Ricky’s reaction says it all as ‘miracle’ play falls short in Eels stunner

Canberra and Brisbane played one of the great finals matches last season, but it’s starting to look like neither of them will feature in this year’s top eight after the Raiders’ attacking woes continued on Saturday night.

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While they struggled yet again with the ball, the understrength Eels made the most of their opportunities to pick up a gutsy 15-12 victory to move clear of the Dragons who remain rooted to the foot of the table.

The Raiders were desperate for a response after they were held scoreless at home last week by the Roosters, but their try-scoring drought extended to a miserable 161 minutes before Matt Timoko finally broke through.

It’s hard to believe this is the same team that was 11-3 after 15 rounds a year ago, with Canberra 5-9 and struggling for answers after they failed to fire in skipper Joe Tapine’s 250th game.

They were missing Origin duo Ethan Strange and Hudson Young, but the Eels were without Mitchell Moses, Junior Paulo, Will Penisini and others and still found a way to get it done at home.

The visitors missed two chances in the first half with both wingers unable to finish off tough chances, but those are the moments you need to ice if you want to compete with the big dogs.

Instead, the reigning minor premiers need a major miracle if they are to play finals footy.

THE INCREDIBLE VOLK

Eels fans wouldn’t have been expecting a halves combination of Joash Papalii and Ronald Volkman when the season kicked off, but the unlikely duo were the difference as they completely outplayed their Raiders rivals.

Volkman totally controlled the contest and nailed an effortless 35-metre field goal to give his side a 9-0 lead at the break, while fullback Isaiah Iongi threw a wonderful pass for Kitione Kautoga to stroll over as the scoreboard resembled a tennis match.

There is a lot to like about this Eels side despite their ladder position, with Jason Ryles’ team again defending bravely and doing just enough with the ball when they had their chances.

GAME OF INCHES

The game could’ve looked very different had a couple of close moments been flipped.

The Eels were very fortunate to score a try through Kelma Tuilagi who looked to have lost control of the ball a minute after Raiders halfback Ethan Sanders was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.

A few minutes later, Jed Stuart was denied a try of his own when his spectacular dive was undone by a brilliant cover tackle by Iongi who managed to dislodge the ball.

MINUTE OF MADNESS

The State of Origin period always offers up something strange, with Saturday’s clash sticking to the script early in the second half.

The Raiders made a big break through the middle and looked certain to score, only for a long pass to be intercepted by speedster Josh Addo-Carr who was brought down by Tapine who did so well to chase him down.

The winger looked for a quick play the ball but lashed out with his boots and was penalised by the referee to bring an end to a bizarre passage of play.

STAT ATTACK - Fox Sports Lab

Expected Set Points: Raiders 28.5, Eels 24.4

- A fantastic defensive effort from the Eels. Canberra had 52 percent possession, and 73 tackles to 56 in the opposition half (including 36 to 29 in the attacking 20).

- Just five wins for the Raiders with 10 games remaining. It’s likely they would need to win eight of their remaining 10 games to qualify for the finals - should they fail to make it they will be just the third Minor Premiers in the NRL era to miss the finals the following season (Roosters 2005 & 2016). Ricky Stuart was the Roosters coach in 2005.

- Eels first win since round 10 - just their second win since round 7. Their lowest scoring win since 2020. First time since 1998 the Eels have finished a match on 15 points.

- Eels snap a four game losing streak against the Raiders - had conceded 131 points in the three meetings prior to tonight.

- Parramatta led 9-0 at half time and 15-0 after 61 minutes. Second week in a row the Eels have conceded no first half points.

- The Raiders received 5 set restarts to nil, but the Eels won the full penalties 6-5.

- Corey Horsburgh was placed on report for a high tackle early in the second half. He has two high tackle charges this season and a shoulder charge late last year.

- Fox Lab POTM - Isaiah Iongi set up two of the three Eels tries and ran for almost 150 metres and made eight tackles without missing one.

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