Eels in hot water over farcical NRLW delay

Parramatta Eels officials are in hot water over the farcical scenes that led to the delay of its NRLW clash against the Knights on Saturday morning.
Kickoff was delayed more than half an hour because there was no trauma paramedic on site at the Eric Tweedle Stadium in Granville.
Fans at the ground were reportedly informed of the delay shortly before the scheduled time, but not given a reason.
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Originally scheduled for an 11.05am kick off, the match finally got underway about 11.40am after a paramedic arrived.
“The delay in the game kickoff was due to a technical compliance issue which was worked through with the clubs,” an NRL spokesman told Wide World of Sports.
Kennedy Cherrington in action for the Eels. NRL Photos
Wide World of Sports believes an ambulance and paramedic was on site, but they were not trained in trauma as required by the NRL.
Home clubs are generally responsible for organising paramedics, and the NRL confirmed the circumstances would be reviewed.
“The NRLW game was delayed today due to an issue regarding the appropriately qualified independent paramedics for the game,” an Eels spokeswoman told Wide World of Sports.
“Once the issue was identified, the club sourced the correctly qualified paramedic resources and the game was able to proceed.
“We would like to apologise to the fans and broadcasters for the delay in kickoff.”
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Once the match got underway, it was a fairly one-sided affair, the Knights dominating on their way to a 36-16 win.
Newcastle exploded out of the blocks, and raced to a 16-0 lead in the 15th minute, and it was 20-0 in the 20th.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Eels had back to back sets before the Knights’ fourth try but were spectacularly kept out on each occasion. They also had a try disallowed by the Bunker for an obstruction.
The Eels got on the board just before the break to trail at half time 20-4.
The Knights scored on the resumption, before the Eels looked as if they were mounting a comeback when they went back to back to cut the lead to eight.
A Georgia Roche penalty goal in the 57th minute stretched the lead to 10, before two late tries.
Having scored the first try of the afternoon in the second minute, Tamika Upton bookended the game by scoring another in the final minute.