The Eels beat the Broncos by 40 points on their last visit to the Top End in 2021 and when Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam conspired to give the Broncos a 22-6 halftime lead on Friday night, it looked as though the script would be flipped this time around.
Brisbane never went on with the bloodshed as it looked like they might, but nor could the Eels close the gap in wet conditions.
Mam can expect to face scrutiny from the match review committee after being sin-binned for a hip-drop tackle on Matt Doorey in the second half, Eels recruit J'maine Hopgood also facing a nervous wait for making the same illegal move.
The form prop of the competition, Haas could join them on the charge sheet for his own indiscretion, which went unpunished on-field despite Campbell-Gillard's injury.
It was Brisbane's domination through the middle that allowed their playmakers to thrive in the first half; Haas (200 run metres) and Patrick Carrigan (120) outworked Junior Paulo (107) and Campbell-Gillard (69).
Once in position, Mam, Reynolds and fullback Reece Walsh had the ball on a string.
Two heads-up plays from the Broncos turned a 6-6 arm-wrestle after 20 minutes into a 18-6 Broncos advantage after 25.
Mam ran the ball on the fifth tackle and burst through the defensively feeble Josh Hodgson before flicking an offload to Reynolds.
In the set after points, which featured two big Haas carries, Walsh put a grubber kick through the defensive line, again on the fifth tackle. The ball bounced up for Kotoni Staggs in the in-goal, the centre slapping the ball back in play for Mam.
Things did not get any easier for the Eels in the second half.
In the first 10 minutes after the resumption, they had lost centre Bailey Simonsson to a game-ending concussion and Hopgood to the sin bin.
Simonsson knocked himself out attempting a tackle on Selwyn Cobbo and will miss next week's clash against Newcastle, while the bunker pulled the play back to sin-bin Hopgood for a hip-drop tackle on Cory Paix.
Told to lift his game by coach Brad Arthur earlier this month, five-eighth Dylan Brown was the best of a beaten bunch.
He set up two of Parramatta's three tries with his boot, first putting a grubber kick through for his captain Clint Gutherson and then finding Maika Sivo across field amid the downpour.
Mam's sin-binning encouraged the Eels on their comeback, Parramatta shifting right to Sean Russell and closing the gap to 10 points.Â
Russell appeared to go over again in the final five minutes but Mitch Moses' cut-out pass to the wing was ruled forward.
