They went head-to-head, try for try for 80 minutes – and then they prayed. Fijian cult heroes Semi Radradra and Kevin Naiqama tried to outdo each other at every opportunity, before slinking to the ANZ Stadium turf and saying thanks.
"Win or lose ... that's what we do the Fiji boys," the softly spoken Radradra said. "We say our thanks to the Lord.
"I've known [Naiqama] for a long time. He's hard to play against."
Not so much for Radradra after half-time.
The NRL's joint leading try scorer – Radradra now has 16, alongside Bulldogs flyer Curtis Rona – scored a remarkable double in the Eels' come-from-behind 28-16 win over the Tigers, the fifth straight week he has scored multiple tries.
Imagine how many he would have if he hadn't missed six weeks with injury earlier in the season?
Radradra's heroics – after Naiqama had won an early points battle with a first-half brace of his own – broke a record set by Ray Preston in the 1950s for the most amount of consecutive games with at least a try-scoring double.
"I only found out tonight when they told me after the game," Radradra said of the record. "It feels good. I've been working every day after training practising catching, but the boys are helping me out a lot."
Red-faced when Naiqama powered the Tigers to an unlikely first-half lead, Radradra dominated in the air and on the ground as the smiles slowly started returning to the long-suffering blue and gold faithful.
And in no small part thanks to the fan favourite, who has Parramatta fans dreaming about just how far their team can go in the final two months of the season.
Just when will he stop scoring?
Not any time soon if Brad Arthur wants the Parramatta resurgence to continue. The Eels are now flirting with an unlikely finals fling after another win at ANZ Stadium on Monday night.
They are now only four points shy of the top eight after a fourth win in their last five matches, with another guaranteed two points for the bye coming next week.
It is a far stretch from their morale-sapping days at the foot of the ladder a little more than a month ago, when they surrendered the third biggest comeback in NRL history against a rampant Cowboys.
Amid recent boardroom brawling and contract dramas, an entertaining all-Fijian wing duel between Radradra and Naiqama left the Parramatta fans – and cult hero – with the last laugh.
The Eels had led by as many as 12 points early, trailed at half-time and then turned it over to Radradra and Chris Sandow in the second half.
Radradra first scored after collecting a Corey Norman kick uncontested, set up Sandow to score after pocketing the little No.7's bomb and then had the favour returned when Sandow threw the pass that allowed Radradra to seal the match with just seven minutes left.
It consigned the Tigers to sole possession of last spot before their own week's rest.
It may not have rivalled the Cowboys capitulation, but the Eels didn't muck around butchering an early cushion this time.
And that was despite coming into the clash with confidence-boosting wins over top-four hopefuls Melbourne and St George Illawarra either side of the bye.
Tim Mannah and Luke Kelly had blasted Parramatta to a 12-point lead in almost as many minutes – the skipper scoring just his third NRL try and first in more than three years – with both four-pointers being the first this season for the respective players.
But the Tigers' wingers – aided by the polish of boom No.1 James Tedesco – quickly went about erasing the deficit.
It was Naiqama who won an early points battle with Radradra, first standing up his opposite to score after a looping pass from Josh Drinkwater, making his Tigers debut in place of the injured Luke Brooks.
And Naiqama was first to react when Tedesco, who was unlucky to have the opening points chalked off when pouncing on a stray Isaac De Gois pass in his own in-goal, burst into the backfield and kicked deftly off his left foot for the winger to scoop up and score.
Naiqama's fellow flanker Pat Richards strolled over in the other corner to gift the Tigers a half-time lead after more smart lead-up work from Tedesco and Manaia Cherrington as the Eels again wondered how quickly it had unravelled.
Parramatta centre Brad Takairangi ensured Tedesco didn't have it all his own way, placed on report for a late hit on the fullback in the first half.
Tigers wrecking ball Martin Taupau will also come under scrutiny for a seemingly innocuous tackle on Radradra in the second stanza.
