Eels' win golden

PARRAMATTA fullback Luke Burt emerged the hero last night with a 38-metre overtime penalty goal that gave the Eels their fifth consecutive win over Wests Tigers.

On a night that featured two overtime games, the Parramatta Stadium contest was tied up at 20-20 two minutes from the end of 80 minutes when Parramatta were penalised just to the right of the posts for taking out chasers on Wests Tigers captain Brett Hodgson's grubber kick.
It was still 20-20 halfway through golden point time, before an offside penalty gave Burt the chance to step up. He was embraced by his team-mates as the ball cleared the posts by only a couple of metres.

TWO intercept tries and some dogged defence earlier laid the foundations for Parramatta's their first win under new coach Michael Hagan – and the first victory in a premiership match since August.

In a battle of the winless western Sydney powerhouses at Parramatta led 14-12 at halftime before two sin bin dismissals turned the round three opener on its head.

First, Wests Tigers replacement Dene Halatau was handed a spell by referee Steve Clark for a professional foul when replays suggested he had been held down by an Eels attacker.
Despite being a man down, Tim Sheens' men looked to have created the next try when hooker Robbie Farah roared into the clear with 26 minutes to go and lined up Benji Marshall for the touchdown.

But Marshall was taken out by Parramatta replacement PJ Marsh before he got the ball, earning Marsh a 10-minute spell. Tongan international Feleti Mateo extended the Eels' lead with a 58th minute try, before Marshall hit back with one of his own six minutes later.

Prodigal Eel's pay or play day


Parramatta second-rower Ian Hindmarsh will have a disrupted preparation for tomorrow night's contest with the Wests Tigers, with the hearing into his contract dispute with English Super League club Catalans to be heard hours before he takes the field.

The Rugby Football League hearing is due to be held at 11.30 tonight - Thursday afternoon in Leeds. Hindmarsh will attend a teleconference with Eels football manager Tony Zappia and the player's solicitor at the club's football offices as RFL officials debate whether he should be officially cleared to play in the NRL this season. The hearing is expected to last several hours.
The French Dragons had refused to give Hindmarsh a release after he signed a contract to play this season with the Eels, and had demanded $40,000 in compensation.

They have since dropped that figure to about $16,000, but Hindmarsh said he was still reluctant to pay "on principle".

"They just said, 'We want you to pay this much money,' but there was no reason for it being that much," Hindmarsh said.

"They just pulled that figure out of their arse.

"If they came and said, 'It cost us $2000 to recruit Jason Croker [the former Canberra player who replaced Hindmarsh in the Catalans squad],' then fine, but there's been nothing to say I've cost them money.

"That's why I really wanted to go to the tribunal. If they rule for Catalans, I'd be happy with that. It's not Catalans pulling a number out of their arse and saying, 'We want this,' it's an independent tribunal saying, 'You're in the wrong and you have to pay up."'

The RFL - English Super League's governing body - had given Hindmarsh a temporary clearance to play in the opening three rounds until his case was heard.

Asked about the fact the hearing would likely leak well into the morning of the game, Hindmarsh said: "I sleep pretty well, and I live right next to the footy office so it'll only take me five minutes to get there. Hopefully it won't take too long so I can get back to bed."

Should the RFL rule in the Dragons' favour and order Hindmarsh to pay a transfer to secure a release, the 29-year-old, who cut short a three-year deal with Catalans just one year in to tend to his farm in Cowra, said his could still be forced into retirement.

The Eels had hinted they would pay the transfer fee, but that now seems unlikely because it would have to be included in the club's salary cap.

"I've got to weigh up whether it's worth me playing or not playing, depending on how much money it is," Hindmarsh said. "If they come back and say $40,000, is it worth going on with it? But if they come back and say 10 grand, that might be different.

"But I'm reasonably confident we're going to get out of it. I could give them money and keep them happy, but I don't want to pay them anything, and I don't think I should. Hopefully, I can get out of it and keep the money in the bank."

Meanwhile, Hindmarsh's teammate Eric Grothe is set to end speculation about a possible switch to rugby union by re-signing with Parramatta in a three-year deal. The winger has told the club he will give them an answer on their offer very soon. Rugby sources believe Grothe has decided to stay in league.

