He will go down as one of the greatest Eels players of all-time, and tonight, Luke Burt has added an accolade to his repertoire, breaking Brett Kenny’s record of 110 tries for the Parramatta Eels.
The record, which previously stood at 110, was broken by Burt, after he scored two tries that helped the Eels come from behind to win the game 22-20 at Parramatta Stadium.
The pressure was all on Burt after scoring the try that leveled the scores in the 77th minute, but he maintained his composure and slotted home the sideline conversion that won the Eels the game.
Things did not look good for the Eels at the start, with both Jonathon Thurston and Matthew Bowen threatening to put on their ever-dangerous show, but it was not to be, as they just did not do enough to win.
It was the never-say-die attitude and fighting spirit of the Eels that pleased Kearney most, as the Eels won their first game at home, for the year.
“What was pleasing was that we got ourselves from behind three times and over the last couple of weeks, when we have found ourselves in that position, we haven’t responded well,” he said.
“But tonight we jumped straight back into it after being scored against.”
Kearney was full of praise for Burt’s achievement, and also for Hindmarsh’s try-saving tackle on Glenn Hall.
“He hasn’t trained all week, but that play is what he is all about, he has showed it so many times in the past,” he said.
“There were a couple of things Nathan did that stand out, but for Burty it is a remarkable effort, he is not the biggest winger around but he always comes up with the clutch plays.”
Neil Henry, Cowboys coach, was left to rue what could have been, and lamented his side inability to hold onto the ball, but he questioned Burt’s try.
“I don’t think he had a long enough look at it, (Joel) Reddy jumped, worked out he was short and dragged his arm over Ash Graham and effectively took his catching arm away … there was nothing wrong with the try, but the contest in the air wasn’t fair,” Henry said.
3 Luke Burt
2 Matthew Keating
1 Nathan Hindmarsh