Hagan rues missed chances

Parramatta coach Michael Hagan says a combination of missed opportunities and poor discipline cost his team a place in the NRL Grand Final.

The Eels settled much better than the Melbourne Storm in Sunday afternoon's preliminary final at Telstra Dome, and scored first in each half to firstly grab a 4-0 lead and then level things up after the break at 10-10.

But the former Newcastle boss told reporters after the Storm had grabbed the Grand Final berth with a 26-10 win that better execution of their game plan and skills would have made all the difference.

"I thought we gave ourselves a real chance after half-time to go to 10-all, and I thought we played some good footy at times," Hagan said.

"We didn't execute as well as we needed to, to give ourselves a genuine chance."

"I think we missed two genuine chances and probably turned the ball over on a couple of half chances which you know they punish you for those errors. But I thought we were pretty courageous at different times in the game."

"I thought our players acquitted themselves very well and gave themselves their best chance anyway. I think we made plenty of line breaks in the game and we certainly challenged them physically at times."

"Probably there was a period just in that 15 minutes before half-time we conceded three or four penalties which really gave them a good roll-on and they took advantage of that. They're hard to handle when that's the case."

Twice in the second half Krisnan Inu came close to scoring a try that would have given the Eels hope, but on each occasion video referee Bill Harrigan ruled that he had touched the sideline just before forcing the ball, and the second instance was a blow according to Hagan.

"I think that try had to be scored at that time, whether it was (a try) is hard to say because there wasn't a genuine replay for a few minutes, but I think it's fair to say he was probably out," Hagan said.

Captain Nathan Cayless was bitterly disappointed by the result, especially after his team had had its opportunities in the game, but his mood was helped by a positive outlook for the future.

"We've got a lot of good young guys who are going to learn a lot from that season," he said.

"We had a to put up with a lot of criticism but I thought we finished off the season really strong. It's just disappointing that it ended today."

"It's great for those guys to have a full season in first grade, (Jarryd Hayne) Haynesy and Krisnan (Inu) and there's a few guys in Premier League who I'm sure will be pushing for first-grade spots next year."

"They're going to be in their third grand final in a row, so we're at a healthy stage as a club but it still doesn't take away from the disappointment of today."