Parramatta proved they are no one-man NRL team with a comprehensive 42-4 win over North Queensland at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night.
With halfback Mitch Moses sidelined the Eels could have been excused for a dip in attack, but instead ran in seven tries including four for wing sensation Maika Sivo.
Before the game Moses led the NRL for forced drop outs this season with nine, and his kicking game has been crucial to the Eels sitting first on the ladder for seven weeks.
Without him, the Eels were expected to struggle.
Early signs were troubling when replacement Jai Field’s first kick at the end of the opening set went awry, gifting the Cowboys possession on their own 40-metre line.
But that is where the trouble stopped for the Eels.
As Moses watched on, skipper Clint Gutherson stood up to deliver three tries through deft passing – the first two within the opening 22 minutes – and nail six conversions and a penalty goal in his 100th NRL game.
Five-eighth Dylan Brown was handed ownership of the team’s attack and showed maturity beyond his 20 years to not overplay his hand.
Two bombs from Brown resulted in tries – the second just a minute after halftime for Field to show blistering speed as he scored his first try for the club.
Unsurprisingly, Sivo struck the killer blows with three tries in 23 minutes at the end of the second half, put over off passes from Gutherson, Brown and Brad Takairangi close to the line.
When added to his try in the 22nd minute, he became the first Eels player to score four tries in a match since cult hero Semi Radradra in 2017.
To the delight of 6730 fans on Friday night, the sight of Sivo crossing the line is becoming a regular one – he has scored 19 tries in 17 games at Bankwest Stadium.
“It was important that we showed our captain what we think of him, number one,” said Eels coach Brad Arthur.
“And what was important was not so much the win, but our attitude each week.
“I keep saying sometimes that’s going to be good enough and sometimes it’s not but we don’t want to beat ourselves and we don’t want to get beat because we’ve got a bad attitude.”
While the Eels ran riot in front of fans for the first time since round one, the Cowboys were unsaddled early and never recovered.
It was the first match back for fullback Valentine Holmes from an ankle injury after two weeks on the sidelines.
But six days after defeating Newcastle 32-20, the Cowboys could not keep pace with an Eels outfit that looked hungrier, faster and more resolute in defence.
“It’s a little bit of two steps forward, one step backwards,” said coach Paul Green.
“The difference between our good and our bad is … we’ve got to narrow that gap.”
It is the fourth loss in five games for the Cowboys who will host NRL premiers the Roosters in Townsville next week.
Meanwhile, the Eels retain top spot on the NRL ladder and face Newcastle in round nine as they bid to build on their strong start.
RAIDERS 22, DRAGONS 16
Canberra have overcome a growing injury toll and fast-finishing Dragons outfit to hold on for a 22-16 victory in their return to GIO Stadium on Friday night.
The Raiders looked in cruise control after compiling a 22-0 lead midway through the second half until three Dragons tries in the final quarter of the game set up a grandstand finish.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart sprung a couple of late changes pre-game in a bid to provide starch in the middle period with internationals Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine relegated to the bench.
Englishman Ryan Sutton and Emre Guler’s promotion to the starting line-up paid dividends for Stuart in a bid for a fast start with two tries inside 15 minutes.
But Canberra finished the game with 14 players, raising concerns for Stuart leading into next week’s rematch with the Storm.
Veteran forward Iosia Soliola appears to be of most concern with a suspected broken jaw, while Guler (leg) and Elliott Whitehead (eye) were also casualties.
The Raiders’ left edge attack was causing havoc for the Dragons early with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad chiming into the backline with a cut-out pass for Nick Cotric to slither over the line.
St George Illawarra were their own worst enemies with a defensive error from Jason Saab leading to the Raiders’ first, before Bailey Simonsson soared above Mikaele Ravalawa to deliver the Raiders’ second.
The Dragons had their chances in decent field position to get on the board but playmakers Corey Norman and Adam Clune had little answers.
Canberra’s 12-0 lead appeared to be a dim reflection of their dominance in the first half until a solo effort from George Williams two minutes before the break put them men further ahead.
Out-of-favour playmaker Ben Hunt did his best to inspire the Dragons after half-time with a bust on the left edge – the final kick to Matt Dufty bouncing into the hands of Jarrod Croker in a rare try-scoring opportunity.
The Dragons’ night was summed up with 25 minutes remaining when a Raiders line dropout was spilt by Ravalawa to hand momentum back to the home side.
Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton needed little invitation to take advantage of Dufty out of position in the following play – placing a deft kick for Croker to collect for the Green Machine’s fourth of the evening.
The scoreline looked like it was about to get out of hand with a quarter of the game left but a chunk of momentum to the visitors led to two quick tries and got them back within striking distance.
Dufty made up for his mistake two minutes later in a similar play to get the Dragons on the board in the 60th minute – pouncing on a Norman kick in-goal with Nicoll-Klokstad caught in the line.
The Dragons fullback then delivered some early ball for Zac Lomax, who got the better of Croker one-on-one before finishing off a try via Saab.
A runaway effort from Euan Aitken sent Dufty over for a second try with just over a minute left on the clock but the Raiders did enough late to hang on.
