Parramatta‘s season from hell has continued, failing to topple a resilient and brave Rabbitohs outfit in wet conditions on Thursday night.
The hosts missed the start in the rain at CommBank Stadium, with Jacob Gagai opening the scoring in the eighth minute as Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell combined with a lovely backline play for the cardinal and myrtle.
South Sydney almost went back-to-back as Walker repeatedly found open space, before Jack Wighton extended the lead in the 33rd minute.
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The game turned back in the favour of the Eels just moments after Wighton’s try, with rookie sensation Blaize Talagi scoring a “wicked” try in the corner.
”Talagi is embarrassing his other teammates,” Andrew Johns told Nine’s coverage.
“Parramatta, there’s your future. He’s got No.1 written all over him.”
His efforts were all in vain however, with Walker crossing virtually untouched to extend the Rabbitohs’ lead to 12 points at the break.
“That is soft right before half time,” Johns said.
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As the conditions worsened in the second half, Reagan Campbell-Gillard barged over and planted the ball down to swing the momentum for a brief moment.
Unfortunately for the under-fire Eels, they were up against one of the most in-form players in the competition in Mitchell, who used the conditions to his advantage and slid over to halt the comeback.
“Too big, too strong, too smart,” Phil Gould said on Nine.
Jake Tago was denied his first-ever NRL try after the Bunker determined that the debutant’s forearm went into the touch before he planted the ball, before Wighton put the icing on the cake with a try under the posts.
Mitchell Moses was sin binned in the dying stages for a professional foul and the Eels halfback was clearly frustrated as the side suffered a fourth-straight loss.
To make matters worse for Parramatta, front-rower Junior Paulo went off in the 44th minute with a foot injury and did not return to the field.