Eels Blogs

The next day waking up to loss the day before is shit. But when you have to do it 4 weeks in a right it makes it even worse.Lets face it and be realistic about it... we are playing like the parramatta of old.

Now while there may be some issue in the backroom that is causing all these problems but it just does not add up. If there was some backroom issue the media would be all over it. If Corey Norman can play the best footy of his career with 3 scandals lingering over his head but cant play for anything with a minor scandal that the media doesnt think is newsworthy is beyond me. 

There isnt any backroom issue. 

Okay now weve cleared up that possible solution lets backtrack to our first loss of the seasons against the Titans. This game was a five day turnaround where we went interstate. Yeah thats a pretty crap ask but what made it even worse is that Norman had suddenly pulled up with a hamstring injury. We controlled that game for the first 30 odd minutes like we did the previous two games, off strong go forward and calmness in the halves. But then when they started firing back our go forward fizzled and gutherson struggled to get anything going. Lets also add that Kaysa failed to play a third consecutive a full 80 game and pulled up injured forcing a massive Nathan Brown to hooker

There was some definite problems we had that game and it was early signs of what was to come. 

The week was the game cronulla. While yes the week before was poor i dont think any of us expected the terror the week after. Norman was poor and predictable, Way too many errors and penalties, Our defense down takairangi and hoffmans side was continually exposed and KPritchard once again could not pull up for a good 80 minutes of quality football. To me i gave an exception on the performance as i thought maybe we rushed norman into first grade and i thought changes were to come but unfortunately that was not the case. 

The game against Canberra. Yet another interstate game. When you play an interstate game your turnaround basically gets reduced by 2 whole days due to lag from travel and changing climatic conditions. While this was an improved performance, semi showed extremely poor attitude by not running the ball with intent and let in 2 soft tries, Norman was slow and wasnt running the ball, Kaysa again struggled to pull up for a good 80 minutes of passable quality, Gutherson looked frustrated and Tim Mannah who is supposed to be our leading forward only plays 25 minutes, again problems also persisted  down Takairangi and Hoffmans side with a very simply tries going to both Cotric and Croker. Honestly we leaked 30 points but i doubt the Parramatta the year before would of leaked 30 or even 20 points. We were putting on points but that was only off the back of Bevan French.. 

Now Yesterday, Again another interstate game a third week of significant travel for the boys, We looked really unfit yesterday, Mannah and FPritchard again as leading forwards only played about 30 minutes each, Kaysa was slow off his line and was continually bullied by Isaac Luke, Auvaa and Hoffman again were continually exposed however i do think auvaa made some decent runs, Takairangi was lethargic, Norman looked uninterested, The halves werent linking up like their opposing opposites and opted for simple grubbers into touch rather than a pressing kick. I also have my concerns about the kick chase normally corey would be chasing every kick he throws at the defense  but yesterday and the weeks before i havent seen him do it. He also wasnt running again, these do look like signs that he is still injured. 

Right now ive deciphered everything thats been a problem each week lets break down the problems

1. Fitness: We arent as fit as we use to be, BA has lost quite abit of quality support staff in this field and while i hate to say i think this comes down to signing Ronnie Palmer. His approach to fitness is too outdated for the modern game and i just think he is too out of touch. I was unable to find the exact years Palmer has been at previous clubs but im guessing the Roosters till about 09, the titans till about 2012 and penrith up until last year. If we look deeper into each and every season from about 2005 onwards, Ronnie Palmer trained teams have made the finals only about 4 times in 12 years. Not to mention to extensive injury problems that Penrith have suffered over the years while under the guidance of palmer 
2. Kaysa is not up to it: No brainer here, he is a new matt keating, now line speed, too small and continually exploited in defence, in all hes not good enough to play a full 80 minutes. Solution: Peats cant back soon enough
3. The four forwards BA's experiment with four forwards has worked just as well as Chris Andersons attempt to play one marker in defense back in 2007.Its not working Brad, the forwards are playing less minutes and making less metres, Nathan Brown shouldnt of come off the pitch yesterday  and i while i cannot stand seeing the name Tim Mannah on the lineup, i dont think its right to have a starting forward play only 30 minutes. Solution One forward needs to drop off, Kaysa needs to return to his role as a 20 minute hooker and a new hooker needs to be brought in. For this season either Nelson or King but for next Peats needs to come back
4. Its been a tough schedule 3 interstate games in 7 matches with one game only at home in 6 weeks. Its really tough, its not an excuse but lets be real these blokes havent had it easy with the scheduling Solution: At least we only have 1 or 2 interstate games left then we have a good chunk at home we will work in our favour
5. Centres are not wingers and wingers are not centres Ive had a massive problem with how BA creates a backline. Hoffman is not comfortable as a winger and Takairangi has become too slow to be playing centre, there has been poor communication all year with that side of the field and we need to change things up. Solution Hoffman or Guth to the centre position, Takairangi to either the Bench or Wenty and a specailist winger needs to be brought in from either the lower grades or somewhere else
6. Norman is injured still; It may only be but the bloke looks like he is playing injured, hes not taking the ball up as much and struggling to do the normal things that make him Great
7. We miss Kenny Kenny is essential for our team, he brings alot of culture and enthusiasm to the team, i really miss him coming off the bench and niggling the opposition, it throws them off their game and puts us at an upper advantage 
8. We arent taking risks Im going to say it straight out, BA needs to start debuting players because at this stage they arent going to do any worse than what we have already. Watching the u20s was extremely exciting yesterday, Greg Lelesiauo should be brought into first grade ASAP. This bloke is a real talent, he's 20 now and looks the goods. Hes a natural winger and has speed to burn and is extremely diffcult to tackle. Im really suprised i have not seen anyone throw around his name, he caused some massive problems yesterday for the opposition. Dargan needs to be blood into first grade, the maturity that Dargan showed yesterday is beyond his years. Im sick of waiting around for him to be brought in and in 2 years see him get snapped up by someone else because we were too scared he might not be ready. Lets give dargan a go!