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LB, that point you make about "belief" is huge not just for R&R, but in performance.
Terrell May is an excellent example.
Actually , he makes me wonder about someone like Suli who many clubs and fans don't believe in. "He's crap, I will hand in my membership if we sign him". Wherever he lands, I hope he makes it.
Terrell may have initially gone to the Tigers because they offered the most money and because he felt discarded by the Roosters and needed to feel highly valued. But he’s staying because Benji and the Tigers believe in him. At least that’s a picture he paints on a recent podcast.
What’s interesting is that both the Roosters and Panthers had concerns about his attitude. The whole “gangster May” podcaster reputation followed him around. Ivan was seemingly willing to back him, but Matt Cameron flagged concerns and the 3-year deal Ivan had lined up never eventuated.
Cameron essentially told him, from May's perspective at least, we can't accept 'all of you' as you are and brothers have been. May walked out.
Standards and culture v accepting human nature and reality.
It’s the lesson of Wayne Bennett.
“I’m off to bed. Just don’t end up in jail when I wake up.”
Be yourself. I have faith in you. Don't let yourself down.
Rugby league isn’t GPS private school rugby, nor is it a pathway to a monastery. It’s a tough game that very few can play or make it in that has always given people from all walks of life including the rough end of town a chance.
Talent means very little without hard work and belief. Sometimes all it takes is a coach, club or teammates that end up as circuit breakers. Even if no one else does. Ultimately, Bennett is right. All R&R decisions are a risk and it is up to the individual to make good on whatever talent they have or don't have.
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Well BA's recruitment lived off that. RCG, Cartwright, Papali'i, Opacic, Lane etc. these signings were show of faith when many thought were finished. Penrith were so fed up with RCG they paid for him to play against them.
With Tuivaiti as an example yeah you slightly overpay but in the end you are more likely paying him what he's worth a year early. Let's say $600k a year starting 2028. He might be worth it in 2029, then so be it just do it. Giving him that money is saying to him you are our starting Prop. -
You painted a lovely picture Hoe of the importance and value loyalty can bring to a club all would agree.
Your mention of the wiley one delivering his mesage, "Dont end up in the Brig" was.nicely delivered.
Reminds me of the "sixty miler" colliers going thru Sydney heads headed up to Newcastle to load, and the message given by the 2nd Mate to the poor bastard at the wheel, "Keep her heading North and keep her out of the breakers."
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We have made an artform out of patience.....40 will soon be 50 years....waxing lyrical about the essence of what in recruitment is needed to bring a premiership is fine but ...the game has moved on and the Parramatta Eels Rugby League Football Club....is a club still living in the past....The 80s maybe was the worst thing to happen to us....
This current recruitment holding pattern and our lack of being able to recruit elite talent ...has not gone away...As many have said we are a slow moving club slow to react slow to decision making and slow to respond to the environment. As the old fans die off...what lays ahead in 20 30 years irrelevance and the illawarra of the Western Sydney Panthers maybe ? very sad
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Parra G, the idea of "living in the past" to describe the "club" is highly ambiguous. Fans live in the past, because being starved of success breeds nostalgia for past success. But the club is financially very stable, has one of the largest membership bases in the league, plays out of a modern stadium and has a cente of excellence. How is any of those things "living in the past"?
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but for what success a shinny new centre of F all mean exactly that ......do you honestly think the membership will withstand how useless the team is ......so we have a shinny weights room .....you happy with 2036 and no success ? I love the club as much as you do Prof Daz I have been a fan since 1978 my Dad was a School teacher with many of the players in those days Graeme Atkins John Muggleton etc...but we are done now...and that sucks
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Great blog HOE!
For me it's this identifying talent/people, hard work, resilience, luck, injuries, searching for the pursuit of perfection.
"If you think you have reached perfection. Then it's time for you to retire "
Billy slater ch9 circa @ 2025
"Ray price didn't want to tackle you he wanted to bury you"
"He would fight for every centimetre:
Fatty vautin on face to face
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Darren, thanks mate.
Great quotes. That's the only Way.
I love your way of thinking mate. Kudos.
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I think Darren should be taking those quotes to the people that pick the immortals, can't think of any immortal with that desire.....even the most skilful. Fatty Vaughton knows a lot of the modern era players, he should be taken note of.
PS I am probably denigrating some of the recipients, but none of them when you go through their records had that simple desire of Ray Price. I can go through that list, as I saw most of them, Norm Provan, Mal Meninga, Graeme Langlands,Ron Coote, Joey Johns were all great players that I did see, but none of them had the instincts of Ray Price. Its about time that the "pickers" figured out what makes some players different.
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Twidle, Brown, Talagi, Khafusi, Russell, Sanders. Utokimanu were talked about for years, just as those in the lower grades are talked about right now.
