The Eels have dominated the Raiders to take a 40-4 victory and progress through to a preliminary final against the Cowboys next week at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
It was not only the Canberrans’ worst defeat of the season, but their biggest ever finals defeat.
Parramatta young gun Will Penisini opened the scoring after a horror error from Jordan Rapana handed his rivals the ball in strong field position.
But young gun Xavier Savage had to best his teammate with an “ugly moment” of his own.
What seemed like a nothing play turned into a four-pointer for Tom Opacic after the ball bounced through Savage’s legs.
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“When he didn’t make a play at the ball I thought he was in trouble here, split his legs... huge moment in this game,” Fox League’s Greg Alexander said.
“It was an awful bounce but Opacic just chased and chased,” Fox League’s Shane Flanagan said.
“This is an ugly moment for him (Savage),” Fox League’s Andrew Voss said.
Moments later, a bullet Mitchell Moses pass found winger Waqa Blake who scored a simple try.
The Eels continued their red-hot try-scoring form with a simple effort from Junior Paulo who ran through a gap as big as the “Sydney Harbour Bridge”.
“Paulo just runs through the Sydney Harbour Bridge... they were shot to bits there Canberra,” Alexander said.
“They dragged them all in around the line there, it is a demolition here from the Eels.”
While Savage was clearly disappointed with his error early in the contest, he bounced back in a big way to “light up CommBank Stadium”.
The young gun showcased his speed to slice through the line and score from 70 metres out.
“Not just a try of skill, not just a try of speed, but a try of great character as well,” Voss said.
“Xavier Savage, young star lights up CommBank.”
From then on Parramatta dominated, and tries to Mitch Moses and a Marata Niukore double handed the Eels a huge victory in front of their home fans.
Moses left the field for a HIA in a moment that left Eels fans with their hearts in their throats but passed and returned to the field.
MOSES SHIRKS INJURY DOUBTS IN ‘TREMENDOUS’ DISPLAY
Mitchell Moses came into his club’s sudden-death contest with the Raiders under an injury cloud after an ugly head knock suffered against the Panthers.
But the “tremendous” No.7 put any doubts behind him to steer his side to victory and issue a huge warning to the remaining teams.
The 28-year-old had a hand in everything Brad Arthur’s side did and recorded a try, three tackle breaks, a try assist and two line break assists.
“Absolutely loves playing at CommBank Stadium and delivering the halfback,” Fox League’s Michael Ennis said.
“A lot of talk about Parramatta and where they were at but the halfback has led the way, he has looked for collision, and he has run the football.
“Kicking game has been tremendous and he has had some beautiful touches… linking beautifully with Dylan Brown.”
Moses capped off his stellar night with an impressive try, charging to the corner of the field to finish an impressive aerial four-pointer.
According to Fox League’s Greg Alexander, when Moses has his “confidence” he is one of the hardest players for opposition teams to contain in the competition.
“Moses scores in the corner... what a try to the Parramatta seven,” Voss said.
“Oh, he is hot, and when he is confident he is so hard to contain,” Alexander said.
EELS HAVE ‘BROKEN THE DUCK’
Much was made of Brad Arthur’s record in the finals, winning only two from nine coming into this contest.
But now the Eels have “broken the duck” by making it to the preliminary finals for the first time since 2009.
Question marks have surrounded Arthur’s tenure as head coach at Parramatta for a number of years due to his poor record in finals football.
But now he may have broken the shackles on his side’s charge to a drought-breaking premiership.
Parramatta last lifted the trophy in 1986 and now will be hoping to best the Cowboys in next week’s preliminary final in their charge to the grand final.
“They are through, they have broken that duck, broken the ghost of week two,” Fox League’s Yvonne Sampson said.
“Huge moment for the Parramatta club, there has been a lot of question marks and a lot of pressure all the way through the season,” Ennis said.
“A lot of people were saying it is irrelevant what they do in the regular season it all comes down to what they do when the finals come around.
“Beaten last week… they fly out of the blocks against the Raiders who came to CommBank to ambush the Parramatta side.
“They got the crowd behind them and never looked back.”
YOUNG GUN BOUNCES BACK
Xavier Savage showed his “character” to overcome an “ugly” first half error which saw what seemed to be a nothing kick skip through his legs.
Eels centre Tom Opacic was able to charge through and score and the 20-year-old was clearly disappointed with himself.
“When he didn’t make a play at the ball I thought he was in trouble here, split his legs... huge moment in this game,” Alexander said.
“It was an awful bounce but Opacic just chased and chased,” Flanagan said.
“This is an ugly moment for him (Savage),” Voss said.
But, in a moment of sheer “speed” and “skill” the young gun bounced back, scoring a 70-metre try and burning the Eels left side defence.
Savage weaved his way through a gaggle of Parramatta players to score against the run of play and hand his side a glimmer of hope.
“Not just a try of skill, not just a try of speed, but a try of great character as well,” Voss said.
“Xavier Savage, young star lights up CommBank.”
“He has had a tough night so far, he is still shaking his head about the things that have gone on,” Alexander said.
“That is exactly what the Raiders needed, they are back in it.”
