The door to the finals is all but shut on the Bulldogs after the defending premiers slumped to a record 56-4 NRL loss to the rampant Eels at a sold-out Parramatta Stadium.

The Bulldogs arrived desperate to snap a two-game losing run and kick-start their finals campaign but it was Parramatta who came out firing, running in five unanswered tries to lead 26-0 at halftime.

The Eels didn't show any mercy, running in a total of 10 tries - including a hat-trick to centre Timana Tahu - to bring the capacity 20,289-strong crowd to its feet and keep Parramatta's assault on the minor premiership on track.

The victory easily eclipsed the Eels' previous best win over the Bulldogs - a 48-9 effort way back in 1968.

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes will keep his calculator handy in the remaining three regular season rounds as his injury-ravaged Canterbury outfit - still a "mathematical" finals chance" - try to claw their way through a congested NRL table and into the top eight.

Adding injury to insult, a planned next-round comeback by Queensland centre Willie Tonga (knee) has been postponed indefinitely and there is a question mark over when fellow stars Sonny Bill Williams (knee), Hazem El Masri (knee) and Luke Patten will return this season - if at all.

In an indication of the Bulldogs' unlucky run, the Belmore club was boasting its fifth fullback in six games - debutant Luke Young - due to injury and the last round suspension of Kiwi winger Matt Utai which forced yet another backline reshuffle.

The Bulldogs are now in danger of completing a rare double.

The last time the defending premiers failed to make the finals was in 1996 - when 1995 champions the Bulldogs missed out on the top eight.

It was the second consecutive win for the Eels who also notched just their third win in 11 games against the defending champions.

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