‘Couldn‘t breathe’: Clint Gutherson left hurling on all fours after heavy Marcelo Montoya collision

The Eels secured an unconvincing 28-18 victory over the New Zealand-based side in the Round 18 contest, with Gutherson scoring a crucial try in the 56th minute.

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But the 27-year-old was in absolute agony after a crunching Montoya tackle in the 44th minute left him bent over on all fours.

Moments later, Gutherson vomited on the surface before returning to his feet.

“It‘s the hits that you don’t see coming and you’re relaxed, as you can see … talk about catching an up-and-under,” rugby league icon Andrew Johns said on Channel 9.

Fox League commentator Dan Ginnane joked: “I think we know what colour Gatorade he was drinking.”

Gutherson later explained: “Montoya just absolutely folded me off the wing. I couldn‘t breathe for a couple of seconds, but I got back up.

“I don‘t know what was coming up, but I feel good now. I’m a very big spewer no matter what I’m doing … my throat’s going to be sore later.”

The Eels were sloppy for long stretches of the game and only led 10-6 against their lowly rivals with 25 minutes left on the clock before Reed Mahoney set up Isaiah Papali’I with his second try assist of the night to give Parramatta some breathing room.

That seemed to give the hosts some confidence and they were never headed after that with Bailey Simonsson delivering a delicious offload in traffic to set up Gutherson minutes later.

The points flowed after that and there was time for some Maika Sivo magic that had the home crowd chanting his name as he raced down the sideline to add to his incredible try-scoring tally at CommBank Stadium.

“He’s just starting to get some confidence,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said.

They were far from clinical but the blue and golds are now just two competition points behind the teams coming second with five of their remaining seven games to be played at home.

The only concern is that they’ve now conceded a couple of late tries in garbage time for the second week in a row.

– with Martin Gabor, NCA NewsWire

Originally published as ‘Couldn’t breathe’: Clint Gutherson left hurling on all fours after heavy Marcelo Montoya collision