Parramatta fell victim to a rare Canberra comeback but Mitchell Moses and his new-look spine at least gave Eels fans a reason to believe despite Friday's 22-20 NRL trial defeat.
Moses had a hand in the Eels' first three tries as they skipped out to a 20-0 lead, before Canberra scored twice in the final three minutes to snatch the win.
With close to their top squad at the Eels' disposal against a Canberra side of fringe first-graders and reserves, Moses and new five-eighth Dylan Brown shot out of the blocks at Sydney's St Mary's Stadium.
Moses had control of the game with both the boot and a weave through the Canberra defence, while Brown took on the line with the confidence well beyond that expected of an 18-year-old.
One of his runs was instrumental in one of Clint Gutherson's two assists, who looked dangerous at fullback, while Reed Mahoney was also tidy at hooker ahead of the opening round against Penrith.
"(The halves) were pretty good, they kicked well, stuck to our plan," coach Brad Arthur said.
"Dylan took the line on a couple of times which was good. Mitch had some nice touches. We got a couple of things wrong too with our set starts.
"(Dylan)'s a pretty level headed kid, takes it all in his stride. I don't think he was really worried whether he was playing an NRL trial or whatever, he just wanted to play."
Last year's wooden spooners led 20-12 when Arthur pulled his main men, only for the Raiders to score twice in the final five minutes to claim the win.
So often victim of the comeback themselves in 2018, Canberra only got on the board just before the break when Siliva Havili burrowed over before young forward JJ Collins followed just after.
Sam Williams, playing for his round-one spot, then made it 20-16 in the 78th minute when he dummied and stepped through the line, before he sealed the match with a sideline conversion on the siren after a length-of-the-field effort from young flyer Andre Niko.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was the other Raider to impress with some bright moments in attack, in what is likely a shootout between he and Brad Abbey for the injured Jordan Rapana's wing spot.
Australian Associated Press
