Eels Blogs

THEY’RE the words that strike fear into the hearts of long-suffering Parramatta fans.

“The Eels should be good this season.”

That was certainly the case this season for Parra, and may still be, with an excellent coach in Brad Arthur and a talented squad coming off the back of a finals appearance.

But we’ve seen this before: The Eels have a strong season that should only get better next year, only for everything to fall in a heap. The club, 32 years and counting since the last of its four premierships, has a devastating gift for not living up to the hype - and here are five examples since the turn of the century.

2001-2002: RECORD-BREAKING GRAND FINALISTS TO ALSO-RANS

The 2001 Parramatta Eels were incredible, the definition of an amazing team, with an emphasis on ‘team’. Consider this: Their 839 points scored remains the NRL single-season record and it was delivered by a spine (before the term became trendy) of Brett Hodgson, Michael Buettner, Jason Taylor and Brad Drew.

The minor premiers ultimately crashed and burned in the grand final, falling to the Andrew Johns-led Newcastle Knights after one of the most horrific first halves in GF history (24-0). But expectations were high for 2002, with coach Brian Smith re-signed long-term and exciting young players like Nathan Hindmarsh, Nathan Cayless, Andrew Ryan, Jamie Lyon and Luke Burt on the rise.

It didn’t turn out that way, with the team finishing sixth and crashing out of the finals in week one against the Broncos. They missed the finals in 2003, then again in 2004, which also brought the Lyon-Wee Waa fiasco.

2005-2006: UNPRECEDENTED ROOKIE CAN’T TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Tim Smith was a phenomenon in 2005. The young halfback didn’t just win NRL rookie of the year, he set an NRL record with 40 try assists, which still stands today. To put that effort in perspective, future NSW Origin halfback Nathan Cleary had 21 try assists across his first TWO Panthers seasons.

Smith led the Eels to a minor premiership and into a preliminary final, which delivered an awful 29-0 loss to the Cowboys. It was a crushing blow but optimism was high for the next campaign.

It wasn’t awful but it was in no way what the Eels were hoping for: An eighth-place finish and bundled out in week one of the finals by eventual premiers Brisbane.

2007-2008: BACK IN THE PRELIMS TO DOUBLE DISASTER

Smith and the Eels had their groove back in 2007, finishing fifth to set up a finals campaign that proved respectable in a season dominated by Melbourne and Manly. They beat the Warriors and Bulldogs before falling to an illegal Storm 26-10 team in the preliminary final.

That was the end of their brief flash of hope with Smith, who suffered a sad downfall just three games into the 2008 season, announcing that he suffered from bipolar disorder and leaving the club to recuperate. He would never return to Parra, while coach Michael Hagan also departed at the end of a season for personal reasons. The team finished 11th that year.

2009-2010: HAYNE’S GODLY GRAND FINAL RUN TO TOTAL FAILURE

If you were there when Jarryd Hayne played rugby league in 2009, you will never, ever forget it. For a glorious half-season, it was like watching Andrew Johns crossed with Billy Slater crossed with Sonny Bill Williams, as Hayne torched all in his path to snatch a Dally M Medal and an eight-placed finish that somehow extended to a grand final appearance.

The Eels fell 23-16 to Melbourne in the decider, a Storm title that was later stripped for salary cap rorts, but Parra re-signed Hayne on big money and it seemed certain that they would be a major contender for the premiership in 2010 and beyond. Nope - they finished 12th the season after their fairytale GF appearance and coach Daniel Anderson was sacked.

2012-2013: WOODEN SPOON TO A RICKY STUART SHOCKER

A different sort of example but one that still left Eels fans tearing their hair out.

The Eels went from a 14th-placed finish in 2011 to the wooden spoon in 2012, officially hitting rock bottom - or so they thought. Renewed hope came in the form of signing Ricky Stuart, with the coach hailed as Parramatta’s best signing since the great Jack Gibson, the man to lead them back to premiership contention.

It all seems like a sick joke in hindsight. Stuart’s most notable moment was a mid-season meeting where he used an overheard projector to tell a raft of players they were unwanted for next year, sending team morale to hell.

Not only did the Eels repeat their wooden spoon, Stuart became an Eels ultra-villain by quitting the club just one year into a three-season deal to coach the Canberra Raiders.

The Eels copped a player version of the false saviour story in 2016, when Kieran Foran arrived - only to play nine games and leave the club in dark circumstances.