Brown and Blake eye returns but charges take gloss off win

Parramatta are planning to welcome back big guns Nathan Brown and Waqa Blake in Magic Round to offset potential suspensions for Dylan Brown and Marata Niukore out of Friday's win over the Roosters.

Brown and Niukore were both put on report in a drama-charged affair at Bankwest Stadium that saw the Eels eventually prevail 31-18 to claim an impressive 8-1 start to the season.

The pair were both charged by the NRL's match review committee on Saturday, with Brown facing a suspension of 3-4 weeks and Niukore for 2-3 weeks.

Coach Brad Arthur said he believed Brown "tried to pull out" of his slide into Drew Hutchison, with the heavy contact made by his knees hospitalising the Tricolours half with suspected fractured ribs and a punctured lung.

Niukore was put on report for a hit that collected a falling James Tedesco in the head moments earlier.

Blake's long-awaited return from a calf injury against the Warriors next week would offset any ban for Niukora, who has been impressive as a backline fill-in this season.

NSW Origin lock Nathan Brown (hip) is also expected back, while Arthur said hooker Reed Mahoney was already pushing to play as well after a head knock ended his night against the Roosters early.

"He was frustrated and cranky he couldn't go back out," Arthur said when asked about Mahoney after full-time.

"But it was the call from the doc and it was the right decision, he wasn't in any state to go back out. He's pretty good now and already talking about next week."

Of Brown's hip-pointer injury that ruled him out of the Roosters clash, Arthur said: "He had every intention [of playing], he just couldn't get through training.

"We had the opportunity to needle him up but we've got a pretty healthy squad so we didn't bother."

Losing Mahoney late in the first half was compounded by regular utility Will Smith being out with a broken thumb, prompting Arthur to get creative with his dummy-half duties.

Dylan Brown and Bryce Cartwright alternated between hooker and five-eighth throughout the second half, adding yet another dimension to Cartwright's two-try performance.

Arthur said he was pleased with his playmaker's adjustment to the situation, and his side's performance in general against a dogged Roosters outfit.

"We put Dylan at dummy half for a bit, then Carty for a bit, then moved Dylan back there," he said.

"Carty had to go in the middle and make his tackles, dummy-half is a different role altogether, you get there 110, 115 times a game.

"Usually if we've got Will Smith on the bench he can fill a role but we haven't done a lot of work. We used Gutho [captain Clint Gutherson] a bit there last year but that took away a bit from what his job was.

"I thought Mitchell [Moses] stayed calm, stayed in control and kicked a nice field goal and we put them away at the end."