Parramatta Eels

Gutherson was contracted to the Eels for next season and has agreed to extend his stay with the Eels after extensive negotiations.

The 27-year-old fullback played for NSW in the 2020 State of Origin series and has been a key figure in Parramatta's rise from wooden spooners in 2018 to finalists for the past three seasons.

Among the club's highest try scorers, Gutherson finished with 20 try assists this year and averaged 170 run metres running with the ball per match.  

The Eels were on the attack in the dying minutes of the semi-final when the incident took place.

The NRL has issued the Panthers with a breach notice proposing the penalties against the club and their orange shirt trainer Pete Green, who would be banned from accessing the field of play and sideline for the remainder of the 2021 season after an alleged breach of the game’s operations manual.

The manual makes it clear that a head trainer can only stop play after making an initial assessment that a doctor is required to enter the field of play.

The Panthers have only scored one try in each of their two finals matches but a 40th minute Nathan Cleary penalty goal proved the difference in a gripping contest that left the shattered Eels preparing to return home after exiting in the second week of the play-offs for the fourth time since 2017.

Cleary’s men must now face the Storm next Saturday at Suncorp Stadium, after losing to South Sydney last weekend, for the right to face the winner of Friday night’s Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles clash in the premiership decider.

Mackay will be the venue for their week-two semi-final on Saturday night with the Panthers coming off an upset loss to Souths and the Eels building momentum after a gutsy win over Newcastle.

The Panthers have had a smooth run throughout most of the season but they were brought undone by the Rabbitohs in week one of the finals.

Parramatta have been much more inconsistent throughout the season and have a recent history of finals fade-outs counting against them.​

Instead, Parramatta - who were written off by all and sundry a matter of weeks ago - emphatically reasserted themselves as title contenders with an astounding 22-10 victory at Suncorp Stadium.

And the ramifications for Melbourne could extend into the finals with three players placed on report: Jesse Bromwich (crusher tackle on Isaiah Papali'i), Harry Grant (hip drop on Makahesi Makatoa) and Brandon Smith (high tackle on Marata Niukore).

It was a relieving 32-16 result as halfback Mitchell Moses stood up to ensure Parramatta snapped their four-match losing streak.

Arthur labelled the performance "Mitchy's best running game of the year" after the No.7 tallied three try assists and kicked beautifully.

It may not appease the doubters, but Arthur said the style of the victory wasn't of much importance after a lean trot that has resulted in the Eels slipping from the top four before the finals.

"We had one job tonight and that was to win a game of footy," he said.

The Australian’s Brent Read revealed on NRL 360 that the club is aware of what is unfolding but refused to comment on it.

“They’re getting sued... if we go back five years to the 2016 salary cap scandal and there was a company that was involved in that, that was paying some players third party agreements. I think Jarryd Hayne and Anthony Watmough were the guys getting paid by them,” he said.

Parker’s head knock and the send-off saw 18th man Moses Suli activated and the new man scored in the corner with his second touch of the ball shortly after then doubled up three minutes later following Marata Niukore’s sin-binning for a professional foul. 

Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler was unsure of Parker's availability for next Friday against the Raiders.

"He's a bit sick, a bit sore. But we'll go through the normal concussion protocols now. It's a short turnaround so at this stage it might be difficult," Hasler said.

"We'll have to see how he pulls up."

Kicking his third conversion, but fourth goal of the game, put Reynolds on 1,842 points – finally passing the great Eric Simms (1,841) who retired 46 years ago.

It must be a bitter-sweet moment for the Rabbitohs faithful since the classy halfback is off to the Broncos next year. Still Reynolds now leaves his mark on the club he won a premiership with in 2014.

Meanwhile, things aren’t too rosy for Parramatta, who have now suffered their third straight defeat. If the Roosters have a win over Penrith on Saturday, the Eels will drop out of the top-four.

The Eels led 18-8 at half time much to the delight of the home crowd before Damien Cook fired up the Rabbitohs with a hand in three tries as they rattled up 30 points in 40 minutes after the break.

Parramatta's week started with first Maika Sivo being lost to injury, then Blake Ferguson being scratched as well, before Michael Jennings was suspended yesterday for failing a drugs test.

A showdown with minor premiers Penrith next Saturday night is their reward, Wayne Bennett once more delivering them to within 80 minutes of another grand final.