Parramatta originally offered Grothe, 27, a two-year deal, and that was a sticking point in negotiations. But last weekend the length of the deal was increased to three years.

The Australian Rugby Union had been interested in Grothe, but last week announced it would not be making him an offer. There was still interest in the representative winger from the Waratahs, but there was no guarantee of a substantial offer being made in the near future.

Cronulla have lost centre Ben Pomeroy (bruised rib) and are almost certain to be without five-eighth Adam Dykes (foot) and forward Lance Thompson (knee) for Saturday night's clash with Souths at Toyota Park, while lock Paul Gallen (ankle) is highly unlikely to make a comeback in the game.

Eels defend Tim Smith

PARRAMATTA hooker PJ Marsh has leapt to the defence of underfire Eels halfback Tim Smith, yesterday declaring him the third best halfback in rugby league.

In a strong vote of confidence, Marsh said only incumbent Test No. 7 Johnathan Thurston and the world's best player Andrew Johns were ahead of Smith in the playmaking stakes.

"I have played with Tim now for three years," Marsh said.

"You have Andrew Johns and then Johnathan Thurston. Tim Smith is next.

"He is the best young player I have played with."

The generous praise is sure to spark debate with Matt Orford, Cooper Cronk, Craig Gower and Scott Prince all to figure in representative calculations later this year.

Smith and former Rooster Brett Finch have come under heavy fire after the Eels' poor start to the year, with the club yet to register a win.

Eels legend Brett Kenny yesterday said Smith, 2005 NRL rookie of the year, should be given one more week to prove himself or face the axe.

"A couple of years ago people were comparing him to Sterlo. He has shown he is not as good as everyone thought he would be," Kenny said.

"I don't think it is panic stations yet but if they don't perform they will have to git rid of one of them.

"Apparently the five-eighth in Premier League (Blake Green) is pretty good.

"If they don't perform they will have to bring him in and give him a run. I don't think dropping both of them would be the solution but maybe one will have to go if they don't start to strike up a combination."

But the experienced Marsh said Smith and Finch should not wear the blame for Parramatta's winless start to the year. "Tim is only 21," Marsh said. "I can't remember too many young halfbacks that good. He is a great player.

"And Finchy is just a fantastic competitor. Come round 21 or 22 they will both still be putting in and that's all you can ask. They are two little blokes and they will come good.

"You can't go blaming two blokes, there were 17 of us on the field against Souths."

Marsh, 27, said the Eels would be boosted by the return of inspirational back-rower Nathan Hindmarsh.

"Mentally I think it will be a bit of a boost if Hindmarsh returns this week. He adds a lot to the side," Marsh said.

"Nathan Hindmarsh, his name says it all. We just love having him in the side and it's workrate speaks for itself."

Eels captain Nathan Cayless said his side would be looking for redemption against the Tigers on Friday night.

"It is not that bad but we have to turn it around quickly," Cayless said.

"It's good the Tiger's game is on Friday night because we won't have time to dwell on yesterday's loss.

"We are well below the standards we set in the pre-season with completion rates and errors. We need to pick it up and stop turning the ball over."

Tahu signs a four-year union deal

A CLANDESTINE meeting in a city office block a month ago was the catalyst for rugby to pull off one of its greatest coups: signing Parramatta Eels NRL star Timana Tahu.

As workers were making their way home from work at 6pm on what appeared an ordinary Tuesday, Tahu and NSW Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie were getting down to business.
The negotiations were so secretive that even the Waratahs players were blissfully unaware about the wheeling and dealing.

"Speaking to a couple of the guys last week we maybe thought there was a rugby league guy coming across, but we had no idea who it would be," admitted Waratahs fullback Peter Hewat.

Last Christmas the Waratahs were informed that Tahu may be interested in playing rugby next year and on January 2, NSW High Performance Unit manager Tony D'Arcy made contact with an intermediary acting on Tahu's behalf.

That led to McKenzie and Tahu's hour-long face-to-face meeting on February 20.

"The thing that interested me the most when I sat down and talked to him was that he had a clear interest in the game," McKenzie said.

The pair discussed what position Tahu would play if he joined the Waratahs.

"I think the centres is definitely where he wants to play and that is where I am definitely looking to play him," McKenzie said yesterday.

