As he ponders reaching the 300-game milestone on Saturday night, Parramatta skipper Nathan Hindmarsh admits the achievement highlights the fact he is running out of time to secure that elusive NRL premiership.

Hindmarsh will become the 16th player to reach the landmark when he lead the Eels into battle against Penrith at Centrebet Stadium, and just the seventh to do so with the one club.

His longevity in the blue and gold confirms his loyalty but also his frustrations as he realises opportunities to end Parramatta's 25-year premiership drought are diminishing.

"Yeah ... and what makes it worse is I've been in two (grand finals) and lost two," Hindmarsh said.

"I don't know if the feeling would be there, if I hadn't been in one.

"That's what you work every year for - to win a grand final.

"But if I hadn't been in one, the desire probably wouldn't be there as much, knowing what the loss is like.

"I understand I'm running out of time but ... if it doesn't happen this year, we'll have a nice, strong side going into 2012."

On reaching the 300-game mark, Hindmarsh said his focus heading into Saturday night remained on the result.

The Eels beat Wests Tigers last weekend and another victory over the eighth-placed Panthers could see them finish the weekend just one competition point out of the top eight.

"I'll enjoy it after the game if we have a win," Hindmarsh said of the milestone.

"You don't really put a number in your head or think how many games you're going to play.

"I'm proud of my effort.

"A lot of it comes down to luck with injuries - probably the worst one I've got is a bit of arthritis in the big toe.

"I've reached the goal now and it's something I am excited about but ... I am more focused on the team getting the two points rather than any milestone."

Meanwhile, coach Stephen Kearney confirmed he intended to start Jarryd Hayne at fullback against the Panthers, despite starring at five-eighth in the win over the Tigers.

Hayne made a late switch to pivot after halfback Jeff Robson withdrew due to a hamstring injury.

"It was a matter of Robbo was right for this week," Kearney said when asked about the reason for the switch.

"If he gets through a full week of training, I'm thinking that Robbo will be playing at No.7 and Jarryd will be playing at fullback.

"It was (tempting to leave him at five-eighth) but I thought we'd been playing okay before we shifted Jarryd there also.

"We hadn't been too far off in the month previous."

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