Raiders take sword to the Eels and carve up

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Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels

The Raiders will have earnt some praise tonight as they belt the Parramatta Eels 41 - 8 at GIO Stadium in Canberra. The Raiders tore through the Eels defence putting over 7 tries to the Eels 2.

The Raiders showed early promise anda willingness to move the ball around early. There was some worry as Jordan Rapana had an injury early which saw Simi Sasagi come into the game. With a ruck infringement early and inferno too the goals the raiders took an easy 2 points at the 10 minute mark to start scoring proceedings.

The Raiders made the most of an Eels error, with Ethan Strange making a line break and good meters down their left. With momentum in their favour, Sebastian Kris went over at the 15 min mark to push out the Raiders lead.

The Eels did keep up their attack but when they were in a position to pressure the raiders on their goal line they voided it with errors. With them not making the most of their chance Canberra hit back with Xavier Savage going over for 4 points at the 30min mark. 

A dominant performance in the first half ended with Jamal Fogarty putting a cheeky field goal in to push it to 13 - 0 as the players ran off.

Ricky Stuart would have wanted his team to hit back first and they didn't let him down. A red hot Matthew Timoko busted through a rattled Eels defence to set himself up for a try just 3 minutes into the second half. Only to have the Eels make the most of a penalty from offside Raiders, sending Maika Sivo over the line in minute 47.

But with some poor choice of kicks from Dylan Brown, the Eels kept putting themselves on the back foot. A dead in goal by Brown was soon turned around by the Raiders as their outside backs had a field day up the Eels right edge. Xavier Savage ran into space and with a slick kick found Danny Levi in support to go over for the Raiders forth try.

The Raiders continued to find chances in the Eels armour with James Schiller running into the corner for 4 points and Hudson Young earning a try as he backed up another line break from Matthew Timoko. 

In the last ten minutes the Eels found themselves at the Raiders goal line, and after many failed attempts finally got Maika Sivo over again for his second.

But you could still see the raiders didn't want to sheath their sward and they got right back to business taking apart a lacklustre Eels defence. In the final minute after more unrelenting attack, Matthew Timoko gets his second try after picking up a loose ball. Jamal Fogarty bought the game to an end getting his final conversion for the night.

The Eels failed to capitalise on any time or position they had with the ball, and rarely had any moments of flare against the Raiders. Canberra were ravenous and didn't let up ate whole game, it was an 80 minute performance which was truly reflected in the score. Blaize Talagi was quiet and Dylan Brown didn't have much more to offer the team. Even Clinton Gutherson was not as present as he usually is. With little sting coming from the Eels forwards, bar J'maine Hopgood, it was always going to be the Raiders night.