PARRAMATTA fans are suffering in the way St George Illawarra fans were a couple of months ago before the Dragons turned their season around.

The Eels don't play for anything like 80 minutes. They go up and down. If they do something brilliant, they will follow it up with a stupid mistake. They get themselves into trouble and then look spectacular as they try to get themselves out of it.

But what they never learn is how to stop getting themselves into trouble in the first place.

South Sydney gave the Eels a lesson in getting the job done at ANZ Stadium. It wasn't rocket science. The Rabbitohs were highly committed, enthusiastic and always prepared to back themselves. They thoroughly deserved their 32-20 win.

Parramatta keep saying there is plenty of time to turn their season around, but if they are convincing themselves with that, they are the only ones. Eels fans are tearing their hair out. Fortunately, we've always got Nathan Hindmarsh to tell it how it really is and after the loss to Souths he said Parramatta were "up the creek".

Hindmarsh said the one paddle they had left was in the form of five-eighth Feleti Mateo, who injured his knee and is hoping the results of tests he will undergo are not bad.

Actually, they've got two paddles - Hindmarsh is the other one. He was terrific against Souths. He tackled his guts out, made some strong runs out wide and still found the energy to make desperate plays such as getting back to knock dangerous kicks dead.

The Eels have played to their potential on occasions this season, but those occasions have been limited and because the bad form has heavily outweighed the good form, they are now floundering. They've got the quality of players to recover and at least make the finals, but they would have to go flat out to get there. Have they still got the confidence in their own ability? I don't know.

One thing I do know, however, is that when you're playing like Parramatta have been and your next game is on the road against Manly, you should be worried. If the Eels can win in that match on Friday night, they will have done something truly stunning. It will be the challenge of the season for coach Michael Hagan and his players.

Hagan is lucky he is not Brian Smith. If Smith was still coaching Parramatta, certain sections of the media would be tearing him apart. Hagan has been spared, but the reality is that, as coach, he has to share the responsibility for the team's form with the players.

Manly were awesome in beating Cronulla at Toyota Stadium. They never gave the Sharks a chance and looked like winners a long way from home. The 34-6 scoreline was a perfect indication of the difference between the two sides. The Sea Eagles were relentless as they powered over the top of Cronulla with their big forwards to set up the win.

If there was any doubt about which team rates as the biggest threat to defending premiers Melbourne this season, there is no longer any. Manly have been shaping up as the biggest threat for a while now, but their coach, Des Hasler, has done his best to keep a lid on things by not saying much about his team while talking others up.

It will be interesting to see how the Sharks react to the loss. They will be akin to a boxer who has to try to pick himself up for his next bout after a pretty heavy beating. But the Sea Eagles would have been hard for any team to stop.