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Parramatta coach Brad Arthur compared the feeling in his dressing room to "like a morgue" after his side survived an NRL scare to beat Canterbury 18-16.

Parramatta were so disappointed in their 18-16 win over Canterbury, coach Brad Arthur had to ask his dejected players if they still wanted to sing the team song.

Clint Gutherson bagged a double in the win as the Eels chalked up their best start to a season through 12 rounds since 1978.

But this was anything but a party for Parramatta.

After they jumped out to an 18-0 lead in the opening half hour, they were forced to fight off the biggest upset of the season in a disappointing second half.

"It was like a morgue in the dressing rooms, they were really disappointed," Arthur said.

"I had to ask them if they really wanted to sing the team song."

Perhaps though it's a sign of how far Parramatta have come, given two years ago it was the Eels on the bottom of the ladder trying to cause upsets.

"They had a beer (in the end) and sung the song," Arthur said.

"We need to enjoy our wins. While we can be disappointed we still need to enjoy it.

"We put ourselves under way too much pressure. Made it too hard for ourselves.

"But that's two points we needed."

Gutherson and Mitchell Moses were both electric in the opening half hour, while Junior Paulo stood up in defence and attack.

The prop gave Parramatta their first try with a nice offload for Moses, before Gutherson had their next two.

Gutherson's first came in bizarre circumstances, after Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was penalised on the previous set for playing the ball facing his own goalline.

His second was a result of a nice grubber from Moses back under the posts, but that was where their scoring ended.

Suddenly, Kieran Foran and Raymond Faitala-Mariner began causing Parramatta headaches on the left, resulting in a try before the break when Foran went hard to the line.

Jake Averillo scored Canterbury's best try of the year just after it, airborne and hanging over the sideline as he got the ball down, before Foran put Marcelo Montoya over to make it 18-16.

Canterbury were then left to rue a missed opportunity to level the scores with 24 minutes to play, when Aiden Tolman took a quick tap from right next to the posts.

They also had cause for complaint early when their left edge was denied another try, with Faitala-Mariner called for an obstruction before Montoya crossed.

Replays showed the call could have been overturned if it was challenged, given Moses appeared to come out of the line and hit the Bulldogs second-rower.

"We were yelling to challenge it (from the box)," Canterbury coach Steve Georgallis said.

"They knew that they played for it and wanted to get on with the game pretty quick."

The loss leaves the Bulldogs last, and off to their worst start to a year since 1964.

"There are no competition points for courage" Georgallis said.

"It's disappointing to lose. But I can't be prouder of the players and the effort they put in."