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When the best winger in world rugby league Semi Radradra crossed for three tries, and Vai Toutai added a fourth 36 minutes from time, Parramatta led South Sydney 20-6.
Having lost their last four games, the Rabbitohs were heading for a fifth with Parramatta and their fans enjoying calling the shots.
But somehow the Rabbitohs found their lost mojo.
Was it coach Mike Maguire moving captain Greg Inglis from fullback to five-eighth? Was it Inglis being closer to possession and the pack to drive them hard?
Or was it the Burgess brothers deciding not to be spectators and getting stuck into both attack and defence?
To be fair, it was a smattering of all three to snatch a 22-20 victory in the shadow of the siren. Benchman Luke Keary scored a brilliant try and under extreme pressure Adam Reynolds converted from touch.
From the moment the ball left Reynolds’ boot, it covered the centre of the black dot the entire journey.
South Sydney had every right to celebrate, they deserved the win.
But there was sympathy for Parramatta for letting a much-needed win slip away at the death when success after a tumultuous week of salary cap bashing would have been a genuine adrenalin rush.
Wherever loyalties lay, it was a crackerjack game – the best of the season – played at a cracking pace.
And it was no place for the faint-hearted with six concussions, 26 stitches in Jason Clarke’s face, and a couple of hamstrings, added to the countless bumps and bruises of battle.
Sam Burgess was named man of the match. That too couldn’t be denied.
He lifted the South Sydney pack, and with Inglis the guiding light close by, that was the difference.
Reynolds must be on Laurie Daley’s shortlist as the NSW State of Origin halfback, with his goal-kicking and general play adding strings to his bow.
Inglis made three searching runs that ended up with two tries, and he obviously enjoyed the extra possession.
For the beaten side Radradra was the standout.
The scoring machine’s hat-trick on Friday night gives him 56 tries from 59 games for the club, with 26 from 24 at Pirtek Stadium.
Sheer brilliance.
Next up for South Sydney will be the Dragons at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night, while Parramatta have a much longer break before they meet the Storm at Pirtek on Monday week.