have just had a meeting with my team-mates to tell them of where I am at.

"I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 18 months ago. In this time I have been seeking professional advice and professional medical help to help me deal with day to day life of bipolar disorder.

"I am not using bipolar disorder for any negative things or any decisions I've made in the past. However, I am not coping well with the pressure and public scrutiny I am under."

His manager, David Riolo, said Smith had made a very brave decision but has no doubt he'll return to the NRL.

"I have no doubt he will come back," said Riolo.

"He is a quality person from a good family and he'll work hard to get back from this."

Smith has a long history of misdemeanours at the NRL club involving alcohol and spent part of the preseason in a rehabilitation clinic on the Gold Coast.

He has also suffered from depression and arrived at the club around 11am today with Riolo, two hours after the scheduled morning session.

Eels coach Michael Hagan was due to speak to the media following the session but cancelled at the last minute after noting Smith's absence.

Smith has played just three NRL games this year in his comeback from shoulder surgery and has copped the brunt of the criticism for the Eels successive losses.

But his teammates have stood behind him, with halves partner Brett Finch sympathising with the 23-year-old over the ongoing criticism.

"The continual criticism, I've had it myself in my career and it certainly gets you down and you get sick of hearing it," said Finch prior to training today.

"I thought (Smith) played pretty well on the weekend. I thought his kicking game was strong.

"I feel sorry for him because I know what he is going through, you certainly don't like to see your teammates cop that criticism all the time."

Sackings not the answer for Eels: Cayless

Eels 20 lost to Gold Coast 28

Parramatta skipper Nathan Cayless has called for calm at the selection table, claiming that sacking players is not the solution to the Eels' stuttering start to the NRL season.

The Eels slumped to a 28-20 loss to Gold Coast at Parramatta Stadium last night and now have only two scratchy wins against the Bulldogs and Newcastle to show for their first five weeks' effort.

With a meeting against arch-rivals Manly kicking off the NRL's heritage round on Friday night, the Eels need to find some answers in a hurry, but Cayless doesn't think wholesale changes are required.

"We can't give up and go sacking everyone and dropping everyone," Cayless said.

"You've got to stick with the boys ... everyone busted their arses out there."It was a big effort to get back into the game but the NRL's getting too hard these days, you can't give teams a head start and expect to run them down every week."

Most conjecture this week will centre on out of sorts halfback Tim Smith, who again struggled to impose himself on the game last night.

His lack of self belief and control was shown up sensationally as opposite Scott Prince ran the Eels ragged all night, and it was only when five-eighth Brett Finch started to assert himself that the home side looked capable of snatching the points. The Eels could be without Mark Riddell for the clash against the Sea Eagles - who also have just two wins to their name - after the hooker suffered a recurrence of the shoulder/chest injury he first suffered against Newcastle two weeks ago.

The nuggety rake will have scans early this week but it is believed Eels medical officials are leaning towards giving him a week off.

Gold Coast showed they could get the job done without an inspirational forward of their own last night after they made a mockery of claims they would struggle without prop Luke Bailey, who is out with a broken arm.

While his co-skipper Scott Prince was brilliant, coach John Cartwright heaped praise on some of the lesser lights who had stepped in to fill the breach.

"We did win a couple of times last year without Bails, he's very important to the side but probably the difference this year to last year is a lot of the guys from one to 17 are contributing a lot more," Cartwright said.

"It's going to stand us in good stead because there is rep footy ahead, the injuries always come."I was just really pleased for those guys that probably played bit parts last year who really put their hand up tonight."

Cartwright said he was hopeful of having five-eighth Mat Rogers available to take on Brisbane on Friday night after he was put on report for lifting Luke Burt midway through the second half.

Cowboys bulldoze Eels

Cowboys 38 - Eels 14

NORTH Queensland celebrated the appointment of their new coach Neil Henry and answered a torrent of criticism by belting Parramatta.

Prop Carl Webb, slammed by former Queensland and Australia prop Greg Dowling during the week for his poor form over the opening month of the season, set the tone for the Cowboys' first win of 2008 in front of 19,231 loyal Dairy Farmers Stadium fans by scoring the opening try after only four minutes.

The Eels - whose performance was reminiscent of their loss to the Warriors two weeks ago - were fortunate to be still in the game at 20-10 by halftime.

