Will the Vodafone Warriors Catch the Eels?

Media Release
For Immediate Release

Will the Vodafone Warriors Catch the Eels?

Auckland, New Zealand, March 13, 2001 – Vodafone Warriors coach Daniel Anderson is set for a home coming of significance when he returns to his former stomping ground, Paramatta, this weekend.

A former assistant coach with Parramatta’s NRL side, Anderson will be taking his new team into battle with players he once counseled. And his game plan will be put to the test by the man more likely to pick his strategy than any other, Paramatta coach and mentor Brian Smith.

But inside knowledge works both ways, and this time it could operate in Anderson’s favour. The Vodafone Warriors are riding high on a wave of confidence after their convincing win over the St George Illawara Dragons last weekend, while the highly rated Paramatta team conceded victory to the Newcastle Knights.

“Even when you lose it is possible to look at what happened and see some positives,” says Anderson. “Friday was fantastic - so many things came together at the right time, it was thrilling to see. The mental boost it’ll give the guys is hard to quantify.”

“It is still only the beginning though, there is a hell of a long way to go before we can relax. Complacency is an incredibly dangerous thing in league. We’ve lost Mark Tookey for a just about the whole season, plus we’ve got a few guys out for shorter periods. It’s something you have to expect in this game, but it means we are going to have to work harder to cover some areas. I’m certainly not relaxed.”

“No game is ever perfect and there were plenty of things in Friday night’s game we’ll be needing to improve if we are going to put forward the sort of performance that will allow us to come close to the Eels.”

The Vodafone Warriors will take on the Paramatta Eels in Round 5 of the NRL competition at Paramatta Stadium Sunday, March 18, 4pm local time.

The Vodafone Warriors line-up against the Paramatta Eels will be as follows:

1. Ivan Cleary
2. Henry Faafili
3. Richie Blackmore
4. David Myles
5. Francis Meli
6. Cliff Beverley
7. Stacey Jones (C)
8. Ali Lauitiiti
9. Jason Death
10. Jerry SeuSeu
11. Logan Swann
12. Awen Guttenbeil
13. Kevin Campion (C)
14. Clinton Toopi
15. Richard Villasanti
16. Monty Betham
17. Justin Morgan
18. Motu Tony
19. Nathan Wood

ENDS.

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