After the dust has settled on one of the more frustrating seasons in recent memory, the question is: is there hope of good things to come, or is it all just hopeless?
In some ways, losing the last game of the season is probably a good thing. At least we aren't left with that false sense of hope.
The last time we lost our final game of the season was the 2022 Grand Final year.
Every year since, we've managed to win that last game and head into the off-season with all the *what ifs*, the *maybes*, and the hope that with a bit of luck, a few changes and things falling our way, we'll turn it around.
How wrong that has proven to be.
So the question is: are there genuine glimmers of hope, or are we simply looking at more of the same?**
Personally, I set my expectations very low these days so I can't get too disappointed.
But somehow, even with the bar set ridiculously low, they still managed to disappoint me this year. 😂
I wasn't expecting 8th.
I wasn't expecting a premiership.
Honestly, just winning half our games would have been a pass mark.**
Instead, we finished with 9 wins — one less than last year.
So where do we go from here?
Are there enough signs to believe better days are ahead, or are we just going to be having the same conversation this time next year?
Eels fans — glimmers of hope or more of the same?
Replies
maybe too soon for me to comment, but i dont see much better or even light in the tunnel for next year. i've commited already to vegas so cant pull out now, but at this stage i dont hold alot of hope for next year. Luai who im not real sure how he will go, i worry he will be too much of a distraction with all his PNG stuff and sua, well, who knows what we are getting there having missed so much football. Losing so many players as well. hard to get excited thats for sure.
Thank god the season is over is all i can say.
The only thing now is hope for some signings. All you can do. A new CEO can help, depending on who it is of course, but i have said it on other blogs and will be a broken record but next year will start as a year of broken glass on the floor. If we start poorly again, the noise will hit Ryles like a steam train. When it does, how does he recover? He will fight, he seems to be that type. But will it be enough?
He seems to be making changes knowing he has to. Talks of Shane Flanagan and Mark Russell joining the staff. New voices can help. The way i see it is no matter what people want to believe, 2027 is boom or bust for Ryles. Missing the 8 i think is the nail in the coffin. Finishing 11th or lower is definately nail in the coffin. A new CEO can be a blessing for him, but could also be bad as the person who hired him is gone. CEO will have their own ideas and may eventually want their own people. That makes Ryles more vulnerable. Where if Sarantinos was still here in 2027, he more likely sees out his contract.
Where is the hope? Well some of our kids look the goods; Talagi, Petrus, Koina are all top talents. Issue is they could take 1-2 years to be regular first grade players. We just have to wait til November-December and see what signings we have made. We will make some as we have spots in our top 30 left and 1-2 players will leave our top 30 as well, Joash being one.
The honeymoon is officially over now, come 2027, the media will look for blood in the water at Parramatta as we deliver views. We are a rich club, a loyal club. I went to the game yesterday and even though Wiz warned me, i couldn't believe the amount of Eels fans i saw. Same when you watch them interstate, we travel well. Despite the rubbish the club has dished up for upwards of 40 years, our fans aren't fickle. Not like Dogs who dropped off when they were bad, Souths fans came out only around 2012, Penrith fans are now prevelent due to their results. Eels fans and granted Tigers fans i give credit to as well, are bloody loyal. Media knows that, they prey on it. That in itself is bad for Ryles.
He will for the first time go into a season with doubt on him, with a safety blanket gone and eyes on him. Can he do it? Just have to wait and see. If there is hope it is BA had a rough 2nd year where we went backwards. His 3rd year, despite the cap drama's, was much better. Granted got some alright signings but he went from 12 to 9 to 13 wins. It can be done. But this is where it starts for Ryles. He knows that, he is a smart man. He is realistic about it.
A lot hinges on the incoming CEO and what agenda they'll bring along with them. If the new CEO is focused on football excellence and wants to make that the defining feature of their tenure and has the skills and experience to make it happen, then I think we should have a considerable amount of hope.
But a change at CEO is about as seismic as it gets...it will take time (years). This won't be a "next season" kind of deal.
We are still seeing the damage from the Spags and 3P years - the structural and financial hole they left the club in was horrendous and has taken a decade of repair from Jim and co to close. Those dolts not only burnt cash, but trust, integrity, good will, governance and basically every other thing needed to serve as the foundations for sustained success.
Now we have rebuilt a lot of that credibility, but it's meant playing it safe and focusing on repairing the boring stuff (finances, governance, processes, contracts, trust, commercial partnerships etc). I know lots of people aren't happy at where Jim has left the club, but the work he did on those foundations was actually pretty huge and needed to be done.
The time is now for a CEO who, just like Matt Cameron provided at the Panthers from Brian Fletcher, is a footy excellence focused CEO who can continue on these solid foundations and build football success. But as is clear by our squad, our staff, our R&R etc...we are starting from the ground up on football excellence.
I have a lot of hope for the new CEO being a footy first CEO. If he/she is - then we should expect our transformation will take years, but we should be hopeful whilst it happens.
This is why whenever ANYONE trying to talk about chucking out our entire board I get so defensive. The last time we had idiots in charge they crippled our club for in excess of 10 years. We are now able to build on some solid foundations, let's hope the board pick the right CEO to make that happen.
They said Parra are searching for a football experienced CEO. As to their links to Cameron George and Matt Cameron so far. The financial struggles are done, one less thing to worry about. Now the football side needs fixing and that is what the next CEO will be trying to fix.
I was fine with Sarantinos going, but same with BA when he left, i can credit him with the good things he has done. Financially he did a great job for us. There i said it. Football wise not so much.
You are spot on Captain. The work done with Jim and co over the last 10 years has left the club in a position where we are ready to take things to the next level, and that is performance on the field. Yet to get there will take quite some challenge yet, as key areas in performance and R&R etc have yet to be fully identified and best practice engrained into club culture.
You can liken the club to building a sky scraper. First you need to do the designs and calculations, clear the ground, dig down to solid rock and start building your foundations. That usually takes a few years to do. Only once you know exactly where you are headed can you start to build the frame level by level. Then comes the final design and fit-out. We are at the stage where the foundations are mostly built, but we are not yet ready to start constructing the frame. As you say, a strong CEO will pull together everything we need from here in order to build a strong, capable frame to let the building shine. This is going to take a few more years, but once we top out that sky scraper, Parra will be a powerhouse club.
I can only go by this year's and last year's performance under Ryles and the signings we have made for next year compared to the signings that other clubs have made.
Unless we make some top shelf signings for next season, we will finish lower than this year.
I think Ryles is under extreme pressure next year. Last year he was able to use "rebuilding & his first season" as excuses. This year its the "injury toll" excuses. I dont think the club or fans will accept a 3rd year fail from him.
The coaching staff he vouched for have not done the job.
Sam Moa is not the answer we need
The 1yr Jonah Pezet was another of his fails, he vouched for him.
Our high performance coach was again a fail, we simply werent fit enough, fatigued too easy as opposed to other clubs.
Ryles isnt attracting talent to the club, money is, thats a concern.
ONLY once in the entire season did we win a back to back game, round 2 & 3. Thats poor. To expect fans to swallow that effort is not acceptable.
We need Ted Lasso
Any coach should be after 3-4 years in. That's normal. I'm still unsure how Benji has a job tho 🤣
Ciraldo and Benji are interesting to me, both clubs going backwards and no changes happening
Gould is stuck with Ciraldo, he appointed him. Gus would look stupid to the board if he had to sack him.
Benji one gets me, hasnt shown an ounce of coaching skill yet gets extended
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