Parramatta's season is on the line and the players know it, writes Will Swanton.

Feleti Mateo told Krisnan Inu his orange boots were rubbish.

"I make this, and you can shut up," Inu said.

He lined up a sideline kick after training at Parramatta Stadium. Put the ball the wrong way round on the tee. Launched his kick.

"Black dot," he said. And winked.

Parramatta, eh?

So many skills, such a letdown.

"This is it for us," Inu told The Sun-Herald before the clash against the Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium today. "Now or never."

Let's get wildly optimistic.

Let's issue a reminder that sport can turn in a heartbeat. Let's go into the crucial clash for the inaugural Jack Gibson Cup believing the Eels' season is not beyond salvation. Let's watch these 80 minutes at a heaving Sydney Football Stadium and find out exactly what this club is about.

Let's see if there is any pride left in the Parramatta jumper. Some truly great players have worn these colours. Are this mob worthy?

Judgment day has arrived.

"We've got more on the line than the Roosters do," Inu said.

"Hopefully, that means we'll be playing a bit harder than they do. We're not going to go out there feeling desperate. We're just going out there to player harder and better than we have been.

"One win can change everything.

"You see teams going bad at the start of a year and all it takes is one game and they're a different team and they get on a streak.

"This is one of those games where we have to pick up our act and get a roll-on. It's going to be tough.

"The Roosters are a tough side. But we have to get the job done."

The Eels started the season as second favourites to win the grand final. Nathan Hindmarsh, Brett Finch, Jarryd Hayne, Feleti Mateo, Inu … they have the personnel.

Somewhere along the way they've lost it, but it can return at the most unlikely moments. League is fickle.

Confidence and momentum are everything. Souths were a rabble before victory over the Dragons started a run of five straight wins. Yes, it's wildly optimistic to suggest the Eels can crawl out of their rut. Yes, on form the Roosters will win by 50 points. But just one win …

"We have to dig in," Inu said.

"The talent is here, and that's the frustrating thing. We've got some of the best young talents around, and we've still got all the senior boys who do a lot of things that not many other players can do. We've just got to click."

The Eels are only two points out of the logjam for eighth place. For all their woes, they're just one win away.

After the Roosters they play the Tigers, Bulldogs, Dragons and Warriors. They could win all of them. But that's the problem right now, the vast expanse between what they could do and what they are coughing up.

"Anything can happen," Inu said. "We haven't given up hope for the finals. There are no new plans, no new talks, nothing like that. We know what we should be doing. We just have to get out there and do it.

"Sunday afternoon at the SFS, it's a massive game for us, and a big chance. It's one of those games you really want to be involved in."

Asked what had gone wrong in five losses from seven starts since a 44-6 drubbing of the Tigers, Inu said: "Unlucky bounces, a few calls, little things, a few mistakes and a few errors we could have prevented, but didn't. Just the bounce of the ball, pretty much. Teams have been on their game and we haven't. That's what happens when you rock up and you're not there to play."

The Eels have done enough talking. Brett Finch said their win against the Cowboys was "boring".

Nathan Cayless was savage in his appraisal of their goal-line defence.

Club members hammered CEO Denis Fitzgerald and coach Michael Hagan at a meeting during the week.

Club greats have shaken their heads in dismay. Jarryd Hayne has been criticised for supposedly not trying. Inu was the rookie of the year in 2007, but this year has been dramatically less spectacular.

"It hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped," he said. "I got injured straight away, so that wasn't a good start to my second year of NRL. Just got to work harder. It's the end of the season that counts.

"Look at our team. We should be in a better position than where we are. Everyone has their opinion about us individually and as a team, and they can have that. Hopefully, we can perform well so we're still around at the end of the year. It's not over yet."