# 2007 Parramatta Eels season

The 2007 Parramatta Eels Season was the 61st in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 5th position, and came within one match of the grand final only to be knocked out by eventual premiers, Melbourne Storm, who would later be stripped of this title after being found guilty of salary cap breaches.

## Summary

Under new coach Michael Hagan, Parramatta saw a great performance in season 2007, spending most of the season in third place (behind the Storm and Manly) before a late season form slump, only stopped with a huge 68-22 demolition of defending premiers Brisbane saw them settle for fifth position at the end of the season. In the first week of the finals, they defeated the New Zealand Warriors away, 12–10 to set up a huge clash with arch-rivals Canterbury the following week. In an incident-filled match at ANZ Stadium in front of 50,621, Parramatta ran out 25–6 winners gaining revenge for their infamous preliminary final loss to Canterbury in the 1998 NRL season.
The win booked them a preliminary final clash with Minor Premiers Melbourne Storm. In a gruelling match at Melbourne's Telstra Dome, the Storm eventually won 26–10 ending Parramatta's 2007 season, one win away from their first Grand Final appearance since 2001. Later it was revealed by the NRL that the Melbourne Storm had in fact breached the salary cap that season, and they were stripped of their minor premiership and their title for the 2007 season. Parramatta spent most of the season inside the top four, however a patch of poor form late in the season saw them finish fifth despite a last round 68-22 thrashing of the Brisbane Broncos at home. Late season losses to Newcastle, Cronulla, Melbourne and St. George Illawarra proved costly.

## Standings

2007 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 627 | 277 | +350 | 44 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 597 | 377 | +220 | 38 |
| 3 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 547 | 618 | −71 | 32 |
| 4 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 593 | 434 | +159 | 29 |
| 5 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 573 | 481 | +92 | 28 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 575 | 528 | +47 | 26 |
| 7 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 408 | 399 | +9 | 26 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 511 | 476 | +35 | 24 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 541 | 561 | −20 | 24 |
| 10 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 445 | 610 | −165 | 23 |
| 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 463 | 403 | +60 | 22 |
| 12 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 409 | 559 | −150 | 22 |
| 13 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 431 | 509 | −78 | 20 |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 522 | 652 | −130 | 20 |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 418 | 708 | −290 | 20 |
| 16 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 539 | 607 | −68 | 18 |

## Fixtures
### Home and away season

| Round | Opponent | Result | Eels | Opponent | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
| 011 | New Zealand New Zealand Warriors | Loss | 18 | 34 | 17 March 2007 | Mt Smart Stadium | 13,587 | 1414/16 |
| 022 | South Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 6 | 31 | 25 March 2007 | Telstra Stadium | 15,165 | 1414/16 |
| 033 | Wests Tigers Wests Tigers | Win | 22 | 20 | 30 March 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 18,142 | 1313/16 |
| 044 | Canberra Canberra Raiders | Win | 38 | 6 | 7 April 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 10,091 | 099/16 |
| 055 | Penrith Penrith Panthers | Win | 27 | 14 | 13 April 2007 | CUA Stadium | 18,756 | 066/16 |
| 066 | Bulldogs Bulldogs | Loss | 18 | 21 | 22 April 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 18,285 | 088/16 |
| 077 | Gold Coast Gold Coast Titans | Loss | 12 | 38 | 29 April 2007 | Metricon Stadium | 18,021 | 1111/16 |
| 088 | Sydney Sydney Roosters | Win | 28 | 10 | 5 May 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 13,021 | 1010/16 |
| 099 | Manly Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Loss | 12 | 22 | 11 May 2007 | Brookvale Oval | 19,944 | 1010/16 |
| 1010 | North Queensland North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 44 | 14 | 19 May 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 10,182 | 077/16 |
| 1111 | New Zealand New Zealand Warriors | Win | 30 | 6 | 28 May 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 11,160 | 066/16 |
| 1212 | Wests Tigers Wests Tigers | Win | 38 | 8 | 4 June 2007 | Telstra Stadium | 22,245 | 044/16 |
| 1313 | Canberra Canberra Raiders | Loss | 38 | 10 | 9 June 2007 | Canberra Stadium | 11,232 | 066/16 |
| 1414 | St George St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 20 | 12 | 17 June 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 12,658 | 033/16 |
| 1515 | Sydney Sydney Roosters | Win | 36 | 16 | 23 June 2007 | Sydney Football Stadium | 12,211 | 033/16 |
| 1616 | Bye | – | – | – | – | – | – | 033/16 |
| 1717 | Newcastle Newcastle Knights | Loss | 10 | 34 | 9 July 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 10,363 | 044/16 |
| 1818 | South Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 18 | 12 | 15 July 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 15,202 | 033/16 |
| 1919 | Brisbane Brisbane Broncos | Win | 20 | 16 | 23 July 2007 | Suncorp Stadium | 25,762 | 033/16 |
| 2020 | Manly Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Loss | 24 | 32 | 29 July 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 20,113 | 033/16 |
| 2121 | Bulldogs Bulldogs | Win | 34 | 22 | 3 August 2007 | Telstra Stadium | 27,201 | 033/16 |
| 2222 | Cronulla Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 24 | 25 | 11 August 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 13,376 | 033/16 |
| 2323 | Melbourne Melbourne Storm | Loss | 10 | 14 | 17 August 2007 | Olympic Park Stadium | 11,549 | 055/16 |
| 2424 | St George St George Illawarra Dragons | Loss | 6 | 14 | 27 August 2007 | WIN Stadium | 13,488 | 066/16 |
| 2525 | Brisbane Brisbane Broncos | Win | 68 | 22 | 2 September 2007 | Parramatta Stadium | 17,112 | 055/16 |

