Fans slam Parramatta for Swans-like first half after Penrith jump out to 18-0 lead

Rugby league fans lamented a one-sided Grand Final affair as Parramatta’s hopes of ending the longest premiership drought in the NRL seemed dead and buried before the first half was even over.

Making their first appearance in the NRL decider in 13 years, the Eels were finally looking to claim their first premiership since 1986, when they won the league for the fourth time in six seasons.

However, any hope the Blue and Gold stalwarts had of witnessing history evaporated by 30 minutes as Penrith raced to an 18-0 lead.

Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o and Scott Sorensen all crossed for the Panthers as the reigning Prime Ministers played a stunning, flawless first half of football.

And NRL fans, with the exception of Panthers supporters, were far from impressed by the Grand Final’s one-way street.

Some pointed out that Parramatta wouldn’t have looked so fast had they played against their team from the 1986 Grand Final.

“Many of the Parra players are starting to look like that famous Parra team from 1986,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“By that I mean they look like they’re 60 years old.”

Others, meanwhile, suggested that Penrith should have offered to restart the game after racing to an 18-point lead in 30 minutes.

Penrith’s dominance was eerily similar to Geelong’s outstanding performance in the AFL Grand Final last week when the Cats defeated Sydney by 81 points.

Viewers wasted no time comparing the two deciders, with one noting that Australian sport “hadn’t seen a carnage in a major final like this in a week.”

Another spectator, meanwhile, joked that the Eels were determined to put in an even worse Grand Final performance than the Swans.

However, some noted that the Panthers’ performance was far from surprising.

The Panthers lost just four games while dominating the regular season, to claim a second consecutive minor premiership and show their class again in the first half at Accor Stadium.

Phil Gould described the performance as the perfect ’40 minutes of football’ during the halftime show on Nine.

“It was probably one of the most impressive and professional 40 minutes of big game football imaginable,” he said.

“They were on the front foot early on, their kicking game was really good, their ball control was excellent and when the moment came they were able to shove the ball wide out and crack open this Parramatta defence.

“They kept Parramatta on their side of the field for the whole half, giving them little chance to get out.

“They kept the pressure on and the trap play from Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai was excellent, and when they had their chances they grabbed them and it was just a relentless, relentless attack on this side of Parramatta.

“It was just the perfect 40 minutes of football.

The Panthers became only the third club in the NRL era to make three consecutive Grand Finals, along with the Roosters between 2002 and 2004 and the Storm between 2016 and 2018.

The reigning Prime Ministers are now 40 minutes away from becoming only the second time in the NRL era to win the Grand Finals in a row, a feat the Roosters have only achieved in 2018 and 2019.