Parramatta 40
Warriors 4
The New Zealand Warriors' season hit another low as the Jarryd Hayne-inspired Parramatta Eels dished out a 40-4 NRL hiding tonight.
Led by star fullback Hayne and rampaging prop Fuifui Moimoi, the Eels showed the gulf between the NRL's in-form sides and the strugglers as they cantered to a seven
tries to one victory at Parramatta Stadium.
It was perilously close to the Warriors' record defeat to the Eels, a 56-12 scoreline back in 2001.
Winger Luke Burt latched onto a grubber to score his second try, and the Eels' seventh, two minutes before fulltime, then added his sixth goal to hit the 40-point barrier.
It was the Eels' fifth consecutive win and continued their charge from the lower reaches of the ladder to playoff territory, while the Warriors hit another low as they continue to languish above only Cronulla and Sydney Roosters.
It also showed how much new coach Daniel Anderson, who quit the Warriors in 2004, had turned the Eels around after they lost five of their first seven.
The match was all over at 24-4 at halftime as Hayne's wizardry and Moimoi's power thrilled the home crowd and baffled the visitors, who host Canberra next weekend to try and stay clear of wooden spoon territory.
The Warriors, who'd won their past three matches against the Eels, introduced another new face when 19-year-old centre Siuatonga Likiliki became their eighth NRL debutant this year.
He was a late callup when Jerome Ropati didn't travel to Sydney due to an ongoing shoulder injury.
The match soon followed the script; the Eels chock-full of confidence after winning their last three matches by a combined 97-16 and the Warriors bereft after just one win from their last seven.
With the home crowd bellowing every time Hayne or Moimoi touched the ball, the Eels raced to 18-0 in just the 14th minute.
Moimoi, who sent Warriors five-eighth Aaron Heremaia to Disneyland in the first minute, also showed he could offload when he sent Burt away in a 70m movement for their second.
Then the big prop put Hayne through a gap and the fullback turned his opposite Wade McKinnon inside out before Matthew Keating touched down.
The Warriors had attacking chances in the second quarter but all they could do was bomb to Manu Vatuvei's wing, which earned him both tries in their 10-30 defeat to Gold Coast last weekend.
Vatuvei put down Stacey Jones' first two pinpoint efforts, then finally rose above Eric Grothe to catch the third to open the Warriors' account in the 32nd minute.
But the revival was shortlived, as Burt's brilliance extended the margin to 20 just before the break.
He grubbered to the left-hand corner and McKinnon was too sluggish as Burt dived to touch down, then added the extras from the touchline.
A rare Warriors highpoint was workhorse Micheal Luck, the NRL's leading defender, topping 900 tackles for the season early in the match.
Hayne then put the Warriors to sleep almost singlehandedly after the break.
His short ball set up Joel Reddy's second try, then he regathered a chip and chase to send Grothe over out wide. Burt finally missed a conversion at his sixth attempt.
- NZPA