After back-to-back defeats in the past fortnight the Eels return to home soil in Round 6 to take on a Cowboys side who were last-up winners.
While they could consider themselves unlucky losers against the Wests Tigers back on Easter Monday, Parramatta hardly fired a shot in a 41-8 drubbing at the hands of the Raiders in Round 5.
The absence of injured halfback Mitchell Moses was glaring, as Dylan Brown and Blaize Talagi struggled to get the side around the park efficiently, while giving away 10 penalties didn't help their cause either.
Despite a late scare from the Titans last Sunday the Cowboys have moved into second spot on the ladder, although coach Todd Payten will no doubt remain concerned by a leaky defence which has seen them give up 60 points in their last two games.
Eels prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard is available despite being cited for a careless high tackle in Round 5, while the Cowboys have called Tom Chester into the centres following confirmation that Zac Laybutt suffered a torn ACL against the Titans.
These two sides have split their past four meetings and last year they each enjoyed a 24-16 home win over the other, although the record is firmly against the Cowboys when it comes to games played in Parramatta.
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Team News
Eels: Coach Brad Arthur has swung the axe following last week’s hammering at the hands of the Raiders, with veteran wing Maika Sivo, representative prop Wiremu Greig and rookie Blaize Talagi paying the price. Morgan Harper comes in for Sivo and will play centre with Bailey Simonsson moving out to the wing. Daejaran Asi gets the No.6 jersey for his first game of the year and Bryce Cartwright returns from a rib injury, moving into the run-on side and bumping Kelma Tuilagi back to the bench. Junior Paulo also moved to the bench when the teams were finalised 60 minutes before kick-off, with Joe Ofahengaue to start. Talagi is 18th man.
Cowboys: Following confirmation of a season-ending ACL injury for Zac Laybutt, Tom Chester comes into the centres in what is the only change to the side who beat the Titans last Sunday. Off-season recruit Viliami Vailea has been included in the wider squad this week as cover at centre. No changes before kick-off, with Tom Mikaele named as 18th man.
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Stat Attack
- The Eels have won nine of their past 12 games at CommBank Stadium.
- The Cowboys have not won at Parramatta since 2015.
- Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater will make his 100th NRL appearance.
- Eels fullback Clint Gutherson has scored seven tries in his past nine games at CommBank Stadium.
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Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the .