EELS 48
PANTHERS 6
BRONCOS 16
COWBOYS 10
Parramatta's stunning second half of the NRL season rolled on last night as they crushed Penrith 48-6 in ruthless fashion at Parramatta Stadium.
And in Townsville, the Brisbane Broncos continued their return to form, coming from behind to beat the North Queensland Cowboys 16-10.
The Eels had won their previous
six games, and they made easy work of their west Sydney rivals in a performance that yielded eight tries.
Daniel Mortimer scored his first treble, and veteran winger Luke Burt grabbed two tries and kicked eight goals.
Matthew Keating, Fuifui Moimoi and Joel Reddy also scored, producing a result that almost certainly ends the Panthers' season.
Penrith went into the game one place above the Eels in eighth spot, but despite pre-match talk focusing on ways to stop Jarryd Hayne they failed miserably as the brilliant fullback once again produced a high-quality performance.
The Eels got off to a dream start with a try to Mortimer after three minutes.
The young five-eighth reacted quickest and dived onto a loose ball after Jeff Robson's grubber kick bounced off the base of the post and wrong-footed Panthers fullback Jarrod Sammut.
The Panthers responded well, and two try attempts were rejected by the video referee before, almost inevitably, Hayne produced something out of nothing to set up Burt for a second four-pointer for the Eels.
Nathan Cayless latched onto a loose ball and released Hayne, who dispatched a perfectly-weighted kick that Burt touched down in the corner.
The Panthers enjoyed a sustained spell of possession midway through the half but were unable to find a way past a well-drilled Parramatta defence.
They were then made to pay for failing to take their chances when Mortimer scampered over to score again three minutes before the break. Burt made his third conversion to make it 18-0 at the interval.
The second half started in a similar manner to the first, with the Panthers once again turning the ball over and Parramatta turning it into a try scored to Keating, who sprinted over from 20 metres out four minutes after the restart.
In what was a torrid night for Sammut, the fullback gave away a try to Burt in a moment he will not want to see again in a hurry.
Hayne once again was his tormenter with another perfectly-weighted kick that was wrestled from his grasp in the in-goal area by Burt to give Parramatta an unassailable lead.
Mortimer latched onto a wonder pass from Hayne to grab his third for the night 15 minutes from time, then Reddy (74th minute ) and Moimoi (79th) added to the scoreline.
Maurice Blair scored a late consolation for Penrith.
In Townsville, Brisbane extinguished North Queensland's finals hopes and solidified their place in the top eight.
Broncos star Israel Folau scored a try in his comeback from injury as Brisbane won three tries to two to move into fourth spot on the ladder.
The Cowboys made the early running, and led 10-4 at halftime.
But Brisbane flyer Jharal Yow Yeh scored the match-winner in the 60th minute after a spectacular 65m run to put the Broncos in front for the first time in the match.
- AAP