But the day after the February 20 meeting, Tahu threw the best dummy of the season – declaring that rugby was boring.

"We thought it was quite clever and we actually gave credit to the bloke that he didn't want the negotiations to get out in the media," said NSW Rugby CEO Fraser Neill. Three days later, D'Arcy met Tahu to go over contractual issues and what he was looking for.

"It was a carefully constructed operation with me overseeing, Darc driving it and Ewen covering the rugby side of things," Neill said.

The only player brought into the "inner circle" was Lote Tuqiri, due to his knowledge of Tahu from their days together in the NRL.

"I spoke to Ewen about it a couple of times," Tuqiri said. "It was kept under wraps because with the media hype that probably would have come along with it, he might have been scared off.

"It was very hard to keep it secret because there were rumours about a lot of players from rugby league talking to rugby union."

The following Monday, NSW officials contacted their ARU counterparts and Wallaby coaching staff began doing "background checks" on Tahu, looking at videos of his career highlights and analysing his playing stats.

Over the following two weeks a series of formal and informal meetings were held involving the general manager of the ARU's rugby union, Pat Wilson, along with John Connolly, Scott Johnson, John Muggleton and Michael O'Connor.

Wilson sat down with Tahu for the first time on Sunday, March 4, in a north shore coffee shop, and over the next two hours Wilson had a cappuccino while Tahu demolished two steak sandwiches.

"We then put some figures to him late last week via e-mail," Wilson said.

ARU contract manager Rob Smith spoke to Tahu over the phone at the weekend, where he was able to satisfy any of Tahu's queries.

On Tuesday at 6pm Tahu held a final 90-minute meeting at ARU headquarters, which included Wallaby doctor Martin Raftery giving him the once over before he signed a four-year deal with the ARU and NSW Rugby.

Hindmarsh boost for Eels

Parramatta Eels coach Michael Hagan is not expecting star forward Nathan Hindmarsh to play the full 80 minutes in his return from injury against the Wests Tigers, but does believe the Australian representative can help boost his winless side.

The Eels are going into their round three clash on the back of big losses to the Warriors and Souths, yet the return of Hindmarsh and Eric Grothe will be the only two changes to Hagan's line-up as the coach refuses to press any panic buttons.

According to Parraeels.com.au, Hagan is pleased to see both Hindmarsh and Grothe returning, but the coach acknowledges the star pair could be a tad rusty after their injury spells.

"I think he's (Hindmarsh) in pretty good shape," said Hagan, " Everyone knows the type of work ethic that he has and he has trained very hard in the rehab area for probably eight or 10 weeks."

"But he hasn't probably done a lot of stuff with the team up until maybe only a week ago, so I don't think we can really expect him to be at his best the first week back, but it will be good to have him back nonetheless."

"We'll just manage his workload and see what he can handle first stint, but I think it will be a real plus for the team."

The Tigers will also be desperate for a win after losing its first two matches to competition leaders Melbourne and the high-flying Sea Eagles.

Taylor's revenge over Eels

HE was the caretaker coach who desperately wanted to become the full-time coach. But Parramatta simply did not want Jason Taylor.

He was thrown out and collected by South Sydney. Yesterday at Telstra Stadium, Taylor extracted a satisfying revenge on the Eels.

Taylor masterminded Souths to a 31-6 win over Parramatta, the Rabbitohs' second victory in successive matches.

"I'm sure 'JT' will have a little grin on his face," said Souths prop Roy Asotasi.

"You always love playing and beating your old club."

Taylor played down the joy he must surely have taken from yesterday's win.

Asked was he pleased to notch up a win against Parramatta, Taylor said: "Not really to be honest. It sounds like I'm just saying that.

"It is always good if you win but they (Parramatta) are a top side and the fact we got over the top of them was most pleasing.

"Not that other stuff."

Souths backed up last Monday's 18-6 win over the Roosters with yesterday's thumping victory.
The Rabbitohs are equal first on the NRL premiership table but players and officials are trying to avoid digesting the hype surrounding the club.

After a tight first half, Souths surged home over the top of a highly disappointing Parramatta.
Souths conceded one try last week and just one yesterday.

"It was a really strong win," Taylor said.

"We knew we would be playing a team that would be twice as good as they were last week.

