Parramatta Eels shatter records in 77-year first in Dolphins demolition job
Parramatta shattered all sorts of records on Saturday in a scintillating demolition of the NRL’s newcomers that made history
NRL
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The Parramatta Eels made club history with a dominant 48-20 thrashing of the Dolphins on Saturday afternoon.
The Eels scored seven tries in a scintillating first half performance at Sunshine Coast Stadium to lead 42-4 at halftime.
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The first half points-fest broke Parramatta’s record for the highest tally in an opening 40 minutes in the club’s 77-year history.
Will Penisini scored a double, while Andrew Davey, J’maine Hopgood, Clint Gutherson, Bailey Simonsson and Sean Russell also crossed for tries.
Remarkably, Maika Sivo — the NRL’s leading try scorer so far this season — was the only Eels back not to cross for a four-pointer in the first half.
“The Dolphins are in more trouble than Putin at the moment,” Andrew Voss said in commentary on Fox League.
“This is staggeringly good from Parramatta.”
Parrammata only added one try in the second half through Gutherson, while the Dolphins claimed three consolation tries, but the damage was done.
The wheels are starting to fall off the NRL newcomers but the Dolphins flyer Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scored two runaway tries in the second half to ensure the scoreboard didn’t resemble a total bloodbath.
The scintillating first half set up Parramatta’s fifth consecutive win, which sees the Eels
“We just played tough,” Eels halfback Mitchell Moses told Fox League after the final siren.
“Our second half could have been better … I thought we were pretty good apart from that.
“We wanted to put together an 80-minute performance, but we didn’t.”
Eels winger Sivo was put on report for high contact on Felise Kaufusi, and he might have a case to answer with the NRL Judiciary.
Mitchell Moses backed up from his State of Origin appearance by putting on a clinic against the Dolphins, passing 1000 career points during the victory.
The Eels halfback picked a perfect 8/8 conversions to score 16 points himself without scoring a try.
The victory was Parramatta’s fifth consecutive win and sees the Eels leap up into fifth on the NRL ladder, level on 20 points with the Rabbitohs, Sharks and Raiders.
Originally published as Parramatta Eels shatter records in 77-year first in Dolphins demolition job
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