Parramatta players maintain they remain buoyed by Zac Lomax's toughness, as the Eels prepare to start a six-week stretch without their star winger.
Hurt early against St George Illawarra, Lomax still nailed a golden-point field goal with a broken foot to beat his old club and claim the Eels' first win of 2025.
The Parramatta recruit is now in a race to be fit for NSW in State of Origin, with his absence a genuine blow to an Eels team that finally looks to be on the up.
Already without star halfback Mitch Moses for another month, Eels players insist Lomax's approach can still have an effect on the club.
"Certainly (can). Zac showed that (approach) in the last few weeks," lock J'maine Hopgood said ahead of Saturday clash's with Canberra in Darwin.
"He has really taken it personally and put a bit of work on his back and he was rewarded for it last week and we'll miss that from him.
"It was pretty incredible last week. He was already hurt before he kicked the field goal. Really proud of him.
"It meant a lot to him against his former club. We're going to miss him over the next few weeks. But it showed some real courage."
Bailey Simonsson will come onto the wing against Canberra on returning from his own knee injury, but coach Jason Ryles believes Lomax's impact will still be felt.
"He is like any top-line player in any team. We will miss him," Ryles said.
"But I think they see most days at training the way he competes so hard and the way he trains. That is the way he plays.
"It was unfortunate someone landed on his foot and he didn't think anything of it other than it being sore. Obviously he didn't know he had a fracture in his foot."
Saturday's clash marks the Eels' last in Darwin, after taking games to the Northern Territory capital since 2012.
The Eels won six of the first seven played there, but have struggled in recent years with three big defeats.
Last year's flogging from the Dolphins proved catastrophic for long-term coach Brad Arthur, who accused his side of giving up before being axed a month later.
In his first season in charge, Ryles does believe the Eels have turned a corner with last week's win breaking a 0-4 start to the season.
"It was good to finally get some reward for the effort the team is putting in," Ryles said.
"We have been fighting really hard and having periods of the game where we have done a lot of things really, really well but unfortunately weren't getting the result.
"It was really good to get that breakthrough, and it was good for the players' confidence and the mood around the club."
