Eels on a grand final run

PARRAMATTA second rower Nathan Hindmarsh last night compared the Eels' fairytale late-season surge with the club's all-conquering run towards the 2001 grand final.

The amazing story of interim coach Jason Taylor's odyssey moved into another chapter as the Eels celebrated the 20th anniversary of Parramatta Stadium's opening with a 28-6 belting of dismal St George-Illawarra in front of 19,137 rain-soaked fans.

The result saw the Eels claim a seventh consecutive win for the first time in five years while it banished the Dragons from the top four.

A buoyant Hindmarsh said that the atmosphere around the club reminded him of the Eels' most recent big season, when they took out the minor premiership in a canter before losing to Newcastle in the grand final.

"Not since 2001 - we're not the same team we were in 2001, but it's kind of got the same feel about it," said Hindmarsh.

"The blokes are really enjoying their footy. The team's vocal out on the field, where I think at the start of the year we were very quiet.

"When we first started on this streak, there was no pressure on us because no one expected us to keep it going.

"I suppose now the pressure is starting to build. If we drop one, we're up the creek.

"It's getting towards that point where we think 'oh we might ...' but no one's saying anything. Maybe at home talking to the missus, but not in front of the boys.

"If we pick up the paper and we're in the eight, then we're in the eight. We've just got to do the hard thing and stay in there."

Hindmarsh said the fact the Dragons could score only six points in the rugged opening exchanges last night had swelled the confidence of the Eels.

"We just braced ourselves for it, and tried to get it over," he said.When St George-Illawarra wing Colin Best scored from a Trent Barrett kick in the ninth minute, Hindmarsh recalled: "I thought 'jeez, it's going to be a long night'."

But Parramatta fullback Luke Burt crossed off a John Morris kick and then converted for 6-6 before the Eels had tries to wing Jarryd Hayne and halfback Jeremy Smith disallowed in the 37th and 39th minutes respectively.

They weren't deterred, however, and wing Eric Grothe crossed in the south-eastern corner to give his side a 10-6 half-time lead.

The son of Eels great Eric Sr scored again after the break, at which point Nathan Brown's joint-venture side completely self-destructed.

Dragons second rower Danny Wicks was sent to the sin bin for his side's repeated infringements, a Barrett line drop-out went over the touchline on the full, and two forward passes stymied St George-Illawarra's attempts to get back into the game.

The Eels put the icing on their win when makeshift prop Chad Robinson scored after Dean Widders' grubber kick evaded a clutch of hapless Dragons with 15 minutes to go.

The eventual points difference means the Sharks need to beat New Zealand Warriors handsomely at Mt Smart Stadium tonight to move ahead of the Eels again.

"Places in that eight are going to come down to for and against," Hindmarsh said.

Eels hooker Mark Riddell, a former Dragon, meanwhile boasted: "(St George-Illawarra) only scored one try tonight, from a bomb. We just kept turning them away and frustrating them and kept enjoying it."

Eels coach Jason Taylor revealed after the game that Hindmarsh, second rower Daniel Wagon and lock Glenn Morrison had almost missed the match with respective knee, elbow and tailbone injuries.

"We've done it the same way since day one so we'd be silly to change anything now," said Taylor.

St George-Illawarra fullback Ben Hornby will have a quadriceps injury checked this morning.