But despite the absence of injured fullback Matt Bowen, the Cowboys went on with the job in the second half. Second rower Jacob Lillyman scored on the next ruck after a long Ty Williams break in the 57th minute and then centre Mark Henry forced his way over in the 61st.

Compounding the woes of Parramatta coach Michael Hagan was three players - five-eighth Brett Finch, second rower Daniel Wagon and centre Joel Reddy - being booked for a lifting tackle on Luke O'Donnell in the 11th minute.

Cowboys replacement Shane Tronc could also be a bit of trouble for a late challenge on Finch after he had kicked the ball in the 47th minute. The defeat continues Parramatta's poor record in Townsville, where they have failed to win since 2000. Five minutes after Webb's try, they were in again with hooker Aaron Payne darting out of dummy-half and linking with Steve Southern, who found five-eighth Justin Smith backing up to score.

The Eels hit back with tries to Brett Finch and Eric Grothe but were never really in the hunt against a Cowboys side playing full of confidence of days gone by. With Johnathan Thurston converted both tries for a 12-0 lead.

Parramatta was given another headache in the 11th minute when three players were booked by rookie referee Bernard Sutton for a spear tackle on North Queensland lock Luke O'Donnell.
Sutton called out Joel Reddy and Daniel Wagon to caution them but replays showed Brett Finch was also involved.

The Cowboys' inept attack of the previous month was nowhere to be seen and the Eels looked sluggish but somehow the visitors managed to stay in the game, Tim Smith kicking for five-eighth Brett Finch to swoop after Webb had conceded a penalty. Luke Burt's goal narrowed the margin to six but after Parramatta made errors deep in their own territory on two occasions, halfback Thurston made them pay in the 28th minute by putting fullback Josh Graham over for another Cowboys try.

At 18-6, North Queensland threatened to run away with the game but Eels centre Jarryd Hayne took an intercept with another Cowboy try in the offing and raced 60 metres before slowing up and losing posession.

NQ fumbled themselves, giving the Michael Hagan's men a scrumfeed, and Finch's pass put winger Eric Grothe over in the corner for an unconverted try which kept Parramatta in touch.

The scoreboard ticked over to North Queensland 20 Parramatta 10 when Thurston booted a penalty goal on halftime following a ball-strip.

After the match Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless was brutally honest in the appraisal of his team.

"We were pretty awful, we've got to put that one down to attitude,'' Cayless said.

"We trained well all week, but we didn't turn up with the right attitude.''

When asked later to expand on his comments, he said: "I include myself in that. We're very disappointed. We talked about the Cowboys being desperate, we talked about how they would want to win. But in the end you have to get out on the field and do it, and we didn't''.

Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston praised the efforts of Carl Webb, who was criticised during the week by former Test prop Greg Dowling.

"It was Carl Webb who really inspired us with his first 20 minutes, he led from the front,'' Thurston said. "When he's at his damaging best, he's hard to stop.''

Fulltime

NORTH QUEENSLAND 38 (A Graham M Henry J Lillyman J Smith A Watts C Webb tries J Thurston 7 goals) bt

PARRAMATTA 14 (B Finch E Grothe T Tautai tries L Burt goal) at Dairy Farmers Stdm.

Referee: B Sutton.
Crowd: 19,231.

Cayless relives vital kick

NATHAN Cayless laughs as he describes his regular kicking practice, launching left-footed bombs before training, aiming to hit Eels team-mates in the head.

But the Eels skipper says he just wanted to stop the "mucking around'' when he kicked a crucial field goal in Friday night's 24-23 golden-point win over the Newcastle Knights.

Cayless has absorbed the jokes - and has made some at his own expense - since landing the shock one-pointer that sent Friday's match into extra time.

Former Canberra Raiders premiership-winning prop Paul Osborne confronted Cayless immediately after the game, revoking his membership to the frontrowers club.

Cayless, too, says his only previous attempt at a field goal was when he was playing for Parramatta's Under-17 SG Ball team, and he dribbled it all the way along the ground from 20m out.

But with Parramatta trailing 23-22 and looking panicked in attack, Cayless stayed calm.

"It was just one of those things that happened. We were mucking around with the ball down there and, I dunno, I just kicked it,'' Cayless said.

"I'm glad it went over, otherwise it could have been very embarrassing.''

