Eels to slick for Roosters

COACH Chris Anderson berated his Sydney Roosters as "awful" while five-eighth Braith Anasta reckoned they were "dead" after a dismal first half against Parramatta last night.

Anderson didn't mince words after watching his side trail 22-0 by halftime, saying all the good work done on Anzac Day in beating St George Illawarra for the club's 1000th win had been wasted.
"Awful would be pretty good,'' Anderson said.

"We got right away from our game plan. We took it back to where we've been the last six weeks and we paid the penalty.

"At least we competed in the second half. We didn't even compete in the first half. We didn't turn up to play footy. We trained good this week and we just thought it was going to happen.

"We worked hard to get out of where we were and we just went back to square one. That was the disappointing thing. We were all expecting a better performance but it didn't happen.''

While it was a big night for Parramatta centre Krisnan Inu, who scored two tries in his second first-grade game, the Roosters' dressing-room was as quiet as any this season.

"We've got to turn things around, it's unacceptable,'' Anasta said.

"We just looked dead out there. It was an ordinary performance and it's very frustrating. We worked hard so we could get back on track and put in a good performance last week.

The Eels were on the board after only six minutes when halfback Tim Smith's kick bounced badly for Anthony Minichiello and Inu scored.

The Kiwi got his second from a Tim Smith pass three minutes later and then Tim and Ben Smith combined for winger Eric Grothe to cross.

Smith and Inu did the damage again in the 27th minute, with Test second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh backing up to score.

Anderson said there were no positives out of the game, but outscoring the Eels 10-6 after the break - thanks to tries from Ashley Harrison (56th minute) and centre Sam Perrett (78th minute) _ saved some face.

Inu said there had been more pressure placed on him by opposition teams since he made his Kiwi debut at fullback in the Anzac Test.

"For me it's a good thing, it helps me play better,'' he said.

He is deputising for his hero Timana Tahu, who is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury.
"I look up to him every day, no matter what,'' Inu said.

"On Wednesday during training, I asked him for help. He's always there. The good thing is they've got confidence in me to fill in for him.''

Captain Nathan Cayless described the Eels' form as patchy.

"The challenge for us is to do it every week - we've got a big game next week against Manly,'' Cayless said.

"Tonight we put a really good first half together and in the second half, probably tried a few too many things with the football instead of just completing our sets and kicking it long.''

Parramatta fullback Luke Burt's four goals allowed him to clock up 300 for his career.