Eels stun Roosters in massive turnaround

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has credited a no-holds-barred discussion with his players after last month’s 50-point humbling by the Sydney Roosters as the reason behind their remarkable turnaround.

After opening the season with a big win over the Warriors, Arthur’s side were smashed 56-4 in round two by the Roosters – a performance that suggested little had changed at the club since Ricky Stuart’s departure to Canberra.

Fast forward to round six and the Eels find themselves sitting at 4-2 for the season on the back of three straight wins for the first time since 2010 after Saturday’s thoroughly deserved 14-12 win over the Roosters.

In addition to the two competition points, the Eels made just two errors for the whole game and kept the premiers scoreless in the second half – something that seemed unthinkable when they let in 40 points in as many minutes four weeks ago.

“We were nice and honest after the Roosters game and said we don’t want that effort ever again,” Arthur said.

“There was disappointment and it hurt the players and when I saw it I knew we’d bounced back.

“Tonight we weren’t great but our effort was there and we defended our tryline with great composure.”

Arthur said the Eels’ error count was proof his side are beginning to turn things around.

“Probably the fact we made two errors was the most pleasing, we were 16 from 17 (completed sets) in the first half and 18 from 19 in the second half,” he said.

“The only error we made in the second half was when we bombed a try under the posts.”

Jarryd Hayne was once again inspirational for his side and in addition to producing a cut-out pass to find Ken Sio for a try in the first half, he held up Sonny Bill Williams just short of the line two minutes from fulltime.

It was a play that sealed a thoroughly deserved win for the hosts and Arthur said it was a sign that the NSW superstar was growing as a leader.

“He’s been making little efforts like that in the last five or six games,” he said.

“Last week he made a few good runs and came out of the in-goal well, they are special plays, but people don’t notice them because they are not 20 metre passes of chip and chases.

“They are real one percenter plays.”

Roosters coach Trent Robinson said his side have been lacking the polish to go with their solid defensive efforts in recent weeks and admitted the Eels were worthy winners.

It was a third straight loss for the Roosters and the coach admitted they need to start improving.

“It was a tough contest, Parramatta made two mistakes, but we put the ball back in our court by making plenty of opportunities but we didn’t ice any of them,” he said.

“We’ve had four very close games and we are just missing the opportunities to win.

“It’s tough for the boys but we have to get on with it. We played better in attack but we just couldn’t get over the line.”

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