NRL premierships are never won in March but Parramatta veteran Nathan Hindmarsh admits the Eels are in desperate need of a win over traditional rivals Manly to prevent their season going into an all-too-familiar freefall.

Historically inept at dealing with the expectation of premiership favouritism, the Eels will be out to avoid going none from two at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday against an opponent which finds itself in the same boat and without its best player - star fullback Brett Stewart.

With a round three clash looming against a Wests Tigers side that started the year in scintillating fashion, Hindmarsh knows the Eels can't afford another defeat this weekend with the memories of last year's shocking start to the season - when they won just five of their first 16 matches - still fresh.

"We haven't really spoken about it but we're definitely all thinking that we'd like to start off on a better note than what we had (last year)," Hindmarsh said.

"Round one didn't go our way but hopefully round two will be a different story for us.

"We don't want to sit where we were last year halfway through the season running third last, we'd like to start the season well so hopefully we'll start it this week."

Adding to the expectation being heaped on the Eels is the depleted nature of their opponents, with Stewart out until just before the finals, as he recovers from another bout of knee surgery, and George Rose suspended.

While the loss of Rose hurts after he produced a barnstorming display against the Tigers, there's no doubt the absence of Stewart will test Manly's attacking prowess.

The Sea Eagles will point to their ability to get to last year's finals series with Stewart benched for much of the season as proof of their ability to cope without him, but a look at the stats shows just how much they lack with regular winger Michael Robertson in the No.1.

Robertson ranked 14th in average kick return metres last year amongst players who played 10 or more games at fullback with 42.6 metres per match, while also coming up with six tries and just seven linebreaks in 20 games at the back.

Compare that to Stewart who, in just five games, produced six tries, three linebreaks and an average of 57 metres on kick returns.

Even in defence Robertson was somewhat of a liability with 36 missed tackles compared to just 51 effective tackles.

"He's (Stewart) going to be a huge loss for them but they did pretty well last year without him, they managed to fill the void," Hindmarsh said.

"They will be very disappointed the way they let that decent lead slip (against the Tigers) so we're prepared for a pretty physical game."

While Robertson may not be as dynamic at the back as Stewart, the Eels know they will have to come up with a better kicking game than the one they produced against St George Illawarra last week if they are to take advantage.

Eels coach Daniel Anderson blamed the loss on his side's inability to find ground with kicks, with the trio of Daniel Mortimer, Jeff Robson and Jarryd Hayne making a total of 367 metres with the boot compared to 621 metres by Dragons pivot Jamie Soward.

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