Round 1, 2021: Parramatta 24 Brisbane 16

NRL.com

Broncos v Eels: Croft handed halfback job; Opacic to start at centre

Wooden spooners Brisbane approach the official launch of the Kevin Walters era against Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium full of hope but unable to completely banish the doubts after a Jekyll-and-Hyde trial performance.

The Broncos looked slick and sharp while racing to an 18-6 half-time lead against North Queensland at Redcliffe but after the break it all fell apart, opening the door for the Cowboys to score 28 unanswered points.

But Walters chose to look on the bright side after the second-half face plant, with fullback Jamayne Isaako, halfback Tom Dearden, centre Tesi Nui and hooker Jake Turpin all impressing.

The Eels couldn't quite keep up with 2020 minor premiers Penrith in their final trial hit-out but coach Brad Arthur was unconcerned, blaming the clunkiness in attack on the ferocious pace of the game.

The Rundown
Team news
Broncos: Brodie Croft will get first crack at the No.7 jersey and partner Anthony Milford in the halves. Herbie Farnworth has been named at centre having recently undergone surgery on a chest infection. Veteran David Mead will return as a Bronco on the left wing while 19-year-old Tesi Niu has switched to right centre in the absence of Kotoni Staggs (ACL).

Thomas Flegler has been cleared after copping a knock in the trial but fellow prop Payne Haas is suspended until round four. Former Origin winger Corey Oates spent most of the off-season training as a back-rower in the hope of shifting to the forwards but he has missed the 21-man squad.

The Broncos are striving to break a club-record 11-game losing streak.

Eels: With veteran Michael Jennings suspended for an alleged performance-enhancing drugs violation, former Cowboy Tom Opacic will start in the centres. Former Titan Keegan Hipgrave was named for his Eels debut from the bench alongside ex-Warrior Isaiah Papali'i, who will fill the hole left by Marata Niukore's suspension.

Bryce Cartwright (jaw) and Michael Oldfield (knee) are projected to return sometime around round four. The Eels are aiming for four straight wins against the Broncos for the first time since 2000-01.

Key match-up
Tevita Pangai Jr v Ryan Matterson: Combustibility will run head on into consistency when these two star back-rowers meet in round one. Pangai Jr is devastating when on song but too often his game goes off the rails. Matterson, on the other hand, just keeps churning out the metres and racking up the tackles while also picking up plenty of attacking stats. It will be interesting to see how his migration to the left in attack affects his output.

Stat attack
The Eels dominated the offloading stat in 2020, their total of 303 a stunning 74 clear of the Roosters (229) in second place. Prop Junior Paulo claimed the individual honours with 54 offloads ahead of Newcastle's David Klemmer (45) a distant second and another big gap to Martin Taupau, Christian Welch and team-mate Ryan Matterson in equal third (35). The Broncos simply have to get Parramatta's ball-runners to ground as quickly as possible.

NRL.com

Eels stage great escape against Broncos

Parramatta produced a second-half revival for a 24-16 victory as Brisbane’s new era under Kevin Walters went from fairytale to nightmare.

The Eels bounced back from a 16-0 half-time deficit to record a four-tries-to-three win in front of 28,313 fans at Suncorp Stadium, but the big concern was a trio of serious injuries to key Broncos players with two players sent to hospital.

Prop Matthew Lodge suffered a hamstring strain in the opening 20 minutes while winger Xavier Coates and utility John Asiata were both taken to hospital leaving the Broncos with just one fit player on the bench for the final 22 minutes.

Coates injured his neck after an awkward landing diving in for a try while Asiata was stretchered off with a shoulder injury after what looked like a simple collision in a contest.

The Broncos were actually brave to fight to the end with at least half a dozen players battling cramp in the final 10 minutes but forced to either walk it off or battle on whilst making desperation tackles.

It was a heartbreaking ending to what had been such a romantic start to the coaching career of one of Brisbane’s favourite sons.

Although the Walters era started with a forward pass off the kick off by Coates, it was the only blip in a near faultless first half for the inspired Broncos.

The most impressive element was the return to form of Anthony Milford.

The maligned five-eighth turned the clock back six years to his 2015 grand final glory days with a sublime first half with a hand in all three tries.

Milford’s dig deep into the defensive line set up David Mead’s opening try on 10 minutes.

He then produced a breathtaking curving chip kick on the outside of his foot for Coates to somersault over for an easy untouched try on 18 minutes.

But Milford’s piece-de-resistance was the looping double cutout pass for Coates to score in the 32nd minute.

But, just as had been Brisbane’s issue in 2020, half-time was the worst thing for the Broncos as after the break Walters saw his men surrender 40 minutes of hard work in just 20 minutes as the Eels flicked the switch in the second half to score three quick tries to take the lead on the hour.

Parramatta's first 40 minutes could not have been more diabolical. They completed just 10 of 19 sets in the first half with errors upon errors compounded by even the simple failure to even kick on the last tackle when 40 metres out.

It seemed every time the Eels crossed the halfway line with the ball an error followed soon after.

But in the second half they found their way. Hooker Reed Mahoney kick-started the fight back when he darted over from dummy half in the 48th minute.

The Eels turned on some razzle dazzle in the next set, with Blake Ferguson finding space down the right-hand side to kick back infield for fullback Clint Gutherson to score under the posts.

Ferguson then used brute force to score in the corner in the 60th minute after Gutherson’s sharp hands and Mitch Moses nailed the sideline conversion to put the Eels ahead 18-16.

The Eels had all the possession and momentum in the second half but the Broncos held strong until Junior Paulo finally iced the win, barging over next to the posts with just 70 seconds on the clock.

Paulo's fellow prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard (118 metres from 12 hit-ups) and bench forward Isaiah Papali'i (180 metres from 15 hit-ups) were instrumental in the turnaround as the Eels forwards took control.