The Eels enjoyed a strong win over the Dragons in an NRLW trial match at Eric Tweedale Stadium on Saturday.
The Blue & Gold showed great signs in their first match under new coach Steve Georgallis, storming to a 20-8 victory before a big home crowd.
Cassey Tohi-Hiku starred in her first match at five-eighth, Elsie Albert made a statement in her return from injury, and Abbi Church continued her terrific form at fullback in a game full of positives for the Eels.
NRLW Trial Match Highlights: Eels v Dragons
Church, Tohi-Hiku and Albert were all rewarded with first-half tries, before Rory Owen and Monique Donovan rounded out the scoring in the second half.
The Eels' five tries were countered by two late consolation scores to the Dragons. Neither team attempted conversions to maximise game time.
The convincing victory will catapult the Eels into the 2024 NRLW season with great momentum. Their campaign kicks off in a fortnight with a trip to Suncorp Stadium to face the Broncos.
The Eels' 2023 Player of the Year, Abbi Church hit the ground running with an early try to put Parramatta on course for victory.
The hard-working fullback drifted right and sliced through the Dragons defence, putting the foot down in a 20-metre dash to the try line.
Soon after, Elsie Albert announced her return from a calf injury that hampered her 2023 campaign.
The damaging prop received a short ball from Rueben Cherrington close to the try line, and muscled her way through the goal-line defence to touch down.
The Dragons found themselves pinned in their own half for large stretches of the first half, as they were met by waves of brutal defence from the Eels forward pack, most notably Kennedy Cherrington, Madeline Jones and Rueben Cherrington
The visitors looked set to hang on until the break, before Cassey Tohi-Hiku punished an error on the stroke of half-time.
The Eels shifted left to Tohi-Hiku from a red-zone scrum, and she did it all herself with a dummy and a step to score.
Parramatta entered the second stanza with a 12-0 advantage, which quickly stretched to 16 points when Mahalia Murphy and Rory Owen combined.
Murphy burst into the backfield from the halfway line and galloped towards the red zone, before finding Owen on her outside with a pinpoint pass. Owen, in her first appearance as an Eel, demonstrated her speed to complete the move.
The Dragons threatened to hit back when Teagan Berry set her sights on the line, before Abbi Church saved the day with a trademark try-saving tackle.
The visitors were eventually rewarded for sustained attacking pressure as they bagged two late tries, but the Eels were beyond their reach and ultimately had the final say.
Monique Donovan put the finishing touch on the Eels' terrific game, working her way to the try line at the end of a right-edge shift.
The Eels will aim to build on their promising pre-season performance when their campaign kicks off on Saturday 27 July. Steve Georgallis' team travel to Suncorp Stadium in Round 1 to face the Brisbane Broncos.
