SAD And Shocking: warriors key man has officially” Accused Parramatta Eels wonder boy” despite the total butcher” see what he said..
On Friday night, in front of another sold-out crowd at GO Media Stadium, Parramatta Eels stunned New Zealand Warriors 30-20, adding one club to the list of dead men walking and the other one step closer to avoiding the wooden spoon.
With just one victory in their previous 12 games and without Mitchell Moses, Parramatta crushed the Warriors, scoring three tries in the final ten minutes to put New Zealand to shame.
While Roger Tuivasa-Sheck moved to the wing and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad returned to fullback, the Warriors welcomed back halfback Shaun Johnson.
But in a game that needed to be won, none of these guys or fellow celebrity Addin Fonua-Blake could ignite their squad. The 47th minute of the game was marred by a harsh claim made by Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak against Eels forward Joe Ofahengaue, who was accused of having a “squirrel grip.”
Watene-Zelezniak held his groin after a tackle and pointed angrily at the Eels players after he was tackled in a three-man tackle.
Replays appeared to show nothing illegal in the tackle but referee Todd Smith asked if Watene-Zelezniak wanted to make an official complaint, which he did.
He put the incident on report after Watene-Zelezniak pointed out the alleged perpetrator and seemed to insist he had been grabbed below the belt.
It was an unsavoury moment in what was otherwise a strong performance from the under-fire Eels, who now move four points off the bottom of the ladder.
Eels skipper Clint Gutherson praised his team’s performance after surviving an onslaught in the opening 20 minutes.
“We kept defending, defending, and they were the first ones to crack. The last few months we haven’t taken opportunities. Tonight, 90 per cent of passes stuck,” Gutherson said.
“If we can play like that it’s going to be a fun last five weeks.”
However, it wasn’t what the home crowd of 23,812 fans would have been looking for after selling out Go Media Stadium every game so far this season.
Coach Andrew Webster lamented his team’s errors, one-on-one defensive misses and lack of resilience.
“It’s been all year, it’s frustrating. We haven’t shown our potential … it’s just not good enough,” Webster said.
“I feel like we dropped our bundle.”
Despite languishing three points out of the Top-8, Webster insisted the Warriors’ season isn’t over.
“Four games, four wins, see what happens. Bye to finish. We haven’t made it easier but we won’t be giving up.”
