Round 7, 2021: Parramatta 46 Brisbane 6

NRL.com

Eels v Broncos: Brown ban ends; Levi comes straight in

The Eels return to home comforts having put their season firmly back on track by exorcising their Canberra hoodoo with a demolition job on title rivals the Raiders.

Parramatta, stung by their 26-12 round five upset at the hands of the Dragons, grabbed a share of second place by running away in the second half to record their first win in the national capital since 2006.

Off-season recruit Isaiah Papali'i scored his fourth (running over his namesake Josh) and fifth tries to spark the win and cement his status as one of the buys of 2021 so far.

And halfback Mitch Moses was in everything, his kicking game masterful and a constant threat with ball in hand.

Brisbane, meanwhile, looked like they had turned their season around when on course to upset the unbeaten Panthers on Thursday night only for Penrith skipper Nathan Cleary to snatch victory from their grasp.

The rundown
Team news
Eels: Dylan Brown will return from suspension at five-eighth so Will Smith has moved to the interchange bench with Keegan Hipgrave on the reserves list.

Back-rower Ryan Matterson (concussion) was again a late withdrawal in round six and while the club is working hard to bring him back coach Brad Arthur has reiterated Matterson's health and safety was the Eels' priority.

He has been listed in the reserves but is unlikely to play NRL having been named to start for Wentworthville in the NSW Cup.

The Eels have won five of their six games at Darwin’s TIO Stadium.

Broncos: Centre Herbie Farnworth is set to his return from a shoulder injury while and new hooker recruit Danny Levi will come straight into the side on the interchange bench.

Levi joined the club on Tuesday for the remainder of 2021 after starting the year with the Broncos' affiliate club Norths Devils.

In a further boost for Brisbane, Kotoni Staggs's rehabilitation is ahead of schedule and he could be back in action as soon as Magic Round next month.

After missing last week's game through illness, outside back Jesse Arthars has been included on the reserves list.

The Broncos have lost their past 12 games away from home.

Key match-up
Clint Gutherson v Jamayne Isaako: The fullbacks are 1-2 in kick return metres after six rounds. The man they call The King has kept a lower profile in 2021 but is still one of the better fullbacks in the competition. Gutherson's defence has been superb and he is still making his presence felt in attack with three tries and three try assists.

Isaako was one of the few bright spots for Brisbane as they struggled through the opening four rounds. With the Broncos playmakers, and therefore Brisbane's attack, lacking a cutting edge Isaako worked hard to provide some sort of threat.

Stat attack
Wingers Blake Ferguson and Xavier Coates have been taking Eels and Broncos fans on a rollercoaster ride in 2021. Ferguson (12) and Coates (11) are No.1 and No.2 for handling errors while also ranking in the top 10 for tries - Coates 5th (six tries) and Ferguson eighth (five).

NRL.com

Sivo, Cartwright star as Parra pummel tackle-shy Broncos

Eels bargain buy Bryce Cartwright finished with a try, a hand in two others and a smile on his face to leave Brisbane staring down the barrel of the worst opening two months in club history.

In steamy Darwin conditions the Eels thoroughly broiled the Broncos after a tense opening half-hour, with Brad Arthur's cut-price recruits Cartwright, Isaiah Papali'i and rising prop Oregon Kaufusi sparking a seven-minute, three-try blitz before halftime.

From a 6-6 deadlock the introduction of Cartwright – who was thrown a $150,000 lifeline by Arthur late last year when he had no other NRL options – broke the contest open after Brisbane's big men laid one hell of an early platform up the middle.

It was Cartwright's sharp tip on that had Maika Sivo sneaking across for his second try of three for the night, and proved the turning point in an eventual 46-6 thumping in front of a 12,056 strong-TIO Stadium crowd, the largest NRL turnout in Darwin.

The former Panthers and Titans back-rower – having been through the rugby league wringer numerous times in recent years – produced the type of NRL outing so often tipped for him since his early teens.

"I knew he had ability, I like his body shape and when I spoke to him he more or less indicated it was his last opportunity," Arthur said of Cartwright.

"So we like to get blokes that are not on the outer at clubs, but blokes that we think we can improve and fit into our style of footy.

"We put him in the middle there to get him running the ball because that's what he's good at.

"I know he's got plenty of skill but his skill will come off the back of that and I thought he did really well for us tonight. He gives us another dimension out on that left edge.

"He's still got some work to do but he's slowly getting there and his pre-season was excellent.

"He trained really well and I was disappointed for him that he broke his jaw but he's come back from that pretty good."

Fellow Eels lesser lights Tom Opacic, Papali'i and Kafausi all got across the stripe as well to shoot Parramatta into second spot on the ladder.

For the Broncos though, they now sit above only the winless Bulldogs with one victory from the first seven rounds and a negative 107 points differential.

First-year coach Kevin Walters was stand-in captain more than 20 years ago when they last circled such a dismal drain so early in a campaign back in 1999.

The Broncos sported the same 1-6 record after seven weeks that season, but blowout losses to Melbourne, South Sydney and now Parramatta this time round outline the true extent of the rebuild required at Red Hill.

Bookmakers currently have Brisbane as $326 premiership chances, and the prospect of '99-style revival to make the finals not that much shorter.

Asked if Brisbane's bleak prospects would see heads drop in a young squad, Walters was emphatic.

"Not at all. I mean, that's my job, and the rest of the coaching staff is to make sure that we're, you know, prepared well every week," he said.

"So I'm not concerned about that at all. It's a long season. It's a long road. It's a long race. So still plenty of legs to be run here for us."

After all the positive signs on show last week against Penrith, the Darwin drop-off started with just that on the very first play.

Queensland Origin winger Xavier Coates fluffed his take of the game's opening kick-off, with Sivo scoring 90 seconds later in the most telling of omens.

It doubled down on Alex Glenn's late withdrawal due to a calf injury in the warm-up.

A Tevita Pangai jnr square-up kept the Broncos in it as Haas proved a tower of strength through the middle despite observing Ramadan restrictions that meant he could not eat or drink while the sun was up leading into the clash.

His final tally of 184 metres and 34 tackles put teammates to shame, while Sivo's try-scoring appetite out wide put them to the sword.

The Fijian flyer could easily have had four tries inside 44 minutes but for a desperate Pangai jnr tackle late in the first half and a forward pass call against Clint Gutherson.

In between though, Papali'i's 31st minute barge-over, followed by Kaufusi's crumbing effort from a Will Smith batback made for a 24-6 halftime lead.

The Eels simply rolled on soon enough after the break through another lesser light, former Bronco Tom Opacic latching onto a try from Cartwright and Gutherson offloads.

Cartwright got himself on the board for a deserving four-pointer of his own before Sivo completed his own hat-trick.

Mitch Moses took centre stage with a few minutes left and a just few inches to work in as he soccer-kicked twice for Gutherson to dot down.

The Broncos were reduced to little more than bystanders throughout the freakish play, a theme all-too-common once more for the one-time Queensland powerhouse.