Cayless, who is left-footed, said Friday night's would be his first and last field goal.

Retired Eels forward Ian Hindmarsh kicked a similar one last season to seal a win over Penrith.

"Maybe you just get a bit older and know what needs to be done,'' Cayless said.

"It was a bit of a shock, I suppose. All the boys out on the field were a bit shocked, I think the crowd was shocked and I was shocked myself.''

Kicking spontaneity was contagious, Knights forward Corey Paterson attempting to kick a long-range field goal to snatch a win in the dying seconds of regular time.

"He got under that a bit too much; he's got to keep his head down,'' Cayless laughed.

Despite his heroics, Cayless reserved most praise for Nathan Hindmarsh, who played just two days after losing his father Bill to cancer.

"It was a very courageous effort. Speaking from personal experience, it took me a couple of weeks to be able to get back and play footy (after his mother's death last season).''

NRL comeback kids get job done for Eels

They both walked away winners, but it's a fair bet to say Parramatta's 'comeback kids' Tim Smith and Nathan Hindmarsh would have been experiencing vastly different emotions in the Eels dressing room on Friday night.

The Eels had just walked away from a thrilling 24-23 golden point win over Newcastle, a clash that over the last few years has taken on new meaning following the coaching switcheroo between the two clubs before last season.

Just days after the death of his father following a long battle with cancer, Hindmarsh played all 83-and-a-half minutes of the contest.

Not bad for a forward who no doubt would have been drained of emotion and energy after a ten day hiatus from the training paddock.

"I thought (Hindmarsh) was outstanding, to get through 80 minutes of footy in the circumstances," Eels coach Michael Hagan said.

"It says a fair bit about his capacity and his determination to help the team and again the unquestionable effort that he displayed and he just adds confidence to what the team does.

"We're thankful that he did agree to play and it'll be a difficult couple of days for him and his family moving forward as well."

Hindmarsh's late father Bill will be laid to rest in his home town of Robertson on Tuesday, the Test star unlikely to get too many training runs under his belt again this week with Parramatta set to head to Townsville on Thursday to prepare for Saturday night's clash with winless North Queensland.

Smith also made his return to the top grade, and he must have known he would be in for a tough night when the kick-off when between his legs and over the dead ball line.

It did get better for the former rookie of the year, but he took a back seat for much of the game with halves partner Brett Finch orchestrating much of Parramatta's attack.

"I thought he was a bit rusty and personally I thought the team would take a number of weeks to get going," Hagan said.

"I still think that our best football is in front of us at this stage."

Eels hooker Mark Riddell will undergo an x-ray later on Saturday with team medical officials now hopeful the nuggety No.9 may have suffered rib damage rather than a potentially more serious pectoral muscle tear.

Riddell woke up in great deal of pain on Saturday morning after being forced from the field in the second half when he twisted awkwardly trying to reach out for the tryline.

The results of scans are unlikely to be known until Monday.

Eels beat Knights

24-23 in extra time!

Smith's boot to boost Eels

TIM Smith's kicking game has been the clincher for his return to the Parramatta Eels team for their first Parra Stadium match of the season against the Newcastle Knights on Friday.

Brett Finch kicked poorly from halfback in last Sunday's 30-16 away loss to the Warriors.

Smith played the first two rounds of the season with the Wenty Magpies in the NSW Cup after an off-season that saw him have shoulder surgery and a short stint in rehab for alcohol-related problems.

Eels coach Michael Hagan said he was always looking at bringing back Smith around this time.

"He's played pretty well in NSW Cup with Wentworthville," Hagan said.

"I just think his kicking game is important and that will take a bit of pressure off Brett Finch in that area."

Finch reverts to five-eighth and Feleti Mateo, who has filled the No. 6 jersey well in the opening two games, goes back to lock.

"It won't change the way he plays too much, I don't think," Hagan said of Mateo.

Daniel Wagon has been paired in the second row with Nathan Hindmarsh, who missed the trip to Auckland with the flu.

"It was a pretty physical game against the Warriors and I thought we were well in it," Hagan said.

"At 53 minutes in, it was 12-10 (to the Warriors) and we came up with a crucial error in our end which led to them scoring, and they then scored pretty quickly thereafter.

"It wasn't a lack of effort. They probably handled the field position and the possession a bit better than we did, to be honest."