"We got that . They got in our faces in that first half."

Parramatta have now lost both matches this season.

They offered little in attack and what they did throw at Souths was quickly repelled.
Souths' defence was meritorious given hooker Daniel Irvine was sent to the sin-bin for tackling PJ Marsh off the ball.

The tackle occurred when Marsh was ready to dive on a loose ball for a try.

Video referee Steve Clark however denied a penalty try but Irvine was sin-binned.

"To give it a try I would have had to have been 100 per cent certain a try would have been scored. The ball had gone too deep (in the in-goal) to have that view," said Clark.

Eels coach Michael Hagan said: "It would be difficult to find a better example of a penalty try."

The Eels clawed back to 6-6 just before halftime before Paul Mellor scored right on the break to give Souths a 12-6 lead.

Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt scored a wonderful solo try just after halftime to give Souths a lead they never surrendered.

"Holding them to just six points is a real positive," said Souths fullback David Peachey.

Souths forward Dean Widders added: "It was a good win but they were without (injured) Nathan Hindmarsh. That left a big hole."

SOUTH SYDNEY 31 (N Merritt 2, D Fa'alogo, P Mellor, N Vagana tries; J Williams 5 goals, J Williams field goal)

PARRAMATTA 6 (T Tahu try; L Burt goal) at Telstra Stadium. Referee: S Hampstead. Crowd: 15,165.

Souths beat Parramatta!


South Sydney remains undefeated after they beat the Parramatta Eels 31-6 in their first home game of the season at Telstra Stadium last Sunday.

In front of more than 15,000 fans the Rabbitohs produced a superb defensive and attacking effort to outclass their rivals five tries to one.

After a close first half, Souths let loose with winger Nathan Merritt proving especially strong.
Merritt, last season's leading try scorer, crossed for a brilliant individual try and scored another, while Paul Mellor, David Fa'alogo and Nigel Vagana also scored for the home side.

The Rabbitohs are now one of seven unbeaten sides in the competition, and are placed second on "for and against" points after two rounds.

This Saturday the Rabbitohs will face a tougher task when they take on the Cronulla Sharks. With the once cellar-dwellers now commanding respect, the match against the Sharks will be another chance for the rejuvenated Rabbitohs to prove they are a force in this year's competition.

Warriors smoke Eels in opener

The New Zealand Warriors are off to their best NRL start in five years after an impressive 34-18 win over Parramatta at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

The Warriors ended a five-game losing run against the Eels and claimed their first round one victory since 2002 after racing to a 24-0 lead and then withstanding an Eels second-half fightback.

"The first half was to script actually, and in the second half they got a bit more ball so we showed a lot of character and were able to bounce back, which was very satisfying," said Warriors skipper Steve Price.

Both sides, though, had injury concerns with Eels prop Fuifui Moimoi likely to miss the next few weeks with a knee injury and Warriors interchange forward Louis Anderson limping off late in the game with an ankle injury.

Parramatta centre Ben Smith also left the field with a knee injury in the first half, but it was not believed to be serious. After trailing 24-0 at halftime, the Eels reduced the margin to 12 points with tries to Daniel Wagon and Nathan Cayless just 10 minutes after the break - but it was the closest Parramatta would get.

"We nearly got ourselves back in the game at one point there, but just a couple of, you know errors at critical times," said coach Michael Hagan after his first NRL game in charge of the Eels.

"I thought the Warriors were physical. They played fast in the first 40 minutes.

"We also copped a couple of injuries in all of that, which made it a bit of a tougher night for the players. I thought they dug in extremely well in the second half."

Former Eel Wade McKinnon celebrated his first game at the Warriors by scoring the opening try in the eighth minute, with winger Michael Crockett claiming a double in the six-tries-to-three victory.

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary was pleased with his team's performance.

"I just like the way we defended at times. You know we sort of held our line there for a long time in the first half and for periods in the second," he said.

"I think they nearly got back into the game in the second half, they got five penalties in a row and they just had a lot of ball and had nothing to lose at that stage."

Eels captain Nathan Cayless admitted his side paid dearly for their ill discipline.

"If we were playing any team I think we would have struggled giving that much possession away," Cayless said.

"Once we got that back under control we got ourselves back into the game. It is something we need to work on and keep improving."

