The Sydney Roosters have crashed the Parramatta juggernaut and at the same time boosted their own stocks with a 48-12 victory over the Eels in front of almost 20,000 fans at an energy-charged Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night.
After three-straight wins on the back of brilliant full-back Jarryd Hayne re-creating his astonishing form of last season, this match was seen as the ultimate litmus test for Brian Smith's men who were on a roll of their own heading into the game following four-straight victories.
While Hayne showed glimpses of his best throughout the game, he failed to have the impact of recent outings as the likes of Todd Carney, Mitchell Pearce and revitalised two-try hero Anthony Minichiello stole the show for their confidence-fuelled club.
The Roosters played near-perfect football to jump out to an 18-0 lead after just 23 minutes before the Eels found their feet late in the half to head into the sheds at 24-12 down.
But after surrendering a big lead in the second-half against the Broncos last Monday night, the Roosters remained composed in the second 40, shutting out the Eels with some committed defence to post 24 unanswered points and cement their position in the top-four.
The Eels' biggest home loss in 15 years means they have squandered an ideal opportunity to momentarily assume outright eighth spot on the ladder, remaining in 10th position on 22 competition points.
While most of the sell-out crowd was waiting for Carney and Hayne to set the early moments of this game alight, it was one of the Roosters' unsung heroes in recent weeks, Mitch Aubusson, that produced the spark for the opening four-pointer of the match in the sixth minute.
The in-form second-rower powered through a hole off a superb short pass from Minichiello to finish his 30m dash in the right corner, providing Carney with a difficult conversion that he duly mastered with the aid of some late inswing.
A few plays after a spilt Feleti Mateo ball, the Chooks pounced again courtesy of a pin-point Carney corner-kick, taken on the run by winger Sam Perrett who sent centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall over for his fifth try in as many days.
Carney landed the second of his eight goals for the match to hand the Roosters a 12-0 lead after just 13 minutes.
Mitchell Pearce wasn't to be overshadowed by his dynamic halves' partner, using a clever right-foot step close to the line to send Minichellio over for a richly-deserved try in his 200th NRL appearance.
A series of penalties gave the Eels an ideal opportunity to finally make a strike in this game and it was non-other than their mercurial full-back who produced the goods on the half-hour.
The ‘Hayne Plane' burst through three defenders close to the line to plant the ball down, sending his large band of fans into a frenzy with a rather subdued version of his signature take off.
The Roosters were back in business in the 35th minute when boom centre Kane Linnett collected a Parramatta bomb near his own line to go on a stunning 60m left-edge dash, showing great composure to pop a fine ball inside to winger Phil Graham who completed the movement to give the visitors a 24-6 lead.
But just as this high-octane clash appeared headed in one direction, the Eels had the last laugh in the first half in the