Eels enter top 8

The Parramatta Eels have continued their fantastic form and are in the hot seat for what seemed an unlikely finals position after smashing the Warriors 40 points to 4 at Parramatta Stadium tonight.

After spending much of the season a complete rabble, and not even considered in calculations for finals positions, Parramatta have tonight continued a remarkable run of form that now sees them sitting in 7th on the competition ladder.

Considering the form of both these two teams recently, there really was only going to be one outcome from this match, and the Warriors may have well had pulled up stumps by the 15th minute, as the match was all but over by then.

The Eels stormed out of the blocks, with human wrecking ball Fuifui Moimoi continuing his devastating form, leaving Aaron Heremaia looking worse for wear after just his first charge of the game.

On the scoring front, Joel Reddy was rewarded for his great support play with first points for the home side in just the 5th minute.

Teenage prodigy Daniel Mortimer was then rewarded for his support play, backing up a long break by Luke Burt to extended the lead to 12.

Two minutes later and the Warriors fell to pieces as McKinnon found himself faced with three Eels racing at him, but fails to stop any of them as Matthew Keating posted the third try of the night.

Manu Vatuvei almost had one back for the visitors in the 23rd, however lost the ball in the process of planting it on the ground.

Vatuvei wasn't going to be denied ten minutes later, as he leapt high above the defence and came down with the ball firmly in grasp.

Any hint of a comeback was snuffed out just on halftime, as Burt kicked through past McKinnon and planted the ball down just before the dead ball line, taking the Eels into the sheds with a 24 points to 4 lead.

It was all one-way traffic for the Eels in the second half, as Reddy and Burt grabbed their doubles, and Eric Grothe joined the try scorers list too, to give the Eels their fifth straight victory and an unlikely top 8 position.

Match Details
Parramatta Eels 40 def New Zealand Warriors 4
Round 23 - Saturday August 15th, 2009 07:30pm Venue: Parramatta Stadium Referee: Gavin Badger & Ashley Klein
Sideline Officials: Peter Kirby & Mohamad Fajajo
Video Referee: Russell Smith Crowd: 12,627 Halftime: Parramatta Eels 24 New Zealand Warriors 4

Parramatta Eels 40
Tries: Joel Reddy (2), Daniel Mortimer, Kris Keating, Luke Burt (2), Eric Grothe
Goals: Luke Burt (6/7)

New Zealand Warriors 4
Tries: Manu Vatuvei
Goals: Kevin Locke (0/1)

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match 3 Points: Todd Lowrie (Eels) 2 Points: Jarryd Hayne (Eels) 1 Point: Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Talk about the game as it happens - Eels v Warriors forum discussion - click here!

EELS: 1. Jarryd Hayne 2. Luke Burt 3. Krisnan Inu 4. Joel Reddy 5. Eric Grothe 6. Daniel Mortimer 7. Jeff Robson 8. Tim Mannah 9. Matthew Keating 10. Fuifui Moimoi 11. Nathan Hindmarsh (c) 12. Joe Galuvao 13. Todd Lowrie Interchange: 14. Kevin Kingston 15. Broderick Wright 16. Ben Smith 17. Jeremy Latimore WARRIORS: 1. Wade McKinnon 2. Kevin Locke 3. Jerome Ropati 4. Joel Moon 5. Manu Vatuvei 6. Aaron Heremaia 7. Stacey Jones 8. Sam Rapira 9. Ian Henderson 10. Evarn Tuimavave 11. Simon Mannering 12. Ukuma Ta