Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson claimed superstar fullback Jarryd Hayne was trying too hard to lift the Eels out of a mire that has them slowly slipping out of NRL finals contention, following Saturday night's 10-6 loss to Brisbane.

Hayne has struggled to find the spark which propelled the Eels in last year's dramatic run to the finals, with Anderson claiming his error-riddled game was as much a consequence of effort as an indication of form.

"He wasn't good tonight in my opinion - not many people will say it but he was off his game - errors that weren't there (before)," Anderson said.

"I think he would have been frustrated at some of the decisions that he made.

"He's probably trying too hard as well - that's probably a key." Hayne was hardly Robinson Crusoe with plenty of friends in specially designed blue and pink jumpers struggling to find anything in attack, the Eels now with just ten points to show for their last 160 minutes of football.

Brisbane didn't even have to get out of second gear as they did enough to celebrate skipper Darren Lockyer's record 329th NRL game for the one club, eclipsing the previous mark held by Cronulla great Andrew Ettingshausen.

While Brisbane wasted plenty of chances, for much of the night the Eels gameplan seemed to revolve around 'pass it to Hayne and hope for a miracle' - Hayne himself admitting he felt compelled to overplay his hand.

"Of course, I've got to do something if no-one's doing anything else," Hayne said.

"In patches, we're just not gelling, it's clearly showing and showing on the scoreboard." Asked if the Eels were running out of time for a run at the finals despite sitting just outside the top eight, Hayne said: "The next three weeks will really tell - both of these (last two) games we were in positions to win and probably had more possession than the opposition and better (field) position than the opposition to win games, we just don't have that thing about us at the moment." Rediscovering that 'thing' is what the Eels need to do and fast, though they are likely to be without Hayne for next week's trip to face the Warriors due to his Origin commitments.

Brisbane will also be hit hard with several key members including Lockyer and Israel Folau - who scored the second half try which clinched the match after scores were tied at 6-all at halftime - to miss next week's assignment.

That made this win even more important, Lockyer already with one eye on the finals.

"Some wins, even though we didn't execute particularly well, you get a lot out of just hanging in there," Lockyer said.

"When you get to the business end of the season, particularly semis, you need to have that in your game that you can defend errors." The Broncos made plenty of those as they butchered points after opening the scoring in the seventh minute when Pater Wallace reeled in a Lockyer bomb no-one wanted to contest.

The Eels replied in kind when Hayne scooped up a spilled Mortimer bomb after fifteen minutes, but from there they struggled to even get near the Broncos line.

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