Forgive me, I need to get this off my chest!
Yes the cattle is a problem, we knew that in probably every game we have won this year, just the same! I am/was devastated last night, the effort against Titans was probably a low point of the season ......so far? BUT I actually saw some effort in last nights game !!!!.....that's why it hurts more than normal after a loss. Yes I know people will laugh at that but what I cannot accept is the execution....lack of focus and the giving up of the ball
......The inability to realise with Melb making so many errors, there was a real opportunity to beat them. Even at 10 - 4 after half time and us butchering 2 tries in 5 minutes, we could still win this game with 20 minutes to go!
Now Melb were atrocious as well, I said to my wife that Bellamey must be thanking god his team was playing Parramatta.
I can get over most things Parramatta and have made horrible statements about them in the past, but there was something special in that game....a new level of ineptness, not courage or passion, just a junior team making errors that confounds me. I think I am writing this blog to purge myself.....I think we hit a new low.....I can only imagine what Ryles and his staff must think, like, its not like it was bad coaching, you couldn't coach a side to drop balls, miss tackles and position themselves as badly as they did.
Player's that excelled previously like Volkman and TDS showed why they are fringe players, I have no doubt now that we will see Pezet back in the side ahead of Volkman. Volkman only has to look in the mirror with a lot of his mates if they ever manage to be honest with themselves about being First Grade Footballers.
Oh! Parra, why have you forsaken us! LOL..... there are worse things of course...... to our knowledge no one died in that game, but you never can be sure if we lost a few supporters during it!
I know a few old blokes up in heaven who would be pretty grumpy this morning.
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Good Blog Pops, it's not only guys in heaven that are a bit grumpy this morning. I wrote this and posted it on another blog, but it also serves well here.
Ryles can only select the players that get signed to the club. Fight and attitude are essential in any team but to win at NRL level with any consistency requires the talent to go with it.
Just imagine if we could have signed or kept any of these players that Ryles wanted signed to the club. This is where we are lacking ! either retaining the players we want to retain, or the inability to sign a talented player that we actively chase. The misses and Fuc& ups is close to a who's who to be honest.
Dylan Brown, Lachlan Galvin, Blaize Talangi, Ethan Sanders, Sean Russell, David Fifita, Stefano Utoikamanu, Keon Koloamatangi, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Marty Tapau, Matt Lodge, Tyran Wishart, Jack Gosieski, Campbell Graham, Izack Tago, Mitch Barnett.
Then there were others like Katoni Staggs, Valentine Holmes, Matt Timoko, Bronson Xerri, that were in the eels sights. Even Jayden Sua for this year hasn't gotten over the line.
The list of missed talent opportunities continues to grow for numerous reasons, each miss helps keep us anchored to the bottom of the table and having to pivot to signing NSW cup standard players to make up the numbers.
'At the moment we are just a club that helps out the NRL by providing some token resemblance of a first grade side to meet broadcast requirements. It's becoming clear that we are just cannon fodder for their elite clubs to play against on the weekend. What a shame that the Eels powers that be are happy for the status quo to remain and are proud to be in the position where making up the numbers in the NRL is seen as success.
Their private Bar with food and drinks on game days, Access to the players and Immortal commentators and the elite air conditioned seating on the half way line appears to be all that it takes to think they are performing well.
What a shame we don't have any championship DNA within the power brokers, that can see the problem we have with signing or keeping talent. I guess they just don't know what they don't know.
Out of the box short term 6 solution,
Walker.
Volkman and pezet both don't defend well enough to be in first grade within a team that isn't able to cover their short comings in defence.
Walker playing lock hasn't had the same impact this season because of the way we have had to change our style due to the speed of the game. Play Walker at 6 and have an extra big/power forward on the bench. We don't need a ball playing lock the way we're are currently playing.
I have cancelled the Fox Sports subscription and will probably move away from the NRL. I cannot take the season after season we achieve nothing. We, the fans, put everything into our clubs, but clubs don't care. I have seen enough. Our club is, how do I put it, just making up numbers. We don't have a good coach, our roster is bad, we retain consistent underperforming players, and our recruitment is a dog's breakfast. This is not the way Denis Fitzgerald used to run the club. During Brian Smith, we were consistent among the top 8. I seriously question the fan club mentality that watches Parramatta every week, okay? Either they have nothing else to do, or they are just unicorns. If the NRL were like other European football leagues, we would be playing in a second division. I think the NR L should focus on the top 10 teams, with the rest playing in the second division. Our board members have zero passion for the club. They are seat warmers. It's beyond me how we still support our clubs.
The number1 of 1st grade players currently playing throughout the NRL that either played 1st grade or were in the junior development systems at the Eels is mind boggling. Normally such a large turnover of aplayers is due 1 of 2 things. Regular success can cause salary cap pressure or a total clean out expecting new signings to be better than the players you let go. You know something has gone totally wrong when you can so many former Eels players who would walk into the current Eels side. Just as an exercise, I bet we could come up with a 19 man side of former Eels players that would demolish the current Eels side.
But people on here would never allow our juniors to develop and remain in the system. We seem to go off course and think it's a fantastic idea to spend a million dollars plus on koloamatagi or Farnsworth (two of the most recent examples). Ryles has been at the helm 18 months or thereabouts and people are claiming we need a complete restructure of the entire organisation. No patience, none at all
Kolomatangi took the worst team in the comp ahead of us.
Galvin picked the Dogs over us for less.
The worst team in the comp had no issues grabbing Drinkwater the above mentioned and now Metcalfe in the space of what 6 months.Meanwhile the sleeping giant rolls over breaks wind and signs Harrison Edwards & Jaydn Sua for next year.
Now I'm not saying restructure but FFS what I am saying whoever is or isn't in charge or the Recruitment and retention is doing a shithouse job.I mean we've only had one of the poorest back 5s in the comp for 5 years.
That time and patience your preaching Mitchell Moses doesn't have that time if we continue putting bums around him at 1.3 a season if anything the mentioned committee should blowing there load trying to put the mentioned around Moses especially.Fark me I'd take Farnworth for a mil tomorrow and not bat a farken eyelid considering we've got absolutely nothing in his class in the outside backs and are relying on the Penisini Russell Kelly types fark yes I'd spend a mill a smile like fark doing so I bet even Mitch breaks a smile on a signing like that to.
And your point is what exactly?
It's quite clear really if we have the cap spend it on an elite player or 2 or else be prepared to stay in the bottom half of the table with all the other cellar dwellers.
So hypothetically speaking we offer Herbie a mill, he says that's nice but I'll pass, I'm happy at the dolphins. We say what about 1.25? He says sure but if I don't like it down there or I'm not happy I'd like to be able to get out of my contract whenever I want. We say nah we don't do player options any more. He says well in that case I'll need 1.5 (that's the highest figure I've seen on here people suggest we should pay him - $1.5 million!!!) to make sure I'm happy (any of this starting to sound reminiscent to you). And then 12 months into the deal he fucks off and leaves anyway.
Or we could persist with internal development, build from within, offer opportunities to those within our ranks and see where that takes us. Any time someone claims one particular individual is going to save us I become immediately sceptical.
Without putting too much thought into it, how would this forward pack of former Eels go against what we have now??
8 Stefano Utoikamanu
9 Reed Mahoney
10 Trey Mooney
11 Isaiah Papali'i
12 Marata Niukore
13 Alex Twal
All 6 of these discarded Eels players would walk into the 2026 Eels side.
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