Parramatta Eels winger Sean Russell has stolen the headlines with a hat-trick in the first half of their season opener against the Gold Coast Titans.

Making just his second NRL appearance, Russell’s triplet of tries was the highlight of a bonkers first half that saw nearly 50 points scored as Parramatta went to the shed 26-22 up. It was the highest-scoring match of the NRL opening weekend before the first half was even complete.

The rookie’s fairytale start began with two tries in the first 10 minutes – the second of them a bizarre effort that followed a booming Mitchell Moses kick from inside his own half that rebounded off the post on the full and fell to Dylan Brown, who hacked on for the winger to score.

Russell is only featuring as a result of an injury crisis that has seen Maika Sivo ruled out until midseason – a carryover from an ACL tear last year – and a further serious knee injury for Haze Dunster that was suffered in their trial loss to St George Illawarra.

The injury curse on the Eels left wing continued, however, as Russell copped a big blow to his ribs in the act of scoring his third try and was taken from the field with bruised ribs.

Russell scored twice in his NRL debut against Canterbury last year so he has an amazing record of five tries in two games.