Eels halves shock the Bunnies

Embed from Getty Images

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Parramatta Eels

Parramatta has ended South Sydney's six match winning streak in classy fashion running out 36-16 winners at Allianz Stadium tonight.

Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses were superb for the visitors, with Brown awarded the inaugural Eric Simms Medal in an impressive performance from the Kiwi international. Brown scored the match winner in sensational fashion, when Moses produced a well weighted kick his five-eighth, who raced through to touch down millimetres from the dead ball line.

After a see-sawing affair, the Eels then ran in another two tries to race away to a convincing victory, which reminded the competition that last season's runner up are still capable of giving the NRL Premiership a shake.

South Sydney will be disappointed in their second half performance, after star players Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell combined several times to threaten to take the game away from visitors. However, the second half turned into a nightmare with Souths leaking four unanswered tries, which sees them now give up first place on the NRL ladder to the Panthers.

Parramatta silenced the home crowd early, when half Mitchell Moses shot down the short side in just the second minute of the game. Moses then delivered a superb pass for his winger Sean Russell who streaked down the sideline to score the first try of the night and give the visitors an early 6-0 lead.

The Bunnies looked to have hit back straight away moments later when Cody Walker placed a deft kick behind the line for speed machine Alex Johnson. Johnson looked to have won the race for the ball initially, however replays showed the desperation of Eels skipper Cint Gutherson who managed to kick the ball away just as Johnson arrived.

Johnston got a second chance moments later however, when Latrell Mitchell brutally stripped the ball one-on-one from Junior Paulo and then sent the ball wide to Johnson, who scored in the corner to narrow the lead to 6-4 following Mitchell's failed conversion from out wide.

Parramatta scored their second try after Dylan Brown sent his edge backrower Ryan Matterson through a hole down the left-hand side. Matterson then found Bailey Simonsson in support who raced away to score a superb long range try to again extend the Eels lead.

As halftime neared, Souths struck again through Alex Johnston who scored his second try following some Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell magic mid field. Mitchell converted the try to narrow the Eels lead to 12-10 at halftime.

South Sydney struck the first blow after halftime, when the Eels made a costly error in their own half. Off the ensuing scrum play, Cody Walker produced a superb draw and pass for Campbell Graham to crash over to give South Sydney the lead by 16-12.

Parramatta then continued the arm wrestle, when veteran hooker Josh Hodgson showed some class to allow rangy backrower Bryce Cartwright enough room to stretch out to score and give the visitors back the momentum.

With the Eels ahead, it was their halves who came to the fore, when Brown chipped the ball towards the posts and prop Junior Paulo collected the pill to gift Bailey Simonsson his second try. Then both Moses and Brown combined, with Moses producing a well weighted kick for Brown to give the Eels the ascendency.

Moses then put a cherry on top of the Eels win, when the one time Blues halfback put Will Penisini over to blow out the score to 36-16 in a huge statement from Brad Arthur's men after a slow start to the season in 2023.

Parramatta now head into the Origin period with plenty of confidence and will return to CommBank Stadium next week where they host the Cowboys.

After giving up pole position on the ladder, South Sydney will be desperate to bounce back next Saturday where they host an in form Raiders at Accor Stadium.