It was the same stadium, and an entirely different result: St George Illawarra beat the Parramatta Eels 30-0 on the weekend in the replay of a first-round playoff match from last season in Australia's National Rugby League (NRL).
Last year, St George Illawarra finished in first place, and the Eels scraped into the playoffs in eighth. But Parramatta scored an upset victory at the Dragons' home ground south of Sydney and eventually made it to the grand final, losing to the Melbourne Storm.
On Friday, only 48 hours after starring for Queensland in their opening victory in the State of Origin over New South Wales, fullback Darius Boyd led the Dragons while Jamie Soward finished with a personal total of 14 points with a try and five goals.
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson said his side were outmatched.
"At times it looked like men against boys. They were just more physical, had a stronger mental application," Anderson said.
The Wests Tigers were equally impressive in thrashing the New Zealand Warriors 50-6. Centre Geoff Daniela scored three tries in 11 minutes for the Tigers, who scored 46 points in 40 minutes.
Manly winger Dean Whare, making his first-grade debut, scored three tries as the Sea Eagles held on for a 24-20 win over North Queensland.
Brisbane captain Darren Lockyer scored a try and set up another as the Broncos won their third in a row, beating Cronulla 20-4.
"He (Lockyer) was our best tonight, he led by example," Broncos coach Ivan Henjak said.
On Sunday, the Melbourne Storm continued their strong run despite being ineligible to pick up points due to a salary cap infraction, beating the Bulldogs 23-12. South Sydney defeated Penrith 42-22 to move into fifth place.
The fourth-place Gold Coast Titans will close out the 12th round tonight when they play the Sydney Roosters. Canberra and Newcastle had weekend byes.
The results left the leading Dragons with 18 points, followed by Manly, Penrith and the Gold Coast with 16 each and Souths and Wests with 14.
