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The fairytale for the Eels to scrape into the eight and then become the first team from that position to win the grand final was not to be. Their Cinderella, Jarryd Hayne, had even left his bright red shoe at home. ‘‘Prince Charming’’ police officers flashed their lights and sirens to escort an Eels official to find the lost right boot, and it arrived in the dressing rooms in time for kick off. And yet they were so close. For the final eight minutes of the final, spurred by the raucous excitement of a pro-Parramatta 82,538 crowd sensing a historic victory, the match was deliciously poised ... until the Storm’s Greg Inglis calmly booted a field goal with just three minutes remaining. With that goal came a collective and depressive quiet. The Storm had triumphed 23-16 with their second premiership from four consecutive appearances, crushing the hopes of most of Sydney, particularly in the west. The Storm captain Cameron Smith said the last gasp comeback from the Eels nearly prompted him to call a trainer for a change of Speedos – he was that scared. It was a final befitting the power and acceleration of the Eels’ electrifying forward Fuifui Moimoi and the barnstorming high flying grace of the Storm’s Inglis. ‘‘This is just unbelievable,’’ Inglis said, recalling how last year’s loss to Manly was so devastating. The match winner Inglis had shown he was ready to spoil the Eels’ party earlier, midway through the second half. Just when Parramatta got within a sniff of the lead he leapt onto a towering kick at full speed and scored a terrific try without any contest to keep the Storm ahead. The Clive Churchill winner, Billy Slater, scored another try to keep the Eels at bay. While the Eels were in the contest late, they were clearly rattled early. Before the game started, in sharp contrast to their relaxed demeanour earlier in the week, the players may have had pre-game nerves, and the wives, girlfriends, parents and other family members of the Parramatta players were out of routine, seated opposite to where they usually are in the grandstand – while the Storm family members had their usual spot just behind the players bunker on the western side. Before the match started there was a minute’s silence for tsunami and earthquake victims in the Asia-Pacific, particularly pertinent for the five Samoan players in the Storm line up. The rain held off for most of the match, and the ground was not as slippery as the moves the players displayed. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was
in the stands, joined by a throng of politicians,
including the Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis, Anthony
Albanese, the NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, Eric Roozendaal, the
NSW Sports Minister, Kevin Greene, the Opposition Leader,
Barry O’Farrell, and the boxing mascots of both teams, Roy
Jones junior (Storm) and Danny Green (Parramatta). Moimoi was at his fiercest and fastest, colliding heavily with Ryan Hoffman and scoring an inspiring try. Nathan Hindmarsh was tireless as ever with his phenomenal persistent tackling. But the Eels initially played as though they were fatigued or overwhelmed, still somewhat battered from their finals campaign. Eels captain Nathan Cayless came on despite fears his troubled hamstring would suddenly snap but he was hesitant in the time he was on the field. ‘‘We had a real crack at it today but we got punished by quality players in a quality team,’’ he said after the game. The huge crowd was quiet five minutes into the match when the southern outsiders scored first thanks to the man that Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson didn’t want – Brett Finch, who delayed a superb pass to tryscorer Ryan Hoffman. That Storm pressure was maintained for much of the first half. Then the Eels scored and the crowd was woken from its slumber. Flags waved furiously, fans found their voice and the roar meant the players couldn’t hear any of the calls on the field. Cayless cleared to play in grand final INSPIRATIONAL Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless has been cleared to play in tomorrow's NRL grand final after passing a secret 11th hour fitness test last night at Parramatta Stadium.In a massive match-eve boost as the Eels attempt to end a 23-year premiership drought, the 31-year-old prop has completed a miracle recovery from a torn hamstring. Rated virtually no chance of leading Parramatta against Melbourne after suffering the injury eight days ago against the Bulldogs, Cayless will lead the Eels into his second grand final as captain. Intensive physiotherapy, acupuncture and ice baths helped the Kiwi prop overcome one of the most talked about injuries in a grand final build-up.
