Parramatta Eels have thrown the NRL finals wide open, with a record 58-0 thrashing of the Brisbane Broncos at Bankwest Stadium on Sunday.
The Eels set up a sudden-death clash with the Melbourne Storm, while Broncos players and coaches will be put under the microscope, after the 11-tries-to-nil elimination final rout.
Not only was it the most points scored by a team in a finals game, it was also the biggest margin in finals history, eclipsing Newtown's 55-7 win over St George in 1944.
The Eels have a nervous wait to see if five-eighth Dylan Brown will be available against the Storm, after he was placed on report for a crusher tackle on Anthony Milford.
Coach Brad Arthur did his best to keep a lid on the wave of euphoria and hope that is sure to sweep through the blue-and-gold faithful, saying the playing group was aware they hadn't achieved anything yet.
"There was a fair bit of 'we just need to move onto next week'," Arthur said. "They know what's around the corner.
"We're playing the best team in the competition at their home ground. We're going to give it everything we can."
The Eels put the Broncos to the sword with three tries in eight minutes and the game was essentially over at the 20-minute mark at 16-0.
Playmaker Mitchell Moses was instrumental in the rout, bombing for Michael Jennings' opening try, before doing it all himself when he kicked, regathered and fended off Alex Glenn to score.
The Eels simply overwhelmed Brisbane with speed, enthusiasm and aggression, and when they led 24-0 at halftime, the Broncos still hadn't had a tackle inside their opposition's 20-metre zone.
The stats sheet was telling - the Eels had 67 percent of possession, ran for 1825 metres to Broncos' 794, while Brisbane missed 39 tackles and Parramatta 19.
Even when play broke down, like it did when Moses found himself with nowhere to go on the last tackle, the Eels still found a way through, after the No.7 spiralled a 30m cut-out pass and Maika Sivo crossed.
The ground-record crowd of 29,372 rose to their feet every time Sivo touched the ball, and when the Fijian try-scoring sensation got his second of the day and 22nd of the season, his name rang out around Bankwest.
Seibold described his side's effort as "embarrassing" and like "men against boys", and promised a review of their playing group and all aspects of their set-up.
"We've got to have a real good, hard look at everything from top to bottom within our playing group," Seibold said. "We've got some real talent in the room.
"There's some areas we've got to fix up footy-wise, no doubt about that, but it's not good enough - it's embarrassing."
AAP
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