Michael Hagan Media Conference Round 2

parragirl · Michael Hagan Media Conference Round 2

ROUND 2 RESULTS
25 March 2007

Round 2 : SOUTHS v PARRAMATTA at Telstra Stadium

NRL: South Sydney 31 defeated Parramatta Eels 6
Premier League: Parramatta 38 defeated Norths 4
Jersey Flegg: Parramatta 42 defeated Souths Juniors 12
SG Ball: Parramatta 28 defeated Canberra 24
Harold Matthews: Parramatta 26 defeated Canberra 6

In First Grade, Parramatta's try was scored by Timana Tahu in the 36th Minute, Converted by Luke Burt.

South Sydney tries to Merrit (2:8th & 44th), Mellor (39th), Faalogo (62nd), Vagana (69th), Joe Williams converted 3 from 3 and kicked 2 penalty goals, Jeremy Smith kicked a field goal in the 66th minute.

Parramatta's completion rate was 50% 17 of 34 sets.

Penalties were 6 all, Scrums were 12-6 in Souths favour.

Parramatta's Top Tacklers were:
Nathan Cayless 39
Daniel Wagon 32
Aaron Cannings 28
Ian Hindmarsh 27
Chad Robinson 26

Most Hit-Ups from Eels players:
Nathan Cayless 15 - 129m
Timana Tahu 13 - 89m
Luke Burt 11 - 79m
Ben Smith 9 - 78m
Chad Robinson 8 - 56m

MICHAEL HAGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE ROUND 2

Q) WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF THAT PERFORMANCE?
A) It was disappointing. To lose by a number of points at the end is less than ideal. Full credit to Souths for the way that they played. I think we knew they were going to come at us pretty hard and they played extremely well.

Q) MATTHEW ELLIOTT SAID THIS WEEK IT IS GOING TO TAKE A NUMBER OF CLUBS THAT HAVE NEW COACHES TIME TO ADJUST. DO YOU BELIEVE YOUR TEAM IS IN THAT BOAT?
A) I'm not really sure, you probably have to ask Nathan about that. We thought it would take ourselves a few weeks to be playing our better football, and I don't think today was an example of that. Hopefully by Friday when we play the Tigers - we will have Nathan Hindmarsh, Eric Grothe and possibly Fui back in the side that will add some quality to us. At the same time we could have expected a bit more from the team out there today given that at Origin team you are expected to play without those guys anyway.

Q) WERE THERE ANY AREAS THAT WERE PLEASING?
A I thought the first half - even though we did not control the ball all that well - we were able to get ourselves back in the game at 6 all - and then we came up with one error which made it a 12 - 6 deficit at half time. Just after half time we missed a try to Joel Reddy by a matter of centimeters which would have made it 12 - 10 or 12 all and then from the next set they scored a try. There are a couple of things, and let me say I am not in any way trying to take things away from Souths as they were better than us today or pint the finger at the referee but there were some calls in the first half which had an impact on our momentum. There was an obstruction call with a pass from Tim Smith - and there were examples of that being play on in the round of matches we have just seen, and I will be talking to Robert Finch about that. If there was not a better example of a penalty try in the first half, well I don't think I will ever see one awarded again. Even the Luke Burt decision where he was contesting the ball - they change the flow of the game. In the first half their were some good signs for us - the execution was not brilliant but there were some positive things there. We talked at half time about getting our completions up - Souths did a great job as they were about 90 per cent for both halves. The standard of play so far has been great.

Q) STEVE CLARK SAID HE DID NOT AWARD THE PENALTY TRY BECAUSE HE WAS NOT CERTAIN PJ WOULD HAVE SCORED WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
A) What do you think about that.

Q) I THINK IT WAS A TRY
A) They are little things in the game that can change things around - we would have got 6 points and the ball back. Full credit to Souths they played well.

http://www.parraeels.com.au/news/news1483.asp

parragirl

All I can say is Souths were the better team and played well. I thought Parra played better in the 1st half and thought we should have been awarded the penalty try which may or may not have changed the out come of the game if that had of been awarded. In the 2nd half Souths played well to beat us 31-6.

Hopefully Nathan Hindmarsh, Eric Grothe and Fui Fui Moi Moi will be ok to play in the game on Friday night against the Wests Tigers. If these 3 players can come back they will strengthen the side and increase the teams chances of hopefully getting their first win.