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Parramatta players have admitted they need to go after the game more in defence, with the Eels missing more tackles than any other team in the NRL.

Reed Mahoney has made the startling admission that Parramatta's defence is among the worst - if not the worst - in the NRL.

The loss to Wests Tigers on Monday marked just the Eels' second defeat of the year, with that and the loss to Cronulla in round two only coming in the dying seconds.

Parramatta still sit fourth on the ladder, and are considered among the genuine threats for this year's competition.

But internally, players and coaching staff are unhappy with their defence ahead of Sunday's clash with Newcastle.

"Our defence I think is the worst in the comp at the moment, or one of the worst," star hooker Mahoney said on Thursday.

"There are a few things we have looked up and know we need to be better at.

"Too many points have been leaked through the team and across the first six rounds that we're not happy with."

Statistics bear out Mahoney's grim assessment.

After being ranked in the top four in defence for the past two years, only St George Illawarra and Canterbury have conceded more tries than the Eels this year.

They have also missed the most tackles and linebreaks of any team in the competition according to Fox Sports Stats.

Parramatta's average of 20.83 points against them includes four games in the opening six rounds where they let in at least 20 points.

In comparison, the Eels only let in 20 points four times across the entire first four months of last year's competition.

"We've set ourselves standards of what kind of defensive team we want to be," prop Junior Paulo said.

"Obviously we have been scoring points but just haven't been able to stop points being leaked.

"It's probably just a switch of mentality and attitude to how we prepare. We know what we have to do to be a good defensive team.

"That's just up to us to flick the switch and have the right attitude."

Paulo will return from suspension against Newcastle for a mouth-watering battle in the middle against David Klemmer and the Saifiti brothers.

But he claims the Eels must be more willing to go after the game in defence to return to their usual standards.

"Our focus is to get back to being that team who are defensively quite strong and want to chase the collision in games," he said.

"That's where we feel like we're at our best footy, enjoying the defence side of things as much as we want to attack.

"We have to show the same energy in defence as we do in attack."