Gutherson grabs hat-trick as Eels belt woeful Knights

A Clint Gutherson hat-trick has helped Parramatta thrash Newcastle 43-12 in an NRL performance that raised serious questions about Kalyn Ponga's ability to defend at five-eighth.

The Knights were resolute in recent tight losses to Penrith and North Queensland but on Friday more closely resembled the team that had been tipped for the wooden spoon in the pre-season.

The Eels feasted on the Knights' leaky goal-line defence and marched out to a 30-6 halftime lead.

Four of their five first-half tries came from backs barging over at close range. 

Gutherson, a fullback who weighs 96kg, twice scored from dummy-half, with Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown also strolling onto the scoreboard.

Even without key men Reagan Campbell-Gillard (groin injury) and Ryan Matterson (illness), the Eels comfortably won the yardage battle through the middle of CommBank Stadium, J'maine Hopgood leading the way with 172 metres.

In his first game of a long stint replacing Campbell-Gillard, Wiremu Greig was solid with 119 metres.

The Eels began terrorising the Knights from long range as the first half progressed - no team has registered more than 10 line breaks in a game this season but Parramatta had made that many by the half, finishing with 13.

The majority of traffic went down Kalyn Ponga's edge, the Queensland State of Origin representative failing to contain the rampant Eels in his first start since suffering a concussion in round two.

Ponga moved from fullback to five-eighth this season in the hopes of touching the ball more and while he was quiet in attack against the Eels, his work in the defensive front-line was of greater concern.

Ponga missed 10 tackles - more than any other Knights player - and made only 11. 

Will Penisini threatened with every touch of the football and burned Ponga to set out on a line break in the 28th minute that would have resulted in a certain try if the centre had have had support.

Early in the second half, halfback Mitch Moses belted past Ponga just as Penisini did and set Gutherson up for his third try.

To coach Brad Arthur's dismay, the Eels continued their recent trend of cooling off after establishing first-half leads.

Parramatta finished with only a 66 per cent completion rate when they became a little too cute with their ball movement as the game wore on, but the Knights never appeared a chance to work back into the game as the Eels' previous rivals have.

Adding to Newcastle's concerns, utility Kurt Mann suffered an abdominal injury and did not return after halftime.