CLINT Gutherson has revealed Parramatta fans “wanted me dead” when he first arrived at the club, before earning their favour to become the Eels favourite he is today.

Gutherson opened up to 20FOUR on the eve of his comeback from knee surgery, when he will line up against Canberra at GIO Stadium on Saturday night.

He’s a beloved character out west and has certainly endeared himself to blue and gold faithful — as well as the wider NRL community — over the past two years.

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But it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

In fact his beginning at Parramatta was so rocky, he was receiving death threats from Eels fans after his first couple of games with the club.

Just a few months later he was voted the Members’ Player of the Year.

“They wanted me dead after the first four rounds,” Gutherson said.

“I trained all pre-season at centre and I was excited, then we signed Jenko (Michael Jennings) late and I was the one that got stuck on the wing. I was a bit lost.

“After four or five rounds I started to get my groove back and they slowly started to like me, and they ended up voting me their favourite player at the end of the year.

“I was getting death threats after round 2 so it took them a while, but hopefully I’ve got them on my side now for the long term.”

Gutherson has proved the ultimate Mr Fix It since arriving at Parramatta from Manly in 2016, after the Sea Eagles cut him loose.

He’s filled in at centre, on the wing, in the halves, and has found a home at fullback where he will line up on Saturday.

After rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament late last season he feared he had surrendered the No. 1 jumper for good.

The arrival of old club favourite Jarryd Hayne cast a question mark over Gutherson’s role in the Eels side in 2018.

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Clint Gutherson of the Eels in action.

“I was a bit nervous, I had to go see Brad (Arthur) straight away and ask what’s going on, where’s (Hayne) going to play, what’s going to happen with me when I get back?” Gutherson recalled.

“It was a bit nervous, but he assured me I was still going to have that place in the team and we were going to make it work for the better of the team.

“Hopefully (Hayne) can help us go that extra couple of games.”

The Eels are yet to win a game this season after five rounds, and head to Canberra with a world of pressure on their shoulders to break the duck.