New-look Eels blown away by Storm as Jason Ryles suffers nightmare coaching debut

The procession started in the sixth minute, when Ryan Papenhuyzen scored rather fortuitously after he attempted to pass and it was batted down by Volkman, only for the Melbourne fullback to regain the ball and dive over.

Six minutes later, the floodgates burst open when Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster slipped a short ball and prop Josh King charged through the centre of the ruck to score.

By half-time, a cricket score appeared on the cards. Papenhuyzen already had two tries to his name, as did winger Xavier Coates.

Parramatta’s plight was succinctly summed up a loose pass in the 35th minute, when they had a rare attacking opportunity. The ball bounced up opportunely for Storm centre Nick Meaney to race 87 metres and score untouched.

The only respite for the Eels in the first half came in the 38th minute, when five-eighth Dylan Brown chip-kicked and centre Jake Tago caught it cleanly to score.

Normal service resumed two minutes later, when Melbourne worked a set play from a scrum win and Papenhuyzen streaked away to score.

To their credit, Parramatta showed some character after Ryles’ first half-time address as a head coach.

They kept the Storm scoreless for the first 15 minutes of the second stanza, and actually dominated for a period before finally conceding when Storm winger Will Warbrick latched onto an intercept and raced 90 metres to score, in his 50th NRL game.

That brought up Melbourne’s half-century, and two minutes later Storm half Jahrome Hughes backed up centre Jack Howarth to score his team’s 10th try of the game.

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A Will Penisini try in the 69th minute stemmed the one-way traffic and also ensured the Eels would avoid an unwanted record – the heaviest round-one defeat in rugby league history.

That page in the game’s annals remains the property of the now-defunct University club, who copped a 63-0 drubbing from South Sydney back in 1937, in the days of three-point tries.

An Iongi try in the 78th minute provided some consolation for the Eels, given that they outscored the Storm 12-10 in the second half.

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