The Parramatta Eels have gone down to the Sydney Roosters 32-18 at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
It was the first loss for the Blue and Golds in the 2019 season, but a performance that signalled they're a different team to the wooden spooners of 2018.
While most pundits expected an improved performance from the Eels, few predicted the battle they would hand the reigning Premiers and World Champions.
Parramatta lost Tepai Moeroa in the warm-up, forcing coach Brad Arthur to start returning forward Peni Terepo at lock and promoting rookie Oregon Kaufusi to the bench.
The Roosters meanwhile welcomed back captain Jake Friend.
For Parramatta, the loss brings them somewhat back down to earth following their impressive showings against Penrith and the Bulldogs, but provides a base they can work off.
Across 65 minutes of the match they stood toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the competition.
The Eels will rue some missed opportunities throughout the match and costly errors that eventually wore down their defensive resolve.
But where the 2018 Eels folded, the 2019 side kept coming and forced the Roosters to play until the final minutes.
It's clear Parramatta has a way to go to become a genuine Premiership threat. Their Friday night clash demonstrated the gulf between the top sides and those fighting it out for the eight.
Halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown had solid games but perhaps needed to be more clinical with their kicking game when in attacking territory.
They also failed to target young Roosters winger Matt Ikuvalu with their kicks, who looked like a deer in the headlights for much of the match and was up against the imposing Maika Sivo.
Parramatta needed to be more clinical across the match. Both sides completed at around 70% however the Roosters had the benefit of having a set defensive structure that has been proven time and time again.
The extra defensive work the Eels put on themselves eventually took its toll late in the match, conceding two soft tries and failing to close the gap on James Tedesco close to the line.
If there's one thing the Eels couldn't be accused of though, it was shirking their workload, with every player contributing in every minute they were on the field.
A loss is never something to celebrate, but the performance itself was nothing to sneeze at and would likely have beaten the majority of teams outside of the top four.
The next step for the Eels is to back up and take it to the Cronulla Sharks next week and develop that killer instinct that the Roosters demonstrated on Friday night.
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