This game was meant to be all about Mitchell Moses lighting it up for Parramatta and moving closer to a NSW Origin jersey.
Instead, it was the relentless and brave Bulldogs who scored an epic win over their western Sydney neighbours in front of a 45,496-strong crowd.
Trailing 18-10 for most of the second half, the Dogs crossed the try line five times only to be denied for various reasons.
They were without Bailey Hayward and Josh Curran because of concussion and lost Jacob Preston to a suspected broken ankle.
Stephen Crichton celebrates his try.Credit: Getty
Jake Turpin was activated as 18th man because of the double head knocks and still had mud on his boots from playing almost half an hour in the NSW Cup curtain-raiser.
It was game on when Connor Tracey sprinted down the right side of the field and passed inside for Stephen Crichton to score his second.
Then Tracey lit up the right edge again to send Blake Wilson over for the match-winner. It is hard to recall such scenes in the stands for a club game.
Parramatta skipper Clint Gutherson was not happy with Wilson’s try and argued with referee Peter Gough that Dylan Brown had been obstructed at the start of the play.
Gough could not hear the bunker at first because of the noise inside the ground, and later told Gutherson the incident “did not impact the defensive line”.
When Gutherson let it be known he disagreed, Gough warned the Parramatta No. 1: “Don’t speak to me like that. You need to be better as captain.”
Moses struggled to have an impact in the second half but did look dangerous in the opening 40 minutes.
As far as the Blues’ No. 7 jersey, Moses still has one final audition against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night.
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo would have loved what he saw from his men. It has been a slow burn for Ciraldo, but things are looking up.
The concussion and injury to Preston will hurt, while Kurt Mann will be in trouble for a crusher tackle on Will Penisini, which earned him ten minutes in the bin.
Matt Burton produced a 40/20, and arguably his greatest spiral bomb late in the first half that left Gutherson bamboozled.
The Eels opened the scoring through Blaize Talagi before Crichton did well to hit back for the Dogs after a shocking pass from Bryce Cartwright gifted the home side good field position.
Crichton then turned providers when he accelerated to get on the outside of Daejarn Asi, drew Sean Russell, then snuck a ball for Wilson to score.
It prompted TV commentators to ask if Crichton was already the buy of the year. You would do well to name someone better. In fact, the Bulldogs are suddenly becoming one of the best storylines of the year.
