2005 Parramatta Eels season

The 2005 Parramatta Eels season was the 59th in the club's history. Coached by Brian Smith and captained by Nathan Cayless, they competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership.[1] The Eels finished the home and away season on top of the ladder to claim the minor premiership, but were knocked out in the preliminary final, going down 0–29 to the North Queensland Cowboys.[2]

2005 Parramatta Eels season
NRL Rank1st
Play-off resultPreliminary Finalists (Lost 0–29 vs North Queensland Cowboys, 2nd Preliminary Final)
World Club ChallengeDNQ
2005 recordWins: 16; draws: 0; losses: 8
Points scoredFor: 704; against: 456
Team information
CEODenis Fitzgerald
CoachAustralia Brian Smith
Captain
StadiumParramatta Stadium (Capacity: 20,741)
Waikato Stadium (Capacity: 25,800)
Avg. attendance16,264 (Home)
15,670 (Home & Away)
16,706 (Finals Series)
Agg. attendance195,169 (Home)
400,950 (Home & Away)
64,037 (Finals Series)
High attendance44,327 (25 September vs North Queensland Cowboys, 2nd Preliminary Final)
Top scorers
TriesAustralia Eric Grothe Jr (16)
GoalsAustralia Luke Burt (92)
PointsAustralia Luke Burt (214)
< 2004 List of seasons 2006 >

Summary

The 2005 season marked a resurgence of the Parramatta Eels; after two years in the wilderness, the club were back into premiership contention after ending the season as minor premiers on 36 points, ahead of the St. George Illawarra Dragons on points differential. The first week of the 2005 Finals Series saw a comfortable 46–22 win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, who were in their first finals campaign since the creation of the National Rugby League in 1998. Following the week off, Parramatta were beaten by the Johnathan Thurston-led North Queensland at ANZ Stadium, 29–0, ending another season in disappointment.

Adding further salt to the wound, Parramatta's inspirational forward Nathan Hindmarsh missed the entire finals series and popular cult figure Fuifui Moimoi was suspended in the final round of the season, also missing the finals. Parramatta had also defeated eventual premiers the Wests Tigers twice throughout the season, defeated St. George Illawarra and also recorded a 50-12 victory over North Queensland earlier in the year.[3]

Standings
2005 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Parramatta Eels 2416082704456+24836
2 St George Illawarra Dragons 2416082655510+14536
3 Brisbane Broncos 2415092597484+11334
4 Wests Tigers (P) 24140102676575+10132
5 North Queensland Cowboys 24140102639563+7632
6 Melbourne Storm 24130112640462+17830
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24120122550564-1428
8 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24120122554632-7828
9 Sydney Roosters 24110132488487+126
10 Penrith Panthers 24110132554554026
11 New Zealand Warriors 24100142515528-1324
12 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2491142472670-19823
13 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2491142482700-21823
14 Canberra Raiders 2490152465606-14122
15 Newcastle Knights 2480162467667-20020

Awards

The following awards were awarded in the post-season:[4]

References
  1. "NRL 2005 - Parramatta Eels - Rugby League Project".
  2. "NRL 2005 - Prelim Final - Rugby League Project".
  3. "Parramatta Eels: Five times they should have been set for a big season but flopped". Fox Sports. 20 March 2018.
  4. "Honour Roll". parraeels.com.au. Parramatta Eels. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
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