Eels Blogs

We have failed to attract a big name  player in their prime not only for years but decades, and the only time we recruited a number of top players close to their prime was super league. The biggest names we have signed have been speculative buys on pontential such as Sandow and Norman or by paying overs or offering unfavorable terms such as Watmough, Jennings and Foran.  Fergo will also join this list unless we can get some players to support him and have solid team to deliver success before his final year.

Regularly changing coaches and the board has been a big reason why we can't attract players, as the club direction and structure you sign to join was unlikely to be what you ended up playing under. With inconsistent results and lack of sustained runs of final appearances it is no wonder we need to offer ridiculous terms to attract players. Add in our lack of star players and which top player would sign to join a team where they are the sole representative. Many people complain we don't chase players however the truth is we have chased plenty but none are interested. Some agents will not even talk to Parra unless there is a major difference in salary offered.

I am not justifying past recruitment decisions many of which have been questionable, but trying to explain why we have made risky deals in the past and what we need to do to turn it around. I think any coach joining the eels would make similar efforts to sign a top player yet repeat mistakes of the past in an effort to obtain immediate results and secure their position.  A big name player can attract others even if they are at the back end of their career so sometimes a risk in paying overs or adding a year or 2 to a contract and worrying about it later is needed to kick start a recruitment drive.  The problem is unless everything falls into place it makes the problem worse and ruins the salary cap for future years.
The signature of Watmough was definitely too long however he never would have headed to eels for close to the same money as other clubs without the extra years. Due to Watmough being here we then attracted Beau Scott.  Beau had other options and I know he wanted to be near Westmead hosp for his kid but Canterbury, Penrith and tigers aren't too far and would have also loved him.  He chose Parra and the fact we had Watmough helped along with proximity to the hosp.

Without Watmough we don't get a lookin with Foran even with the ridiculous contract.  We weren't the only club chasing foran but for reasons listed, as a club we had to offer more than others resulting in the ridiculous contract.  The payout clause was unforgivable though and never should have been allowed no matter how desperate a club is to sign a big name.   Although it turned out bad in hindsight and should have been predicted, Foran was still playing top footy prior to signing and if he continued playing like he was at Manly he was probably worth the risk.  Hindsight is great and even after all that drama at Parra another coach in Dessie who was regarded as replacment option to BA by some, signed Foran after us. That was after Brian Smith (another classified as a possible eels saviour) signed off on him at the warriors for a year.  Look at the clubs lining up to sign known trouble makers and players with issues now and Parra are not alone so blaming BA and the board for these decisions seems to be misguided.  It all comes to onfield ability and the offfield is regularly forgotten. If Foran managed to play just 15-20 games a year he would have made huge difference to us and could have helped attract more talent and helped develop our existing players. Was it bad judgement or just bad luck that he got worse after signing with us. Everyone has their opinion but if he kept his head on straight the eels would have had a very different few years.

Newcastle have managed recruitment well recently by slowly working up to chasing better quality players.  They never would have gotten Pearce if they hadn't recruited a number of other roosters first which helped his decision. I think they started with SKD who had off field issues and his form was well below his best. No doubt if Parra signed him there would have been plenty of complaints. He however became the key to signing more ex roosters and the base of the current side. Then Newcastle made huge play paying overs for Ponga yet struck gold.  Without the core of rooster rejects he may not have signed despite the contract value.  His dad has rejected calls for him to sign an upgrade showing money isn't the main concern so I think that shows it wasn't just money that secured Ponga's contract despite it being well above what others would have paid. Newcastle will sign more talent and top players over next few years with players wanting to join ponga showing luck also plays a big part in recruitment.   Everyone knew ponga had talent but only knights were willing to gamble huge salary for 5 years.  Newie also has great lifestyle  as a selling point like Cronulla which helped them start their recruitment drive.  

This is another reason we struggle to attract talent  and have to offer things that other clubs never would to secure signatures. Parra and Western Sydney is a shit hole with lots of traffic and little to attract people beyond large clubs with millions of pokie machines so players won't join the eels unless the contract is well in their favour.

We need a good crop of youngsters as Penrith have done recently and it appears we have that young talent coming through now.  I understand peoples views and particularly fongs on BA failures when it comes to players development however here is my take.
The juniors in BAs early years came through junior systems implemented prior to BA so I understand the feeling BA is at fault for their stunted development as they performed well in lower grades, however there was only a handful really predicted to go well or in demand from other clubs.  As many juniors dominate due to size or maturing early, not all of those juniors predicted for glory would have been huge success either so it is a small sample size these assumptions on development is made.  They are also still young and I think Moroea has failed to live up to hype due to injuries and concussions affecting his confidence. He seems to lack the heart required to run as hard as he did in junior years. As fong pointed out though he is never wrong so considering his views on BAs skills to develop players, I feel for the young players who are destined to go backwards during the next 2 years. Maybe we can sign up the junior Qld side to play under BA and give the blues some help to even up the score in total series won.

I think BA can work and improve with this young group coming through now.  They have all been in a system that has BA footprint all over it so fairer to judge on this crop of players than previous players.  They have been developed with systems preparing them for BA style team so it will be interesting to see how they perform especially when they form base of our team. This is an opportunity most coaches are not given unless they have had early success so it really is make or break for BA.

Basically the eels have tried going for big fish but have come empty each time.  We need to think smaller and build a solid team by changing our strategy. By trying to get a star on ridiculous contract we have ruined our salary cap or been burnt in various ways which not only BA has dealt with but every coach for the past 12years.  

The juniors need to be the base of our team so we need to spend more money on junior development and identification.  That shouldnt be BAs or future head coaches role either. We need specialist people in the role that the board will need to pay big money for to lure away from other clubs. They can then work with the head coach on certain structures and such but other than that it should be separate from the head coach.  The leagues club could then offer scholarships to identified players such as Fijians and country boys who have better work ethic than those from the city. 

In the short term though we need to  recruit solid workers and defenders to help our defence as beau Scott did.  I don't think we need a matt lodge type player who is undisciplined but I feel our board and BA will succumb to pressure and make him an offer or try for a style of player we don't need in an explosive foward.  We need someone like Prior from the sharks or Glasby would have been ideal prior to joining the knights. I would even argue for for what it would cost to lure
someone like Taupau out west we shouldn't bother even enquiring as it isn't what we need.  We are amongst the top sides in metres gained and even if it is due to our outside backs helping the fowards it delivers us field position and momentum to play off. The middle defence is our largest liability at the moment.  We also have good young front rowers coming through and a player with great defence and work ethic would be more beneficial as a mentor especially as our current middle defence is soft which we don't want to expose our upcoming fowards to.  Players like Prior haven't earnt the same as barnstorming explosive fowards who demand more cash but are exactly what we need so may be lured by decent contract to set him up post footy without blowing the budget like a Taupau signing would.

By adding more starch to our foward pack defensively and being more consistent the young players will have a chance to shine and hopefully secure multiple top 8 finishes.  If Mahoney, Brown or some of our young fowards reach their potential they could possibly be the players that can attract other players to the club without having to continue the practice of ridiculous contracts to attract players.