Keeping in mind that we lost our best player during the off season I'm pretty happy with what I've seen from the eels this year. Despite a massive injury list, signing dramas, a halfback that didn't want to be here and all the internal board dramas we have a team turning up to compete (almost) every single week.

Compared to what parra fans have endured over the previous 4 seasons this is the first time in along time that parra genuinely looks like a club on the way to challenging for a premiership in the near future. We will have a full salary cap for the first time in years and a mix of test and origin experience mixed with our juniors many of who look to be on the brink of hitting their peak form and in Bevan French a potential X factor.

We've competed  in every game bar the titans, storm and 2 against the dogs (the last two we were right in before injuries). We are one of the more effective attacking teams in the comp with the norman, semi, taka combination being one of the best around this season. Our defense needs to improve and should with no sandow.

This year we've found ways to lose unwinnable games but we've also got out of jail a few times and won games we had no right to win. With a few extra conversions we would be sitting comfortably in the top 8, something no one would have predicted at the start of the year.

Next season parra will have a full roster of players that want to be there and bleed blue and gold and a coach that want's to settle for nothing short of success.  We hear the same thing about parra being ready to lift each season but this has got to be the first time in a long time where you can genuinely see parra as a club on the way up.

The eternal optimist in me isn't counting out this year either (as long as we don't get points deducted).Call me crazy but we are a genuine chance tonight. we might have gotten to an unbeatable lead against the cows on the back of sandow but it was also his defensive weaknesses and inability to hold a lead and control the game that cost us that win.

Sorry if the post is a bit long but I'm looking forward to us finishing the year strong even with all the injuries and bring on 2016!

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  • This is not a successful season. We have to have higher standards for our team. Never accept mediocrity mate. I agree that we are on the way up but in no way are we a team that looks like challenging for a premiership in the near future. I hope you are right but don't see it.
    • DH

  • Good post.

    I agree with your assessment of our season and the future outlook, and love your optimism for tonight's game!.....bigger upsets have happened before.  

    • Tell me about it!! I was so upset that the Broncos won the other night!!!!
  • Welcome Matt, nice first blog.

    • Im a bit worried this is "simon" who's now taken my "Stooge 101" advice. Easing in with a nice positive blog to start with............ :)

      If not, welcome Matt

  • Ha, how can anyone be happy with this year? Low standards. We will be challenging for the spoon come round 26.

  • Nice first blog and bound to get varied replies. For mine, if people were asked, "where do you think Parra will finish this year without Hayne, without around 8 to 10 first graders on a regular basis" I think most of us would say that we would be lucky to win any games. Yet we have remained competitive and indeed wasted game winning opportunities that should have left us sitting in the 8 now.
    Given the dramas and the injuries we have endured, I'd suggest we've almost over achieved.
    Whenever you assess this year, you have to consider what injuries have done to our roster, and plenty here didn't even rate that roster anyway! We are fielding players this week that will not be in the key spine positions next year. Consider that.
    I think we've battled well and I hope that the next 7 matches do justice to the effort we've put in up to now.
    • I predicted we would come 11th at the start of the year which is still a failure of a year. Heaps of teams have had a stack of injuries (including us). If we finish anywhere near spoon territory, which I now think we will, it is completely unacceptable.

  • Great blog totally agree with all your points. Looking forward to an upset tonight!
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