Eels Blogs

Replies

• Yehez September 18, 2025 at 6:11pm

  Would Burton at centre or 6 here.

  Doggies can keep trying to buy a Prem indeed and chopping and changing.

  Ponga will be injured 3/4th of the season anyway.
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  Tin Tim September 18, 2025 at 8:00pm

  Not worth worrying about, the Dogs are a mess, they can't get their run on team right. 
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    Poppa > Tin Tim September 19, 2025 at 8:00am

    Your right of course but we should also gently remind ourselves they are playing in a semi final this weekend and we are glorifying our potential to do something similar next year....

    No arguments for me but we do seem rather quick to knock someone because we carry this inbuilt bias against certain teams we hate! Personally I would love to see Dogs continue with their problems and actually fail, but realism is actually fact and failure someones hope!......when we look at the teams we dislike!
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      Frankie Fong > Poppa September 19, 2025 at 9:12am

      Poppy my old foe , can you imagine that chaos we could of caused in those Kirk blogs ? I kept away because I knew I would of been banned . 
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    Blue Eel > Tin Tim September 19, 2025 at 8:25am

    Behind the scenes they are a mess. Team morale whilst publicly it's being managed has been shot. The broken promises to players "sign now and we promise blah blah blah" then going back on those promises, such as sacking the captain, using the captaincy as a barganing chip, sacking in form players for new buys. The perception of the playing roster being so fluid and you can be gone at any time no matter how well your performing has caused huge trust issues within the team.

    Gus gets things done, for sure. But the mistrust that grows over time effects the club. I do wonder if moving Gus on after he set the panthers up is what finally gets them a premiership. 
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      Poppa > Blue Eel September 19, 2025 at 9:01am

      Good points Bluey.

      I have said in recent times that if either of the big 2 coaches became available i.e. Bellamey and Bennett, Bellamey would be the only one I would consider over our incumbent Ryles..... stress consider!

      I hadn't actually thought about Gus, seeing he wasn't a coach anymore, but I now think he has lost the plot as a head of football, aligned with a competent coach....you could argue that he "owns" Ciraldo but I honestly don't know.

      Given my parlance with horse racing I am not sure that he wants to changes horses or jockeys or a mixture of the 2 mid race......my feelings are with the players that have been hard done by and the fact that many of these players have a Penrith background I am sure they will struggle with the perceptions of insecurity and loyalty being discussed.

      The lesson to be learned is very simple for us i.e. no greater example than JAC who has found a home where he is loved! Burton would be the type of player to fit the 5/8 role for Parra and his versatality allows for existing players to feel less oppressed. In saying Burton and our ability to get him I see alternatives in Jayden Campbell and Kalyn Ponga who as marquis players fill a need for us.....BUT only one of those 3.

      Developments will continue to be interesting, even after this comp is finalised with a winner and 7 losers.

       
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        Blue Eel > Poppa September 19, 2025 at 9:23am

        

        I'd take Burton in a heart beat. I think Burton could go to another level, just by some love and confidence. In this I mean Burton is the man that moves all over that Bulldogs backline to accomodate others. He can play all those positions, but deep down being the first to always make way for the next player or other players can take its toll. 

        'Imagine if he was given his position and the confidence of owning that spot. I feel he could go to another level under those conditions. 

        I might be totally off base, but I feel Ponga has painted himself as a selfish type player. The way his contracts get played out in the public domain, the way he appears as a loner when anywhere near other team mates, the constant public / private talk about wanting out of his club , his team , the inuendo of playing position and his preferences etc and then form on the back of it. I feel like we have been down that path with players at the Eels, so for mine, i feel he dosnt fit a team first culture. Could be wrong just my perception of him, his management.