Coach Jason Ryles and captain Mitchell Moses summed it up best in the post-game press conference after our 20-16 round 23 loss to Souths. We went in as hot favourites. Most confident of an Eels victory. Our Boogeyman struck again. History delivered the verdict once more. But we pulled the trigger, and it blew up in our faces.
“We probably came in with the wrong mindset,” Moses admitted. But his own game told the story. Souths’ match-winning tries came down his leaky right edge, and some of his loose plays set the tone.
“I feel like from the start, we’re giving them three seven tackle sets straight away, we’re rolling them and just let them off the hook too easy and put us under the pump straight away."
“That’s on me, I’ve got to finish the sets a bit better there. It’s a bit of a reality check."
Getty Images: Gray and Duncan starred.
Both he and Ryles conceded Souths simply wanted it more. They won the loose ball contests. They came up with the big plays. Gray’s try-savers, Duncan’s double on Moses’ edge was the difference on the scoreboard.
Getty Images: Gray and Duncan save a try.
“I just think that’s been one of the real strengths of our game all year, our fight and our effort,” Ryles said.
“There were a couple of moments in that game tonight where it was really disappointing.”
Getty Images: Up 12-4 there seemed complacency, an expectation they would win.
Asked what went wrong, Ryles snapped back humorously: “I don’t know, you want to come to the review and give me a hand?”
He pointed to the missed opportunities: “We had nine linebreaks to their six, so chances were there, but we just couldn’t ice them. Those two try-savers were certain tries, that summed up the night. That’s where they’re at, and where we’re at.”
The Storm beat us 56-18 in round one with 9 linebreaks.
Last night's stats don't lie. The Eels made 15 errors to Souths’ 7. That's 85 errors in six weeks. Even the competition leaders and high-flying Dogs lose when they make 11–14 mistakes (against Saints, Tigers and Roosters). Few teams can overcome that level of self-sabotage.
For once, Ryles couldn’t find any positives. “I’ll have to go back and have a look and try and find some.”
Getty Images: Lomax scored a doube, made some errors, but was lion-hearted.
Still, Jack Williams and Zac Lomax's efforts weren't to blame. Between them: 36 runs, almost 400m, 3 line breaks, 8 tackle busts, and 2 tries. And the fact we could have won that game, probably undeservedly, is another positive.
But other fundamentals such as poor support play and kick chases remain weaknesses I’ve been flagging on many occasions this year. They continue to haunt us.
The question of why and how to fix the small things letting us down big time are the most important questions. It all starts between the ears and in habit-patterns on-and-off-field.
It's still early days in the Ryles era. We're still figuring out the roster and cleaning the cap. Let's not go too Chicken Little impulsive just yet.
However, on top of Ryles and the coaching staff, Moses captaincy and ability to be all in, inspire and unite us — the hallmark of great captains that underpin great teams as well as our on-field leaders — will be a crucial moving forward. Above all, we need glue.
Next comes a litmus test. The white-hot Roosters. Ninety-six points scored in two weeks. Three straight wins over finals contenders demolishing the Dolphins, Dogs and Manly. They’re on their usual end-of-season rocket-surge.
Next week will be a character test.
Getty Images: Souths rose to the occasion as they have on many Indigenous Rounds honoring Indigenous icons such as 2014 grand-final winning Greg Inglis and Gold medalist Cathy Freeman (centre).
Replies
Tigers did something similar to, moved on a heap of players and then signed 6-7 players from other clubs
Great blog HOE!! I hope it was therapeutic. I think what CE is trying to say is we had a wining, no sorry, a competitive lineup. JR decides to make a bunch of changes to accommodate a few players namely Longi and papa. Instead of just dropping papa. Shows arrogance for your opposition. BTW I am a fan of a JR. I wasn't a fan of the changes this week. Uncertainty breeds uncertainty. He may decide to make a bunch of changes this week.
Thanks, Darren. Kind words mate. Therapeutical? A little, haha. You're reading between the lines lol.
I like Little Pap and want him to come good, yet I feel he's more comfortable at one.
Hawkins probably didn't deserve to get dropped either. He's been improving at six. He's probably played the best at six than anyone this year tbh. Even his running game was slowly becoming more direct. A bit more time and confidence would do him wonders. I didn't expect Hawkins to be a six for us. But besides Walker, a new signing or an Iongi switch, he could be a decent stop gap and good Moses backup.
What Little Pap offers though is versatility and some depth. One, six, dummy half. And he's a good Parra guy to have at the club. He's worth keeping and persisting with.
It's not actually 1 loss LB! I actually respect Ryles and think he's done a good job but gee, some of his selections with certain games are confusing
Biggest problem with ryles is he went to aggressive with the roster cut to many at once
Nah, it needed to happen. It's a problem this year but needed to happen.
The high error count has been consistent for most of the season. Hoping as our side gains experience the errors start to dissapear.
True Gaz, We're top four for ball handling errors. I'd like to see us also work on our support play, last tackle options, kick chases and ruck wrestling.
Yep agree HoE, all the small efforts add up to being the difference against good sides. This side has good bones, but will need a lot of coaching and an injection of some quality senior players to set the standard on field. Dylan Walker has been good on this front, but he's looking a bit lonely.
Kaizen incremental improvements is not visible in our error rate or support play. It's a problem as there are limited ways to assess our progress without the scoreboard helping
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