Eels upstage Cowboys in attempt to break NRL premiership drought

The Parramatta Eels have overcome an enormous effort produced by the Cowboys fuelled by their home crowd to book their ticket to the 2022 NRL Grand Final. Not errors, missed tackles or poor kicking from Mitchell Moses could stop the Eels forward pack from dragging their side to a win in Townsville.

The Eels did not go into their preliminary final against the Cowboys without controversy as internal reviews identified structural nepotism in the Eels organization. Personal issues also threatened to derail the Eels preparation as halfback Mitchell Moses suffered the loss of a family member, forcing scheduling changes to the Eels training regime.

Off field issues were not the only threats to the Eels winning chances as discussion was rife in the media of the last time these two sides met. That clash took place in Darwin where the Eels struggled to overcome the heat and humidity in their 31-point loss.

Physicality was through the roof early when Cowboys forward pack leader Jason Taumalolo launched himself from the back fence into the teeth of the Eels defence to signal his intent early. The North Queensland Cowboys then took advantage of a compressed Eels defence to play expansive football and attack the Eels right edge through veteran winger Kyle Feldt.

The Cowboys started the match in impressive fashion as they did not make an error and completed every set they had in the first 20 minutes of the game. Only a Mitchell Moses forward pass would put the Eels on the score board in the 6th minute as boos from the home fans could be heard all over North Queensland.

Reuben Cotter continued his break out season in first grade as he produced an incredible solo effort in the 11th minute to put the Cowboys on the score board. However, the Eels came back immediately as Ryan Matterson threw and incredible cut out pass to Reagan Campbell-Gillard to score in the 25th minute.

Incredible attacking football was littered with dramatic moments as Taumalolo hit Eels star forward Isaiah Papali’i late and high, earning himself 10 minutes in the sin bin. Papali’i went on to pass his head injury assessment before Shaun Lane copped a rogue finger to the eye from a team mate and he was forced to leave the field.

The second half began as an arm wrestle before a strong run by interchange forward Griffin Neame with Tom Dearden chasing in support led to Murray Taulagi scoring in the corner in the 52nd minute of the game. Valentine Holmes kicked a brilliant conversion from the right touch line to take the Cowboys to a solid eight-point lead.

A rare Cowboys handling error on the right edge led to a Lane intercept that gave the Eels possession 40m out from the Cowboys try line. The Eels worked their way into the Cowboys red zone before another barnstorming Campbell-Gillard run saw him cross the line for what looked to be a game defining try.

Momentum of the match had swung completely in favour of the away side as Shaun Lane produced some enormous runs on the left edge, along with a magnificent tip on pass for superstar Fujian winger Maika Sivo to score in the corner for the Eels. Moses shook off his kicking woes to nail to conversion and give the Eels a four-point lead.

Lane would be the man once again as charged down a Chad Townsend kick in the dying minutes as the Eels repelled a late charge from the Cowboys to secure a four-point win over the Cowboys and book their chance to play the winner of the Panthers and Rabbitohs on Saturday in the 2022 NRL Grand Final.

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