Brisbane Broncos knock off Parramatta Eels in NRL season-opener

• Parramatta v Brisbane: As it happened

The soft underbelly that has been synonymous with Parramatta appears to have vanished, but the Eels still lacked the class to overcome the premiership favourites in the opening night of the season at Pirtek Stadium.

The Kieran Foran era at Parramatta began without him on Thursday night, but the football team that went down 17-4 to Wayne Bennett's Brisbane Broncos is a vastly different team to the ones that have donned the blue and gold in recent years.

Tough night: Eels winger Semi Radradra is held back. Photo: Getty Images

Had five-eighth Corey Norman not succumbed to a neck injury at half-time, the Eels may have challenged last year's runners up.

But with their starting halves in the stands, the Eels didn't have the artillery to match the fight and desire to topple the visitors in front of a crowd of 17,324.

Those inside the inner sanctum at Parramatta were reluctant to talk the talk in the pre-season.

Tim Mannah and his Eels teammates contemplate defeat. Photo: Getty Images

Getting caught up in the hype that has surrounded them in the lead-up to opening night would have been frowned upon.

But the success-starved fans were once again given a reason to hope. A reason to believe that the perennial strugglers would finally take a walk down fair dinkum avenue.

Foran, Beau Scott and Michael Gordon arrived in the off season, with Santa dropping off a handy present just after Christmas when Michael Jennings strolled into the club he once professed to hate.

Finally, Brad Arthur had a team that could return to finals football.

But the footy gods made sure this new-look Eels outfit would be given a tough initiation.

They were drawn against last year's two grand finalists in the opening two rounds, then their marquee man was ruled out on the eve of what would have marked a significant day for the club.

And if the task of coming back from a 14-4 deficit at half time wasn't hard enough, their most improved player, Corey Norman, didn't return from the sheds after picking up a neck injury late in the first half.

But in the battle between the favourites and the highly fancied, it was the premiership heavyweights who flexed their muscle to prevail.

The Eels, even minus their two playmakers, showed they are more than capable of mixing it with the big boys, but they lost their way in the second half after Norman failed to return.

It was the hands of Ben Hunt that led to the final points of the 2015 season, so it was only fitting that he would play a hand in first points of the new season after throwing a cut-out pass to put Jordan Kahu in untouched after 15 minutes.

Corey Oates showed his speed as he galloped away down the sideline, but it was the vision and deft touch to grubber for a supporting Anthony Milford that gave the Broncos an early 10-0 lead.

The Broncos were terrorising the Eels right edge of Brad Takairangi and Clint Gutherson, but the pair managed to get one back when they combined to put the former Manly winger over for the Eels' first try of the season.

However it didn't take long for the Broncos to again expose the Eels' right side, with Alex Glenn providing for Oates to give the visitors a 14-4 lead at the break.

Jennings looked like he might have reduced the deficit with his first try in blue and gold, however the former Panther and Rooster was pulled up for a double movement in the bunker's first major involvement of the season.

The Broncos stretched their lead to 12 when Milford slotted a penalty goal, before the five-eighth slotted a field goal to put the result beyond doubt.