As I reflect on the improved performances of our Eels boys this year, I've been trying to focus on what separates Parramatta from those teams who look capable of winning the competition.
I now believe that I have narrowed it down to one thing - the ability to deal with adversity.
Now adversity comes in many forms during a game of football. It can come from having a roster depleted by injury, losing a player to injury during a game, having 50/50 calls go against you, and having the bounce of the ball go against you, These things happen to every team multiple times during every season. It's how the team responds to these situations that define whether they are contenders or pretenders.
So on our day, when we get our share of 50/50 calls, when the bounce of the ball doesn't continually favour the opposition, we can match it with any team. And consider this, is it really unusual to have things go your way in home matches?
However, when things don't go our way we don't seem to have that mental toughness to keep fighting and really make the opposition earn their win.
No doubt, things have improved. We are far more competitive than the previous 3 to 4 years. We put ourselves in a better position to win matches and to bring about some of those lucky bounces and decisions that all teams need.
Nonetheless, until our Parramatta Eels embodies the same level of dogged competitiveness and determination to overcome adversity as a team such as Manly (I hate writing that bit) then we will not be ready to challenge for a title. We're on our way, but as our floggings have revealed this year, there is still quite a long way to go.
Replies
Bring back sk
There's those words again - mental toughness. Two things have happened since last season: We're a less experienced team and we've become more mentally tough, which is unexpected because mental toughness usually goes hand in hand with experience. The Eels are the second least experienced team in the comp, and as such no one should be surprised by our inconsistent performances. Though we're much better than last year, we need to develop into a far tougher team to be title contenders. Experienced players are required. It will be a very delicate task in deciding which juniors to retain and who we should target for recruitment. Important decisions lie ahead.
Spot on sixties ! At half time we were right in the contest then in the 1st 5 minutes a bad call for a forward pass to Crissy then that woeful crusher call against Gower - our heads dropped and they score . We need to harden up mentally !
Well said sixties, and im sure this is what BA is trying to instil in the team, him being at cultures like manly and the storm would have shown him what it takes.
We are not their yet, but i believe we have shown good signs this year and im expecting even better results next year in this department.
I agree. We lack the mental toughness of the top teams.
But against Melb, I thought they showed alot of mental toughness and determination. We came back from 18-0 down, only to have a few important dodgey calls and a sin-bin. We simply got too tired to cope and Melb played smart. Even after Sandow came back on, we were exhausted, but we still managed to score the last try of the match.
Maybe our fitness levels are still a bit short of the top teams.
Interesting point. We spent the first 30 mins defending against the relentless Storm, which explains why we got tired and everything crumbled towards the end. I'm not going to say we were courageous because we did a lot of stupid things that led to the outcome. Nevertheless I'm very confident we'll bounce back against Newcastle.
Even with a player off we should not have allowed the 3 trys in. Mental toughness will help cure that. Looking at that game Storm defenders seemed to be in our faces just after the ball cleared the ruck, hard to tell from tv, but where they consistently off side?
What a super, well thought out blog. Clearly our mighty Eels have a long way to go before they are mentally tough enough to consistently overcome adversity, our ability to crumble has reared it's ugly head too often this season.
We are not alone, I can only think of two or three teams that have ability to hang in there no matter what when it really matters.
Hopefully BA can unlock the secret to overcoming adversity, we have the roster, we need the starch.
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