The Sydney Roosters have marked their territory at the opening of Allianz Stadium by inflicting a 26-16 NRL defeat on bitter rivals South Sydney to set up a rematch next week to kick off their finals campaign.
Friday's victory was the Roosters' first over the Rabbitohs since 2019 but it may have come at a considerable cost to their hopes of going deep into the finals.
Veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves tweaked a hamstring and didn't return in the second half while star centre Joey Manu picked up a calf problem.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson conceded Manu was a doubt to play next week, with the side already without regular starters Victor Radley (concussion) and Daniel Tupou (groin).
"I thought we were really good in how we wanted to play and in a really good space," said Robinson.
"After those changes we didn't execute well enough when we had field position.
"It sort of just ended up becoming a stop-start game in that second half."
The win in front of a 41,906-strong crowd on the first night at their new ground ensures the Roosters finish sixth and face Souths there next week in a winner-takes-all elimination final.
The Rabbitohs have their own issues after losing Cameron Murray to a concussion in the first minute of the game and seeing edge forward Jai Arrow pick up a groin problem.
Utility forward Siliva Havili was also sent for two head injury assessments after filling in for hooker Damien Cook who missed the match because of COVID-19 protocols.
Souths were 20-6 down at halftime leaving assistant coach Ben Hornby, who was standing in for Jason Demetriou, to lament how they showed up too late.
"We didn't start as well as they did and, obviously, losing Murray didn't help.
"The Roosters were doing a good job putting us in our own end and we were under pressure the whole time.
"They are a good side and they are going to score points which is eventually what happened."
The result counted for little given Parramatta had locked up fourth with Thursday's win over Melbourne, but there was a ferocity to this contest from the outset.
Two Souths old boys combined to open the scoring at the Roosters' new ground, with Luke Keary sending Angus Crichton over with just six minutes played.
Sam Walker converted that try along with one to skipper James Tedesco before nudging two penalties off the back of two botched Latrell Mitchell short dropouts.
Mitchell had a night to forget against his former club.
The Souths fullback was ganged up on in every tackle and was met with a chorus of cheers and boos, most notably when he was sent to the sin bin late in the second half for a professional foul.
He was also caught out of position when Walker regathered his own kick close to the Rabbitohs line and touched down unchallenged.
Mitchell did help spark Souths' first try of the game when he grubber-kicked through for hooker Peter Mamouzelos, but he will be keener than anyone to avenge this loss next week.
Egan Butcher extended the Roosters' lead after the break before Taane Milne scored two second-half tries for the Bunnies.
Manu went down on the hour mark and Mitchell soon joined him on the sidelines when he stuck his hand in the ruck and was sent to cool off by referee Grant Atkins.
Roosters forward Nat Butcher was also binned for slowing down play in the final minutes.
