NRL Finals Wrap: Eels, Rabbitohs dominate their way to preliminary final berths

A gap in class was evident in both semi-final clashes this weekend as the Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs made light work of their respective opponents to punch their tickets to next weekend’s Grand Final qualifiers.

Dominant Eels stomp Raiders, headed to first preliminary final since ‘09

The Parramatta Eels dominated their way to 40-4 win over the in-form Canberra Raiders on Friday night at CommBank Stadium to punch their ticket to the club’s first preliminary final in 13 years.

Parramatta notched the first points of the contest in the sixth minute through a fairly pedestrian shift out to right centre Will Penisini who beat his opposite Sebastian Kris to cross the stripe before they grabbed their second not long after when a Dylan Brown grubber nutmegged Xavier Savage and ended with a Tom Opacic four-pointer. Waqa Blake claimed Parramatta’s third try in the opening quarter off a sharp face-ball courtesy of Mitchell Moses which sent the winger streak down the right flank and into the in-goal area before the score shot out to 22-0 after Junior Paulo crashed through the middle untouched. Savage came up with a brilliant, 85-metre individual effort to stop the bleeding temporarily but it proved a blip on an otherwise blue-and-gold radar. The second half started in the same manner as the first for the hosts, with Moses hitting a sweet Paulo offload at speed to race towards the corner post and score. Marata Niukore bagged a pair of tries in the final 10 minutes to cap off a memorable night for the Eels at CommBank.

Dylan Brown went ballistic for Parramatta running for a season-high 321 run metres from 29 carries with six tackle breaks, a line break, and a try assist whilst Clint Gutherson ran for 216 metres, broke five tackles, and assisted on two tries. The Parramatta forwards from dominant from the opening whistle with all five of their starters cracking 150 run metres and both edge forwards Shaun Lane and Isaiah Papali’i running for more than 220. 11 of the Eels’ 13 starters ran for 100 metres as well as two of their interchange players. They completed nine more sets than Canberra, ran for 773 metres, and broke an extra 22 tackles in what proved a lopsided matchup. It was a disappointing end to a strong season for Canberra who fought their way into the playoffs against the odds and came up with a massive qualifying final win in Melbourne.

The Eels will now travel to Townsville to face the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday night with the winner to face Penrith or South Sydney in the decider. Opacic appears to be Parramatta’s only injury concern with the centre exiting the game early with a hamstring issue. If Opacic were to miss their clash in Townsville, Bailey Simonsson looms as an option on the wing which would push Blake into the centres or Niukore could shift into the centres which he has successfully done previously.

South Sydney flex muscles to send Cronulla home, set up Grand Final rematch

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will face Penrith in a Grand Final rematch next weekend after dispatching of the Cronulla Sharks 38-12 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

The opening points of the game came through an unlikely source with Mark Nicholls spinning his way through some rather meek middle defence to score just two-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Some ultra-quick wristwork saw a right-side shift end with a Taane Milne try at the half-hour mark before Cameron Murray dealt the Sharks a blow 30 seconds prior to the half-time interval pushing his way through some uncharacteristically poor tackle attempts from Dale Finucane and Teig Wilton to score. Ronaldo Mulitalo skied high to tap a Nicho Hynes cross-field kick backwards for Briton Nikora to cross in the early stages of the second half to breathe some life into the Sharks but the Rabbitohs answered moments later through halfback Lachlan Ilias. In the 55th minute, Mulitalo picked off a Latrell Mitchell pass to race 90 metres downfield and score, cutting the lead to two converted tries, however, the final quarter belonged to the Rabbitohs with the red-and-greens pouring on 14 unanswered points through Cody Walker and Milne to book their ticket to their fifth consecutive preliminary final – the longest active streak in the NRL.

Murray was sensational for the Bunnies scoring a try, running for 147 metres from 18 carries with five tackle breaks, and making 37 tackles whilst Campbell Graham ran for 153 metres from 16 carries and assisted on two line breaks. Tevita Tatola had a strong game in the middle running for game-high 175 metres from 18 carries with six tackle breaks whilst Ilias scored a try, assisted on one, and broke five tackles. Despite missing Thomas Burgess through suspension and losing Siliva Havili through injury, the South Sydney middles managed to dominate their Cronulla counterparts and give the likes of Mitchell, Walker, and Ilias a platform to attack off. Mulitalo was strong in the loss for Cronulla playing a part in both of their tries and running for a team-high 150 metres. With starting outside backs Siosifa Talakai and Sione Katoa both missing along with starting prop Royce Hunt, Cronulla were dealt some adversity and the drop-off in production was clear resulting in a straight sets exit for a side that finished runners-up in the race towards the minor premiership.

The Rabbitohs will now face the Penrith Panthers – who they were narrowly beaten by in last year’s Grand Final – at Accor Stadium next Saturday night with the winner advancing to play North Queensland or Parramatta in the 2022 NRL Grand Final on 2 October. Havili, Alex Johnston, and Jai Arrow all failed to finish the clash against Cronulla due to injuries, however, all three will be given a chance to prove their fitness during the week.

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