Brad Arthur challenged his Eels to run the ball for more than 2000 metres against the Sharks – and they smashed that barrier in Saturday night's 28-4 win.
Parramatta lead the competition for running metres after three games with an average of 1948 per game but hadn't reached 2000 in their opening two wins. They racked up 2398m against Cronulla and showed no mercy to a team that played without a bench for the second half due to injuries.
"We've got a powerful team and that was our plan tonight. It didn't change. If anything, once they were down to less changes it was probably more important," coach Arthur said at Bankwest Stadium.
"I thought it was important this week for where we're at and I just thought it would work for us," he added.
While Cronulla were in the wars, Parramatta had their own health issues with halfback Mitch Moses failing a first-half HIA and powerful winger Maika Sivo having to pass an assessment after a head knock.
Arthur was confident Moses would be fine to play in next round's traditional Easter Monday clash with the Wests Tigers.
Match Highlights: Eels v Sharks
"He wanted to come back [tonight] but obviously he wasn't in any condition to," Arthur said of Moses. "But he's fine."
Interchange utility Will Smith came up with two try assists as he filled Moses's boots and helped keep the team in sync.
Arthur was pleased with Parramatta's patience.
Arthur prefers protocols stay as is
"We didn't lose our cool. We had a fair bit of ball down their end and couldn't get across the try-line," he said.
"We got close and close and close but we stayed calm and knew once we got one we'd get a couple.
"I talked to the boys about us being a touch more professional. At times last year, we'd panic or try and pull the trigger on every play. But I thought we were way more professional at the back end of the game."
