Parramatta's new-look playmaking combination of Mitchell Moses, Dylan Brown and Reed Mahoney had coach Brad Arthur cautiously optimistic after some nice touches in a 22-20 trial loss to the Raiders at St Marys.
Arthur confirmed hooker Mahoney was currently in front of regular No.9 Kaysa Pritchard, though each would likely get a chance in the club's final trial against Penrith in a fortnight.
In the halves, Moses looked sharp as he set up tries and kicked well in general play, combining well with 18-year-old Brown.
Arthur said he was excited to hand Brown the chance against Canberra.
"Dylan took the line on a couple of times which was good. Mitch had some nice touches. They kicked well, stuck to our plan," Arthur said.
"I was excited for Dylan - he had a bit of fun. He's a pretty level-headed kid, takes it all in his stride, I think he was looking forward to getting out there and playing some footy.
"I don't think he was really worried whether he was playing an NRL trial or whatever, he just wanted to play."
Brown produced some excellent runs and kicks in nearly 60 minutes on field, with the playmaking trio going through the opening 55 minutes unchanged.
"That's the first time they've had that opportunity [to all play together in match conditions], it's different at training, you don't get put under the pressure of a game," Arthur said.
"We've got another trial in a couple of weeks, we'll try and increase their time, get close to 70 or 75 minutes closer to round one."
Other positives for the Eels included the strength and fitness of the forward pack.
Former Raider Junior Paulo was the most impressive, looking incredibly fit and producing some damaging runs and offloads.
Fellow recruit Shaun Lane also had some strong moments while Peni Terepo continued his strong trial form.
Tepai Moeroa, Dan Alvaro, Tim Mannah and particularly Marata Niukore all also had some good moments.
"We needed to back ourselves a touch more, there was a couple of tries there we could have taken but we didn't," the coach continued.
"We missed a couple of tackles here and there, overran some passes, which was just a timing issue but we got out of it what we needed to for 40 minutes."