Parramatta halves Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses had the ball on a string at CommBank Stadium as the Eels made a welcome return to the winners circle with a hefty 42-6 NRL victory over Canterbury.
After setting up two tries, Brown scored a double of his own making himself a constant menace for Bulldogs defenders.
Moses was back early from finger surgery and Brown must have been glad he heals quickly. The Eels halfback set up both of Brown's four-pointers with deft kicks and the pair also had four line-break assists between them.
It was an eight-tries-to-one thumping and a must-win with top-eight sides Brisbane (at Suncorp Stadium) and Cronulla (home) next up as the regular season draws to a close.
"I thought our start was really good, thought we maintained that physicality for 80 minutes. I know what this team can do ... but what I need to see is the 'want' from them," Eels coach Brad Arthur said.
"The want was really there today but we've got to make sure we back that up again next week.
"We've showed in the big games what we can do but it's that want and desire to do it all the time."
Parramatta needed a win to all but clinch their finals spot with ninth-placed Canberra four points behind them at kick-off.
They also wanted to erase the memories of last week's 26-0 shellacking by South Sydney.
Scoring some spectacular team tries certainly helped as they leap-frogged the Rabbitohs into fifth spot on the ladder.
Canterbury remain 12th, wondering why they couldn't provide more resistance in the second half as they were only down by 10 at the break.
"We were impatient. We threw the ball away. We didn't smother their last plays and we just didn't build any pressure," Bulldogs coach Mick Potter said.
Canterbury captain Josh Jackson said the way the Eels moved them around and made them defend for long periods would work well come finals time.
"If they play that style of footy they'll trouble a lot of teams," Jackson said.
The hosts certainly didn't waste time on Saturday.
They led 16-6 at halftime but it could have been a bigger margin if not for the fleet-footed Bulldogs wingers Josh Addo-Carr and Jacob Kiraz, who managed to bat the ball dead twice in consecutive kick chases.
Moses converted the opening two Eels tries by Will Penisini and Waqa Blake for a 12-2 lead after just 14 minutes.
But it was his halves partner in Brown who continues to impress with his 14th try assist of the year. It was a sublime 20-metre cut-out pass for Maika Sivo to cross unmarked in the left-hand corner.
In the second half, Ryan Matterson kept the scoreboard ticking over with his fourth try of the year - once again off a pass from Brown.
Centre Tom Opacic scored off the back of a penalty just three minutes later and when Brown nudged the ball soccer-style, regathered and scored off an initial kick towards him from Moses, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 32-6.
Parramatta's No.7 caressed the ball off his left boot for Brown to chase once again and score his second and Blake touched down for his double with two minutes left on the clock to consign Canterbury to a 16th loss for the season.
