2009 Parramatta Eels season
NRL Rank8th
Play-off resultRunners-up (Lost 16–23 vs Melbourne Storm, Grand Final*)
World Club ChallengeDNQ
2009 recordWins: 12; draws: 1; losses: 11
Points scoredFor: 476; against: 473
Team information
CEODenis Fitzgerald
Paul Osborne
CoachAustralia Daniel Anderson
Captain
  • New Zealand [[reese Cayless]]
StadiumParramatta Stadium (Capacity: 20,741)
ANZ Stadium (Capacity: 83,500)
Avg. attendance13,127 (Home)
16,734 (Home & Away)
50,946 (Finals Series)
Agg. attendance157,524 (Home)
401,626 (Home & Away)
203,785 (Finals Series)
High attendance74,549 (25 September vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, 1st Preliminary Final)
Top scorers
TriesAustralia Luke Burt (17)
GoalsAustralia Luke Burt (91)
PointsAustralia Luke Burt (217)
< 2008 List of seasons 2010 >

The 2009 Parramatta Eels season was the 63rd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership, just making the finals by finishing 8th (out of 16). The Eels then continued their winning streak into the play-offs, reaching the 2009 NRL grand final which they lost to the Melbourne Storm.

Summary

Under new coach Daniel Anderson, Parramatta had an indifferent start to the season which saw the release of star halfback Brett Finch. After 18 rounds and incredibly inconsistent form, the Parramatta Eels had won only five games and were sitting third-last and were in direct contention for the dreaded 2009 NRL Wooden Spoon. TAB SportsBet had the Eels as $151 outsiders to win the NRL Premiership.

Though beginning in Round 19, upset victories against the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs set the platform for an unexpected 10 wins from the next 11 games, which propelled the Eels into the Top 8 and consequently, premiership contention. This unanticipated winning streak was directly attributed by many sporting experts including Rugby League legend Andrew Johns to the spectacular run of form of star fullback Jarryd Hayne. Winning the award for man-of-the-match in every game from Round 19–24, and again in the first week of the finals, Hayne was described as "the best player in any code of football in Australia" by premiership-winning coach Phil Gould. Following his astonishing string of 7-man-of-the-match performances, Hayne won the award for Dally M Fullback of the Year and was crowned the best and fairest player in the game, winning the Dally M Medal for 2009.

After a seven-game winning streak, the Eels succumbed to a heavy defeat to the minor premiers St. George Illawarra, however they returned to Kogarah in Week 1 of the 2009 NRL Finals Series and defeated the Dragons 25–12 featuring an impressive late game try by Dally M medal winner Jarryd Hayne. Following successive wins against the Gold Coast Titans (a team that Parramatta had never beaten before), 27–2 at SFS and Canterbury, 22–12 in front of a record-breaking non-Grand Final crowd of 74,549 at ANZ stadium, Parramatta qualified for their first Grand Final since 2001, becoming the first 8th-placed team to ever qualify for a Grand Final. On 4 October 2009, the Parramatta Eels played the deciding game of NRL, against the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium in front of a crowd of 82,538.[1] The Eels lost the match 23–16, ending what critics called "the Parramatta Fairytale".[1]

On 22 April 2010, the Melbourne Storm were stripped of the premiership as a result of long-term gross salary cap breaches disclosed by the NRL. However, the premiership for 2009 was not handed over to the Parramatta Eels, instead remaining vacant.

Mid-season the Parramatta club had a change of CEO, Denis Fitzgerald was replaced by Paul Osborne. Fullback Jarryd Hayne was the only Eels player selected to play in the 2009 State of Origin series.

Standings

National Rugby League

2009 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2417072548329+21938
2 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2418062575428+147381
3 Gold Coast Titans 2416082514467+4736
4 Melbourne Storm 2414192505348+15733
5 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24140102549459+9032
6 Brisbane Broncos 24140102511566−5532
7 Newcastle Knights 24130112508491+1730
8 Parramatta Eels 24121112476473+329
9 Wests Tigers 24120122558483+7528
10 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24111122566549+1727
11 Penrith Panthers 24111122515589−7427
12 North Queensland Cowboys 24110132558474+8426
13 Canberra Raiders 2490152489520−3122
14 New Zealand Warriors 2472152377565−18820
15 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2450192359568−20914
16 Sydney Roosters 2450192382681−29914

1 The Bulldogs were deducted 2 competition points after an interchange breach in Round 2.

National Youth Competition

National Youth Competition season 2009
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2419142879417+46243
2 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2419052758461+29742
3 Melbourne Storm 2419052833597+23642
4 Wests Tigers 2415182709588+12135
5 Brisbane Broncos 2415092698551+14734
6 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24131102776568+20831
7 New Zealand Warriors 24131102725612+11331
8 Canberra Raiders 24112112706685+2128
9 North Queensland Cowboys 24120122668683-1528
10 Newcastle Knights 2491142596756-16023
11 Canterbury Bulldogs 2491142649867-21823
12 Parramatta Eels 2480162604698-9420
13 Penrith Panthers 2480162573755-18220
14 Gold Coast Titans 2480162542738-19620
15 Sydney Roosters 2460182443736-29316
16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2440202391838-44712

Fixtures

Pre-season

DateOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
14 February Penrith PanthersGriffith Exies Sports Club, GriffithWin34–12N/AN/AN/A
21 February Penrith PanthersCUA Stadium, PenrithWin10–18N/AN/AN/A
28 February Sydney RoostersBluetongue Central Coast Stadium, GosfordWin24–30N/AN/AN/A

Note: Match one was an unofficial trial match.

