Round 6, 2021: Parramatta 35 Canberra 10

NRL.com

Raiders v Eels: Scott in, CNK out; Matterson returns

The Raiders will be smarting after pushing unbeaten competition leaders Penrith hard on Friday night but ultimately falling well short on the scoreboard.

Canberra have slipped to the edge of the top eight and will be eager to return home after winning just one of their past three games with their attack offering diminishing returns of 31, 20 and 10 points.

The struggle to score points has been matched by a defence that is also stuck in the middle of the table.

Parramatta will also be looking for redemption after a poor outing against the Dragons saw them lose their unbeaten status and slip to fifth on the ladder.

The rundown
Team news
Raiders: Hooker Josh Hodgson suffered a hip injury against the Panthers but has been cleared to play.

Centre Curtis Scott (ribs) will make his comeback from injury, sending Sebastian Kris to the reserves.

Caleb Aekins has come into the side at fullback in place of Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad (neck), who failed a HIA following a head knock he suffered in the first half against Penrith.

Veteran forward Ryan James (rested) is out of the 21-man squad with Joseph Tapine named at lock and Emre Guler the new face on the interchange. Sam Williams and Semi Valemei have made way for Kris and Matt Frawley in the reserves.

Canberra have kept the Eels tryless in their past two games at GIO Stadium.

Eels: Second-rower Ryan Matterson is set to return from a concussion but the club has taken every precaution and withdrawn him late for the past couple of weeks. If Matterson returns, Isaiah Papali'i will go to the bench.

Dylan Brown has been suspended for one game for a crusher tackle with his place at five-eighth taken by Will Smith.

Keegan Hipgrave has been recalled on the bench after being left out last week.

The Eels have not won in Canberra since 2006.

Key match-up
Josh Papali'i v Junior Paulo: The two big men will be carrying a lot on their shoulders when they get ready to rumble at GIO Stadium. Papali'i stood tall and really delivered in the loss to Penrith but Paulo, after a huge start to the season, was one of many Eels who failed to aim up in the Dragons upset. He is currently equal fourth in the NRL for offloads and will be looking to reassert himself in that area to get the Parramatta attack rolling.

Stat attack
The Raiders are on a 10-game winning streak at home against Parramatta. The last time the Eels got the better of them in Canberra was round 17, 2006. Halfback Todd Carney scored a try and kicked two from two but it wasn't enough for the Matthew Elliott-coached Green Machine who fell 18-12.

NRL.com

Party like it's 2006: Eels break 15-year drought with dominant display

The Parramatta Eels emphatically ended one of the NRL's longest away-game losing streaks by winning their first game in the nation’s capital since 2006, thrashing the Canberra Raiders 35-10 on Saturday night.

A double from Isaiah Papali’i sparked the Eels as they blew the Raiders off the park in the second half, sending 20,089 Canberra fans home unhappy.

Canberra looked a chance to keep their imposing record over the Eels intact, when they trailed by just two points at half-time (12-10).

But 23 unanswered second-half points from Brad Arthur’s men sealed the deal as the Raiders plummeted out of the top eight and are left to answer a few questions about their title legitimacy for 2021.

A sloppy effort from Jordan Rapana to diffuse a bomb put the Raiders under pressure right from the kick-off.

The Eels didn’t need to be asked twice as Isaiah Papali’i crashed over on the short side to make it 6-0 after two minutes.

Canberra responded not long after with a Jack Wighton cut-out pass finding Rapana, who made up for his earlier mistake to make the score 6-4.

Parramatta exploited the Raiders’ right edge defence for the second time in the first half with Maika Sivo strolling over to make it 12-4.

An Eels turnover inside their own 20 metre line allowed the Raiders to spread the ball to their left with an excellent cover tackle from Clint Gutherson stopping Rapana from scoring a second.

The Raiders soon split the Eels defence wide open up the middle in the 23rd minute, with a Josh Papalii offload finding Josh Hodgson with George Williams finishing off the successful attacking raid.

A spiralling bomb from Wighton saw Sivo spill it gifting the home side a perfect chance to take the lead before the break only to see the Eels defenders bundle Rapana into touch again.

Canberra sniffed out a chance to take the lead in the shadows of half-time when a Hodgson kicked ahead saw Bailey Simonsson win the chase to the ball, only to see his toe-ahead from 25 metres out go dead in goal.

Papali’i continued his sensational game to open the scoring in the second half with a beautiful short pass from Gutherson putting him over to make it 16-10.

Simonsson failed a HIA after the Canberra winger was left dazed after colliding with Sivo’s knee as the pair contested a chip-kick, forcing the Green Machine to reshuffle their side. Back rower Ellliott Whitehead went into the centres and Curtis Scott to the wing.

Parramatta extended their lead after a masterful display with the ball passing through 10 sets of hands before it finally found Shaun Lane.

The Eels sealed the win with nine minutes remaining after Reed Mahoney scored next to the posts after a scrambling Raiders’ defence could not recover as the blue and gold side eased to a 28-10 lead.

Adding insult to injury, Moses slotted an ugly looking field-goal that ricocheted off the upright. But a final try to Gutherson had the Eels running out deserving winners.