The Parramatta Eels snapped a four-game losing streak to take bragging rights in the battle of the west with the Penrith Panthers on Friday night.
The Eels well and truly dominated the first half at Pepper Stadium, fighting off a comeback from the Panthers to claim a 26-20 win.
Aside from missing out on the two points, the Panthers have a bigger problem with their injury toll taking two massive hits.
In-form fullback Matt Moylan had to be assisted from the field after just 10 minutes and faces up to six weeks on the sidelines after injuring ligament in his right ankle.
There was more bad news for injury-plagued five-eighth Jamie Soward who could be out for a month after injuring the AC joint in his shoulder.
Soward managed to return to the field in the second half after he was felled by a contentious tackle from Eels big man Pauli Pauli.
The tackle was put on report, but it was of little comfort to Soward, his skipper Peter Wallace and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.
When asked if he had an issue with late hits on playmakers, Wallace appeared unhappy with the lack of action taken.
"I've got an issue that we lost a player, but nothing happened to [the Eels]," Wallace said.
Cleary echoed his skipper's comments and said the NRL had to come up with a solution.
The Eels went into half-time with a 14-0 lead.
Isaah Yeo, David Simmons, Bryce Cartwright and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored for the Panthers in the second half but they couldn't rein in the Eels.
The Panthers face the Melbourne Storm at Pepper Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is 7.30pm.