At last, Parramatta have something to smile about.
After a summer of off-field hits, with five players set to leave after the 2022 season, the Eels' best returned to the field with a 36-0 thumping of premiers Penrith.
It was only a pre-season trial for a near full-strength Eels and Penrith were missing six of their premiership heroes, including Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Dylan Edwards.
But it was still a reminder that for all the challenges of the past four months, Parramatta are still a genuine title threat 15 days out from their season-opener against Gold Coast.
Clint Gutherson, in particular, looked in great touch as he had a hand in three of the Eels' tries.
The first of those involved fullback Gutherson at his most dangerous, slicing through the line before Will Penisini kicked back in field for Isaiah Papali'i to score.
Another came from another mid-field play, providing a nice inside ball for an offloading Shaun Lane before Dylan Brown dotted down.
Brown also looked good in his 80 minutes, while Mitch Moses' kicking game was top-class.
The Eels halfback provided a 40-20 in the lead up to one Sean Russell four-pointer, before he grubbered for Makahesi Makatoa to score the first of his two tries.
"It was about our identity, the style of football we want to play," said coach Brad Arthur.
"I felt like we built really good pressure in the first half and we were probably a bit loose in the second half.
"But it was nice for our systems to hold up, we have done a bit of work on it.
"But the real stuff starts in a few weeks."
Arthur also indicated that Russell will claim the left wing spot after Haze Dunster's season was ruined by a horror knee injury last week.
The only concern for the Eels from the match was Bryce Cartwright being sin-binned for a high shot late, but at this stage it appears unlikely he is in their best 17.
Penrith's defence was just one issue of concern for coach Ivan Cleary, after it has been the best in the league for the past two years.
"Today was disappointing, that's putting it lightly," Cleary said.
"Totally outplayed in every area.
"For whatever reason we didn't turn up with the right attitude today. I take responsibility for that. Parramatta did and they played really well.
"It was a pretty good lesson today regardless of who you have or who you play, if you don't turn up with the right attitude that can happen."
The returns of Yeo and James Fisher-Harris will go part way to fixing the defensive issues, while Nathan Cleary was missed as they had just 40 per cent of the ball.
The other real downside for the Panthers was a dislocated elbow to Mavrik Geyer, with the son of Penrith legend Mark on a development contract.
