First half flyers deliver Eels big win

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Dolphins v Parramatta Eels

A 42-4 first half has seen the Eels win over a lacklustre Dolphins outfit who made it more of a contest after halftime, final score 48-20 at Sunshine Coast Stadium in the NRL's 17th round.

Key takeaways:

• The Dolphins opened the scoring after just four minutes with debutant Brayden McGrady dotting down for the opener
• From there Parramatta destroyed the home side, piling on seven converted tries to lead 42-4 at the break.
• The second half was completely different, with the Dolphins getting three tries back and Parramatta scoring just one.
• The win pushes the Eels into fifth place, the Dolphins languish in tenth 

Indeed after McGrady's opening try, it was all Parramatta. Andrew Davey stepped through the middle for the Eels' first after seven minutes and another seven minutes later another back rower in J'maine Hopgood had the small contingent of away fans cheering loudly, taking apart woeful Phins defence and it was quickly 12-4.

Just after the 20 minute mark Will Penisini was in for Parramatta's third, the first of a quickfire treble from the visitors which saw them go from 12-4 to 30-4 leaders in just six minutes.

Penisini was in the thick of it for the second of those three tries, setting up Clint Gutherson off a long-range break into the backfield, and then grabbed his own second try.

A five minute gap in scoring opened up, allowing the clock to catch the Eels once more, but that only lasted til the 33rd, with Bailey Simonsson away down the left this time and again it looked far too easy.

Moses converted - six from six for the half to that point, and it was 36-4.

The blue and gold had one more first half special in them, Sean Russell scoring in the corner after a successful captains challenge allowed them to retain possession.

The 42-4 halftime lead certainly led many to consult record books, but the home team was having none of it - Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scoring the first of his two tries at 49 minutes to begin the process of restoring respectability to the Dolphins' name.

Six minutes later, Valynce Te Whare would continue the hosts' momentum with a try, bringing the scoreline in to 42-14.

The two sides traded tries between the 60th and 70th minutes - Gutherson and Tabuai-Fidow each collecting their second tries respectively, but neither outfit troubled the scorers in the final ten minutes, final score 48-20 to Parramatta, with the Dolphins outscoring them 16-6 after halftime.

The competition's new boys are headed down over the river to the Gabba next week where they'll face the Broncos for the second time in their history, and won't leave Queensland for at least the next five weeks; Parramatta will enjoy the bye before welcome the Warriors to Commbank in a fortnight.