The Eels are in the midst of a short week of preparation between Sunday and Friday games.

"That was the other thing. We always knew it would be a tough road trip in round two and a quick turnaround for round three," Hagan said.

"We're not going to dwell on the Warriors game too much.

"We know we'll get better Nathan Hindmarsh and Tim Smith will add a lot to the footy team but we also understand it's going to take a couple of weeks for blokes to get back into their routine and get to the required level of match fitness."

He said back-rower Weller Hauraki and star centre Jarryd Hayne were "a bit underdone" after their opening-round ban.

The Toyota Cup under-20s beat the Warriors 26-22.

The Eels play Newcastle at Parramatta Stadium on Friday, with Toyota Cup at 5.20pm and NRL at 7.30pm.

Warriors beat Eels - 30 to 16

Ivan Cleary hailed his young forwards after the New Zealand Warriors turned around a shaky season start to beat Parramatta 30-16 in their NRL match in Auckland.

Giant winger Manu Vatuvei was again at his best and worse, mixing two tries and block-busting runs with handling fumbles as he did in the error-strewn loss to Melbourne last weekend.

But it was the less experienced forwards, who took added responsibility in the absence of injured skipper Steve Price, who drew Cleary's warmest praise after the Warriors led 12-6 at halftime and ran way with the game before 15,250 fans.

It was only the second win by the Warriors in their past nine meetings with the Eels and Cleary mentioned interchange forwards Evarn Tuimavave and Epalahame Lauaki and prop Sam Rapira as players who had stepped up.

"They are going to have keep doing that. Today was a good start," Cleary said.

"It was good today as well that the second half we started without Ruben (Wiki) and (Nathan) Fien and Logan (Swann) on the bench, it was a young team out there and I was really happy with the way we started the second half," Cleary said.

Acting captain, Wiki agreed: "You know watching from the sidelines it was great to see them putting their hands up and sharing the work load around.

"It just kind of showed everyone how far they have come," he said.

Wiki said Vatuvei had demonstrated his ability to recover and hit back after setbacks.
"If he does make an error, he bounces back straight away," he said.

"He's shown everyone how much he's grown."

Five-eighth Michael Witt converted all five of the Warriors' tries to maintain his 100 percent record for the year.

Parramatta were without forward star Nathan Hindmarsh, recovering from flu.

The Eels jumped out to an early lead with a Luke Burt penalty and Eric Grothe try but Vatuvei hit back for the home side when he brushed through Grothe to score in the corner.

And the Warriors went ahead when they scored from the kickoff, when centre Jerome Ropati regathered halfback Grant Rovelli's kick and sent Rovelli over for a try.

Vatuvei's error contributed to the Eels' second try early in the second half when he lost the ball in a tackle and Joel Reddy scored from that possession.

But the Warriors then piled on three quick tries through Vatuvei, recruit Brent Tate and Tuimavave to ensure the win.

Eels coach Michael Hagan praised the Warriors effort.

"We knew they would be stinging after their loss to Melbourne and I thought they played very well," Hagan said.

"I thought they played with a lot of quality and they executed things extremely well and put us under a lot of pressure.

"I wasn't expecting we would be at our best in the first couple of weeks, but the boys worked hard I thought, and defended on their lives for long periods.

"I am sure we will get better from here and we would need to," he said.

Inu to miss clash with Warriors

Kiwis utility Krisnan Inu will miss the Parramatta Eels trip to Auckland for this Sunday's NRL match against the Warriors.

Inu injured his ankle in round one and is expected to be out of action for six weeks following surgery today.

Jarryd Hayne will take Inu's place in the centres after missing the season-opener following a suspension by the club.

Troubled Eel told to fight for his place

PARRAMATTA star Jarryd Hayne yesterday issued the challenge to teammate Tim Smith to knuckle down and force his way back into the Eels' starting side.

While Hayne will step out for the Eels against the Warriors in New Zealand on Sunday - the 20-year-old's first game since being shot at in an incident at Kings Cross - Smith will again be forced to run around in the NSW Cup for Wentworthville.

And should Brett Finch and Feleti Mateo again fire in the halves on the other side of the Tasman this weekend, just as they did in the second half against the Bulldogs on Saturday, Smith could be biding his time on the sidelines a lot longer than expected.

