Dylan Brown scored a double and set up another three tries as he and his Parramatta halves partner Mitchell Moses re-ignited the Eels’ finals charge.
Brown was brilliant on a sunny Saturday afternoon as the blue and golds thumped western Sydney rivals Canterbury 42-6.
One of the highlights for the No.6 was the soccer skills he showed when trapping a Moses grubber on the run and then scooping it up to score his first try.
Brown is one of the most exciting players in the competition, but has probably been guilty of not producing his best every week.
Eels coach Brad Arthur conceded as much about Brown, Moses and his entire squad moving forward.
“I know what this team can do, so do the mums and dads of the boys and the fans,” Arthur said.
“What we want to see is the want from them – we’re sick of seeing what we can do, we want to see it from them all the time.
“The want was there today, but we need to back it up next week.”
The 26,451 fans who enjoyed the Brown and Moses show will be hoping the former is re-signed beyond next season.
Brown, for the time being, will focus on the next couple of Thursday nights, games against Brisbane and Melbourne, then the finals.
Dylan Brown sets the Eels attack alight on Saturday.Credit:Getty
Moses said Brown was at his best when he had that “run-first mentality”.
Brown said he had spent four years with Moses, so naturally it was “about time” the combination was working. He added it helped having a “seven-foot back-rower” in Shaun Lane playing inside him to make his life easier.
The Eels will sit fifth on the ladder by the end of the weekend. They will probably finish fifth or sixth and host an elimination final.
Brown’s boot helped set up the first four-pointer for Will Penisini, Waqa Blake caught Josh Addo-Carr out of position a second time to score the Eels’ second, then Brown’s bullet-like cutout pass for Maika Sivo gave the home side a 16-6 half-time lead.
The Eels did cough up the ball midway through the first half, and a better opposition would have hit back and made them pay dearly.
Brown’s try when keeping the Moses grubber alive with his own boot almost looked deliberate. It was a brilliant passage of play.
Moses and Brown combined a couple of minutes later to all but seal the result.
The halfback was returning from a broken finger and had his middle left digit heavily strapped.
Junior Paulo and Pangai jr were happy to slam into each other early and exchanged a few pleasantries.
The Sivo chant broke out after he scored, but was even louder early in the second half when he rag-dolled Jacob Kiraz into touch.
The steam has run out of the Dogs and they will do well to trouble Cronulla or Manly in the final two rounds. Coach Mick Potter said his side were “impatient”, and as a result could not build any pressure.
Even an unlikely win against the Eels would not have topped the news at the start of the week about Cameron Ciraldo heading to Belmore to coach from next year. Potter said he would like to hang around in some capacity.
Meanwhile, Eels forward Wiremu Greig was sent off in the NSW Cup curtain-raiser after flattening Canterbury forward Phil Makatoa. There was no contact to the head but it was late, with Eels captain-coach Jordan Rankin arguing with the referee it was unfair to march him because of the “force” of the tackle.
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