The Rabbitohs were comfortable 24-6 winners over the Eels at ANZ Stadium in Round 15.
Souths led 12-nil at halftime following converted tries to wingers Nathan Merritt (off an Adam Reynolds chip kick to the right flank in the 16th minute) and Justin Hunt (off a skillful Greg Inglis offload in the left corner on the half hour).
The bunnies extended their advantage to 18 points when Dylan Farrell crashed over on the left fringe just two minutes into the second stanza, before the Eels registered their only try of the game through Reni Maitua, with the Parramatta lock slicing between Adam Reynolds and Nathan Merritt off a Jarryd Hayne pass with 57 minutes gone.
Michael Crocker completed Parramatta’s evening of pain when he caught the goal-line defence napping when charging onto an Issac Luke pass from dummy-half to score with four minutes remaining.
It was a top-notch effort by the cardinal and myrtle who missed just 14 tackles throughout and posted five line-breaks in attack.
Parramatta weren’t all bad with the ball in hand (78 per cent completions) but struggled to find a way through South’s rigid defence; however, seven second-half errors didn’t help their cause.
Souths’ best included winger Hunt who made 126 metres and added two line-breaks, and fullback Inglis who contributed two try assists.
Parramatta were best served by fullback Hayne (158 metres), winger Ken Sio (156 metres) and captain Nathan Hindmarsh (55 tackles).