### Finals series

| Round | Opponent | Result | Eels | Opponent | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
| 26QF | New Zealand New Zealand Warriors | Win | 12 | 10 | 7 September 2007 | Mt Smart Stadium | 28,745 | – |
| 27SF | Bulldogs Bulldogs | Win | 25 | 6 | 15 September 2007 | Telstra Stadium | 50,621 | – |
| 28PF | Melbourne Melbourne Storm | Loss | 10 | 26 | 23 September 2007 | Telstra Dome | 33,427 | – |

## Players and staff

The playing squad and coaching staff of the Parramatta Eels for the 2007 NRL season as of 27 December 2006.
| No. | Position | Player 1 Jarryd Hayne – FB 2 Krisnan Inu – WG 3 Joel Reddy – CE 4 Timana Tahu – CE 5 Eric Grothe, Jr. – WG 6 Brett Finch – FE 7 Tim Smith – HB 8 Nathan Cayless – PR (Captain) 9 Mark Riddell – HK 10 Fuifui Moimoi – PR 11 Nathan Hindmarsh – SR 12 Chad Robinson – SR 13 Daniel Wagon – LK |
| No. | Position | Player 14 PJ Marsh – HK 15 Josh Cordoba – PR 16 Feleti Mateo – SR 17 Ian Hindmarsh – SR Aaron Cannings – PR Todd Lowrie – SR Richard Fa'aoso – PR Blake Green – FE Ben Smith – FB Weller Hauraki – SR Luke Burt – CE Brendan Oake – SR Junior Paulo – PR Justin Tsoulos – PR |

## Statistics

| Player | Games | Tries | Goals | F. Goals | Points |
| Burt, LukeLuke Burt | 1616 | 099 | 5959/70 | 00 | 154154 |
| Inu, KrisnanKrisnan Inu | 2020 | 1212 | 3737/45 | 00 | 122122 |
| Hayne, JarrydJarryd Hayne | 2525 | 1212 | 00/1 | 00 | 04848 |
| Grothe, Jr., EricEric Grothe, Jr. | 2323 | 1111 | 00 | 00 | 04444 |
| Mateo, FeletiFeleti Mateo | 2525 | 099 | 00 | 00 | 03636 |
| Smith, BenBen Smith | 2323 | 088 | 00 | 00 | 03232 |
| Hindmarsh, NathanNathan Hindmarsh | 2222 | 077 | 00 | 00 | 02828 |
| Tahu, TimanaTimana Tahu | 1818 | 077 | 00/1 | 00 | 02828 |
| Riddell, MarkMark Riddell | 2323 | 055 | 00/1 | 00 | 02020 |
| Hindmarsh, IanIan Hindmarsh | 2424 | 044 | 00/1 | 11 | 01717 |
| Smith, TimTim Smith | 2727 | 033 | 11/1 | 00 | 01414 |
| Cayless, NathanNathan Cayless | 2222 | 033 | 00 | 00 | 01212 |
| Reddy, JoelJoel Reddy | 1010 | 033 | 00 | 00 | 01212 |
| Wagon, DanielDaniel Wagon | 2222 | 033 | 00 | 00 | 01212 |
| Finch, BrettBrett Finch | 2525 | 022 | 00 | 11 | 0099 |
| Marsh, PJPJ Marsh | 2727 | 022 | 00 | 00 | 0088 |
| Robinson, ChadChad Robinson | 2020 | 022 | 00 | 00 | 0088 |
| Cannings, AaronAaron Cannings | 2121 | 011 | 00 | 00 | 0044 |
| Cordoba, JoshJosh Cordoba | 2525 | 011 | 00 | 00 | 0044 |
| Moimoi, FuifuiFuifui Moimoi | 2121 | 011 | 00 | 00 | 0044 |
| Taia, ZebZeb Taia | 033 | 011 | 00 | 00 | 0044 |
| Green, BlakeBlake Green | 066 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Hauraki, WellerWeller Hauraki | 055 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Paulo, JuniorJunior Paulo | 033 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Lowrie, ToddTodd Lowrie | 022 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Fa'aoso, RichardRichard Fa'aoso | 011 | ?4 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

## Awards

* Michael Cronin clubman of the year award: Ian Hindmarsh
* Ken Thornett Medal (Players' player): Nathan Hindmarsh
* Jack Gibson Award (Coach's award): Luke Burt
* Eric Grothe Rookie of the Year Award: Krisnan Inu