Harold Matthews Rd 1: Parramatta Eels v Sydney Roosters

Round 1 of the junior representative rugby league kicked off this weekend, with keen fans finally getting some live footy after a long off-season.

Match Recap

I got myself down to the Eels v Roosters game in the Harold Matthews competition, where the Roosters ended up winning 22-14. This one was highly anticipated viewing just from the team sheets, where an Arthur, Penisini (Eels) and Fittler (Roosters) were all running around for their first games in this competition. It started off brilliantly for the Roosters who after receiving the kick off marched down the field with the help of a parramatta error and penalty. Hooker Jaxson Allen would then dart out to get over the line for the Roosters first, all within three minutes. 6-0. It only took four minutes for the Eels to hit back, when up an age halfback Lorenzo Talataina threw a magnificent cutout ball to put Michael Gabriel over the chalk. 6-4. The game from that point on was incredibly sloppy, both teams making crucial errors in each others redzones. No team was able to apply any form of pressure due to poor ball-handling, which at that point, whichever team could hold onto the ball would likely win this game. Lorenzo Talataina came up with another brilliant play drawing near to half time, providing a charge down, and after regathering it himself he got an offload away, from which the Eels were able to get into the Roosters territory. Another error in this situation let the Roosters off the hook and it looked like it would be a 6-4 halftime score. However right on the buzzer, fullback Mohamed Alameddine would link up with Michael Gabriel, from which Gabriel would offload to Luke Maroun for a brilliant parramatta try. The siren sounded with Alameddine adding the extras, as the Eels went into the sheds with a 10-6 lead.

Second Half

The Second Half began poorly for Parramatta, when off the kickoff they would throw a forward pass resulting in a drop out. Immediately off the back of this Roosters Five-Eighth Caleb Sinclair-Harris would throw a brilliant ball over the top to centre, Lachlan Dooner to score. 10-10. The sloppiness would continue with the Eels continuing to make errors culminating in having to defend their line once more. After giving away a penalty and therefore giving the Roosters another six shots at them, Back-rower Ethan Roberts crashed over the line. 16-10. The Eels well and truly had their chances in the second half but seemed to lack structure, and came up with too many errors to make use of them, shooting themselves in the foot. Jaxson Allen would make Eels job even harder in the 48th minute when he bagged his second with a brilliant four-pointer. Scooting out of dummy-half from 20m out to split them and force his way over. 22-10. The Eels scored a consolation in the 56th minute, when the highly touted five-eighth Blaize Talagi would throw a gem of a cutout to Fagalele, who put Richard Penisini over in the corner. 22-14.

Players to watch

The Eels have a lot of star talent in which if they can gel together could go a long way in this competition. The halves pairing of Blaize Talagi and Lorenzo Talataina has the potential to be absolutely phenomenal, with both players giving a glimpse of how good they are in this clash. Jaxson Allen was impressive whenever he would dart out of dummy-half for the Roosters and seems to be one of the players to keep an eye on for the rest of the competition. Roosters forwards Delasalle Vaa and Lachlan Doheny also had impressive games with the latter coming off the bench and making a great impact. Zach Fittler didn't have the impact in this game some may have expected but he's a big body coming in at 105kg, playing an age up in this competition and certainly looks to have great potential. The Eels pair of winger Richard Penisini and hooker Matthew Arthur were both solid and ones to keep an eye on for the rest of the competition.

It will be exciting to cover the SG Ball and Harold Matthews seasons as they progress to watch what will be the next generations NRL talent. Each week I will be getting down to a game to write up more articles and give you the insight into your clubs next superstars.