Brilliant Warriors take down Hayne-less Eels

The Eels walked out onto Mt Smart Stadium on the back of two losses and without Origin superstars Jarryd Hayne and William Hopoate. Chris Sandow was slotted into the fullback role with Corey Normal and Luke Kelly taking control in the halves. 

It took only two minutes for the Warriors to add points on the board through David Fusitua who dived into the corner. From there, the tries flowed in for the opening 40 minutes. In the 12th minute, Shaun Johnson kicked a well placed grubber for himself between the Eels defense to grab his own try. Sam Tomkins quickly followed which what was a beautiful try after recovering the ball from a Eels scrum-feed to score his own try. 

The Eels could never gain momentum in the first half, this showed as the Warriors constantly kept racking-up massive metres and constantly keep-ing the Eels defending their line. Soon after, the floodgates opened and we saw tries in quick succession for Hurrell, a Tomkins double and Mannering. 

At the half-time break, the Warriors walked to the sheds with a lead of 36 points to nil. Their tries flowed through from a weight of possession (To which they saw 65%) and what looked to be an Eels pack lacking hunger and determination. The second-half kicked off and the first ten minutes showed a bit of for a Eels pack looking to play some (serious) catch-up football. They start to shift the ball a bit and gain some momentum. But to no avail, they could no crack the Warriors defensive wall. 

Even after consecutive line dropouts and penalties, the Warriors were not about to let a depleted Eels side cross to score. It took 16 minutes into the second half however for the Warriors to increase their point tally, after some brilliant work by Henry to cross the line. With the tries flowing in ever so quickly, the Warriors looked likely to smash their previous point scoring record set-back in 2006 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in which the Warriors ran way 66-0 winners. 

Although, the Eels wall started to stand-up and they began to shut-down a firing Warriors pack rather well, desperately trying to save humiliation and being on the wrong side of the record books. However, in the 62nd minute, after some a short pass from Johsnon, Mannering busted through the Eels defensive line and streaked away, then passing to fellow team Townsend to set him up beautifully right near the posts. Bringing the Warriors try total to eight. Johnson enjoyed a perfect night from the boot kicking all eight from eight goals. 

As the final minutes of the game came around, the Eels started to show serious desperation to score to put some points on the board, just to save the humility of a heavy scoreless loss, but again, the Warriors defensive wall simply to strong and they found themselves unable to crack their defensive line. Full time saw the Warriors run way convincing winners 48 points to nil at home tonight, in front of a 14,087 strong crowd. 

This does leave us with one question. Would having Hayne (and for that matter Hopoate) in the squad at all made a difference? or were the Warriors just to red hot for the Eels to handle? 

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS (48)
Tries: David Fusitua, Shaun Johnson, Sam Tomkins (2), Konrad Hurrell, Simon Mannering, Ben Henry, Chad Townsend
Field Goals:
Conversions: Shaun Johnson (8/8)
Penalty Goals:

PARRAMATTA EELS (0)
Tries:
Field Goals:
Conversions:
Penalty Goals:

Welcome to the first game of Saturday night football. Tonight, the New Zealand Warriors are hosting the Parramatta Eels at Mt.Smart Stadium. The eels are without Origin star Jarryd Hayne tonight. Sandow has taken the position of fullback with Norman partnering Kelly in the halves. Same Lousi makes his return to the Warriors side in the number 20. Kick-off not far away.

Let the games begin! The eels will take the first set of the game.

2: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by David Fusitua. Kick to come.
Fusitua finished off a play brilliantly by scoring in the corner. Kick to come.

2: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson makes no mistake. Nails the conversion brilliantly.

6: Penalty to the warriors here. They'll kick-up field and get another set.

7: Toutai is cleaned-up in goal and Eels are forced to a drop-out. Warriors to receive the ball again.

9: Eels escape some serious offensive pressure from the Warriors. They now have the ball in hand thanks to a brilliant take by Radradra.

10: Another penalty to the Warriors here. Dangerous throw from the Eels.

12: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Shaun Johnson. Kick to come.
Johnson puts a grubber in and rushes through like a rocker to score himself. Kick to come.

13: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson makes it 2/2 with the conversion. Converts his own try.

15: The Warriors have enjoyed plenty of early possession in the opening 15 minutes. Eels have been tested defensively thus far.

16: Another Warriors penalty here. They'll enjoy another set of position to test the Eels line.

18: Willie Tonga looks to be struggling on the wing here. Possible injury concern.

18: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Sam Tomkins. Kick to come.
Tomkins falls just short of the line but stretches his arm out to score the try. Kick to come.

20: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson sails it beautifully between the posts. 20 minutes in and the Warriors are up 18-0.

24: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Konrad Hurrell makes an unforced error.
Eels will pack the scrum and receive the ball after a Warriors error.

26: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Konrad Hurrell. Kick to come.
Hurrell busts the line and sprints 60m to score the try.

28: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson makes it 4/4 with a beautiful kick from out wide. He has been perfect with the boot thus far.

29: Warriors have enjoyed 65% of the possession thus far with 16/17 completed sets. Some great football by them in the opening 40.

30: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Sam Tomkins. Kick to come.
Tomkins busts the eels line again. Recovers the ball from an Eels scrum feed and crashes over.

32: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson nails it perfectly to increase the lead to 30-0. 31minutes gone.

