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| parragirl |
Eels ruin Peachey's fairytale
By David Beniuk September 30, 2007 12:00am EVEN David Peachey couldn't conjure a final fairytale in today's Premier League grand final as the veteran fullback's North Sydney side were beaten 20-15 by Parramatta. The 33-year-old magician bowed out of rugby league for the South Sydney feeder club after 14 seasons when the Eels snatched an 80th minute victory with a barge-over try to forward to Weller Hauraki at Telstra Stadium. The Bears had celebrated three minutes earlier when Penrith-bound halfback Joe Williams wobbled over a field goal that had given Norths a 15-14 advantage, and a hand on the premiership trophy. But that quickly turned to despair when the Eels knocked back the opportunity to shoot for two points with a penalty and Hauraki smashed through the defence to plant the premiership winner. "I thought it was gone but the boys hung on, kept trying," Hauraki said. "We just said to each other we didn't train all year for this so we dug in." The try gave the Eels an historic premiership from seventh position and their third straight Premier League title. Earlier, Peachey had played a superb second half, highlighted by a cut-out pass to winger Reece Simmonds in the 64th minute to put the Bears ahead 14-10 after they had been behind 10-4 at halftime. "This will probably be one of those games that you probably don't go home and watch," Peachey said of Norths' error-riddled effort despite the presence of 10 established NRL names. "I'm very heartbroken inside but I'll hold my head high with a lot of dignity and walk out of here and I'll go home and reflect on what's happened this whole year." That year fizzled for Peachey, who debuted for Cronulla in 1994, when he was dropped mid-season after linking with the Rabbitohs last year. But the first day of the rest of his life will begin tomorrow morning when he boards an 8am flight for hometown Dubbo and runs a coaching clinic for kids at 9.30am. "I'm pretty lucky I've landed on my feet with Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe," he said of his ongoing community liaison role with the Rabbitohs. "I honestly love this game and that's something that I've done since I played on my Nan's front lawn right through to the 50-, 60,000 here at Telstra Stadium. "I've enjoyed it. Along with the downs I've had a lot of ups, that's the beauty of this game and you've seen here today it can be so kind and yet so cruel." On a day Sydney tried to decide whether it could put history aside and support Manly against Melbourne in the main game, the Rabbitohs' "Warren" turned up to support Norths and even the Manly fans cheered on former arch rivals the Bears against another sworn enemy, Parramatta. But there were no questions about unity when both teams and the crowd observed a minute's silence before the match as a mark of respect for broadcasting great and former North Sydney grand final captain Frank Hyde, who passed away last Monday. http://www.news.com.au/dailyteleg.../0,22049,22507846-5006066,00.html |
| Skyhunter |
Congrats to the Parramatta club on winning their 3rd Consecutive Premier League GF. The Eels have now won 2005-2006 and are the new Premiers in 2007. It's a great effort considering they finished 7th this year and shows they have one of the strongest junior bases in the comp. |
| parragirl |
Good onya Parra for becoming Premiers in the Premier League for the 3rd year in a row. It was a great effort from the team who finished 7th on the ladder and made it into the Grand Final to play the North Sydney Bears.
It was a great game and just when it looked like the Bears were going to win with 3 minutes remaining Weller Hauraki crossed over for a try in the 80th minute to win the game for the Eels 20-15. Congratulations Parra |