A stunning Chris Sandow-inspired second-half surge saw the Eels defeat the Roosters 36-22 at Parramatta Stadium in Round 23 last season.
The home side led 18-10 at halftime before the visitors stormed back into the contest, with tries to Adam Henry (45th minute) and Jake Friend (48th minute) catapulting the tri-colours to a 22-18 lead.
However, that prompted Parramatta’s livewire halfback Sandow to slip into top gear; first he grubber-kicked for himself from 10 metres out and won the race to the ball to score in the 57th minute; then with bodies in motion he dummied to an inside decoy runner before slicing through from 17 metres out to score his side’s final try of the night.
Assisted by the lion’s share of possession (54 per cent to 46 per cent), the Eels managed to dominate field position (1415 metres to 1048); they also made twice as many line-breaks as the Roosters (8-4).
However, as you’d expect in a game that yielded 58 points, defence was a shaky commodity on both sides of halfway – the Roosters missed 39 tackles, while the Eels weren’t much better, missing 35.
