Finals and pressure

No Parramatta fan will ever get the qualifying final in 2005. Having won the minor premiership, we sailed through the finals to come up against a Cowboys side that only a few weeks earlier had been getting pounded. It seemed a fait accompli that we would meet the Dragons in the final and the two best sides throughout the year would do battle for the crown. However, the Cowboys had other ideas. We were comprehensively outplayed, with the Cowboys playing a far more physical game and a number of our young blokes just failing to step up to the plate. Tim Smith and Ben Smith, the rookies of the year in 2005, both had shockers, trying to do too much with the ball and even some of our more senior players like John Morris simply failed to cope with the pressure-cooker atmosphere. It's a fair enough question then to wonder how our less experienced players will cope. Daniel Mortimer, Matt Keating, Jeff Robson, Jonothan Wright are all playing in their first finals campaign. Nothing seems to faze Mortimer. I've not seen a cooler customer for a very long time and the way he stepped up for the Dragons game gives me great confidence, if he gets onto the field, he'll be mentally strong for the match. Jeff Robson is no youngster but has never been in this situation before. He has done well in the role he has been given and I think if he can continue to play that game he'll be fine on Friday night. If Mortimer is out, and he is given additional responsibility, then he still has some questions to answer. Jonothan Wright has had to come into the side under great pressure - he's experienced highs and lows but this game won't seem much different to any of the past couple of matches he's played. Matt Keating also looks a safe bet. He's been a stand-out performer in lower grade grand finals and he's generally doesn't make a lot of errors, anyway. When asked about the Eels rookies, Brett Kimmorley had this to say: "They've got all that momentum going for them, they're all very confident - sometimes a young kid who's inexperienced, if they've got a bit of confidence, they carry a bit of aura and think 'I'm bullet-proof, I can do anything'." I actually think the Bulldogs are going to feel the heat more than us. This is really their first pressure-cooker match. The Newcastle game was pretty low key in front of a smallish crowd so this match is not going to be like anything they've experienced before.

The other thing going for us leading up to Friday is that despite all the talk of 'fairytales' etc, I don't think the pundits, bookies, commentators or 'man-in-the-street' really believe we can make it all the way. Sure, its a nice story, but I still consider us underdogs. Furthermore, the Bulldogs have had a great year having lost fewer matches than any other side during the season (6). It will be a massive underachievement should they lose to us on Friday and I believe the pressure of expectation that we ourselves were under in 2001 and 2005 is now firmly weighing around the Dogs' necks!

We've played sudden-death footy for the last two months and, in reality, should we fail at this second last hurdle, we have overachieved given where we've come from as compared with the Bulldogs. Our boys have enjoyed their footy over the last 8 weeks and rightly are enjoying the resulting success.

To be honest, the only thing I see as a mitigating factor in our success is whether we're able to take 17 fit players (and fit players in key positions) into the contest. Should our injured players pull up well, and provided we stick to the blueprint, we will most likely win - and win comfortably!

Obviously, Dogs fans like Eels98 and others commenting on Daily Telegraph articles believe the same because if they were that confident, they wouldn't waste their time commuting to Eels fan sites like this for a bit of smack talk!

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Replies

Pat September 22, 2009 at 11:54am

I believe that in 2005 the lead up to the Preliminary was not ideal.

Hindmarsh was injured late in the home and away season which was followed by arguably a soft final against Manly in the first week. This allowed a week off and in the interim the Cowboys played a couple of tough games including eliminating the Storm.

Friday night I believe this situation will be reversed with the Dogs availing of the week off coupled with a patchy home and away loss to the TIgers and a workman like performance at best versus the Knights.

I think the Eels are good things as they are battle hardened and confident. Not that this will alleviate the nerves of course !
Jackso September 22, 2009 at 12:03pm

I'm expecting an ambush - a lot of the talk has been about Parra, which suits the dogs ! They'll come out firing and will try to bash us, cause i can't see them winning on skill :-)
Pugger September 22, 2009 at 12:12pm

As long as our defence is top notch then we wont feel the pressure to score points, therefore no need to push passes or go for that miracle ball.
Bourbon Man September 22, 2009 at 3:32pm

The other thing going for us leading up to Friday is that despite all the talk of 'fairytales' etc, I don't think the pundits, bookies, commentators or 'man-in-the-street' really believe we can make it all the way. Sure, its a nice story, but I still consider us underdogs. Furthermore, the Bulldogs have had a great year having lost fewer matches than any other side during the season (6). It will be a massive underachievement should they lose to us on Friday and I believe the pressure of expectation that we ourselves were under in 2001 and 2005 is now firmly weighing around the Dogs' necks!

We've played sudden-death footy for the last two months and, in reality, should we fail at this second last hurdle, we have overachieved given where we've come from as compared with the Bulldogs. Our boys have enjoyed their footy over the last 8 weeks and rightly are enjoying the resulting success.

To be honest, the only thing I see as a mitigating factor in our success is whether we're able to take 17 fit players (and fit players in key positions) into the contest. Should our injured players pull up well, and provided we stick to the blueprint, we will most likely win - and win comfortably!

Obviously, Dogs fans like Eels98 and others commenting on Daily Telegraph articles believe the same because if they were that confident, they wouldn't waste their time commuting to Eels fan sites like this for a bit of smack talk!
Eeldarado September 22, 2009 at 3:43pm

All the boys have to do is keep playing like they have!! the team has learnt one important thing over the last 2 months besides the loss to St George as we were never in front,the boys now protect their lead and never look like surrendering................................ composure is the key!!!

Many players and experienced ones have been guilty of throwing stupid passes and offloads when they were never on and most of the time never needed if the boys can dominate in the forwards have solid defence, and keep COMPOSURE in place and not panic we are in the G/F
jamesy September 22, 2009 at 3:59pm

we just have to defend like we have been doing and we will win
Johno September 22, 2009 at 4:08pm

Kimmorley's "Bullet-Proof" comment probably has some merit. As Phil pointed out, our young guns in 05 tried to score tries every play. There was some really dumb footy, thus we got spanked.

Of a concern to me a bit now is our young gun in Jarryd Hayne. Yes he did some great stuff and played some very intelligent footy last week, but at times he also took some very poor options. A chip kick in our own half when we were under the pump a bit is one casing point. He let another bomb go uncontested is another. We dodged bullets both times. There is a big danger that he is starting to get wrapped up in the hype and could slip into the Smith/Smith 05 mold and start over playing his hand. Let's hope not!

I agree that we are still massive underdogs in this next game. I don't care about our form and momentum, we are still playing against the "Dogs Of War". That mob of mongrels really seem to stand up at finals time, it is ingrained in there culture. This year they really have a point to prove and will be UP like you wouldn't believe. If our boys can withstand the first 20, like we did against the Dragons, we will get over them. If the mongrels get a start......

I'm predicting a close 22 - 18 game to us.

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