Twidle was an absolute stand out at half last weekend. He tore the opposition to shreds on a few occasions and kicked diligently. As soon as he was replaced the flood gates opened for an absolute thrashing. He single handedly controlled the match.
Then we have our best to and coming prop since Utokimanu or Jnr Paulo in Sam Tuivaiti soon to be allowed to negotiate with the bears or the chief's or whoever, and fans are asked to be patient and trust in building from within? Sorry but, how can fans have faith in how the club is run, when history suggests we are wasting out time waiting for the day when Parramatta’s development finally makes the club successful. History suggests otherwise full stop.
I have absolutely zero faith in the people running Parramatta. It seems like Ryles is hamstrung by the decisions of those above him. Its a nice dream but where's the evidence??
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Just a small note Thankyou for leaving our team in the learch for today..Yep your Origin call up is ticked off and much more important......Interesting that 1.3 Million dollars is apportioned to your abilty to play for the Parramatta Eels Football…
"Good to see the eels turn on an inspiring performance today for Wiz & Frankie, i hear the boys in the sheds were told before run on today they are back on their keyboards, apparantly they all went down on one knee"
What Wins Premierships? Talent, culture, systems, pathways, or belonging and connectedness?
For some, the answer is simpler. Who cares about the why? Sack as many as possible. Sign sexy names. Job done.
One thing is for sure: premierships rarely happen overnight. Clubs need patience: the exact opposite of what many fans need.
The theme of recruitment, usually strong criticism of Parramatta's recruitment and retention, has been a constant topic among Eels fans as we've struggled this season. After forty years without a premiership, and struggling this season unfolding, it's understandable why many are frustrated and crave a few sugar hits. Now.
In this week's Levels podcast, Willie Mason and Justin Horo discuss the Eels "tricky predicament" when it comes to recruitment and competing in that space. And what really matters in the end.
Many look enviously at the Dragons' buying spree. Yet so far it has produced not much beyond a last-placed finish and one win.
"You can't just go buy, buy, buy because have a look what St. George did in the last couple of years," Mason argues.
"They don't love St. George."
"I'm not saying that they're not putting in, but you have to have a pathway... and Penrith hit the jackpot," Mason says.
"You need that half a dozen that have a genuine love for the club."
"Everything else is manufactured," Mason concludes.
"Here's now where it [Dragons' huge recruitment spree] can become problematic in two years' time," Scope adds.
"Is it going to improve their play next year? Yeah."
"But could they potentially lose some good homegrown talent because of it? Yeah."
So, that's the balance. The Faustian Deal. The short-term sugar hit versus the long term. Building a team of champions and marquees versus building a champion team.
"Most clubs are manufactured trying to buy, buy, buy and thinking that you're going to win a comp because you don't have these kids who would genuinely die for that club."
Scope and Mason point to Penrith. They point to Brisbane's homegrown core. Mason points to what the Dogs are building. Even Melbourne, despite being different, have long recruited players into their pathways and culture from a young age.
Mason and Scope's common thread isn't just home-grown talent.
It's growing up together. Playing together. Connection.
Even the Panthers recruit despite losing a galaxy of stars that could fill a stadium. The difference is that they tend to do it selectively rather than chasing the biggest or sexiest names. They can afford not to.
Jason Ryles has overseen one of the biggest roster turnovers in the competition over the past season and a half. The club knows there are gaps to fill and I expect Parramatta will continue targeting quality signings for 2027 and 2028, with Jaydn Su'A likely only the beginning.
But if Mason and Horo are right, we're still only at the earliest stages, even if we recruit well.
If Parramatta had paid enormous overs to secure Keaon Koloamatangi, many fans may have celebrated the recruitment victory. But would it necessarily have been the right long-term decision? Apparently not according to Souths or Wayne Bennett. Like us, they weren't prepared to pay through the roof for him.
Interestingly, despite some of the fan pessimism surrounding Parramatta, Mason sees hope.
"I've seen their reserve grade. I've seen their 21s. I've seen their Flegg and SG Ball."
"They've got about six, seven of the best Australian school boys in the country. They're coming through. They're like 18. So, give them two years."
"They're the ones that you think can make the difference to the club."
Their argument is that the Eels' future may depend less on winning recruitment battles, cautioning against the Dragons approach, and more on developing the next generation already inside the system over the next few years.
The Broncos are evidence of a mystery beyond that.
Elite talent. Enormous resources. Strong pathways. A two-time premiership-winning coach. A roster packed with Origin and representative players. Recruitment comes easy. The result? Only one more win than us at this point of the season.
What do you think ultimately turns a club into a contender and then a premiership winner? And do you agree or disagree with Mason and Scope, and why or why not?