But Hayne had no doubts 23-year-old Smith, who had an off-season marred by several alcohol-related incidents, would muscle his way back into the side.

"Tim will definitely be back in first grade, but it's going to be hard for him," Hayne said during a pool session with the team yesterday.

"Brett and Feleti have been great. Finchy brings that calmness to the team and has the maturity while Feleti has that flair.

"But Tim has to work to get his position back. I have to work hard to get my position back, as will Weller (Hauraki) and Junior (Paulo). But if there wasn't that challenge it wouldn't be fun."

Hayne, who again denied he would give up the booze, but knew the limits now the season had started, hated it on the sidelines for the Bulldogs clash as punishment over the Kings Cross drama.

He said his replacement Taulima Tautai did a remarkable job and would have secured man of the match honours had Finch not be on the park.

Hayne is expected to replace Krisnan Inu who yesterday underwent MRI scans to an ankle injury he picked up late in the Bulldogs clash.

But Inu will be named in the squad for the Warriors clash and, should he recover, Tautai will drop off.

Coach Michael Hagan said while he was happy to have Hayne back in the mix, Smith was still a work in progress.

Electric Eels hail 'best-ever victory'

PARRAMATTA halfback Brett Finch sparked the second-biggest comeback in the club's history against the Bulldogs in what Nathan Hindmarsh described as the best match he has ever been involved in.

The Eels rallied from a 20-0 halftime scoreline - the biggest lead the Bulldogs have squandered in their history.

Asked if he'd ever played in a match like it, Hindmarsh said:

"That's probably the best I've been involved in so far. It's hard to go back 200-odd games, but that's the best I've been involved in. There's not many coming back from 20-0 down. I've been on the end of those games so it's good to turn it around."

Despite being involved in all five of the Eels' second-half tries, Finch was resigned to handing back the No.7 jersey to Tim Smith, who made his return from a shoulder injury in the NSW Cup for Wentworthville yesterday.

"Whenever Smithy's ready I'll go out to five-eighth or if [coach Michael Hagan] wants to keep Feleti [Mateo] there, I can hopefully stay in the team somewhere," he said.

"I've known all along I'm just playing halfback until Timmy's ready to come back."

Finch backed Hindmarsh's sentiments, also describing it as his best comeback.

"This takes the cake," he said.

There has been speculation Finch may walk away from the club at the end of the season, but he insisted his preference was to finish his career at the Eels.

"I definitely want to stay. I'd love to finish my career here," he said.

"There's some salary-cap pressure … but we're going to be doing everything we can to stay, certainly."

Eels coach Hagan said he remained calm at the break despite an abject opening half.

"That was probably the worst 40 minutes in my time here," he said.

"One of the fans said that was one of the worst halves he'd seen and I'd have to agree. It was a Bulldogs fan, of course.

"But I'm happy to report our second half was what it needed to be for us to be good enough to stay in the game. It was a great reward for the players who stuck at what we know we can do. I thought there was a lot of composure shown by Brett Finch, in particular."

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes was relatively upbeat despite the second-half capitulation

"We didn't have a lot of ball, a few things went against us," he said.

"We didn't have a lot of luck, but you've got to credit them for controlling the ball and their field position … But I think there's more positives than negatives to come out of it."

The only bad news for the Eels was an ankle injury to Krisnan Inu. The Kiwi star is expected to be fit fo face the Warriors next Sunday, but will still go for precautionary scans today.

The only time the Eels have come back from a bigger deficit was in 1987, when they defeated Canberra 30-22 after trailing 22-0. Last night, they were behind for 69 minutes before Joel Reddy crossed for his second try of the evening.

In a heart-stopping finale, Mateo sealed the result just 30 seconds out from full-time, diving over after the ball deflected off a Bulldogs defender. Finch provided the spark and Hindmarsh the grit, the latter saving three tries to keep the Eels' chances alive in the face of an early onslaught from the Dogs.

In all, Hagan's side racked up 28 unanswered points after the Bulldogs totally dominated the opening 40 minutes. To make matters worse for the Dogs, Sonny Bill Williams seemed to be hampered by a leg injury, although he remained on the field to the end.

The Eels hit back immediately after the break. Finch provided Eric Grothe with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick, before Mateo capitalised on a brilliant offload from the halfback. Reddy's double then took the Eels into the lead, which they held to the end.