KEY POINTS:
It is almost difficult to overstate the importance of this convincing Warriors home win in last night's season opener.
It was the type of performance - four brilliant tries in the first half to lead 24-0 - the club has been promising to deliver for a while.
Over the club's short history, Warriors fans have heard it all. But in a new season with new recruits and new hope of finals football, nothing backs up the hype like a win.
Sure, it's only two points but, as Steve Price admitted, this win got a big monkey off their back.
The charismatic leader, who set the tone early with some smashing runs and scored the second try, was referring to their five match-losing streak against the Eels and their abysmal first round record in the NRL.
The last time the Warriors won in the first round was 2002, the same year they made the grand final.
Coach Ivan Cleary will be putting pass marks on many of his players' report cards after last night's victory.
Of the new recruits, Wade McKinnon was first to impress. He wasted no time in scoring his first Warriors try, hurting his former club with a slick finish on the back of tidy lead-up work from George Gatis and Grant Rovelli after five minutes.
McKinnon had such an impact from broken field running that he became an instant hero with the fans.
The Michael Witt and Michael Crockett combination took a little longer to find favour with their new club's 13,587 boisterous supporters.
The two combined beautifully to lay on the third try, with Crockett sliding in at the corner. While it all sounds like one-way traffic, it wasn't.
The Eels had plenty of possession and territory but nothing seemed to go right for the visitors.
New signing Brett Fench will want to forget his Eels debut, their powerful centre Timana Tahu was kept in check and hooker Mark Riddell failed to make any impression on the game.
The Warriors can take all the credit for keeping what is a potent attacking side at bay with possibly some of the best defence seen at the club. Wave after wave of black defence delivered some thundering hits.
That was until lock Daniel Wagon and Nathan Cayless both touched
down in a 10-minute horror period for the home side after the break.
It revived the Parramatta side's hopes of a comeback and stirred the nerves of the Warriors faithful.
But after all the good work, surely this was always going to be the Warriors' night.
Life is never easy for the club's fans, as many checked the scoreboard to see an eternity of 27 minutes remaining with 12 points the margin.
The tension was noticeably broken when Nathan Fien, whose kicking game all night was superb, chipped behind the tryline for Lance Hohaia to score.
But the Mt Smart regulars knew there was no time to relax and the Eels were in again, courtesy of winger Jarryd Hayne for what turned out to be the last time the Eels threatened to spoil the party.
In fact, Crockett made sure the fans would go home smiling with a try on fulltime.
While the match wasn't without its nervous moments, there was much to like about this Warriors performance.
On this evidence, Cleary has bought wisely in the off-season and all the trademarks of his coaching plan are falling into place.
The forward pack delivered the platform all night and now they have some lethal game-breakers to exploit that advantage.
Against a side who previously had the wood on them, they displayed courage, composure and confidence that they were going to win, even in some shaky moments.
This was an important win that built on the five-match winning streak of 2006.
Eventual champions Brisbane ended that run last season. If the Warriors want to restore the faith even more, victory over the Broncos next week at home will go some way to further confirming the new hope fans will be feeling right now.
