There was no better way to bring down the curtain on a sensational Easter weekend of football than Wests Tigers and the Eels squaring off at CommBank Stadium.
Storylines galore surrounded the Easter Monday showdown with Mitchell Moses back for the Eels for his first game of the season, while milestone man Adam Doueihi replaced Lachlan Galvin in the halves for the Tigers, with the young half sent to play in the NSW Cup after a tumultuous week.
Moses was huge in his first game back for the Eels, producing three try assists to give coach Jason Ryles his second win of the year in front of a 26,145 crowd, while the Tigers will be looking to put a horror week behind them where the off-field headlines surrounding their young half was bound to have had an effect on their performance.
Much praise will go to captain and halfback Moses for his starring role in his return with his kicking game proving vital in wresting back control of the game to go with his try assists. His halves partner Dylan Brown also played a strong supporting role with a game high 201 metres. Coach Ryles will also be pleased with the output of his young forwards who stepped up to the challenge.
For the Tigers, a drama-fueled week took its toll in the end, but for much of the game they showed they were in the fight, but a poor 10-minute period to start the second half put them on the back foot with errors and penalties being directly punished with tries.
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Wests Tigers v Eels at CommBank Stadium
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Wests Tigers
Parramatta Eels
Fulltime:The Eels are the victors in an intense game, with the return of Mitchell Moses proving key to the victory, with the representative half heavily involved in the 38-22 win.
78th min: The Foxx seals the deal for the Eels, with another loose pass from the Tigers being punished. This time it's Ryley Smith with the conversion and the Eels lead 38-22.
75th min:In a game that's had pretty much everything, it was time for the Eels to come back and they have gone further in front thanks to a try for Bailey Simonsson. The returning Moses laid on the four-pointer, showing great vision to kick to the open right corner after all the Tigers were infield after scrambling in defence. Moses kicks the conversion for a 32-22 lead.
67th min: Laulilii has his try for the Tigers eventually, finally able to get his hand down on a Luai kick that was running away from him in the in-goal. Doueihi kicks a huge kick from the sideline to again narrow the scores to 26-22 in favour of the Eels with plenty of time on the clock for more drama to play out.
66th min: Moses gives up a penalty and goes on report after going high on Luke Laulilii in his attempt to prevent a try. Tigers are awarded a penalty and go on the attack again.
61st min:With their next opportunity to attack the Eels line, the Tigers are able to make it count, with a kick through the line from Jarome Luai being pounced on by a chasing Alex Seyfarth to score. Doueihi converts and narrows the scores to 26-16. Still plenty of time left for more drama to unfold in what's been an eventful game so far.
The Tigers go on the attack again and make a break down field, but Josh Addo Carr produces a try-saving intercept to turn the ball over.
59th min: It's now 12 on 11, with Iongi sent to the sin bin as well after being deemed to make an early tackle. The Tigers attack the Eels line, but the Parramatta defence however holds firm and the Tigers cannot capitalise on their numbers advantage, throwing a desperate pass into touch.
53rd min:High drama with Tigers winger Turuva and Eels forward Luca Moretti sent to the sin bin after tempers flared and some push and shove over the sideline after the Eels forced the Tigers out. 12 on 12 for the next 10 minutes.
47th min: And again! Eels on fire as Iongi has a double. Bit of a scuffle between the teams before the try is awarded. Russell misses the kick and it's 26-10 to Parramatta.
Horror start to the second half for the Tigers, giving up two penalties and an error - with all three punished by the Eels who cross for three tries in under 10 minutes.
44th min:The Eels go bang-bang, with Sam Tuivaiti over for his first try in his sixth NRL appearance. Tuilagi was involved in the lead up again, being in the right spot to mop up a kick the Tigers could not handle to give the ball back to the Eels who take no time to score. Russell converts again and the Eels are quickly out to a 22-10 lead.
41st min:Samuela Fainu goes on report for a perceived hip drop tackle on Kelma Tuilagi, giving up a penalty. After getting his ankle strapped up, it gives him no trouble as he runs over off a Moses pass to score a try to put the Eels back in front to start the second half. This time, Russell is successful with this kick, pushing Parramatta out to a 16-10 lead.
Halftime: Scores are level at the break at 10-10, in a fair representation of the game so far. Early momentum was with the Eels in the first half, who looked a much more settled outfit with Moses back pulling the strings. However, the Tigers kept at them and clawed their way back in to the match, with two tries back-to-back, before giving up penalties to gift the Eels field position and the opportunity to score - which they promptly took.
32 min: End-to-end football, with the Eels making the most of a penalty awarded to them for an escort, with Isaiah Iongi going over in the far right corner. The conversion attempt is unsuccessful. Scores remain 10-10.
27th min: The home side go back-to-back, with Jahream Bula chiming in and scoring in the left corner to extend their lead. Doueihi can't quite hook the conversion attempt around enough. Tigers lead 10-6.
22nd min:Off the back of a Sunia Turuva break and a few back-to-back six-agains, the Tigers are over for their first try of the afternoon, with Api Koroisau going front door to May who just barges over next to the posts. In his 100th NRL game, Doueihi slots the conversion to draw scores level 6-6.
14th min: Josh Addo-Carr is over for the opening try of the match of the Eels who capitalised on the great kick from Moses. Russell's conversion attempt is waved away. Eels lead 6-0.
13th min: In his first game back for the Eels since Round 18, 2024, Mitchell Moses is making his presence felt, kicking a 40/20 to put Parramatta on the front foot.
3rd min: An eventful start as expected, with the Eels opening the scoring with Sean Russell kicking a penalty goal from in front for a 2-0 lead to the 'visiting' team.
In the opening set of the match, Eels forward Kelma Tuilagi was put on report for his tackle on Terrell May.
Late Mail:
Wests Tigers: In a late change, forward Royce Hunt is out with Tony Sukkar to take his place on the interchange bench. Heath Mason is the new 18th player. Lachlan Galvin lined up for Western Suburbs earlier in the day at Lidcombe Oval, with Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi to make up the new halves combination. Brent Naden is back from a knee injury and slides into Doueihi's centre spot. The Tigers have won their last three games against the Eels at Commbank Stadium.
Eels: No late changes, with Joash Papalii remaining as 18th player. Skipper Mitch Moses is back two weeks ahead of schedule and lines up for his first game of the season having recovered from a stress fracture to his foot. Prop Jack Williams is also back early from a knee injury while Kelma Tuilagi returns in the back row.
Lachlan Galvin played for Western Suburbs in the The Knock On Effect NSW Cup at Lidcombe Oval earlier today.
