Saturday third NRL Round 2 match is between Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels with the opening kick to commence at 7:30pm. The game is to be played at Allianz Stadium which see’s home team Sydney Roosters hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels.
WHERE AND WHEN: Allianz Stadium, Saturday 15 March 2014, 7:30pm
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Odds Comparison:
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| Sydney Roosters | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.29 |
| Parramatta Eels | 3.80 | 3.80 | 3.75 | 3.80 | 3.80 | 3.70 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Preview:
Despite leading twice in the match, reigning premiers Sydney Roosters were never really in control of their opening round against South Sydney last week and were defeated 28 – 8.
Roosters centre Michael Jennings scored the opening try of the match which came from a charge down deep inside the Roosters own half.
It was the only time in the first stanza that the Roosters looked like scoring and it was only poor discipline from Souths, often when in possession of the football in attacking positions, that kept the Roosters in the hunt at half time were the scores locked at 6 – all.
A penalty goal to five-eighth James Maloney early in the second half again put the Roosters but only momentarily as the rest of the match was dominated by Souths who ran in three unanswered tries.
The loss has since been compounded for the Roosters with the suspension of Sonny Bill Williams for the three weeks, after he was charged for a shoulder charge. His position this week is being filled by Mitch Aubusson
The Roosters weren’t allowed many opportunities by the Rabbitohs but even when their chances did present themselves, the defensive work told on them and they looked pedestrian.
They are a better team than that obviously and Parramatta will feel thee full force of a side who will want to redeem themselves immediately.
Parramatta put the demons of last year behind them, for this week at least, with a comprehensive 36 – 16 against an underwhelming Warriors outfit.
Several new faces shone for Parramatta including winger Sami Radradra who scored three tries, including the first of the match, along with Will Hopoate, Manu Ma’u and Nathan Peats.
Unfortunately hooker Peats will be missing for this game after being stood down and fined for breaking the NRL’s code of conduct during the off-season prior to arriving at the Eels.
He’ll be sorely missed as he topped the Eels tackle count with 46 and kept the opposition on their toes from dummy half last week.
There’s plenty of potential for Parramatta to build on and this weekend, up against a wounded Roosters will be a great test for them.
Parramatta were beaten by big margins of 50 and 14 when the two sides met twice last season. In fact Parramatta have only won one of their last five outings against the Roosters which have produced high-scoring affairs, only one match not reaching a total of 50 points.
Expect another high-scoring affair here with the Roosters to come out firing after last week’s effort whilst Parramatta will need to step up another level again after being somewhat flattered by an average Warriors side.
Roosters to win but they’ll be made work for it by a new Parramatta side.
Teams:
Sydney Roosters:
1. Anthony Minichiello 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Michael Jennings 4. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. James Maloney 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Sam Moa 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Mitchell Aubusson 13. Frank Paul Nuuausala 14. Daniel Mortimer 15. Aidan Guerra 16. Remi Casty 17. Kane Evans 18. Dylan Napa 19. Sio Siua Taukeiaho
Parramatta Eels:
1. Jarryd Hayne 2. Semi Radradra 3. William Hopoate 4. Willie Tonga 5. Vai Toutai 6. Corey Norman 7. Luke Kelly 8. Tim Mannah 9. Kaysa Pritchard 10. Fuifui Moimoi 11. Ben Smith 12. Manu Ma’u 13. Ken Edwards 14. Joseph Paulo 15. Kelepi Tanginoa 16. Peni Terepo 17. Darcy Lussick 18. Mitchell Allgood 19. David Gower
News:
Under-par and well beaten in their NRL season opener, reigning premiers the Sydney Roosters must now get their title defence up and running without the services of Sonny Bill Williams for the next three games.
Williams took the early guilty plea on Monday following his shoulder charge to the head of South Sydney’s George Burgess in the Rabbitohs’ 28-8 win last Thursday at ANZ Stadium.
It is the second time Williams has been sanctioned for such a challenge by the match review committee since returning from New Zealand rugby.
He was banned for two games for a hit on former Canterbury teammate Willie Mason in the Roosters’ win over Newcastle last season and will now miss games against Parramatta, Brisbane and Manly.
In other judiciary charges, Roosters skipper Anthony Minichiello took the early guilty plea on a dangerous contact charge for a raised knee charge and will be available to play against the Eels on Saturday.
Souths playmaker Dylan Walker took the early guilty charge on a grade on tripping charge and is free to play in the Rabbitohs’ match against Manly at Gosford on Friday.
Meanwhile, Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough and Parramatta’s Peni Terepo have been charged with careless high tackles from the weekend, but both will be free to play in round two should they take the early guilty plea.
The Roosters beat Wests Tigers and lost to Cronulla during Williams’ enforced absence last year and now face an Eels side brimming with confidence following a superb win over the Warriors on Sunday.
The Eels have claimed the wooden spoon for the past two seasons, but demonstrated with their 36-16 success at Parramatta Stadium they may not be the pushovers of 2013 under new coach Brad Arthur.
It would be easy to draw comparisons with last year’s false dawn when they smashed the Warriors 40-10 and then went on to win just four more matches.
However, there was noticeable difference to the Eels under Arthur, whose defensive nous is widely credited with helping Manly reach last year’s grand final.
Under Ricky Stuart last year, the Eels slumped to an embarrassing 50-0 defeat to the Roosters in this corresponding fixture, but if Sunday’s defensive display is anything to go by it could be a much closer affair.
Robinson said it was far too early to panic, but he has already admitted he was fearful a disrupted pre-season could affect his side early in the campaign with 16 of his players involved in the Rugby League World Cup and reporting back to pre-season later than usual.
The Roosters looked uncharacteristically sluggish against Souths, whose adaption to the new rules to allow for a faster game appeared to caused numerous problems for Robinson’s side who struggled to cope with Souths’ numerous offloads.
There has also been suggestions key prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has struggled to shed some weight going into the new season after helping the Kiwis reach the World Cup final in November.
“It’s not been ideal, but we have put plans in place to try and overcome the pre-season changes,” Robinson said.
“We’ve tried to work out the impact it will have on the players later in the season while trying to get off to a good start.
“To do that you do a lot of predicting and we have spent many hours talking about it.”