By MICHAEL BYRNES
PARRAMATTA went within a hair’s breadth of having this weekend off, giving the runaway minor premiers a major scare in the process. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
As much as the week one Eels clash loomed as a nightmare matchup for the Melbourne Storm, Saturday night’s elimination final against the Cowboys presents as a similarly awkward encounter for the Eels.
The Cowboys’ season, on life-support two weeks ago, is now firmly in bonus round territory. When the Dragons lined up against the Bulldogs in the final premiership round, no one expected the Cowboys to be present during Finals week one. Their survival into week two  is testament to their incredible discipline with the football in hand and unblinking tenacity in defence. Minus the game’s premier playmaker, they are clearly limited in attack, yet have spent the last eight weeks forcing opposition teams to beat them, and gifting them no quarter in the process. They have grown into their new grinding persona.
On the other hand, the Eels are the side that just ruffled the Storm’s seemingly unflappable composure, and nearly consigned them to elimination football a week early after the Storm logged one of the most dominant minor premiership performances in recent history. On the back of the Eels performance in week one, they will be expected to make short work of the Cowboys and that’s where things become awkward for them.
The Eels not only slogged through 80 minutes against the toughest and most uncompromising outfit in the competition, they also carry the disappointment that accompanies any narrow loss, the expectation that they should easily have the Cowboys’ measure, the pressure associated with a possible straight-sets exit from a finals series that promised so much, and the prospect of facing an opponent freed of any corresponding pressure of expectation.
The Cowboys have grown into their role, while the Eels have had theirs’ completely reversed in the course of just seven days. It promises to be an intriguing battle.
