Round 9, 2021: Parramatta 31 Sydney Roosters 18

Team List - Eels v Roosters, Round Nine

The Parramatta Eels' team to take on the Sydney Roosters in Round Nine has been named.

Nathan Brown has been named to start, despite leaving the field early during last week's game injured.

Isaiah Papali'i will start in the second row, with Shaun Lane named on the bench.

Kick-off is on Friday 7th May at 7:55pm at Bankwest Stadium.

NRL.com

Hutchison hospitalised as brave Roosters push Parra to the limit

A feared punctured lung and fractured ribs that saw Drew Hutchison hospitalised has Eels opposite Dylan Brown under scrutiny after a gutsy, bare-bones Roosters outfit was eventually downed in a 31-18 melodrama.

With eight premiership-winners and the best part of $4 million worth of talent sidelined when Victor Radley failed an early HIA, Trent Robinson's side still somehow pushed Parramatta all the way, despite making an incredible 152 extra tackles.

The post-script to this Bankwest Stadium bash up will focus not only on where the Roosters find 21 fit men next week, but how they got there in the first place.

In a brutal 60 seconds before half-time Hutchison was floored when Brown slid into him with his knees as the Tricolours No.6 crossed for a 'try'.

In that same play and only moments earlier, Marata Niukora landed questionable hits to the heads of Sam Walker and James Tedesco after they had passed the ball.

Hutchison's four-pointer was pulled back due to a knock-on in the lead up by Josh Morris, and a penalty was awarded against Niukora – who collected Tedesco in the head in the middle of the left-side raid.

Both Brown and Niukora were placed on report eventually, but it was cold comfort for the Roosters as they were reduced to two fit men on their bench.

Particularly in a week when the NRL issued a public release stating that "on-field officials and the NRL Bunker have been encouraged to use the sin bin or send-off mechanisms for contact deemed careless or reckless and involving a significant degree of force around the head and neck."

Hutchison was taken from the stadium in an ambulance well before the contest finished, while the prospect of schoolboy sensation Joseph Suaalii debuting as 18th man was suddenly somehow being considered as Matt Ikuvalu also underwent assessment after a head knock.

For all their worries and woes, the Roosters refused to wilt in front of 25,118 fans.

So much so that an Ikuvalu hat-trick, and yet another superb performance from Sam Walker, had the Tricolours still sniffing one of the most famous wins in the club's storied history.

Two tries in the space of three minutes to Bryce Cartwright, the first coming just 17 seconds after he was shot into the fray from the Eels bench, eventually proved the difference.

The rapid-fire brace gave Parramatta a lead they never surrendered, even with the Roosters pushing them to the very last moment.

Cartwright's continued purple patch as a $115,000 signing is fast making him worth every penny and then some for a Parramatta outfit that now sits 8-1 to start the season.

A powerhouse platform laid by Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard, complimented by dangerous right-edge work of Ryan Matterson, set this win up for the Eels, their first over the Roosters since 2016.

A whopping 64% of possession didn't hurt either, which saw the Eels complete 41 sets to the Roosters 22.

The Tricolours once more will do well to find 21 fit men next week. A long-awaited debut for Suaalii looms once more, even just to fill out Trent Robinson's bench.

At Bankwest Stadium he just about wore his own track up and down the sideline, up seemingly every two minutes to warm up as Roosters players dropped like flies.

Throughout though they kept fighting, with Ikuvalu – who also appeared to have a dislocated finger popped back in during the first half – bagging an early double that was equal parts fantastic and fortuitous.

His first putdown as Brett Morris's right-wing replacement had all the hallmarks of the injured legend's efforts, Ikuvalu defying logic, physics and gravity as he touched down with less than an inch to spare.

On the other side of a brutal Blake Ferguson retort in which he skittled past Daniel Tupou, Ikuvalu was on hand to finish a long-range try that made for a surprise 10-6 lead.

But with Parramatta's possession and the Tricolours injuries mounting, Cartwright's double gave the Eels breathing room they enjoyed for the best part of half an hour.

At 24-12, and having had just eight tackles in Parramatta's 20-metre zone, Walker piloted a pin-point ball onto Ikuvalu's chest to keep the Roosters in it.

With Reed Mahoney also concussed out of the contest, the Eels attack spluttered and stuttered as the game wore on.

Mitchell Moses eventually stepped up to ice a late field goal, followed by a sweet stepping try to Brown that blew the scoreline well beyond all the pluck and guts the Roosters showed.