Proud fans of Canterbury and Parramatta appear to have finally had enough, with Thursday's western Sydney derby in danger of drawing its lowest crowd in 20 years.

The Thursday night timeslot and awful form of the Eels and Bulldogs - they are last and 14th respectively - has left officials fearing a four-figure turn-out at ANZ Stadium for the Spoon Bowl.

Drawcard: Jarryd Hayne was back at somewhere near his best on Friday night, but couldn't stop the Eels going down to Newcastle. Credit:AAP

A sea of empty blue seats would be a far cry from the 74,549 fans who packed the Olympic Park venue to watch the arch-rivals slug it out in a preliminary final in 2009.

Jarryd Hayne, who was in unstoppable form that year and inspired the Eels to an unlikely Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm, was back to his best last Friday night, but will not be enough to convince the rusted-on blue and gold army to watch their team try chase just their fourth win.