Canterbury Bulldogs thrash Parramatta Eels 40 - 12

Next season cannot come quick enough for Parramatta coach Ricky Stuart after his side slumped to a 40-12 NRL defeat to bitter rivals Canterbury.

The loss was the ninth in a row for the Eels and the fifth time they've conceded 40 points or more in a season that's almost certain to end with a second successive wooden spoon.

News filtered through before kick-off that superstar fullback Jarryd Hayne might miss the remainder of the season and 10 minutes into the game things failed to improve as the visitors found themselves 16-0 down.

Canterbury, who have their eyes on a top-four finish, were gifted three tries without hardly breaking a sweat.

Buldogs fullback. Ben Barba. Getty Image

Luke Kelly's attempted short kick-off was missed by all of his teammates and easily gathered by Canterbury's Krisnan Inu and from the ensuing phases Sam Perrett finished in the right corner.

The resulting kick-off from Kelly then went out on the full to gift the home side possession and after a strong run from Aiden Tolman, Josh Jackson handed off to Josh Reynolds who eased to the line.

And it got worse in the next set when Ben Barba danced his way past four lamentable tackle attempts and touched down for his 10th try of the season.

However, it proved to be Barba's last contribution for the evening as he limped off with an ankle injury.

But his absence failed to slow down the rampant Bulldogs with Josh Morris touching down to give his side a 22-0 lead at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern as the Eels coughed up the ball with alarming regularity and the Bulldogs took advantage with debut tries for James Graham and Dale Finucane.

Parramatta tried manfully to trouble the scorers with Ryan Morgan and young Fijian winger Semi Radradra being held up just short of the line.

But Canterbury went over again in great style through skipper Michael Ennis who darted out of dummy-half, exchanged passes with Morris and sprinted away to score.

There was finally a moment to savour for the long-suffering Eels faithful when the much-maligned Ben Roberts was put clear by Reni Maitua and finished brilliantly 15 minutes from fulltime.

But Parramatta's woes were compounded further when Willie Tonga was placed on report for a dangerous throw that could earn him a spell on the sidelines.

Trent Hodkinson kicked six goals for the hosts, but right on the siren Radradra planted the ball down for his first NRL try to give the Eels some scant consolation.

AAP