Eels Blogs

Most of you would probably have picked up that I manage my own business, and one of my goals in trying to do that is to really push the process of continuous improvement. Whenever you engage in any initiative it's all too easy to get bogged down on just getting through the day-to-day and "getting the job done", without actually putting time, resources and processed in place to ensure that every day your enterprise is actually getting better and moving forward. 

It's one of the things that, from an outsider's perspective that it looks like BA has brought to the club. I remember David Gower being interviewed in the pre-season and he talked about how one of they approaches that he appreciated about BA was that he delivered very honest feedback about the areas that he wanted you to improve and that there was the opportunity to go away and work on that and that if you went away and did what he was after that you knew you would be rewarded.

It's something we've seen continually from the Eel's roster this year. We've seen players, most notably Chris Sandow, but also Ken Sio, Mitch Allgood and Gower who have worked their way into the NRL side. During pre-season, we saw the likes of Manu Ma'u and Ken Edwards also perform their way into the starting 17. We've also seen players, particularly some of our younger guys drop back in grade, and I think we can assume given what we've heard from other players with elements they've been told they need to work to get back to NRL.

At Parramatta one of the things that I believe has characterised our underperformance in recent years is players that have plateaued or even gone backwards in terms of performance. Mitch Allgood is a great example. He burst onto the scene in his first NRL year, won a rep jersey in the City/Country clash but has failed to go forward since then. 

Last week's match against the Roosters was probably the best Allgood has played since those early games, indeed I'd hazard to say it could have been his best game in Blue and Gold. He's still a young forward who has size, he's shown he's got a bit of aggression about him too and he is very capable of establishing himself as a very capable NRL prop. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the overriding consensus on this site was that Allgood was probably the weakest of our considerable prop forward options and that we should even consider releasing him from the contract he signed only last year.

However last week, Allgood was better than the highly-rated young Roosters forwards. There was considerably more intensity, aggression and will to his game. And consequently just as it looked like he'd drop out of the side to make way for the returning Darcy Lussick, he is rewarded by retaining his place in the side.

BA has had his share of luck in this regard. We've had very few early injuries, with Lee Mossop and Jacob Loko being the only real NRL contenders out of contention for the early part of the season. And he's been given a roster that has the best depth we've had for a very long time - both young and second-tier players have broken out as NRL quality and consequently we have enormous competition for spots, and a reggies side that is putting consistent pressure on the NRL squad.

What looks pretty apparent to me, though, is that competition for spots is just part of the equation that is delivering this continual improvement. Clearly, there appears to be a lot of work being done behind the scenes on both individual and team improvement. The expansive game that the Eels are playing demands high-quality execution and interestingly it is somewhat at odds with what BA appears to see as a key performance indicator, which is the completion rate. BA hasn't attempted to fix his squad by reverting back to basics, indeed he's done the opposite - he's asking more of his players and they certainly appear to be responding to the expectation that they can, and should do, better.

Even when you listen to interviews this week, there is the constant recognition that despite beating the Roosters, there were plenty of areas that needed to be working on. The fact that Peni Terepo has been dropped despite being a strong performer through all of Parramatta's winning run, means no body can remain comfortable and drop back into coasting mode. 

Last year, we saw Ricky Stuart publicly come out at a press conference after an early shellacking and declare that he had a young side and that he couldn't guarantee those results wouldn't happen again. In effect he not only gave the players (and himself) a get-out but he declared that he didn't really have the confidence that they would get beter.

BA faced the same scenario (ironically after a result against the same team). His approach was like chalk and cheese. He said it wasn't good enough. We've heard how the players reacted honestly to the performance and the appraisal of the effort that caused the result. And the players responded. They got better and they have kept getting better.

That's probably the exciting thing about this side. As well as they're going, you have the feeling they can still get much better. They have new combinations, players like Corey Norman and Will Hopoate have shown glimpses of class but aren't yet dominating matches as their potential suggests they can. Chris Sandow is on his way back but you know with his confidence improving he's going to get even better. And just how well might Jarryd Hayne play in a team where others are firing around him.

I came out and spoke up pretty early on this season about what was looking to me, like a clear culture change at least within the playing group. A lot of folk were, quite rightly, sceptical. After all, we have heard it all before, particularly when a new coach comes in and things change. However, this does feel very different. It's tangible. You can see it, not just in the results but in the performances. There is heart. There is desire. And it all comes without what I would describe as 'relaxed arrogance' that has characterised even our best sides over the past couple of decades.

It's too early to know where this year's journey is going to end. Top teams like the Roosters and Souths haven't really switched on yet - you know when the season gets serious they're going to go to altogether new levels and we don't know that our boys are going to go with them. But importantly, their seems to be the expectation and there also appears to be the belief that they are up to that challenge.

I have a favourite adage which goes along the lines of 'Shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars'. Right now, it's just nice to be getting off the ground.