Parramatta will be forced to overturn 110 years of premiership history to claim the 2018 title, after they suffered their worst hammering of the Brad Arthur era in Sunday’s 54-0 loss to Manly.
Top-four finishers last year and among the pre-season’s top contenders for the title, Parramatta are now rooted to the bottom of the ladder after losing their first two games.
Last week’s second-half capitulation to Penrith will seem minor compared to Sunday’s flogging at the hands of Manly – their biggest ever to their arch-rivals.
The Eels completed at just 61 per cent and made 14 errors as Manly ran in nine unanswered tries, meaning their defence has now conceded 78 points in the 133 minutes since they last scored themselves.
No team in the 110-year history of the NSWRL, ARL or NRL has ever won the premiership after conceding a half-century in a match, the closest being the 49 Newcastle let in against Cronulla in 2001.
“There was only one team playing today,” Arthur said.
“I told them I was surprised. I didn’t see it coming, not this week, last week or any week. We’re very embarrassed with that performance.
“We were blown off the park, we weren’t playing the same game.”
The performance was Parramatta’s worst in years.
Not one Eels player ran more than 100 metres, while eight of Manly’s nine tries came through the middle.
So poor was Parramatta’s defence early that the Sea Eagles ran in 18 consecutive points early in the match during a period which the Eels didn’t even have a play-the-ball.
The result was an ugly throwback to the Eels of 2010-2016, a period in which they didn’t make the finals and struggled to regularly compete.
“In many ways it’s maybe even more embarrassing (than those days),” captain Tim Mannah said.
“Just because of the quality of our team and how well we can play.”