The Parramatta Eels have gone down 33-20 against the Canberra Raiders. A second half blitz from Jarryd Hayne wasn't enough to drag the Eels over the line.
With the curtain now drawn of Parramatta's season, it's time to look back over just what happened this season.
Throughout the pre-season there was a lot of talk about whether Brad Arthur had what it takes to coach in the NRL.
He'd served apprenticeships under both Craig Bellamy and Geoff Toovey and came to the Eels via Manly.
In March, Parramatta faced an uphill battle early on. Inside the first six rounds they were asked to face defending premiers, the Roosters twice and grand finalists Manly.
After the first six rounds though, the Eels had surprised everyone and had won four from six, their only defeats came in their away match against the Roosters and against Manly at Brookvale.
Parramatta appeared to be turning the corner. New recruits, Manu Ma'u, Nathan Peats, David Gower and Ken Edwards were running amok against more fancied opponents.
Chris Sandow had returned from a stint with Wentworthville and Jarryd Hayne appeared to be playing consistently good football.
The Eels had also broken their away win drought when they defeated the Broncos in Brisbane.
Parramatta then had their momentum halted by the Tigers in controversial circumstances. Admittedly, it was a match that Parramatta let slip from their fingers.
The Eels however, continued to surprise and remained in the Top 8 with two crushing wins over Cronulla and St George-Illawarra.
Then, perhaps the biggest impact of Parramatta's season hit. Nathan Peats went down against Penrith with a knee injury.
It later turned out that the hooker had been carrying a knee injury all season and he now required a full reconstruction, ending his 2014 season.
The Eels quickly recruited Isaac De Gois from Cronulla who quickly repaid the faith with a fantastic performance against the Bulldogs that saw the Eels win without Jarryd Hayne, who was one Origin duty.
It was in that match though that Parramatta received their second big blow of the season. Manu Ma'u broke his arm and although his return was slated for Round 24, he never returned to the side.
The injury toll quickly began to mount for Parramatta, and whilst they always gave themselves a chance, it was beginning to tell.
Will Hopoate went down with a shoulder injury playing for New South Wales with Tim Mannah also ruled out for three weeks after the match against Newcastle.
Injuries to Willie Tonga and Ken Sio quickly saw almost half of Parramatta's starting 13 sitting on the sideline.
The Eels then lost four matches in a row. The first time in the season that they really looked like collapsing in a heap.
Luckily for Parramatta, their strong start to the season ensured they were never too far away from the top eight.
A run of three consecutive victories coincided the returns of Mannah and Hopoate with Sio returning later on.
The Eels put in a massive effort against front runners Manly in Round 24 to keep their finals destiny in their own hands.
However, it appeared that Parramatta had played their grand final against Manly and failed to capitalise on their opportunities against Newcastle and Canberra.
The 2014 season will be seen as one that got away. Parramatta had the chance to make the finals but were unable to take it.
However, at the start of the season, many pundits were tipping a bottom four finish with the team narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon. To finish tenth with the team still alive come round 26 is a terrific achievement for a young side.
The season saw the rise of a number of impressive players including Peats, Ma'u, Edwards, Gower, Junior Paulo, Tepai Moeroa and Pauli Pauli.
Those players will be better for the experience.
The Eels this season had an in-form Jarryd Hayne. He was the difference in many of the games and he topped the NRL try-scoring tally with 20. He also became the third Eel to pass 100 tries at the club and will hope to surpass Brett Kenny's tally next year.
There is plenty of potential for Brad Arthur to work with for next season. His challenge will be to have his side playing consistently good football.
He himself is still learning his trade and it will definitely be a long wait until the 2015 season.
Supporting Parramatta is like being on the world's craziest rollercoaster. So strap yourselves in, 2015 is going to be a big year.
We also bid farewell to Ben Smith (retired), Fuifui Moimoi (Super League), Ken Sio (Super League) and Willie Tonga (Super League) who all leave the Eels this season.
See More: http://www.bluegoldglory.com.au/2014/09/07/6426/2014-season-review
Replies
So much of this year has mirrored 1996. A better team, a new start and some woeful displays at the end to make sure we wouldn't play in the semis.
IMO Parramatta have a few serious issues they need to fix for next year.
1) Defense....a LOT of points were scored against them through very soft defense in the middle and on the flanks. They seem to have lapses during the game where teams just steam roll them and rack up big scores. It seams like everytime their opposition scores, we all hold our breath hoping and praying, that they don't score another 20 - 30 more points.
2) Patience in attack.....it seems to me that Parramatta seem to want to just try and score of every set of 6 when they are in the opposition's 20. In every game they have played this year, very rarely have they just tried to get a repeat set from a dropout. They have the attacking talent....they need patience.
3) I think we need a captain that doesn't argue with refs in an arrogant manner. I have the utmost respect for Jarryd Hayne as a player and a leader of the team, however, the way he approaches referees leaves a lot to be desired. It's not entirely his fault, as he has never had a good role model to teach him that aspect of the game. When you have gone through a multitude of coaches and never had a captain like a Cameron Smith in terms of how they deal with referees.....than you don't have the skills in that area.
I think if Parramatta don't fix these 2 areas next year, we will all be talking about another season of what ifs !
I'll give you my review ...
We had a golden opportunity to play finals football by simply winning one of our games against two of 2014's cellar dwellers and dogged it big time.
To lose the 2nd half against Newcastle 0-34 and then be down 6-32 against the team that came 15th is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE when we had everything to play for.
No amount of telling me we had a few young blokes or were missing Peats will appease my feelings about these pathetic displays.
The End
Stuff me duck - it took you all of the above to say
WE FOLDED AGAIN!
We stuffed up.
We were tragically pathetic on too many occasions.
Arthur has picked up some much needed experience for next year, for the 2 reasons we didnt compete on all levels this year, inexperience in defence (inability to read the play under-pressure) and the realisation that patience without intensity = lethargy. In our last 2 games we were patient without intensity, which resulted with scores we couldnt run down. Experienced players know how to read the defence and maintain intensity whist being patient. Still while I am dissapointed with not playing finals footy, our place on the ladder is much better than last year
Picked up what experience exactly Bear???
The soft head McPherson? The park player from Titans? Perhaps, the perpetually injured Champion??
Let me know when you find out will you.
Gibbo would be rolling in his grave if we described our season that way.
Parramatta are the fluffers of the NRL, they get the fans hard but never finish them off.
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