Last week I headed a blog implying/saying, we made mistake's lets move on.....I was a pessimist to an extent, but not suicidal. Just very critical of Pezet and the knock on effect in losing balance.
Yesterdays game against Penrith has a lot of physcological aspects to it/us.
I need to ask some questions, last year (second half) we had a defence that was testing every side including Penrith.
Interestingly the beginning of last year was not disimilar to this year, the question is what is the difference?
The common denominators were that Dyllan Brown was not really there in any dominant form at the end of the year, he was injured and being eased out.....so lets discount that.
Hopgood after moving to prop had a great year after a shaky start.....this is a factor defensively....he is the most tenancious and error free forward we have....This is a significant loss, that is not appreciated by the unwashed on here.
Now add on that Junior is by the standards he can play to, is not in that form, although not as bad as some make out. Finally this last one will upset some, but losing Lomax in the way we did had a detrimental effect on the confidence of this team. He did things in a competitive way that inspired, both players and supporters. A big error in letting him go the way we did (spilt milk now) but pertinent IMO.
Pezet has been well recorded by me and I don't want to sound like a broken record. I really didn't notice him much yesterday so I am loathe to be critical but you cannot mention last year without bringing him into the picture, that said I am interested to see everyone has him in next week's team as the experts on here rearrange the deck chairs. Kelly was OK yesterday and if you think about it, most Penrith tries came from within the 25 and it is was through our forwards. The rediculous tries came about from the super confidence that their forwards had created in that first 15/20 minutes.
That dominance was enhanced by our poor handling, which in turn came from us going into a catch up mode before we needed to! That's where we failed! Our tackling technique was not in sync and had a real desperation rather than a hunting pack. This come's back to balance, we cannot afford Kelma (lateral defence wise) in this pack as he is a common to the holes our opponents make. Williams needs to come onto that edge to provide lateral defence. We also have to look at the technical approach our full backs have/utilise in catching up and unders, they are skilful and there is no fullback in the comp that is foolproof, we just need to get it better.
The commentators on Fox before the game yesterday made the point that Moses needed to stop nurse maiding Pezet and play his own game....he was better yesterday but is also rushing most things he is doing. There is no sign of Moses thinking 2/3 plays ahead.... some people do not realise, that this lack of vision is the real reason that Moses is not a great player, just a good one! Overated by many on this site.....could you imagine Cleary leading us around the park and losing his cool.....well put him in this Parra side and you just might. BUT realise he would at the end of the game going to the coach and working out the faults. NB In criticising Moses, I am being beligerent as I have always regarded him as one of my favourite players, but I have to be honest with what I see.
In business terms I used to hate it in corporate planning sessions when people talked about "we are no worse than anyone else", "yes we are" and we need to be better than others, Full Stop" that analogy comes over as I am writing this as a title for the blog, because our goals have to be higher and better, unless we persue excellence we can never improve....this brings me back to what I am saying about the coaches role in the undermentioned.
I could finish this blog now and leave it with that....but I have created an idealogy, not a solution.
Well what is the solution? firstly there is no magic formula....the reality is we have 17/19 players that have the same physical features as the opposition on any given day. I believe and think that the coach and his staff have to sit down with the first and second grade players and anyone else contemplated as a selection possibility in the near future and go back to "last year" and analyse the difference.
We showed yesterday we could be as effective in attack as any side and these opportunities actually came from our maligned backs.....what has happened to our running forwards?
Interimly we need to find out who is "out there" player wise and start hunting now before 30th June comes about....sooner the better.
PS The criticism of the coach, his staff, the front office, the GM Football and R&R all have relevance....it doesn't work sacking people unless you have better replacements, every decent Manager knows this, how you address it requires leadership.....who is going to provide it ......please answer without the rhetoric?
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Save the best to last Bluey.....how many times have i said "love you like a brother" and how many times have you given me the benefit of the doubt.....remember me saying how JDB was such a sensible buy because he brings us time to bring the young blokes through.....I see he was in court last week suing the detective for perjury in his rape trial...... I hope he gets that out of his system because I suspect he wasn't focused on that first game and he hasn't been sighted since.
