Off-contract Eels prop Danny Wicks says the culture coach Brad Arthur is building at Parramatta is the reason he wants to remain at the club.
Wicks made a successful return to the NRL last season after five years out of the game following an 18-month stint in jail and a four-year WADA ban.
After signing a one-year deal with the Eels initially in October 2014, Wicks promptly re-signed for a further season six months later.
"Brad's building something here that's very special. When you have a tight bunch of boys like we do here you just want to play," Wicks told NRL.com.
"You're not just playing for a contract, you're just not playing for money, you're playing for each other and that's the culture that's been instilled here."
Yet to enter talks with the Eels for a new deal, Wicks remained unworried by his future beyond 2016.
"To be honest I haven't thought about it. What happens, happens. I was lucky enough to get back here and I'm not in a rush to do anything," he said.
"At the moment my focus is Parramatta and getting the points on the board here."
On the field, Wicks said the Eels had a point to prove after their second-half collapse over the weekend denied them a chance of beating reigning premiers North Queensland for the second time this season.
The Eels led 18-16 with 14 minutes remaining in Townsville but Corey Norman's sin-binning proved too big a loss for the visitors, with North Queensland running in 14 points as the five-eighth stood idly by on the sideline.
The loss also denied Parramatta the chance to remain in the top four on the NRL Telstra Premiership ladder.
"When the Norms went for a walk it hurt," Wicks said.
"We should have done better. We only shot ourselves in the foot throughout the whole game especially in the second half.
"What do we take out of it? We have to be better."
Playing the Bulldogs on Friday night, Wicks said the Eels could take "a bit of confidence" out of their 14-point win over Canterbury five weeks ago.
"Obviously we take a little bit of confidence out of it but also after what happened last week we have something to prove and we want to bounce back," Wicks said.
"We want to show we're better than what we were last week."
