Parramatta five-eighth Dylan Brown is urging Maika Sivo to leave his bad tackle technique at the door as the Eels begin the new NRL season without their star winger.
Discipline hampered Parramatta throughout 2023 as they missed out on the top eight after reaching the grand final the previous year.
Brown was sidelined for seven games following an off-field discretion.
Prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard and lock Ryan Matterson also received heavy suspensions that robbed coach Brad Arthur of his best 17.
Sivo also copped a four-game ban for a high shot last year.
And the Fijian winger found himself on the "naughty step" once again when he was handed a three-game suspension for a similar tackle in a pre-season trial.
Brown is challenging Sivo to lift his efforts in defence, arguing the Eels' hopes of returning to the top eight will depend on Arthur having a strong squad at his disposal.
"It's not acceptable in the game and he (Sivo) knows that," Brown said.
"There's times, moments in the game where he just gets his technique wrong.
"You look at it, there are head-highs all over the place, and his ones are obviously a bit worse.
"It's something he's practised on a lot and unluckily he (Sivo) caught him high again."
Sivo has proven himself to be one of the Eels' most devastating attacking weapons, having registered 87 tries through 103 NRL games, but the winger won't be able to return to the field until round four.
"It's a hard thing to do when you're on the wing and you're trying to shut down the play because you're just rushing as hard as you can to get there," said captain Clint Gutherson.
"Sometimes you get in an awkward position, and because he's so big it's hard to get down."
The Eels face Canterbury in their season opener on Saturday, with Brown adamant that Parramatta must begin the new campaign with a bang if they want to be in the mix for finals football come September.
"The ones at the start of the year count, and when it gets to the end you can't be chasing your tail, and that's what happened to us," Brown said.
