The 2012 Parramatta Eels season is the 66th in the club's history. Coached by Stephen Kearney (who was replaced part-way through the season by assistant coach, Brad Arthur) and captained by Nathan Hindmarsh, they competed in the NRL's 2012 Telstra Premiership. The Eels finished the regular season in last place for the first time since 1972, also failing to make the finals for the 3rd consecutive year.

2012 saw the retirement of Eels legends Luke Burt and Nathan Hindmarsh. It would also mark the first time since 1972 that the team would succumb to the dreaded wooden spoon. The Eels struggled all year, securing just their first win of the season in Round 5 against defending premiers Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles before ending a six-game losing streak against the Cronulla Sharks. This horror start to the season, and a win rate of less than 25% over almost two seasons with the club, coach Stephen Kearney was forced to resign and Assistant Coach Brad Arthur would become caretaker. The team responded to this producing 3 wins from 4 games, including competition front-runners Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos to give the fans some hope for the rest of the season. However this was short lived and following a 38-6 thumping to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 25 of the Telstra Premiership were officially unable to avoid the wooden spoon.

Whilst Parramatta’s problems were largely attributed to their relatively poor defence, numerous pundits claimed Parramatta’s problems in 2012 were largely credited to the recurring absences of star fullback Jarryd Hayne. Even whilst producing higher per-match statistics than any other fullback in the game (8 tries, 14 try-assists), Hayne only managed to complete 10 games from the season’s 24, due to both injury and State of Origin duty.

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