The Parramatta Eels dug deep for an 8-2 win over the Canterbury Bulldogs as the NRL season got under way.
Launching their latest pursuit of a first league title since 1986, a bruising battle at Bankwest Stadium went Parramatta's way thanks to Reed Mahoney's scrappy second-half try.
A grubber kick from Mitchell Moses looked to carry little threat until Lachlan Lewis botched his effort to grab the ball, which ran loose for Mahoney to sprint towards and ground.
That telling moment came after 65 minutes and broke a 2-2 tie, with Moses adding the extras having slotted a first-half penalty.
Parramatta were denied an early first-half try when Blake Ferguson dotted down in the right corner and celebrated with a somersault, only for replays to show he put his foot on the sideline before grounding the ball.
Eels head coach Brad Arthur told a post-match news conference: "They did what they did to us last year - dragged us in for a real dogfight - and for the first half we lacked a bit of patience and got frustrated.
"But in the second half I thought we settled a bit and completed a bit better and tried to build some pressure. We just didn't really get any great opportunities in good field positions
"The pleasing thing is I'm sitting here and we managed to get better at in the second half and turn it around.
"I thought we'd be better with the ball, but I was really happy with the defence. We kept turning up."
