Parramatta is facing a horror draw that could see the club equal an unwanted 24-year-old record.The Eels have started the season 0-2, going down in golden point to Melbourne and then edged out 30-26 by the Sharks.Last year's runners-up now face competition leaders Manly, two-time defending premiers Penrith and fellow heavyweights the Roosters over the next three weeks.A 0-5 start would see the Eels become the first team since Brisbane in 1999 to lose their first five matches after making the previous season's grand final.The Broncos side of 1999 won 12 of their last 14 matches to scrape into the top eight, joining Souths in 1957 as the only two sides to make the finals after losing their first five matches. Neither made the grand final.Compounding Parramatta's problems is a shortage of backrowers, with Shaun Lane (broken jaw), Nathan Brown (hamstring) and Ryan Matterson (suspended) all on the sidelines.Matterson controversially took a three-game suspension after being charged with a crusher tackle on Penrith's Dylan Edwards in last year's grand final, rather than pay a $4000 fine.He subsequently changed his mind and decided he was willing to pay the fine, but the NRL ruled that the suspension could not be overturned.The 28-year old faced a barrage of criticism over the move, with Mark Geyer admitting at the time that "the optics of it don't look really good.""I think Matterson did the wrong thing by the club by not taking the fine," premiership-winning captain Paul Gallen told Wide World of Sports this week.
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