Brisbane produced their most clinical first half performance of the season before fending off a late Eels comeback to win 26-16 in Darwin on Friday night.
The Broncos ran in four tries in the opening 40 minutes to set up a 22-6 lead with the combination of halves Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam running riot on the back of a strong platform set by Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan up front early.
The ladder leaders then controlled the game in the second half with a further two penalty goals ruling out any chance of an Eels comeback despite two tries in five minutes giving the home side a sniff.
Parramatta were coming off a five-day turnaround which appeared to play a part in their lacklustre performance in humid conditions that soon turned torrential at TIO Stadium.
The Eels were under the pump from the opening with the visitors taking a 6-0 lead through a try via Herbie Farnworth following a Sean Russell mistake in the air.
Brad Arthur’s men bounced back with a try of their own off the boot with Clint Gutherson showing his soccer skills to pick up and collect a ball in the in-goal.
That was where the end-to-end tussle essentially ended, however, with the Broncos piling on three tries in nine minutes to set up a 16-point lead.
It all started with Reynolds finishing off a Mam flick pass for a try before Kotoni Staggs kept a Reece Walsh kick alive to hit it back to Mam for a four-pointer of his own.
Reynolds, who had the ball on a string all evening, then set up Staggs with a kick across field that had the perfect bounce for the Broncos centre to go over.
Source: NRL.com