Parramatta have been brought back down to earth with a bang as a Warriors outfit inspired by five-eighth Luke Metcalf won 46-10 to condemn the Eels to their biggest loss of the season.
Having begun the year slowly, Parramatta had been enjoying a mid-season renaissance and came into Saturday's meeting at CommBank Stadium on the back of a five-game winning streak.
But with Mitchell Moses, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Clint Gutherson away on State of Origin duty, Metcalf made the undermanned Eels suffer as the Warriors pushed their credentials as a top-four outfit.
It was only Metcalf's sixth NRL game for the New Zealand club after a hamstring injury derailed his pre-season but his combination with Shaun Johnson looks to be an instant hit.
Johnson nearly opted out of the trip across the Tasman given his wife Kayla is expecting to give birth to their second child in the coming days.
Truth be told, Metcalf played so well coach Andrew Webster could have instructed Johnson to stay in Auckland with his family.
Former Manly and Cronulla playmaker Metcalf was on fire from the get-go, sending Jackson Ford through a hole before darting over off the next play-the-ball for the Warriors' fourth-minute opener.
Bailey Simonsson hit back for the Eels but Metcalf ensured the damage was one way from thereon in, having a hand in a quickfire double to winger Marcelo Montoya before diving in for his second of the evening.
The dynamic No.6 could have had a first half hat-trick but was unable to ground a grubber to the in-goal.
The missed opportunity mattered little as Dylan Walker strolled over on the stroke of halftime to put the Kiwi outfit 30-4 up at the interval.
Parramatta began the second half with a renewed vigour but when Mitch Barnett barged past some weak defence to crash in their hopes of a comeback faded.
To their credit they never gave up, with Shaun Lane bashing his way across the line from close range after an acrobatic corner finish from Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
A Warriors chant rang around CommBank Stadium midway through the second half as many Eels fans made for the exit.
With Josh Hodgson (neck injury) and Dylan Brown (stood down) joining the Eels' Origin contingent on the sidelines, it was always going to be a tough night for Parramatta.
Barnett finished the night with a double, barging over as Webster's men wrapped up a fourth-straight win outside of New Zealand for the first time since 2019.
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