There were moments of brilliance but top-four bound Parramatta were not convincing in their 26-12 win over Brisbane on Friday night.
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Continuing question marks over their attack, the Eels all but shored up a top-four spot but failed to put the bottom-placed Broncos to the sword as expected at Bankwest Stadium.
A win against the Wests Tigers in the last game of the season should assure them a second chance in the NRL finals with Canberra chasing hard four points behind.
The most dramatic moment of the game came two minutes into the second half when prop Junior Paulo was put on report for a dangerous tackle on David Fifita.
It could mark Fifita's last game in a Broncos jersey with their final game of the season just six days away.
The Gold Coast-bound forward was taken from the field with what is believed to be a low-grade ankle sprain after Paulo's 123kg frame fell on his lower leg.
"There's nothing in that is there? It shouldn't even have been a penalty," said Eels coach Brad Arthur, baffled as to why Paulo was put on report.
"What's he supposed to do?"
Last month Jesse Bromwich and Tyrell Fuimaono became the first two players suspended for the move which falls under dangerous contact.
However, should Paulo cop a grade-one charge and take the early guilty plea he will not miss a game.
After weeks of stuttering performances, the Eels looked nervy early but scored four tries in 19 minutes to lead 20-6 at halftime.
And while it was hardly a fair fight, it served as a reminder of what the Eels are capable of when they're on.
"It was a step in the right direction, it was better," Arthur said.
"I thought we tried to play a lot more football.
"We played a nice power game there for a while, just the second half would have been nice to nail a couple of those opportunities but got to give credit to the Broncos, I thought they were brave."
Fifita's try was the best of two for the Broncos when he shrugged off a poor tackle from Mitch Moses to power over and score.
However, two tries to Eels fullback Clint Gutherson in four minutes gave the Eels the healthy halftime lead.
But they did not go on with it in the final 40 minutes.
Everything was set up for them to run up a score at home to build confidence leading into the finals, but somehow it didn't reach any great heights.
The loss was the 10th straight for the Broncos and puts them on a collision course with their first-ever wooden spoon.
To avoid it they will need to beat North Queensland at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night and hope Canterbury don't upset minor premiers Penrith.
"There's a lot of pride in what they're doing at the moment," said innterim coach Peter Gentle.
"We didn't get the result and there's areas of our game that can be a lot better, don't get me wrong but there's a lot we can be proud of too."
Australian Associated Press
