When Corey Norman was asked a couple of weeks ago whether Parramatta could win the competition he replied in the affirmative, saying they had to believe it was not beyond them.
Those who may have been sniggering about those ambitions will be a little more subdued after Friday night's 14-point win over Brisbane at ANZ Stadium.
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Kenny Edwards' brain explosion goes unpunished
The Parramatta forward was lucky to escape without punishment after he appeared to throw a shoulder into the head of a prone and injured Jonus Pearson.
Brad Arthur's side moved into sixth place for the time being and are on the verge of sealing a first semi-finals berth in eight years. With this gutsy come-from-behind triumph over the Broncos they have also demonstrated that they certainly not be in the top eight just to make up the numbers.
Sealed by a tippy-toeing Kirisome Auva'a try, the winger's second of the night in the 75th minute, and then Bevan French's four-pointer in the last, this was a genuinely eye-catching performance by Parramatta.Â
After conceding two tries in the first seven minutes they did not let another in for the rest of the match and posted four of their own.
"We started like that against the Roosters and it turned into 40 points against us," Arthur said. "We can see that we've grown as a team. The belief is getting stronger. It was a really good effort against a really good team."
The Eels, scrappy against Wests Tigers five days before, were far more composed before a crowd of 12,182 here. Stats don't always tell the full story but when you're completing 88 per cent of your sets as they did on Friday night it's a fair start. Their forwards rolled their sleeves up and their strike players such as Norman, Michael Jennings and Mitchell Moses were on song, the latter contributing three try assists.Â
A stunned Broncos were, meanwhile, dealt a significant blow to their title ambitions, with hooker Andrew McCullough suffering suspected medial ligament damage to his knee that may rule him out for six weeks.
Parramatta had no such concerns although not everything they did was first class. A tense affair came to a head when Kenny Edwards fell heavily on a defenceless Jonus Pearson after the teenage Broncos winger had been collared by a Nathan Brown coat hanger.
Brown was placed on report for the high tackle but it was Edwards' subsequent treatment of Pearson that angered Brisbane players.Â
Wayne Bennett was far from impressed. "That's not good for the game. It's up to the game to do something about it," the Broncos coach said.Â
Darius Boyd, the visitors' captain, was similarly scathing. "We stick up for our players. That's pretty scary if he is concussed and someone is coming down to try and tackle him and hit him again," Boyd said. It's dangerous."
As it turned out Pearson was not concussed and play on and Arthur and Edwards saw the incident differently, not believing the tackle was completed.Â
"I didn't see the high shot Browny put on until afterwards," Edwards said. "I went in hard like how I always play. Obviously I saw the replay, and if I could go back again I probably wouldn't do it.
"I looked up at the replay, obviously it wasn't good, I hope Jonus is all right."
The Eels prevailed without Clint Gutherson, arguably their best player this season. Their premiership odds were rolled out at the news he had busted an ACL again at the same venue last Sunday, but with a fine display back in his preferred position at fullback, French indicated that setback isn't terminal to Parramatta's season. Â
"I'd said it all week that Bevan was probably the first-choice fullback at the start of the year," Arthur said. "He got injured, which gave Gutho his opportunity. We've got good depth in the squad and everyone is keen to play their role."
The odds makers had seemed to have it dead right when an adventurous Broncos raced to a 12-0 lead after only seven minutes as centres James Roberts and Tautau Moga created havoc on either side of the field. Roberts, whose four-year extension at Brisbane was announced on Thursday, was first to find open space in a blitz that ended up with Matt Gillett crashing over, although the centre's inside pass to Darius Boyd appeared suspiciously forward.
There was no question mark, however, about Boyd's distribution to Roberts two minutes later as the 24-year-old breezed over for a try of his own.
Just when it seemed as if the Eels were about to be dealt a major reality check, though, they managed to not only stem the tide but fight their way back, and with two tries themselves within three minutes the score was remarkably level again with only 17 minutes played.
Moses laid on both. His grubber was pounced on by the outstanding Tepai Moeroa and then his no-look, floating pass down the same channel caught out Pearson and his slippery boots, allowing Auva'a to stroll over in the corner untroubled.
Brisbane edged back ahead just on half-time with a penalty goal before Moses squared the ledger with the Broncos again with 25 minutes left. Auva'a and French then chimed in to finish them off.
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