After McKinnon's opener, Price, Crockett and backrower Simon Mannering all crossed for tries to give the home side a 24-0 halftime lead. The Eels, missing injured Test backrower Nathan Hindmarsh, halved the margin soon after the break, but Warriors centre Lance Hohaia all-but sealed victory when he pounced on a Nathan Fien grubber for a 30-12 lead in the 57th minute.

Eels winger Jarryd Hayne ensured an interesting finish with his try in the 61st, but the Warriors always looked in control - Crockett adding the final touches to the 34-18 scoreline with his second try two minutes from fulltime.

Ian Hindmarsh cleared to play for Eels

Parramatta backrower Ian Hindmarsh is free to play in this weekend's opening round of the NRL after gaining a temporary clearance from the Rugby Football League.

The RFL stepped into the transfer wrangle between the Eels and French Super League club Les Catalans, a dispute which threatens to bring a premature end to Hindmarsh's playing career.
Hindmarsh signed with the Eels in the off-season after the Les Catalan Dragons allowed him to walk out on the final two years of his contract.

Les Catalans are now reportedly seeking $40,000 in compensation, claiming the release was conditional on Hindmarsh not playing for another club.

Hindmarsh told club officials he wanted to return home to look after his farm in the NSW country town of Cowra, which had been hard hit by the drought. He now claims he is in no position to pay the compensation fee, which would effectively result in him playing for the Eels for free.

The game's international governing body cleared Hindmarsh to play in Saturday night's match against the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, where he is expected to line up alongside brother and Test second-rower Nathan.

The issue of a full clearance will be discussed at a RFL tribunal hearing in Leeds on March 27.
Parramatta also announced the retention of captain Nathan Cayless for another three years, the Kiwi Test representative now tied to the Eels to the end of the 2010.

New Eels coach Michael Hagan said the signing was a significant boost on the eve of the new campaign.

"Nathan is a great leader who brings out the best in the team," Hagan said.

"He is looked up to by both the senior and junior members of the squad.

"Personally, I am delighted that I'll be working with him for the next few years."

Cayless, who made his top-grade debut for the Eels in 1997, has played 164 matches for the club.

Cayless extends deal

Parramatta skipper Nathan Cayless has extended his contract with the Eels until the end of the 2010 season.



The New Zealand international, who had the captaincy taken from him during the early part of 2006 by former coach Brian Smith, was due to finish his contract at the end of this season but has signed on for another three years at the west Sydney club.



"It is great to have my future settled with Parramatta and I can look forward to playing some great football," said Cayless.



"I regard it as an honour to pull on the blue and gold jersey each week and one that I do not take for granted. To be captain of this great club is a tremendous honour," he added.

Cayless' new contract comes on the back of the clubs' re-signing of Nathan Hindmarsh, with coach Michael Hagan looking forward to the Eels' round one clash with the Warriors on Saturday night.

"Nathan is a great leader who brings out the best in the team," said Hagan.



"He is looked up to by both the senior and junior members of the squad and his retention is a great boost in the lead up to the opening match of the season."



Cayless will be looking forward to a better 2007 though, with the skipper having the captaincy removed from him by Smith following a dip in form early last season while also suffering a season-ending eye injury during August.

Sea Eagles v Eels

Brookvale Oval, round 9

PARRAMATTA star Nathan Hindmarsh reckons that although the Eels will be away from home when they play Manly in round 9 there will still be more Parramatta fans there than Sea Eagles supporters.

"I reckon it'll be 60-40 Parra because of all the Parra fans who will go there to give it to Jamie [Lyon]," Hindmarsh said. "They've been waiting a long while."

Three years, in fact, since Lyon walked out on Parramatta when the 2004 season was only one round old. Lyon said at the time he was tired of city living. He ended up playing for Wee Waa in country football that year, then spent two years with St Helens in England.

But now he is back in the NRL with Parramatta's arch rivals and the clash will be among the year's most eagerly anticipated. But, Hindmarsh says, it will be one for the fans, more than the players.

"We were pissed off when Jamie left, but only for a week or two," he said.

"It's water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned - I'm fine with Killer - and I think it's the same for the rest of the Parra players. But I'm sure the fans can't wait."