34: Another penalty to Parramatta here. Warriors are late into the tackle and Eels will get a chance to have a set within the Warriors 20. But the Warriors recover the ball off an eels mistake.

35: Warriors loose the ball there. Eels will get the scrum feed 30m out from the Warriors line. 5 minutes remain in the opening half.

37: Townsend cleans up the ball and Warriors are back with the ball in hand. 4 minutes left in the opening half.

37: Townsend cleans up the ball and Warriors are back with the ball in hand. 4 minutes left in the opening half.

37: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Simon Mannering. Kick to come.
The captain gets his own try! Busts the line and rushes away to score. Warriors are on fire tonight.

38: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson adds two to the tally. Extends the lead for the Warriors and they are up 36-0. One minute remains in the half.

40: Half time here at Mt Smart Stadium. Warriors walk to the sheds with a 36-0 lead. Tomkins with a double and Johson perfect with the boot thus far.

40: At the half, Warriors have already made 6 line breaks and 3 errors. Compared to the eels 0 line breaks and 2 errors. Are the eels feeling the sting without Hayne or just lacking urgency and hunger?

40: We're underway for the second half here! Warriors will receive the ball. 40 minutes of action remains here at Mr Smart Stadium.

42: 40/20 PARRAMATTA EELS
Chris Sandow kicks a 40/20.
Sandow kicks on the 3rd looking for a 40/20 and he gets it, also gets the penalty and Parra are here with a chance.

43: Tomkins puts it down in goal, Eels will get six again through a line drop-out. Good start to the second half for them.

44: UNFORCED ERROR PARRAMATTA EELS
Peni Terepo makes an unforced error.
Eels drop the ball and Warriors will see the scrum feed here.

46: Johnson kicks it high but Sandow defuses the bomb beautifully. 5min gone in the half. Warriors are up 36-0.

47: Vatuvei is taken into touch after recovering a loose eels ball, but eels will enjoy the scrum feed.

49: Hurrell makes a line-break and gets his team within the Eels 30m line. But the ball is knocked on in the next play.

50: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Simon Mannering makes an unforced error.
Mannering can't hold on and he fumbled the ball. Eels scrum.

51: The eels are looking a lot more energetic in this second half. They are moving the ball around some more and making some great metres off their sets.

52: We have a bit of a confrontation here! Eels and Warriors players both running in after some niggle in the tackle from Radradra to Tomkins.

51: Warriors see the penalty here after that tackle from Radradra. Warriors kick up and field and they are with possession.

54: Possible warriors TRY. We're going upstairs to the video ref here. Video ref wants to check a few things for both sides. 14 minutes into the second half.

56: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Ben Henry. Kick to come.
Henry sees the green lights and the tally now increases even more. Eels feeling the pressure.

55: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson converts the try and adds the two. The Warriors fans are loving this!

56: Penalty to the Warriors. Eels are certainly not on the right side of the penalty count today. Warriors with another chance inside the Eels 40m line.

57: Radradra is cleaned-up in goal and Warriors will get the ball again through a goal line drop-out. The pressure is building now. 17 minutes gone in the second half, Warriors up 42-0.

59: Another goal line drop-out and Warriors are with the ball AGAIN.

62: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Chad Townsend. Kick to come.
Mannering sets-up a play beautifully and passes it to Townsend who grounds it for four.

63: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Johnson adds the extras. That brings his total points to 20 for the night. He's been on absolute fire tonight.

64: Crowd tonight at Mt Smart Stadium is 14,087.

67: The eels catch Tomkins in goal and they will receive the ball again. Line drop-out. 24 minutes gone in the half. Warriors in the lead 48 points to nil.

69: After both teams contested the high-ball in goal, the Warriors knock it dead and the eels will receive the ball again for another set of possession. Can they finally add points on the board?

70: Eels are starting to shift the ball around a bit here and gain some metres. But the Warriors are covering them well on the defensive front.

71: We're into the final ten minutes here. Score remains 48-0 in favour of the Warriors. Eels yet to score.

73: The eels are trying desperately here to put some points on the board. But they can't crack the Warriors defence. They do get a line drop-out though! Warriors are starting to build a big defensive effort here to keep Parramatta locked out.

74: PENATLY! EELS! They are within metres of the Warriors goal line now. Pressure building.

75: The eels get the ball down, but the ref has called the ball forward. Warriors with the ball now. Five minutes remain.

77: PENALTY! EELS! They take a quick kick for touch and march-up field. Just three minutes to go. Warriors hold a strong 48-0 lead over the Eels.

78: Another penalty to the Eels here! They are are sitting right on the Warriors goal line. Pressure building for the Warriors defence here!

79: SCRUM FEED! Warriors will get the ball as we enter the final minute of the game.

80: Full time here at Mt Smart Stadium and the Warriors walk away with a blowout win against the Eels. 48 points to nil.

80: The Warriors added two converted tried in the second half to increase their tally while they kept the Hayne-less Eels to nil at Mt Smart Stadium. Tomkins finishes two tries while Johnson was perfect with the boot kicking 8/8. This delivers the Eels their third straight loss while the Warriors sneak up to 6th on the ladder. Thank you for all tuning, stay tuned for the match-report and make sure to tune into the next game between the Bulldogs and Storm down in Melbourne.