Looking for answers...Eels coach Daniel Anderson. Source: The Daily Telegraph
AT A loss to explain the reason behind Parramatta's stunning surge into last year's NRL finals, Eels coach Daniel Anderson admits he is just as clueless trying to figure out where the magic has gone this year.
"That is a difficult question. It's difficult to pinpoint where it has gone," Anderson said of the fact the Eels had won only one of their opening three games.
"The only good thing is we have identified it early. We can't keep playing the way we are otherwise it's not going to work out. Maybe we need to not talk so much and just act."
Parramatta get their chance to act against winless Cronulla at Toyota Stadium tonight, the Eels' plight ensuring complacency won't be an issue against the deplorable Sharks.
Anderson has refused to make wholesale changes to his star-studded line-up, instead calling on his senior players to produce a more sustained effort rather than the sporadic bursts evident so far in 2010.
Even in the one win they have managed this season, it took until the final 25 minutes for the Eels to overhaul a 20-0 deficit against Manly in round two.
"We need to show more grit and determination and show more effort," Anderson said.
"They're the intangibles. I can't give a bunch of statistics to say 'here this is where we're falling down', it's not that at all.
"It's the intangibles that we need to improve on and they're easily identifiable.
"I don't think I have one player who would disagree."
Replies
This is the one area im looking for the eels to improve in tonight. I dont expect to see any complacency. If the Sharks push us all the way tonight, i will cop that as long as we show a keenness to compete for the ball this evening.
We cannot control which sharks side turn up and how they decide to play, but we can control the frame of mind we take into the game.
Just do the hard work tonight boys, get to your kicks, work for each other in defence, trust the man inside you, and show enthusiasm. If you do these things, points will follow.
Its pretty clear to me that our run last year came on the back of improved defensive line speed, our forwards going forward on the back of second phase play and Fui's rampaging runs, and of course Jared Haynes brilliance.
So far this year the line speed has been slow, there have been hardly any offloads and Fui has not been running rampant.