Back to your post, my initial reaction is "you cannot control the uncontrollable" when you bring up Junior and Matto. Junior was always going to be overpaid when it comes to the last year/s of a contract. Matto is an enigma and we were a victim/s of the times with Dolphin's coming in and offering big money, whereas Mahoney left (no problems there) and Papillii is basically a mercenary (good luck to him). Injury's fall into the uncontrollable bin.
So we go back to our recruitment problems....quiet simply I don't know the answer but I did say we have 10 or say board members with business connections..... why they are not out there in the community the size of Parra and raking in private sponsors (TPA's)....ok its illegal for them to be seen but there are ways using intermediaries for these things to happen, shit the amount of seemingly low level corruption in the game is nothing but if we say to a player you have a private beneficiary that can provide some real incentives, then we need to do it (that's done by an intermediary) and their are other ways, mature players like Mitch Barnett has got kids, why haven't we got a conduit with the Kings School with reciprocal scholarships being sponsered by our Leagues Club, we have property developers like the ALAND group, get them off the jersey's, no one's going to apply because of an add on a jersey to buy a property.....instead get ALAND divorced from club sponsorship and get them to throw away a million dollars a year in TPA's. Tell the Perth Bears (with the concurrence with Russell) that he has travel issues, his mother is sick and get a private sponsor to set him up on a 4 year deal to stay with Parra....if I was on the board, I would be bashing the table with a lawyer up my sleeve, explaining what we can and cant do.......YES Bluey we cannot sign anyone because we are to bloody stingy and honest......Shane Richardson would walk out when you show him the handcuffs the board will put on him.
Do you think these blokes do it honestly? Bullshit they do!
Now my wife just told me the football has started, so I will come back in due course after you roast me for being a "bad brother" Lol
Great blog Pops! I want to dive into the players second...that needs more thought and research, let me come back later on that.
But I'm going to tackle your last question first - who will replace the GM of Football?
We should be targeting Peter O'Sullivan who by some reports is year-to-year contracted from the end of this year with the Bulldogs and has shown the goods at the Dolphins and the Bulldogs.
Shane Richardson has runs on the board and is proven - sure he couldn't fix the Tigers but remember the Tigers are in the same position that the Eels were when we had a dysfunctional board. You can't win the game when the game is rigged by a toxic board.
Andrew McFadden has done solid things with pathways at the Warriors and could be lured back to Aus I'd say.
Three options that are superior to MON in results. Let them do what they need to do in terms of contracts, pathways and cleanouts. I'd give them the keys and hold them responsible for roster management outcomes - if they don't perform, they go. I really hope some of these conversations are already happening on the down low.
I am seen as the great defender of MON.... i do so circumstantially, because I have always though he was titled wrong GM Football..... that title puts you in charge..... I think MON is far from that and its just a beaucrat thing I know but it gets taken literally...... who once says "where does the buck stop" certainly not with MON at my guess.
Cappy you said you would come back on players which I intimated you would in my reply to Snottie.....look forward to your input, you have an incisive view of things and your views are important.
I think the next month of footy will be a lot more indicative of where we are at.
Melbourne for 24 years have entered round 1 at a level of fitness and intensity that no one else can match . The last few years they're really come back to the pack a little bit a month or so into the competition and they seemingly are again .
Brisbane in Brisbane looking to get their first win of the season is a nightmare trip . That's both of last years grand finalists and expected top 4 teams this year weeks 1 and 2. Almost as tough as it gets . I say almost because ..
Round 4 we cop a side in the midst of a historically great start to a season . Penrith are that far ahead of every side in the comp at the moment . Whether they are in 24 weeks time will tell- nothing indicates they won't be - but they are currently on another level. The dusted the Roosters by 40 the week before and an established sharks side couldn't fire a shot on them .
