They are renowned for their attacking flair and the stunning exploits of Jarryd Hayne but Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson has hailed his side's much-improved and tougher defence for its 2010 resurgence.
The Eels made it three wins in a row and moved into the top eight for the first time this season after a gritty 26-10 win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
But Instead of climbing the ladder on the back of free-flowing attacking football, it's been a more measured approach by Parramatta because of some resolute and uncompromising defence.
It was never more evident than in the early stages on Friday night as the Bulldogs had most of the ball and threatened to race in a couple of tries, only to be denied by some desperate Eels defence.
On the back of that effort the Eels went on to claim a convincing five-tries-to-two win.
"We've always been determined in defence, we're just much more resilient and technically intelligent," Anderson, who labelled the performance his side's best of the season, said.
"We're not falling victim to same things twice, we're learning from what we did before both good and bad."
"We handled everything they threw at us pretty well and that's very satisfying as a coach."
"Their tries were opportunist tries, they really had to push the envelope to score."
"For 80 minutes I thought we were very aggressive and had a lot of control in the game."
Asked if the Eels' current run had any similarities to the brilliant 2009 late-season winning streak that saw the club go all the way to the grand final, Anderson said: "I don't compare, we're a different team."
"The opposition are a lot better and are playing a lot better against us."
"We still have to learn to bury a team if we've got the momentum."
"But we're finding different ways to win and that's the impressive bit."
Eels five-eighth Daniel Mortimer said the major factor behind the team's good recent form was it was now playing as a unit.
"I don't think we were playing as a team early in the year, we were trying to play individually," Mortimer said.
"Our effort was there, we've always trained hard at training but we've got a little bit of confidence now."
"We're starting to bond a bit better, getting on and enjoying our training and it shows on the field."
Halfback Kris Keating was a standout for the Eels, setting up three tries and scoring one of his own to improve his chances of snaring a City Origin jumper when teams are announced on Sunday.
But most of Parramatta's squad was impressive with co-captain Nathan Hindmarsh putting in another workhorse performance while Hayne was brilliant at the back and also crossed for his first try of the season.
"It was a really professional performance from (Hayne), he did a lot of the hard yards, he diffused kicks well and did a lot of donkey work," Anderson said of his No.1.
"And when he got into his sprint mode there ... he smoked everyone and that was pleasing for him to get his first try."
Anderson said the reason for Hayne's slow start to the season was due to opposition teams doing more to prevent the Blues star from producing the brilliance of last season.
"They are putting numbers on him but he is finding ways to come into the game," the Eels boss said.
"He is working for his teammates doing the tough, hard work that isn't pleasing on the eye but the purists will know he's doing the good work for the team."