It is my opinion that the Eels side of 2018 and in recant past years are a confidence base team. I might be wrong, but from what I can see is that when the teams confidence is high it continues for several weeks and the side then goes on a winning streak, but when confidence is low they go on a losing streak.
Just looking at last season the Eels won there first 2 games and in round 3 they lost a game they were expected to win against the Titans, they then put 3 consecutive losses together to be 2 from 6. You could probably even say that the loss to Melbourne in the first week of the finals also took the confidence out of the side and we all know what followed that.
I guess the trick is how to build the confidence levels back up. Winning will do it, but they need the confidence back to do that.
The more complete teams don't rely on confidence. Sure they can have an off day and lose a game here and there, but they don't seem to go on losing streaks. For example, Melbourne. Is this due to there leadership group, coaching staff or just there professionalism? They seem to have all these bases covered so it's hard to pin point which one, if it's only one of these things is the difference.
What I do know for sure is if the Eels can't regain the confidence that they seem to have lost late in the 1st half of round 1, the players, coaching staff and all us fans will be in for a long and disappointing season.
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Simple, the Jarryd Hayne affect..
Eels of 2016 and 2017 won games through grit, hard work, and aggression.
Throw in a player that's lazy, fat.. and doesn't train well, it effects the whole team morale.
BA's biggest mistake was signing Hayne.
Hayne is a flog.
What MDMA man said ^^
He was not playing today, so how can he be blamed?
Today has shown me nothing that changes my opinion on the lack of confidence throughout the entire club in both attack and defence. The milion dollar question is how to reinstate the confidence in the players?
If I was to name some other 2018 teams that are also confidence teams they would be
1 Raiders
2 Warriors
3 Broncos
4 Knights
All these sides ( like parra ) can go on long winning and losing streaks.
Agreed Slip, but how can a team win against a quality team in the Knights at Maitland in appalling heat, then be in front against Penrith in the first game, up until the bench players came on and since then have been outplayed, out penalised and how many other outs as well, to be in the position they are in now?
Confidence is contagious so is a lot of other things, and more often than not the blame is directed not at those who can change it but on the one person who is doing his job and being ignored by the players. If BA was ok as a coach up until after 20 minutes against Penrith, how did he actually slide, maybe as I said elsewhere is his Loyalty to the players has been taken as a gimme, and time for the players to repay his loyalty with theirs on the field.
He has hinted at changes in his presser tonight as well.
I agree. I'm not a huge BA fan, BUT, I am a massive believer in only making changes if the replacement is capable of doing a better job. I am yet to be convinced that any of the Wenty players are standing out enough to be considered. I am also yet to be convinced that any available NRL coach ( that would consider the Eels job ) would definitely be a better option than BA. The only option for the coaching role might be for the board to pin point a recently retired player that they think could become a good / great coach and somehow get them in as a assistant coach for a few years. A footy brain is what is required. I've always thought tha someone like Brett Kimmorley will one day make a good coach, another that I've been impressed with on fox is Micheal Ennis. I'm not sure if his comments and views are scripted or his own opinions and knowledge.
Slip, you have answered well. how many on this site have been calling for player changes ever since the first loss especially for some young blood to come in. In all honesty I have to ask how many of them based on their ISP performances are any better than those in the NRL squad now?
Thing is the both Ennis and Kimmorley would be ok but still raw really. I am actually wondering if letting Luke Burt and Peter Gentle go was such a good thing, especially Burty. He is and was through and through an eels player and did an ok job with the eels teams he coached, had a far better record than Nathan Cayless as well. Would certainly have made a better assistant/wenty coach IMHO
What I think happened in the Penrith game was how easy the Panthers started making easy metres up the middle in the second half of the first half. This had a double effect, the Eels lost confidence and let in a soft try just before the break, and the Panthers confidence levels skyrocketed. The Eels then fell apart and the Panthers dominated in all aspects of the game. The Eels have failed to regain that confidence since that point.
Like I have pointed out above, this happened last season also, starting with 2 wins and then losing a game they were expected to win vs the Titans, they then lost the next 3 games to be 2 from 6.
There were some pre match hustings about a Penrith ambush. Here's the go at it IMHO, our starting players can match it with the opposition, problem is the bench, we had our main forwards as per program, and Penrith changed their big men to sit on the bench for the first 20, the eels forwards were much better and had controlled the game until that point.
When the bench players came on, so did the Penrith players, namely their primary squad who were bigger and better than ours. Very simple strategy, had we had our bench players up front in the first 20, could have been different but that's history.
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