Ladies and Gents
Earlier today I read something that Snake had written and it really struck a cord with me. He said ‘this is about the time every year that our fans start losing hope, the forum always gets quieter, many unicorns have gone out to pasture’.
And he described me perfectly.
Like everyone else, I started this year full of hope and when we smashed Manly in Round One I walked out of Pirtek ten foot tall and bullet-proof. I thought ‘This is gonna be a great year’. I didn’t expect us to win the Premiership but I wanted us in the eight.
But week by week my excitement for the season was chipped away with our losses. I still looked forward to every game, heading to home games and tipping the Eels each week. But that sense of excitement was gone. So I stated thinking, ‘Nah, this isn’t gonna be a great year for us’. I was placated because I thought BA has a plan, Foran and a few others are coming, all is good.
Then we had the election and I got fired up. I wanted our board to be stable. I hoped it would kick start a revolution. I wanted BA to be able to implement his plans. I thought Scott Seward was a competent, innovative CEO. I backed Sharp’s board because his ticket was 100% the best of the bunch. I still think it was the best of the bunch. And that’s an important point. It was the best of those on offer. Are their better people to run our board? You bet. But they didn’t put their hand up.
But then things started going pear shaped. Seward left in a cloud of controversy, Jason Irvine was made redundant at the same time, there was salary cap debacle and the Club was raked through the mud for the umpteenth time during the Foran fiasco. And I thought ‘WTF is going on at board and Exec level?’ I’m not convinced people have been held accountable for the Foran fiasco – we’ll probably never really know who was responsible.
So, I decided to put my head in the sand. And just to watch the footy, stay off this site a bit and enjoy the team. Nah, that wasn’t working too well for me either given injuries and the Sandow drama. But I back the Club on that decision – it was right to cut him loose.
And it was hard to ignore the Eddie Obeid articles that seemed to pop up everywhere. Geez, you couldn’t make this crap up. You really couldn’t. It’s like a frickin’ reality TV show. But worse.
Then there was last week’s loss and that seemed like the end of the season. So I decided that I’d go out to pasture. It’s bloody exhausting following the Eels. Imagine the poor suckers working at the club. Anyways, I still love my team and I’m 100% supporting them and BA tomorrow. Fellas, give it your all until the last game of the season. And I’m looking forward to next season. My glass is still half full.
I expect that the Board get on this site a bit, so here’s my request, directed at Board members: Are there any more skeletons in the closet? Is the Seward fall-out over? Surely you’ve had a decent chance to sort the crap now. Any more controversy? Back-room deals? Illegal third party payments? Immigration problems? Tax fraud? Helicopter flights to Premiership Club events? Or salary cap issues?
If so, just fall on your bloody sword, let us know and get it over with.
Because my heart just can’t take the stress.
Go the Eels!
Replies
Nice blog Nutcracker, i think we all feel a bit the same atm, your spot on its bloody exhausting supporting parra.
When we are going bad i tend to lose a bit of interest in the comp, i still follow it and love it but its not the same when we arnt in the chase, and we havnt really been in the chase for the better part of a decade now, every years like groundhog day.
We do have our excusses this year, i never tipped us for the 8 but i know how you feel.
All fans of every club deserve a bit of success every now and then, i was so happy for souths fans last year, they deserved that premiership.
When we get ours no doubt we will have seriously earned it as fans.
And I also think we have some genuine excuses, but we can't let those in charge off the hook for some pretty ordinary decisions. They owe the fans success on the field.
So as to your request about any impending disasters I would highly doubt the Board would actually know. Remembering Boards don't run businesses, it's the Executive that run them. So unless the Executive fess up then the Board would have no way of knowing if there are any more skeletons in the closet.
In fairness to the team I don't think too many clubs could afford to lose a player of Hayne's ability and not be affected. I'm sure we would be in a totally different position now with Hayne in the team. I might be kidding myself but I still think Hayne wii return to Parramatta again, hopefully in 2016.
On the way the club has been managed over the past twenty years: a bloody disgrace. Parramatta should be a powerhouse and the game as a whole would be better for it. It surprises me that the NRL hasn't stepped in earlier. Could you imagine Coco Cola standing by and watching one of it's key divisions bleeding without taking action. I worry that a whole generation of supporters have been lost to the club- maybe the game.
As far as other issues at the board level are concerned, I think there is more to come. The fact that we have already reached the ceiling of the cap for 2016 and we have released players ( Matterson) whilst still paying a portion of their contract is a disgrace. When you compare our roster for 2016 with the Roosters and the Dogs you can see we still have a long way to go. I'm still praying for a miracle and a Hayne return.
It's a hard gig being a Parra fan.