The words suggested otherwise, but Parramatta skipper Nathan Hindmarsh had the look of a broken man after Friday night’s humiliating NRL loss to Penrith.

Hindmarsh spoke positively about turning it around and the possibility of star fullback Jarryd Hayne returning to the field – but you sense one of the Eels’ all-time greats knew the 39-6 loss had left his club’s season and coach’s position in dire straits.

Given it is easier to change one man in charge than an entire playing roster, coach Stephen Kearney is understandably feeling the heat of a fourth consecutive loss, but Hindmarsh defended the under-siege mentor.

“It’s the players’ responsibility to go out there and – as I said last week – make the tackles,” Hindmarsh said, with Friday night’s poor performance coming off a 42-6 flogging at the hands of North Queensland last week.

“A lot of simple one-on-one misses that led to tries.

“He (Kearney) can’t go out there and tackle for us.

“I’m a bit lost for words – another disappointing effort. I suppose it would be on par with last week.”

Added prop Tim Mannah: “We’re embarrassed. It’s disappointing that we can’t do better for these coaches.

“Anyone that knows our coaching staff knows they leave no stone unturned, they prepare us the best they can and at the end of the day we’re the ones out there missing tackles and dropping the ball.

“We’ve got to take a bit of ownership of our performances, stick together and find something as a team to get us out of it.”

Kearney’s first order of business will to get his players on the same page.

Their lack of teamwork was evident in an attack that scored just one try when the game was gone, but it was in defence that it was most cruelly exposed.

At times it appeared the Panthers were having a training run as they put the ball through the hands against a defence that simply failed to number up, while on other occasions one player would rush up and leave his teammates in the lurch.

Kearney said the issue was not structural, but rather execution.

“I think if you look at the last couple of weeks, it’s not about the defence in terms of its structure or the attack and it’s structure,” he said.

“If you’ve got 17 players working against each other, as that’s what it looks like, it doesn’t mater what structure you have.

“That defensive style has worked well for us in the past. Last year we kept sides to minimum.”

Hindmarsh said Hayne was close to a return, with the club’s desperate situation sure to hasten calls for him to get back on the paddock.