Eels Blogs

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. 

Also, mentally we have been up for some time. It's impossible to keep it up indefinitely. 

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).