Led by two tries to young gun Bevan French, the Parramatta Eels stormed home late against the South Sydney Rabbitohs to notch a convincing win and keep their season on track.
It didn’t look good early on for the blue and gold with poor handling resulting in a try to Alex Johnston after the fullback found a gap in the line to open the scoring.
The visitors struck back soon after to level the scores after a Corey Norman kick saw Clinton Gutherson find the chalk uncontested against a weak Souths defensive line.
Michael Gordon made the tough decision to have a shot at a penalty goal with the fullback kicking it perfectly to put the Eels in front by two points after twenty minutes.
»Missed the game? See how it all played out in our live blog
The momentum was going the way of Parramatta with French scoring after Gordon helped the rookie over the line.
Nathan Brown scored before the break against a fatigued Eels to put Souths behind by only two points at half-time.
Souths started strong early in the second half and looked a chance of scoring in the 44th minute with Dane Nielsen striking on the wing only to be dragged into touch by French.
The winger then scored his second try of the match in the 62nd minute after Semi Radradra helped him to grab a four-pointer.
The Eels took every chance at extra points with Michael Gordon kicking two more penalty goals to seal the win for the visitors before Semi Radradra put the nail in the coffin in the 78th minute after he intercepted a Luke Keary pass to go the length of the field and give the Eels an 18-point win.
While French was the star of the show for Parramatta, Danny Wicks, Kenny Edwards, Tepai Moeroa and Radradra also stood out.
Alex Johnston and Nathan Brown led the way for Souths while Sam Burgess also played well.
The Eels move into third position and will receive a bye next week while Souths will need to improve ahead of their meeting with the Penrith Panthers.
Final score
South Sydney Rabbitohs: 12
Parramatta Eels: 30
E-Meter
Guest
So what do you want them to do? Put in the under 16s squad?
Rellum
Roar Guru
Seeing B French had me thinking a new Dynasty of French brothers was coming through. Looks a good prospect.
MAX
Guest
The fall of the Burgii is a tragedy beyond repair. It is a sad day for Souths and Rugby League. They will dwell in the bottom half of the table until recruitment is rectified. Still looking forward to R26 to farewell their season. Last night Corey Norman showed his class. The same cannot be said of referee Klein. How did the spear tackle on CN escaped penalty and report?
Fix the scrums
Guest
Over the last few years they wrongly recruited and put together a team. Their season should of been over ages ago. It's a joke.
jamesb
Guest
I'm not sure Gray was in form before his injury.
ferret
Guest
McGuire is the main problem for Souths. He has one coaching plan which worked brilliantly in 2014, but his roster and the game have changed since then. He hasn't.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Who have they got left if they do that? Gray hasn't been in form after his return from injury, but I agree that Clark and Tyrell haven't been much chop and should be gotten rid of. Souths have got allot of 'soul searching' to do and that the Rabbitohs need a rapid improvement by Maguire's is a huge under statement that borders on a joke!
jamesb
Guest
What do you mean by "illegally". They have got rid of Paulo, Peats and Watmough. Also, don't use Melbourne's Storms punishment as a benchmark. If they got rid of players, they too should had played for points. If Parra makes the finals, they are coming from a long way back.
jamesb
Guest
Souths should persist with Brown, Walker and Talakai. But at the same time, get rid of Gray, Turner, Clark, Tyrell and Neilsen.
Fix the scrums
Guest
It's not right that Parramattas illegally assembled team is still able to play and wreck other teams chances. It's a bit of a joke and a slap in the face to NRL fans. Still no punishment.?
PNG Broncos fan88
Guest
Actually score line flattered Souths. If Eels tapped on those penalty goal attempts, they would have edged up to 40. I'm never tipping South again!
PNG Broncos fan88
Guest
Maguire should start by punting the number 2 for the rest of the year. He bombed that 44th minute potential try - would have been a sure thing if Gray or Johnston had been on the end of it. Souths to the lead at that point would have changed the outcome of the game in their favour. Also let in the French try by giving way too much space down his sideline. Had a couple of breaks passing his opposite but 'ran on the spot' till French turned around and ran him down.
Rod
Guest
I agree, the score line flattered parra. They were really gifted some key opportunities to score. Hats off to Parta for doing so. But Gee we get done for obstruction, which lets be honest Edwards had a clean shot at stopping him( that s where common sense should come into it). But failed to do so. I understand that's a no try. But than later in the game a similar incident occurs no try scored, so it's play on and Parra score shortly their after. I failed to understand how we copped so many duck infringements, but Parra players were doing an even better job and no penalties. I guess in the end it matters not as neither team are going to feature at years end.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Souths weren't the greatest but the refereeing in this game left allot of questions to be answered and was a disgrace! Souths were a chance there for a while in the beginning of the second half but their inexperienced and over exuberant replacements just made too many mistakes that lost them the game. But anyway Souths played allot better than what they usually do, they had more enthusiasm about them but as usual, you cannot expect big things from players that are just put in there to fill a spot once in a while. As I said before (on current form and squad) Souths will not win any of the games in their remaining rounds except for the Knights and maybe Manly and if you add 2 points from their bye they will end up in 2016 with 16-18 points.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
Are they ever going to lose their points, or was it all just talk? Might be only a minor effect, but I can't help thinking that it's a disadvantage to play them whilst they're flying high on the ladder, rather than second last.