Earlier today I had a conversation with a current NRL referee who has controlled our games on a few occasions this year. I have known this bloke for about 10 years. This referee is certainly one of the better ones and has not come under a barrage of criticism like some of the others. I wont disclose his name for obvious reasons. We had a general chat and my frustration with Parramatta came up. I asked him what he thought of this years team. In a brief summary he stated :
- Believed we were far stronger this year than last year despite losing HAYNE. Felt the lack of significant pace hurts us deliver killer blows like some of the other teams.
- Believed we drift in and out of games and that hurts us. The on field talk drops right off and this creates a lot of problems particularly in tight games.
- Stated that he believed we could beat any side on our day without doubt.
- Manu Mau is an outstanding player and has respect from the opposition. Didnt think Watmough was going as bad as we think, added a lot of sting in defence and has increased Parras line speed, He is doing plenty of tightening up around the ruck.
Without saying so directly, I got the impression that he felt we lacked on field leadership under pressure and composure at critical times. Didnt think we were any worse than other sides in Penalties and infringements etc. But did say that Referees are training harder than ever before, and having more to do with clubs and that the abuse they cop is ten fold on previous years.
Nothing too dramatic or eye opening here or what we haven't discussed already. I feel we are going OK. WE are hurting with the backline but our forwards on their day are as good as anyone. Would have loved to have seen EDWARDS this year as I rate him highly. I agree that Manu is a great player. Could our fading and fading out of games be happening when we are rotating through the bench in middle 20 ? Some sides explode with the bench rotations we dont ?
Anyway that is all I got,.
Replies
Great blog Paul and lack of on field leadership and composure comes down to two players, Sandow and Mannah.
It's fitting that neither will be with us for much longer.
I also noticed on Saturday night, that the talking during the match went from a high level to basically nothing halfway through the first half which is a shame because watching earlier games in the year, the talking on the field was excellent.
No team can blame injuries, all teams have their share but not having our big boppers and Semi has certainly hurt us.
Things WILL get better when a couple return I believe. We had some real forward punch but with Lussick out and Paulo gone we have looked average indeed.
Who knows where we would be without Manu, Gower and most of all Wicks?
3 smart recruitment decisions right there apart from Foran, Scott and another to come...
What are you talking about with Mannah? I thought we were stuck with him for a few more years. Perhaps he can go off to Superleague, so he doesn't have the shame of playing the Eels/ being put in his place as a bench player.
Great blog and interesting comments :)
Yes we are going bad simple as that yes we got some players out but so has other clubs n some of them still going all right
Don't for get the titans beat us at home so saying that just because we playing at home does not mean we going to win
Thank you for an interesting insight from another perspective.
Our lack of speed is something we have to deal with as we have little options this season, however our lack of communication on the field is something that needs to be addressed ASAP.
A lot of guys are questioning player x, y and z not pulling their weight but we know that we can beat anyone on the day with the troops at hand.
Again, it comes down to communication and commitment. We are just too FRAGILE and/or IMMATURE as a team.
With the bench we have we will never do any good, powder puff Paulo stuffs the attack and the halves loose their mojo when he involves himself getting in the way and is just a waste of a position, DE Gois is alright though it would be better to have pauli or another forward to help do the hard yards and sting in defence which Paulo can't. IMO both need to be replaced so our bench gives us more impact as at the moment it offers nothing. The attack and structure actually flows better before crab comes on.
Are you saying a City Representative, NRL All Star, and International Captain and a player admired my the rugby league community (Ennis, Sterling, Gould, Lewis, Fitter and Daley), is a weak link that is so illogical , I really question if you actually watch Eels games and see how Seffa is such a key in attack and links up with Sandown and Norman nicely.
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