Penrith are guaranteed their first home qualifying final in a decade after making it 13 straight NRL wins by rolling through Parramatta 20-2 on Friday night.
Jarome Luai again starred at five-eighth for the Panthers with a try and an assist, as they dispatched the only team to have beaten them this year.
And the best news for Penrith?
This was far from their best performance of 2020 against a team they are now likely to meet in the first week of the finals.
In truth, had it not been for Parramatta's grit and a lack of finishing from Penrith, the Panthers could have won it by 30.
They had 57 tackles on Parramatta's line to the Eels' six at the other end, but still had to wait 39 minutes and 52 seconds for their first try after blowing already five.
But still they held their nerve to finish the job in the second half, with the final nail in the coffin not hammered in until the final few minutes.
"It's good to be able to play different styles of games and have different challenges thrown at you," coach Ivan Cleary said.
"We had to show plenty of patience.
"To be able to take it all the way to the end of the game was very satisfying."
With a top-two spot locked in, the minor premiership also now looks a mere formality with only a win over North Queensland or Canterbury required.
And it's hard to see any team stopping the Panthers before October.
They dominate field position with Dylan Edwards, Josh Mansour and Brian To'o totalling almost 700 metres between them on Friday night out of their own end.
James Fisher-Harris played 78 minutes straight up front, while Nathan Cleary's long kicking game is among the best in the game.
But they still had to play the long game against Parramatta after it first looked like they could blow them away early.
Josh Mansour and Stephen Crichton had two chances on the left, but one ball was controversially ruled to be knocked on and another thrown into touch.
Luai was held up once when he put the ball down on Blake Ferguson's leg, while To'o went within a fingernail of scoring himself.
Moses Leota was also one of several players to drop the ball on the line.
But somehow the Eels were the first to score via a penalty goal.
Finally though, the pressure told when Mansour crossed on the half-time siren from a Luai cut-out ball on the siren.
Liam Martin then put the game in the bag when he leapt high to mark a Nathan Cleary kick and get it down in the 56th minute, before Luai crossed at fulltime.
In further good news for Penrith, Apisai Koroisau and Spencer Leinu were also both cleared of serious concussions after leaving the field and not returning.
The result means Parramatta could finish the round fourth, setting up a likely battle of the west for week one of the finals.
"What happens in three weeks' time is the furthest thing from my mind," Arthur said.
"The effort was really good defensively, we turned them away on several occasions.
"But we just had to make too many tackles.
Australian Associated Press
