Yet Wright and Mateo, along with barnstorming prop Fuifui Moimoi, emerged as the unlikely heroes of the Eels' win over Gold Coast, a victory that has carried Parramatta within one game of the grand final.
With 10 minutes remaining, Eels fans started chanting "bring on the Bulldogs". Two of the game's traditional rivals - clubs who battled for supremacy through much of the 1980s - are poised to meet in a blockbuster on Friday night at ANZ Stadium.
Win that and Parramatta will be in the grand final. Who would have thought? At one point in the season the Eels were 14th on the ladder. Avoiding the wooden spoon seemed to be their biggest goal. But here we are. It's September and the Eels are still alive. Last night's win was the club's ninth in its past 10 games and they did it in style.
"It's hard not to get excited. We're looking forward to playing in front of a massive crowd, hopefully."
The opening 20 minutes were relatively even but beyond that the Eels looked in control. Mateo scored the try that swung the game in Parramatta's direction while Wright - brought into the side when Krisnan Inu succumbed to a hamstring injury on Thursday - ended any hope of a Titans comeback with 12 minutes remaining when he beat the tackle of Luke Bailey and raced away.
Last night was Mateo's 14th game this season - and fifth since returning from a ruptured biceps muscle. Last week, as the Eels beat St George Illawarra, he had the ignominy of being dragged from the field after making a mistake that led to a Dragons try.
"He was very composed tonight," Eels coach Daniel Anderson said. "He had to be. He came up with some big plays. I am very happy for him because we had a little chat about discipline and composure."
At times, he rolls the dice and loses. Last night, he manufactured a win that kept the Eels in the premiership race. Mateo started on the bench but entered the fray in the 12th minute when five-eighth Daniel Mortimer was forced from the field with a hip injury, inflicted by Sam Tagatese as the 20-year-old attempted a clearing kick.
"He took him out," Anderson said. "It's disappointing."
Given Mortimer's form this season, it shaped as a sledge-hammer blow. Mateo had other ideas. He may have had his problems this year - at one point he was linked with a move to the Bulldogs - but he took only eight minutes to showcase his talents.
Taking the ball near the Titans line, Mateo simply showed the ball, got on the outside of Anthony Laffranchi and slid over. The Gold Coast had taken a 2-0 lead but with one piece of skill from Mateo the game had swung in the Eels' favour.
He wasn't just influential in attack. Early in the second half as the Titans battered the Parramatta tryline, Mateo was on hand to clean up a Scott Prince kick. The bigger play came from Hindmarsh, who jolted the ball from Matthew White's grasp with a try beckoning. As hard and often as Gold Coast attacked, the Eels found the answer.
When Kevin Kingston finished off a brilliant team try midway through the second half to give his side a 19-2 lead, Gold Coast was on the ropes. Then Wright landed the knock-out blow. He took a pass from the scrum, stood up Bailey and raced 20metres to score. His night ended with an ankle injury, but even that couldn't douse the joy at a victory that moved the club closer to its first grand final in eight years.
With it, he ended a season that promised so much for the Titans, but fizzled come finals time. The portents weren't good for the Gold Coast last night. Only a matter of seconds into the game, lock Ashley Harrison was helped from the field by trainers following a sickening head clash with Parramatta's Todd Lowrie.
Harrison went straight up the tunnel but his pain was soon shared by Mortimer, who laboured from the fifth minute after being hit by Tagatese.
"The boys have done really well so hopefully I will be there next week," Mortimer said.
"I will do everything I can to get back. I'm not too sure at the moment. But geez I hope so.
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