Traditional 1980’s rivals, Parramatta and Canterbury-Bankstown met at CommBank Stadium in the final NRL round 7 match.
Result
Parramatta Eels 30
Tries: (5) Will Penisini 21st; Maika Sivo 25th, 76th; Mitch Moses 27th; Reagan Campbell-Gillard 62nd
Goals: (5) Mitch Moses 22nd, 27th, 64th, 74th, 77th
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 4
Tries: (1) Paul Alamoti 49th
Report
Parramatta returned to CommBank Stadium for the first time in three weeks to take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Eels were looking to record back-to-back victories for the first time in 2023 against the Bulldogs who received a setback during the week with Viliame Kikau ruled out with a pectoral injury for at least twelve weeks.
With both sides enjoying periods of possession inside the first twenty minutes, Ryan Matterson’s offload to Will Penisini opened the scoring after 21 minutes. Maika Sivo’s try four minutes later was followed by Mitch Moses backing up a Penisini break two tackles later which saw the score blow out to 16-0.
The Bulldogs had a costly first forty with Jacob Kiraz (MCL) and Jake Averillo (knee) suffering injuries in a half where they completed at 61% and the Eels ran for 841 compared to 565 from the visitors.
Matt Burton inspired the Bulldogs in the early stages of the second half, taking on the line and putting a kick behind the line for teenage centre Paul Alamoti to score his debut NRL try.
Parramatta led comfortably into the final quarter of the game and extended their lead with 18 to play with Reagan Campbell-Gillard scoring under the posts. Sivo’s second try came in the dying stages of the game with the Eels recording a comprehensive 30-4 victory.
It was an unhappy homecoming for former Eels hooker Reed Mahoney who was put under pressure out of dummy half and struggled with ball handling at times.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Eels)
2 – Will Penisini (Eels)
1 – Ryan Matterson (Eels)
