Bouncing back from an awful performance last week, the Parramatta Eels have shown they can be one of the most damaging teams in the competition with their 26-16 win over the Roosters at Parramatta.
The opening forty minutes was arguably one of the greatest halves in Rugby League since the Panthers won the 2021 NRL premiership. Both teams had moments of brilliance starting with the Sydney Roosters who were able to get over first when Joseph Suaalii was able to score in the Northeast corner after some good hands caught the Eels out and the Bondi boys led.
The Eels then showed why they are one of the most entertaining teams in the competition when the Blue and Gold hit back through Dylan Brown after Parramatta were able to keep the ball alive with some good work and Shaun Lane put Brown through to score.
A second try came for Parramatta as Isaiah Papali'i had too much speed to beat the defenders in front of him and then had the size to get over the top of James Tedesco for the Eels second try. The third try was as thing of beauty again for Parramatta as they spread the ball across the field and again Shaun Lane's offload was the difference as he put Clint Gutherson through.
The Roosters halted the Eels scoreboard momentum temporarily when Sam Walker found Sitili Tupouniua with a flattish pass that sent the Roosters second rower through empty space up the middle of the park to score.
Turning back the clock, Maika Sivo was charging over defenders and he was back in the scorers list when the Eels were able to keep it alive despite the Roosters looking shutting down the play multiple times.
The final try of the first half, was just as good as anything they dished out earlier in the night with the speed of Mitch Moses causing issues when he ran out towards the sideline and put Bailey Simonsson into space before the ball ended up with Ryan Matterson and eventually Reed Mahoney who scored.
The Roosters needed to find something in the second half trailing 26-12 at the break and early on in the second half, the Eastern Suburbs side found it when some individual brilliance from Joseph Suaalii saw the Roosters get on the board again when he kicked over the top for himself and got the best bounce possible and scored out wide. Sam Walker missed the kick and kept the score at 26-16.
For a game that had 38 points in the first half, the points dried up significantly with neither side adding points beyond that despite both sides having chances in particular the Roosters who were denied on regular occasions by the Blue and gold.
In a fortnight's time, the Eels have a clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Homebush whilst the Roosters will be staring down a fourth straight loss when they have to travel to Penrith to take on the Panthers.