Parramatta insist the prospect of notching a victory over former coach Ricky Stuart is not an added motivation to win Saturday's final-round clash against Canberra.
The Eels need a victory to stand any chance of qualifying for the finals and second-rower David Gower said the team is focused on the game , not old club politics.
"We can't look into that," he said. "We're playing 17 Canberra players."
Former Eels coach Ricky Stuart. Photo: Ian Hitchcock
Stuart, who walked out on the Eels one season into a three-year contract to coach the Raiders, could be the mastermind in dismantling the Eels' hopes for a spot in the top eight.
However, Gower said Stuart has not been, and will not be, a focus on game day. "The coaching is irrelevant when you're out there," he said.
Parramatta legend Brett Kenny said some players would consider beating Stuart an added "motivation".
But co-captain and prop Tim Mannah said the team's only focus was restoring some pride in the Eels jersey, after Saturday's shock 42-12 loss to the Knights.
"For us the only motivation we've got this week is to go out there and play the best footy we can and put in a performance everyone can be proud of," he said.
"Ricky's moved on to a new club, we've moved on with a new coach and that's a long way behind us."
And "behind them" is where the team also hopes to put the memory of Saturday's thrashing from the Knights.
"I think the really disappointing thing is we probably let ourselves down in terms of the hard work we put in the last few weeks, and for the type of footy we want to become known for playing," Mannah said.
The last time Parramatta faced off against Canberra, the Eels took out an 18-10 win over the undermanned Raiders, but both Mannah and Gower said there is no doubt Canberra will be a tough team to beat.
"They have won two in a row," Gower said. "They are playing a risk-free, carefree kind of footy and that's dangerous.
"It is out of our hands, but what is in our control is a good performance on Saturday. If we win we're going to potentially give ourselves a chance to play next week."
A former Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and Manly second-rower, Gower has had a successful season under coach Brad Arthur and has been handed a new two-year contract.
He said the team had a lot to work on from last weekend, but they had no choice but to pull up for this week's game.
"We just want to play with energy, effort and enthusiasm," he said. "They are our three principles we try to play with every weekend.
"We didn't hit any of them on the weekend. So if [the Raiders] is our last game for 2014 we want to make sure we go out on a good performance."
Replies
LOL love the pRicky photo they chose for this article although there are many similar doing the rounds!
Hayne has been very quiet in the media of late?
Come on eels, tear pRicky another new one and he'll be resembling a bicycle rack.
Pticky excuse number 11.
I have a migrane.