Parramatta Eels South Pacific Excitement
An exceptionally flashy PARRAMATTA EELS outfit showed the power of the off-load last night to shatter the normally secure Wests Tigers defence. But what about the power of the off-loaders? It was a flavour of the South Pacific, with Togan Moi Moi leading the way
With a bench sagging under the weight of 400 kilos of footballing muscle, the Eels' intentions are as hard to hide as Piggy Riddell.
All four of the benchmen - Riddell, Josh Cordoba, Chad Robinson and Fuifui Moimoi - have done time at prop, although Riddell is hanging on grimly to his junior position of hooker.
But it is Moimoi, the 108kg Tongan wrecking ball, who is proving the most potent of rugby league weapons. Every time Moimoi hit the Tigers' defensive line, it bent and sagged, sucking in multiple defenders to slow his momentum.
Whereas other power forwards can spend the whole season never once releasing the ball from their grasp, Moimoi is being schooled in Parramatta's aggressive attacking style. And when it works, it works a treat.
To wit: the 24th-minute try which put the Eels 10-2 in front and after which they never looked like being headed. The first incision by Cordoba was turned into a gaping wound by Moimoi, who led the Tigers a merry dance before turning it back to second-rower Feleti Mateo, with the finishing provided by Jarryd Hayne's withering turn of toe.
That 60 metres of mayhem encapsulated perfectly the increasingly South Pacific flavour of the NRL; the potent blend of power and speed.
Although the tries were spread around, Moimoi's fingerprints were on most everything the Eels did in the 40-odd minutes he spent on the field.
Five-eighth Brett Finch takes on the line and scores, five minutes out from half-time. What came first? Another Moimoi burst. Parramatta 16-2.
Centre Ben Smith scores wide on the right eight minutes into the second half. First? Moimoi, whose charge to the line was good enough to warrant a try but, just repelled by a clutch of Tigers, delivered one a tackle later. Parramatta 26-2.
With Moimoi back on the bench, Aaron Cannings, of similarly imposing build, returned to the fray and took over the role of bust-it man. His offload to hooker PJ Marsh, despite the prop being upended by the attentions of three defenders, opened the channel for fullback Burt, who was never going to be caught. That made it 32-2 and the Tigers were dreaming about tackling pasty-looking blokes with skinny legs.
No such luck. Mateo grabbed his second try with just a few minutes left on the clock to move the score to 38-2.
No prizes for guessing who was inches short of the left-hand post the tackle before. Moimoi mayhem was everywhere last night.
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