A maiden NRL hattrick from Clint Gutherson has helped spark the Parramatta Eels premiership chances with a resounding 43-12 victory over Newcastle at CommBank Stadium.
The Newcastle Knights started the match in disastrous fashion. A poor Kurt Mann pass was put down by Mat Croker which gave the Parramatta side an early chance to strike. On their first chance in the red zone. The Eels were electric and struck with force. Dylan Brown showed and goes past three defenders to cross for the first try of the evening. Mitch Moses converted to give Parramatta an early 6-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Newcastle hit back almost immediately after earning two set restarts and placing pressure on the Eels line. A clever Jackson Hastings grubber sat up for Croker who gets some redemption to cross for the Knights. Lachie Miller knocked over the conversion from next to the posts and we were locked up.
It wasn't that way for long, following a great run from Hopgood. Moses took matters into his own hands to re-take the lead for the Eels when he beat some would-be tacklers to make it a 12-6 contest after a lull period where both sides traded errors. The Knights fell asleep at marker and allowed Gutherson to reach out for the easiest of tries and an 18-6 lead. Gutho thought he had two in a matter of minutes but the custodian lost the ball in an attempt to ground it.
The Eels didn't need to wait long though and finished the first half with a flurry. Some poor interior defence from the Knights left edge sent Will Penisini away before Lachie Miller saved the day. On the ensuing tackle, Gutherson collects his second in an identical fashion to his first. From the next set, the Eels caught Dane Gagai out of position which allowed Brown to stroll through before linking up with Sean Russell to give the Eels a convincing half-time lead of 30-6.
Problems continued with the Newcastle defence throughout the second half and it wasn't long before the Eels added to their 24-point halftime lead. A great burst down the right-hand side from Moses who was exposing the Knights left edge defence. Moses found Gutherson and he had a hat trick. The Eels should've had more than they had but execution at the final moment was letting them down in their pursuit of a half-century.
This lack of execution allowed the Newcastle Knights back into the contest and forced several repeat sets on the Eels line. This proved to be too much as great structure saw Hastings and Miller combine with their right edge which allowed Dom Young to score in the corner for the visitors and reduce the gap to 24 points.
The points were in vain though as Parramatta put the icing on a dominating victory. The procession continued when Hopgood stood in the tackle and got the arm free which allowed Paulo to get possession and barge over. Moses added a disrespectful field goal to secure a 31-point victory.
It was a resounding form boost for the Eels who have been inconsistent to start the year. They can take a lot of attacking confidence from tonight heading into the critical Origin period. For the Knights, their defence was simply atrocious and their left edge has several red flags with Ponga missing 12 tackles out of his 23 attempts, as well as the abductor injury to lock Kurt Mann. They've got the bye instead of a Magic Round date which will be a big boost to help their struggling defence.