Newcastle Knights rout Parramatta Eels 54-6 to secure seventh spot for NRL finals The Newcastle Knights will head into the NRL finals series full of confidence - after hammering Parramatta in Danny Buderus' final game at home. IT was a farewell fit for a champion player. Newcastle legend Danny Buderus deserved nothing less at Hunter Stadium on Sunday. After a wonderful career, he said goodbye to the Knights faithful with a starring role in his side's 10-try romp over Parramatta. Now the question is: How many games does he have left? In front of more than 23,000 fans, the Knights locked up seventh spot on the premiership ladder with a ruthless performance against an Eels side that was looking for the exit gates early in the match. Danny Buderus starred in his farewell game at Hunter Stadium. But now the real test begins. Are Newcastle capable of making their presence felt in the play-offs or are they just making up the numbers? Coach Wayne Bennett believes his side could not have done any more in their finals dress rehearsal. "The performance was what we were looking for, "" he said. The last thing we wanted here today was a poor performance. Newcastle coach, Wayne Bennett, says 'we're not short of confidence - I thought the performance was what we were looking for'. It's really nice to be there (in the play-offs). You can't do anything if you are not in them. Bennett pin-pointed a meeting 11 weeks ago with his players as the turning point of the season. He didn't go into specifics but claimed the team that started the season is not the team he is in charge of now. There is belief. There is composure. There's also a sense within the team that if they get it right on the day, there is enough strikepower within the playing group to trouble any side left in the premiership race. While the Eels offered little resistance defensively, the Knights will take plenty out of the big win. With Buderus and prop Willie Mason laying a great foundation up front, Newcastle's backs ran the Eels raged thanks to some outstanding service from halves Tyrone Roberts and Jarrod Mullen. Centre Joey Leilua and fullback Darius Boyd terrorised the Eels defence with Leilua scoring a double while winger James McManus also crossed twice. McManus" two tries left him with 19 tries for the season, equal top try-scorer with Penrith's David Simmons and Manly's David Williams. The heavy defeat was the fourth time Parramatta have conceded 50 points or more this season . They trailed 22-0 at halftime but, despite a brief period early in the second half when Jarryd Hayne laid on a try for centre Ken Sio, they never looked likely. In the end, they conceded six second half tries in a performance that won't help their cause in trying to keep coach Ricky Stuart at the club next season. "It's an awful way to finish off a tough season," Stuart said. It's unacceptable. I can handle this. But I get really disappointed for the players who do give 100 percent. Buderus didn't get over the tryline but capped off a wonderful afternoon when he converted Jeremy Smith's try late in the second half. Despite already being guaranteed a finals berth, the Knights came out with the intention of putting the Eels to sleep early. And they didn't disappoint, opening up a 12-0 lead inside nine minutes. Winger James McManus could easily have scored just three minutes in when he was brought down just short. But the home side didn't have to wait long for their first try. After Eels halfback Luke Kelly's line dropout went out on the full, they attacked Parramatta's left edge defence with halfback Tyrone Roberts stepping past Jarryd Hayne to score out wide. They stretched the advantage to 12 points when they again had success down Parramatta's right edge. This time, fullback Darius Boyd chimed in and gave centre Joey Leilua clear air to score in the corner despite the attention of Hayne. It was looking even more ominous for the visitors midway through the half when hooker Danny Buderus went the blind from close range. Despite being held in the tackle, he managed to get his arms free and found McManus, who made no mistake this time. The Eels weren't without their chances to post points of their own. They had a number of shots at the Knights tryline but could not find the polish in their attacking sets to get over. Leilua could easily have added to his try tally before halftime, firstly after taking an intercept but failing to outrun a covering Fuifui Moimoi. Then not long after, he lost control of the ball in attempting to ground it over the Eels line. The Knights made it 22-0 five minutes from halftime when Boyd scored under the posts after centre Dane Gagai raced 55 metres following a Parramatta dropped ball. The Eels, with Hayne to the fore, showed some ticker early in the second half to finally put some genuine heat on the Newcastle defence. NEWCASTLE 54 (J Leilua 2 J McManus 2 D Boyd J Mullen T Roberts B Scott J Smith A Uate tries T Roberts 6 D Buderus goals) bt PARRAMATTA 6 (K Sio try J Paulo goal) at Hunter Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Luke Phillips. Crowd: 23,392.