When you look over our Eels side we have a number of players who are looking at their shot for redemption or trying to make their mark in the toughest competition in the world.
Manu Ma'u is one of those players. He almost threw it all away as a teenager and his past prevented him from playing in Australia until he signed with Parramatta. When you watch him play you get a sense of how immensely proud he is and how much it means to play in the NRL.
He doesn't see the club as owing him anything and has no sense of entitlement, that he deserves to be there. Rather, that he's repaying the faith that the club put in him when they signed him.
On the other side of the field we have Ken Edwards. He was unable to gain traction at any of his other clubs. Off field indiscretions almost ended his career. Now older and wiser, he's striving to show how much he wants to be here.
David Gower could barely get a game at any of the clubs he went to. He was told by Brad Arthur what he had to fix. He's been given his opportunity and is taking it with both hands.
Even our halves are out to establish themselves. Sandow has struggled in his past two seasons. He's now showing why we signed him. Corey Norman was overlooked for the 5/8 spot at Brisbane and is now establishing himself as Parramatta's number one 5/8.
Looking at our back-line, Semi Radradra was picked from relative obscurity and has been learning the game on the run. His driving force is his family back in Fiji.
What about Willie Tonga? An immensely talented player who has struggled with injury at Parramatta. Now fully fit he's doing everything he can to show why he was a Queensland and Australian representative.
Nathan Peats also comes to mind. Given limited time at Souths he's been desperate to show his wears and his doing it in spades at Parramatta.
Even our coach is proving his worth. He's served under successful coaches but was questioned when he was signed by the Eels at the end of last season. He's done more in 5 weeks than Kearney and Stuart did in 3 seasons. He's restored pride to the club.
Parramatta have players who are desperate to make their mark. These types of players are dangerous against any team. They'll give anything to win and won't back down.
They believe in themselves and are keen to make up for either past mistakes or are motivated to show that they are a better player than their previous clubs made them out to be.
I'm not going end this piece with an outlandish prediction like us winning the premiership. However, given we are playing as a team at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised to see us in the Top 8 come September.
Replies
Que?
You're right on the money Sir Super.
Hunger and desire. We've been lacking it for a few years.
We were never going to get it from the likes of Walker, Webb, McGuire, Atkins. The likes of Inu, Mateo and Sandow got too comfortable with nobody pushing them. The dressing room split and confidence in the coach was lost; the players weren't even playing for each other.
I do hope the tide has turned and we can develop, and hold, a better attitude.
Read what Tonga says in the Semi article I posted. He said the self-belief in the club is unbelievable and that even if the experts fluking wins, the playing group knows what they're capable of.
It is nice to see the boys play with some pride in the jumper and have a go each week
It's true; it SOUNDS better. I like the things I'm hearing, and I like the things I'm seeing. However, there are still signs of the old regime too.
We bombed a try and let in another against the Roosters, then lost heart and ended up shipping 50 points. We were 2 minutes away from beating Manly, but a lack of game awareness and will to win saw us throw it away. Stupid shit like a chip-and-chase on the first set of the game will not often go unpunished. Then there's the murmurings of Hayne being underpaid, , and silly CEO chatter of shifting game to ANZ.
I've also got my unicorn horn on, but I think people need to calm down a little. There'll be a downer or two to come this year, and I hope we can get through it unscathed.