Injuries and depth are a concern but I feel the Tigers , Gold Coast , Bulldogs, Manly and Warriors games over the next 5 weeks are an opprotunity for the team to put learnings from playing against the top end of the competition into practice and really start building the season as opposed to swimming in the deep end . Hopefully the injuries don't cost us too dearly and the team brings a weekly good attitude to their footy and we'll see .
For mine 2-2 i would've taken before a ball was kicked . The season is still in front of us and I want us moving up the ladder and playing in some big games. The next part in our evolution as a side is playing weekly good footy and playing in games that matter. When you're a top 8 side you also become more attractive place to play for free agents you want to help fill out your side. Take it week to week and look to finish as high as we can . Anyone looking to beat the Panthers will need to improve a lot and we've had very small margin for error so far this season.
We are far from the finished product and have things to improve on weekly .
Don't disagree Snottie, I was going to call this blog, "no need to panic" and I think that's what you are saying i.e don't panic but shit we have some problems.....agree very much with the 2-2 scenario, it is a fcuking miracle when you think about it.
I go back to my theme that no one has gone to yet...though i think Cappy is coming around to it.
ie the difference between last year and this one....have I identified everything, or is there something I have missed.
I have this gut feel that we are out of kilter because Pezet just doesn't fit the team (not the kids fault) just doesn't balance. e.g if we had Joash playing 5/8 the links would have been quicker and he would have been rushing out with line speed and yes there is something with Riley Smith there, line speed.....another missing ingredient!
Nice blog. It's really pointless talking in terms of 'We should do this' or 'We should have done that' because as supporters we have zero say in what should be done or what should have been done previously unless of course the Eels coaching staff and those who use the cheque book actually read these comments and take what we say seriously enough to take our advice. Maybe they might I don't know.
All I know is that it's been a very long time since 1986 with only a few promising opportunities since then which is quite depressing when you think about it. I have no idea how to solve the current state of affairs at the Eels and how they're ever going to come close to winning another premiership. I think it will become even harder with the expansion of the Perth Bears and a PNG team joining. I agree with the loss of Lomax having a detrimental affect on the team and also with the Pezet experiment. In spite of the loss against Penrith there were some positives to come out of the loss even with the horrible loss of Durey and Longi. The Eels won the 2nd half and Papali showed why he should have been in the side from the beginning of the year ( in my opinion). If the Eels had played in the first half like they did in the 2nd half and the refereeing and bunker were more equal in their decisions the result would have been a lot closer and perhaps even an upset. Where do the Eels go from here? That's the $6 Million Dollar question. In my opinion which isn't worth much I would start bringing in the younger best upcoming prospects at the club and seriously have recruitment targeting any decent players that are available or soon to be available but the likelihood of that happening is probably buckleys and none. I think Ryles is a good coach but he certainly has himself in deep untried waters at the moment but it's at these times our true character can be defined and I think Ryles will rise to the occasion
Great reply Mallee, I like the way you have identified our impotence in these things and of course we take for granted the fact that nobody takes the ramblings of social media seriously.....more the shame in many cases.
Yes, definitely more the shame. Couldn't agree more
I think you've gone to deep into this Pops rugby league do3snt need to be this complicated.
Middle 1/3 is the key to the turnaround not edges not whose playing there.
Controlling the ruck first contact the collision and whose winning it more time than not with or without the ball is the real key here.The last coach used to use it all the time why now are fans starting to realise how important it is now.Rugby league hasn't changed over the years even if the rules have.
I look at our opponents yesterday they went through the middle with just better talent and a team more well entrenched in its structure they use short passing and hard running to gain there dominance force teams to go round them of which they make you be perfect to break them.
Only thing I dislike the most is we know what we need to do to get better we know we have to hold up in certain areas on nd off the park but we continue to come up short.I understand we are still 2-2 after this but there are several weaknesses that are well documented on and off the park I feel until we get off the park soughted we'll continue to struggle on it.
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