Benji Marshall has prevailed in his much anticipated showdown with fellow superstar Jarryd Hayne, brilliantly dismantling Parramatta to lead the Wests Tigers to an impressive 23-12 victory over the Eels at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Marshall was everywhere for the Tigers, scoring two superb second half tries himself as well as creating one of Lote Tuqiri's two four-pointers, and even potting a first half field goal.

Had he had his kicking boots on, after managing just one from five, the Tigers' victory would have been even more impressive.

The match had been billed as a face-off between Marshall and Hayne but it was the Tigers playmaker who shone brightest, reaping the benefit of a physical effort from his pack in front of 21,318 fans.

The Tigers scored five tries to two, three from grubbers, to record only their second win in nine games against Parramatta and wipe the memory of the Roosters putting 44 points past them last Sunday.

Powerhouse winger Tuqiri has now scored four tries in the first three matches of his return to rugby league after seven years playing union.

Parramatta's slow starts continued and the Tigers took total control of the first half, leading 9-0 at halftime.

They extended their lead to 15-0 five minutes after the break when Marshall handled twice sublimely before scoring under the posts.

A Parramatta fightback began when Joel Reddy outleapt Tuqiri to grab a Jeff Robson kick in the 49th minute and Krisnan Inu's conversion made it 15-6.

It was 15-12 in the 57th minute when a Hayne cut-out pass sent Timana Tahu down the left side and Inu crossed out wide.

But when Tuqiri stayed several blades of grass inside the touch-in-goal line to ground a Robbie Farah grubber for his second try, the home side was back out to 19-12.

And Marshall's 85m solo effort in the 76th minute after a deft dummy iced the cake for the Tigers.

Earlier, Marshall had laid on Tuqiri's first with a brilliant seventh minute grubber to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers went 8-0 ahead in the 15th minute when another grubber, this time from halfback Tim Moltzen, was pounced on by centre Blake Ayshford.

Coach Tim Sheens revealed Marshall had been given a needle for a rib injury before his stellar performance, but the champion No.6 played down the problem.

"It's just a bit of rib cartilage from last week's game but it's a tough sport and you've got to play with these sort of injuries so I'm just happy I got through it," he said.

He also played down his game, praising his dominant forwards who said had responded to criticism from commentator Phil Gould.

"We copped a spray during the week about having no ticker from Gus (Gould) and I think the boys responded a bit, it hurt their feelings a bit," he said.

"I'd rather play bad and win than play good and lose."

The Eels are now in danger of repeating their slow start to 2009, something coach Daniel Anderson had been desperate to avoid.

"They played a much more physical game than us, they competed harder than us and they flogged us," he said.

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