The pre-season premiership fancies slumped to their second straight loss with a disastrous outing at WIN Jubilee Oval, the Eels struggling to match it with the ladder-leaders who rediscovered their relentless edge.

While few teams win games when they give up five tries, Anderson said the game only blew out as the Dragons gathered in confidence late in the game, the Eels' boss more concerned with his side's own inability to get across the stripe.

Parramatta never really threatened the Dragons' line, with Jarryd Hayne made to look like a mere mortal following his superhuman display in his last visit to the ground.

"We're not playing well ... we've taken a few steps back," Anderson conceded, with the Eels having dropped two games after appearing to get their campaign back on track with a run of four straight wins.

"We've got to step forward. I'm not concerned that we can't play well, but the concern is that we're not attacking well.

"We've been in a lot of games this year because of our strong defence - sometimes you have a bad day in defence and we did (against the Dragons).

"We're not keeping the game close, we're not pressuring the opposition by ticking over the scoreboard.

"It's something we've got to rectify and very quickly.

"You can wear yourself out unless you can score some points ... we need to work very hard on conjuring up some plays or points so that we don't make is so difficult for ourselves in games."

The Eels made it hard enough with the amount of ball they coughed up, Parramatta committing 13 errors with Timana Tahu (four) and Johnathan Wright (three) the worst offenders.

The Dragons only led 14-0 with 15 minutes remaining when Wright fumbled 10 metres out from his own line. The Eels paid dearly for the error with the home side pouring on three tries in the next seven minutes to blow them off the park.

"When you get that lead, you can chance your arm, there were some bounces that came and the contested plays and the bounce went their way - they taught us a bit of a lesson," Anderson said.

It doesn't get any easier for the Eels - who could drop out of the top eight if results don't go their way - with the grand final re-match against Melbourne looming on Friday night.

Given the Storm have been stripped of the premiership they earned in beating the Eels in last year's big one due to salary cap breaches, there is sure to be more than enough motivation for a Melbourne side denied the chance to earn competition points in 2010.

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