Parramatta's run from hell got worse on Saturday night as the Manly Sea Eagles belted the club to the tune of 56 points to 10.
The eventual scoreline was inflated by Parramatta spending ten minutes with 11 on the park following a sickening high shot from Ryan Matterson and Marata Niukore making an incredibly dumb play to stop a quick tap.
But that doesn't mean it wasn't already bad.
It was men against boys, with the game realistically all but over half an hour in as the Sea Eagles raced to a 26-0 lead.
Parramatta's defence was abysmal. They resembled a team who had given up. Completely and utterly, with Tom Trbojevic carving them to shreds for much of the evening.
While Trbojevic is undoubtedly the best player in the game right now, Parramatta were never in the contest, and that should be a major concern for coach Brad Arthur and the Parramatta board, who reportedly gave Arthur their "full support" for 2022 last week.
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The board's statement of positivity in Arthur came after weeks of speculation as the wheels fell off another Parramatta season. That speculation will only continue to grow after last night.
Arthur came out during the week and slammed talk regarding his job status, calling it "crazy."
"There's 12 teams right now at the moment that sit below us," Arthur said.
"If you want me to be real honest, I think it's crazy that we're sitting here talking about my job.
"I've been in the job for eight years now. Every year at some stage, we hadn't even played a game at the start of the year and there was already some conjecture around my position."
While Arthur is within his rights to make comments like those, given the Eels are still - or were still before last night - competing for a top-four position.
But by heck, if you're going to make those comments, you had better have your players ready to fire in the next contest. Ready to fire they were not, and Parramatta crumbled to the heavy defeat.
A miserable night for Eels' fans will only get worse once Ryan Matterson's suspension is revealed - and it's not likely to be short.
Given Canberra's Corey Harawira-Naera is facing three weeks for a similar shot, but had a 25 per cent reduction for having a seven-year clean record - it being his first offence in the NRL - Matterson can expect at least that long, but probably longer for the shot which knocked Brad Parker into next week.
This is a roster who have been in the premiership hunt for much of the year, and for that matter, most of the last three seasons. They certainly have the talent, but for some reason, can't string it together at the pointy end of proceedings.
I'd suggest that with the roster they have - particularly given the amount of experience it now has - a lot of that is down to Arthur's ability to manage his team over the course of the season.
2019 could be excused for a lack of experience, but the Eels lost two of their last three, then turned into world-beaters against the hapless Brisbane Broncos, before going down to the Storm in a flogging to end their season.
2020 though was flat out inexcusable, their performances gradually becoming more and more unconvincing as the end of the season drew closer. A four-point win over the struggling Tigers wasn't a way to lead into the finals, and it showed as the Eels bounced out in straight sets with losses to the Storm and Rabbitohs where they let in 36 and 38 points in back-to-back weeks.
It's not as if the Eels can't defend. They have shown they can, and yet, the back end of the season seems to mean this team forget how to tackle.
Their for and against over the last three games now reads 124 points to 22. That, combined with the 50-point curse, is enough to end Parramatta's premiership hopes, while even a top-four spot now appears to have gone begging.
But this is a roster which should be doing so much better.
Clint Gutherson is one of the best fullbacks in the competition, Mitchell Moses on his day is among the best halves in the competition, and Reed Mahoney's game has come on in leaps and bounds, although, granted, he was missing last night and will be for the remainder of the season.
Fullback
Tries
Try Assists
Tackle Breaks
Then you look at the engine room, Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Nathan Brown. All representative-calibre players who should have the Eels competitive against anyone.
Isaiah Papali'i has been this season's revelation, although why he was moved to the front row last night is yet another baffling call. His stats on an edge have been unbelievable, and it'd be fair to saw the blue and gold lacked plenty of spark in attack on the edge last night.
Then there's Maika Sivo, who, for all his faults and a bit of laziness, can be a game-winner on the wing.
This is a team with talent across the park, and yet, they have seven players off contract next year (basically all of those just mentioned). Not one has put pen to paper yet, and a fair bit of it may well be to do with the Arthur contract situation, although Parramatta's salary cap is also going to be squeezed to within an inch of its life.
The bottom line is that if Arthur wants to make comments to the tune of "well we shouldn't be looking at my job," he better have his players backing him up. It's a shocking way to prepare for a game, and that was evident on the Sunshine Coast.
They simply weren't last night, and haven't for weeks. It seems as good as an example of the coach losing the dressing room.
While I doubt that is really the case, it's what it seems.
And what it seems to Parramatta fans is that it's high time for a chance at the head of affairs.
