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Find your frequency hereEel-ectric Parramatta delivers shock result to Broncos
Nicholas Quinlan • July 26th, 2025 12:01 pm
The Parramatta Eels have delivered one of the upsets of the season, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 22-20 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
It was the first time the Eels have beaten Brisbane at Suncorp since 2022, having lost their last four games at the venue.
Coming into the match, the Broncos would have star players Jesse Arthars and Payne Haas return in the starting line-up.
But Parramatta would have the biggest addition with captain and halfback Mitchell Moses returning for his first game since Round 14.
The match initially began as a stalemate, with it taking until the 10th minute when Zac Lomax converted a penalty goal after Brisbane’s Xavier Willison was on report for a dangerous tackle.
The Broncos would then reply with their own penalty goal after Josh Addo-Carr committed an escort penalty.
And throughout the first half, both sides went tit for tat, with the lead changing three times.
In the second half, the Eels took the early lead through Lomax and then regained it with 15 minutes remaining, looking set to hold on.
However, in the last minute of the game, the Broncos had appeared to have bailed themselves out of certain defeat through a Reece Walsh try after Joash Papalii fumbled a grubber kick from Gehamat Shibasaki.
But on replay, it would be ruled a no try after replays showed that Walsh was offside, and he made sure to let the referee know his feelings about it as the Eels celebrated.
It's a huge win for the blue and gold, who now find themselves 14th on the ladder.
And to add insult to injury for the Broncos, Haas would be seen hobbling off the field in the final minutes with what appears to be an injury to his ankle. Although, Brisbane coach Michael Maguire was not too concerned about it when asked in the press conference.
Speaking post-game, Parramatta coach Jason Ryles said that he was proud that his team had something to show for their effort.
“It’s really pleasing from a coaching point of view that the players got a reward for the fight and the effort they have been putting in consistently,” he said.
“That’s been from training onto the footy field, but we haven’t done it for a long enough period.
“It was just good to finally tough out that whole 80 minutes.”
