While he was left to rue some "dumb" football that helped end their NRL season, Parramatta coach Brad Arthur was still a proud man.
And from 2018 wooden-spooners to beaten semi-finalists he should be.
The Eels were never in the hunt in their sudden death playoff against Melbourne at AAMI Park, unable to repeat their dazzling qualifying final display against Brisbane.
Parramatta were blown away in the first half, with the Storm running in five tries before they added a further two for a 36-0 scoreline.
"We did some dumb things - shoulder charges, tackling blokes in air, kicking on the fourth tackle," Arthur said after the match.
"There were some moments we didn't get right and we have been really good at that over the last two months - building a game and we didn't do that."
Rookie winger Maika Sivo was a guilty party in two of those offences - putting a shoulder charge on Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and taking winger Suliasi Vunivalu out in the air.
He could miss some games early next season for the Papenhuyzen hit.
Arthur was happy with the way his players fought back in the second half, to slow the Storm scoreboard ticking over.
"Our start was ordinary and in the second half we bombed some opportunities, but at least we had some fight," he said.
"That shows that the group can move forward and we have something to build on for next year."
Arthur said the entire squad was disappointed at their performance but overall he was pleased with their growth, with around a dozen playing in their first finals series.
"I am proud of the boys and the whole team - nothing has changed, we just didn't get it right tonight," he said.
Young Eels hooker Reed Mahoney echoed those thoughts, saying taking on the minor premiers in the finals had been a learning experience.
"I'm super proud of the boys - we've had a great season and finals," Mahoney said.
"Finals footy is a lot different and everyone learnt a lesson.
"We walk away from this, learn from it and add it into pre-season."
Australian Associated Press