Cayless at pains to pass brutal test
Cayless will be either doing cartwheels or writhing on the ground in agony after he's put through his paces in a gruelling physical examination at Parramatta Stadium on match eve. If he's ruled out, his replacement for the premiership decider on Sunday night, the unheralded 22-year-old prop Brod Wright, yesterday told the Herald he wanted to give his premiership ring to Cayless straight after full-time if the Eels broke their 23-year premiership drought. ''I will have my fitness test on Saturday and I will re-tear the hamstring then or I'll get through it and I'll play,'' Cayless said. ''If I don't play, that means I've re-torn my hamstring. That's the extent they're going to go to, and that is fair enough. The physio has told me that's how hard the test is going to be. If I get through the test, it means I'll be able to get through the game. ''I need to test it out for the boys. If I don't, I could re-tear it again in the first five minutes of a grand final, and that's not on. I'm not going to put myself before the team. That's the reason we've come this far, everyone is committed to the team, everyone works hard for the team.'' Cayless joked about the Eels being better off without him because they have a strong record when he has been absent. The truth is that every member of the club will be gutted if their leader is ruled out. He suffered hamstring damage against the Bulldogs so severe that he took himself off the field last Friday night. ''I was devastated,'' he said. ''But I'm just going to be positive this week. I'll get physio four or five times a day, start some acupuncture tonight, keep it moving, keep it stretched, keep it strong enough to pass this fitness test on Saturday. It's feeling good, a lot better today than on Friday. ''I did everything I had to do over the weekend, pretty much icing it every hour on the hour. I didn't sleep much. I've got young kids so they keep me up anyway. I'll do all the little things right. The physio is very happy with the power I have in it.'' Cayless, Nathan Hindmarsh and Luke Burt have waited eight years to erase the nightmarish memories of the Eels' 2001 grand final debacle against Newcastle. It would be cruel for the skipper to be ruled out before receiving another chance to receive one of the prized premiership rings. ''The only thing that happened in 2001 was probably that Andrew Johns played the game of his life,'' Cayless said. ''And Ben Kennedy played like a man possessed. We were all pretty young then, and it's great to have another opportunity. Melbourne have shown they have the players who can blow teams away like 'Joey' and Kennedy did. They've blown away Manly and the Broncos so far in the finals.'' Wright said he would pounce on the chance to play a grand final - but hoped Cayless would be passed fit. ''He's a tough bugger, he's so resilient,'' Wright said. ''He's been around a long time. He's a professional, he's our captain, and I hope he plays, because he deserves it … I saw him with the physio, and he was laughing, saying, 'You checking up on me, are you?' He's always taken me under his wing. He's been great to me. I really like the bloke. He deserves a ring.'' Wright can keep his bling. The NRL last night confirmed Cayless would not be eligible for a ring at the post-match presentation ceremony if he missed the game - but he would receive one at a later date.
Parramatta and Melbourne Storm name
unchanged teams for grand final Eels coach Daniel Anderson remains hopeful captain Nathan
Cayless will recover from a hamstring injury to take his place
at prop. Melbourne Storm: Billy Slater, Steve
Turner, Will Chambers, Greg Inglis, Dane Nielsen, Brett Finch,
Cooper Cronk, Aiden Tolman, Cameron Smith (capt), Brett White,
Adam Blair, Ryan Hoffman, Dallas Johnson.
Interchange: Ryan Hinchcliffe, Jeff Lima, Ryan
Tandy, Scott Anderson, Wairangi Koopu (one to be omitted).
Jarryd Hayne And Matt Keating free to
play in NRL grand final
Bryson Goodwin has gone into bat for Parramatta superstar Jarryd Hayne, with the Bulldogs winger vowing to help Hayne beat a potential dangerous contact charge that threatens to wipe him out of next week's NRL grand final. Hayne jeopardised his appearance in the premiership decider by being placed on report by referee Tony Archer for kneeing Goodwin in the head as the `Dogs flyer scored the opening try of the match. Anything more than a grade one dangerous contact charge from the match review committee - who will meet at 11am (AEST) on Sunday rather than in their usual Monday timeslot - would see Hayne need to front the NRL judiciary to fight for his right to play in the grand final. But Goodwin said he would give the Dally M medallist all the support he needed to clear his name. Goodwin's stance was in stark contrast to that of teammate Ben Hannant, who claimed the Eels should not have finished the game with their full quota on the field after he had his shoulder wrenched back by hooker Matthew Keating. Like Hayne, Keating too faces a nervous night as he awaits the match review committee's findings, with any potential judiciary hearing to be held on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday night in a bid to ease the disruption to the grand finalist's preparations. But it is the potential loss of Hayne which would be catastrophic for the Eels premiership hopes - with the game's hottest player having carried Parramatta to within 80 minutes of their first premiership on 23 years. "I'll see the replays and what happens, if it looks like he didn't mean anything then I'd help him out (at the judiciary)," said Goodwin, who was still feeling the effects of the head knock after the game. "You don't want to miss out on a grand final with a team that you've played with all year, he carried the team you could say to where they are now so it would be bad to miss out for him. "A few of the boys have seen it, he just came in with his legs but I'm not too sure what happened." Hannant was in no doubt however as he questioned why referees Archer and Ben Cummins did not take sterner action over the two incidents, with Hannant left requiring painkilling injections to get back on the field after suffering a partially dislocated shoulder and hyper-extended elbow. "The refs didn't make the decision to send him off so, what warrants getting someone sent off?" Hannant said. "Just because you're the best player in the world, does that mean that you never get sent off, these are the questions you've got to ask the NRL, not us. "We just did our best, we fought hard, we were busted but we kept hanging in there." Eels coach Daniel Anderson seemed surprisingly confident neither of his players would have a case to answer, with Anderson more concerned about the availability of skipper Nathan Cayless due to a hamstring complaint. "A little clumsy, but not malicious at all," was how Anderson described the Hayne report. "There's no use jumping up and down. I'll let people do their job. They're not going to listen to me."
Cinderella got her ticket to the ball as Parramatta booked a
Grand Final berth with a 22-12 preliminary final win over the
Bulldogs on Friday night, though blue and gold celebrations
were tempered by a likely judiciary charge hanging over
talismanic fullback Jarryd Hayne.
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(c) www.parraeels.com 2009 |
MELBOURNE
Storm showed why they are the club of the decade,
overcoming the might of the Parramatta Eels with a
scythe of speed and skill that was too potent
and powerful in yesterday’s furiously tough grand
final.
PARRAMATTA
captain Nathan Cayless will risk the searing pain of a
freshly torn hamstring in an all-or-nothing fitness test
on Saturday that will determine his availability for the
grand final against Melbourne.