Home and away season

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
14 MarchRound 1 New Zealand WarriorsMt Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss26–18Grothe, Hayne, InuBurt 3/320,102
20 MarchRound 2 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, SydneyWin8–14Mateo, ReddyBurt 3/3, Finch 0/120,871
28 MarchRound 3 Canberra RaidersParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin18–16Grothe (2), Hayne, InuBurt 1/411,116
3 AprilRound 4 Sydney RoostersSydney Football Stadium, SydneyLoss24–6HayneBurt 1/111,231
10 AprilRound 5 St George Illawarra DragonsParramatta Stadium, ParramattaLoss8–22BurtBurt 2/219,017
19 AprilRound 6 Canterbury Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, SydneyLoss18–48Hauraki (2), HayneBurt 3/318,233
24 AprilRound 7 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium, QueenslandLoss40–8Tautai, UaiseleBurt 0/230,887
1 MayRound 8 North Queensland CowboysParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin28–18Burt, Galuvao, Hauraki, Hayne, M. KeatingK. Keating 3/3, Burt 1/38,104
8–11 JuneRound 9Bye
17 MayRound 10 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesBrookvale Oval, ManlyLoss34–10Hayne (2)Burt 1/215,916
22 MayRound 11 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium, SydneyDraw16–16Hayne (2), GrotheBurt 2/410,670
30 MayRound 12 Cronulla Sutherland SharksParramatta Stadium, ParramattaLoss10–13Burt, ReddyBurt 2/47,014
7 JuneRound 13 Newcastle KnightsNewcastle International Sports Centre, NewcastleWin18–20Moimoi, Reddy, RobsonBurt 4/418,085
15 JuneRound 14 Wests TigersParramatta Stadium, ParramattaLoss23–6BurtBurt 1/112,003
19–22 JuneRound 15Bye
28 JuneRound 16 Brisbane BroncosParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin21–14Grothe, Inu, Mortimer, ReddyBurt 2/4 & FG: 110,030
5 JulyRound 17 Penrith PanthersCUA Stadium, ParramattaLoss38–34Mortimer (2), Burt, Hayne, Hindmarsh, ReddyBurt 5/616,845
13 JulyRound 18 Gold Coast TitansSkilled Park, RobinaLoss18–12Galuvao, Grothe, MortimerBurt 0/1, Inu 0/214,009
20 JulyRound 19 Melbourne StormParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin18–16Lowrie, Moimoi, RobsonBurt 3/410,804
25 JulyRound 20 Canterbury Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, SydneyWin8–27Grothe (2), Burt, Kingston, MoimoiBurt 3/5 & FG: 131,664
2 AugustRound 21 Cronulla SharksToyota Park, CronullaWin0–30Hayne (2), Reddy (2), InuBurt 5/612,246
9 AugustRound 22 Newcastle KnightsParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin40–8Burt (2), Grothe, Inu, Moimoi, ReddyBurt 8/817,669
15 AugustRound 23 New Zealand WarriorsParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin40–4Burt (2), Reddy (2), Grothe, M. Keating, MortimerBurt 6/712,627
21 AugustRound 24 Wests TigersSydney Football Stadium, SydneyWin18–26Burt, Hayne, Inu, RobsonInu 5/534,272
28 AugustRound 25 Penrith PanthersParramatta Stadium, ParramattaWin48–6Mortimer (3), Burt (2), M. Keating, Moimoi, ReddyBurt 8/820,237
4 SeptemberRound 26 St George Illawarra DragonsWIN Jubilee Oval, KogarahLoss37–0NilNil17,974

Finals series

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
13 SeptemberQF St George Illawarra DragonsWIN Jubilee Oval, KogarahWin12–25Burt, Grothe, Hayne, MortimerBurt 4/4 & FG: 118,174
18 SeptemberSF Gold Coast TitansSydney Football Stadium, SydneyWin27–2Kingston, Mateo, B. Smith, WrightBurt 5/5, Hayne FG: 128,524
25 SeptemberPF Canterbury Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, SydneyWin12–22Burt, Galuvao, Mannah, MortimerBurt 3/474,549
4 OctoberGF Melbourne StormANZ Stadium, SydneyLoss23–16Grothe, Moimoi, ReddyBurt 2/382,538

Players and staff

The playing squad and coaching staff of the Parramatta Eels for the 2009 NRL season as of 18 September 2009.

Parramatta Eels
NRL Premiership Squad Coaching staff

Head coach


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • Injured

Updated: 5 July 2013
Source(s): Player profiles and coaching staff [2]

Awards

The following awards were awarded in the post-season:[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Melbourne Storm withstand Parramatta Eels in NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium", Fox Sports, 4 October 2009
  2. ↑ "NRL 2009 - Parramatta Eels". The Rugby League Project. unknown. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Honour Roll". parraeels.com.au. Parramatta Eels. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
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