Electric Eels tame tepid Tigers

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Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers

A blistering start to the second half has paved the way for the Parramatta Eels to record a 40-12 victory over the Wests Tigers at Bankwest Stadium.

Crossing for three tries while playing against 12 men shortly after halftime, the Eels produced an exhilarating brand of football that delighted an enthusiastic crowd of 23,417 supporters in the Western Sydney derby.

After a rough opening that saw Nathan Brown placed on report and commit a forward pass, the Eels' lock made amends with a terrific offload which allowed Clinton Gutherson (13th minute) to cross for first points of the afternoon.

Taking the score out to 8-0 via a Mitchell Moses penalty goal minutes later, the home side left points on the table after Tom Opacic was unable to gather in a well-placed grubber from Dylan Brown.

Starting in place of injured hooker Reed Mahoney, former Manly and Salford rake Joey Lussick (31st minute) pushed the Eels out to 14-0 with a clever dummy half run close to the try line.

Appearing to go further in front with Gutherson sending Moses over with a grubber, subsequent replays from the bunker denied Moses his first try of the season for failing to ground the ball.

Taking advantage of the fortuitous call in the best way possible, Luciano Leilua and Luke Brooks combined to send Jacob Liddle (37th minute) over for his fifth try of the season.

In a blistering start to the second half, the Eels took advantage of Shawn Blore being sent to the sin bin with three tries to Waqa Blake (45th minute), Moses (48th minute) and Maika Sivo (51st minute) to take the score from 14-6 to 32-6.

In a moment set to attract scrutiny from the match review committee, Sivo was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle that saw Adam Doueihi forced from the field.

With Doueihi failing his HIA due to foul play, 18th man Michael Chee-Kam delivered the final pass to James Roberts (62nd minute) for a try that proved to be mere consolation.

Killing off any hope of a Tigers' comeback with Gutherson (68th minute) crossing for his second, a sin bin against Isaiah Papali'i failed to dampen the day for the Eels as Moses nailed his eighth goal on fulltime to complete the 40-12 rout.

Next week, the Eels face the Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium on Sunday afternoon, while the Tigers will travel to Sunshine Coast Stadium on Saturday evening to take on the Storm.